Journaling with Tarot
Photo @evieshaffer via Unsplash
Journaling is a wonderful practice to explore your inner world, and it’s no wonder then that it dovetails wonderfully with tarot. I’ve used the cards to enhance and guide my journaling practice for years, and I thought it would be helpful to outline some ways that you can do the same. As with all things tarot, take what resonates and leave the rest, and don’t forget to innovate! So, without further ado:
Three ways to use tarot in your journaling practice
As a prompt - Use tarot to jumpstart your writing. Draw a card at random and write. You don’t need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the deck, either. Write about how the card makes you feel, the memories and associations its illustration brings up, or go ahead and look up its traditional meaning in a trusted book, app, or website. (For my dictionary of meanings, click here).
As a part of your daily draw or reading - If you already have a daily tarot practice, simply add journaling to your process. When you’ve completed the reading itself, take some time to write down your thoughts, predictions, and impressions. If you draw multiple cards, I recommend picking just one to focus on, either the most resonant or the most mysterious/confusing. At the end of the day you may want to journal more or revisit your writing to see how the card evolved over time.
As a way to learn the deck - Draw a card from the deck each day (either in order or at random) and write your thoughts on it. I like to spend some time free writing before consulting any outside resources so that I can capture my intuitive impression without getting muddled.
For self-reflection - Tarot is wonderful at posing questions (sometimes to the frustration of clients and practitioners!). Use the deck to ask yourself questions in your journal, for example: Where does this energy show up in my life? What would this card do? How might I embody this card? Stay tuned for a series of posts with questions for each card in the deck.