Have you ever thought of using tarot cards as a tool for self-reflection and personal growth? One way to really get the most benefit from your tarot reading is to journal about the cards you draw in your reading.
When you combine tarot and journaling, you can get a deeper sense of yourself and the world around you. If you've ever wondered why you do something, especially if it's out of character, then you might want to pull out your Tarot deck and do a reading. While you are doing the reading, you can journal about it. Reflecting this way helps you tap into your subconscious thoughts and emotions to see how you're feeling about a particular situation. Doing this consistently will lead to huge insights and transformation.
If you want to learn more about how to combine tarot with journaling, keep on reading. We're going to look at ways to clarify your thinking and help you with your mindfulness and self-awareness.
Getting Started with Tarot Journaling
It doesn’t matter how long you have been reading tarot cards or journaling; you will be amazed at the growth you will achieve. We're going to explore some different ways you can help your self-awareness grow even more.
The first thing we're going to do is pick the right Tarot deck. This is really important because you need to make a connection with your tarot cards. When you're picking your deck, choose one that you feel drawn to. It doesn't have to be the most popular deck out there. You want to make sure that you are drawn to the deck because if you don't like it or don't feel a strong connection to it, your tarot readings won't be as productive as you would want them to be.
Here are a few tips for picking the right deck:
- Take your time looking for a deck. If you go to a metaphysical store near you, a lot of them will have open tarot decks that you can look at and explore all of the cards.
- Connect with your deck. If you've gone to your local metaphysical store and found the perfect deck for you, the next thing that you want to do is open that deck up and hold each card in your hands. Think about how you're feeling about the card. What sticks out to you? Is it the images, the colors, or the symbols?
- Trust your instincts. Allow your intuition to guide you in picking a deck. You'll know you have the right one when it speaks to your aesthetic.
Understanding Tarot Basics
Before you just jump right in and start doing a reading, I want to look at a few things that make tarot decks unique and different from regular card decks. A Tarot deck is broken up into two parts: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana is all about the big themes in our lives like love, relationships, finances, and goal setting.
The Minor Arcana is made up of four suits, just like a regular deck of playing cards. The suits are the Wands, the Cups, the Swords, and the Pentacles. Each one of these suits goes with different aspects of our lives.
One card that is really important to the Tarot deck is the Fool card. The Fool card is all about new beginnings in your life, taking chances, being a beginner. It represents the start of a new journey and potential. I have a blog article about the Fool's Journey that you can read if you want to know more about the Fool.
If you want to learn more about tarot, you can join my Facebook group where we talk about tarot all the time.
Joining my Facebook group is another resource to learn more about tarot and manifesting.
Keep the Journey Alive
I want you to keep in mind that as you start your tarot journaling, there are no rules, no guidelines, and nothing that you have to do. It's all about what you want to do. If you would like to learn more about tarot cards, there are tons of books out there that I can recommend for you. You can find guidebooks that come with your tarot cards. These materials will help you gain confidence while you're learning how to read the cards.
Incorporating Tarot into Your Journal
If you're ready to start journaling with your tarot cards, I have a couple of suggestions for you that can help you get started in your journal.
Daily Draws and Reflections
The first thing I recommend is doing a daily draw. It doesn't have to be a lot of cards, although it can be if you want. I recommend starting with one card a day, either in the morning or at night.
You're going to want to get into a good space. Maybe if you have an area dedicated to your mindfulness practices, or you can set up wherever you feel comfortable. When you're comfortable, you're going to draw a card. Once you're looking at this card, you're going to want to think about how that card might be reflecting your state of mind. You might want to think about what message the card is trying to give you, or you could be asking yourself how you can apply the energy and insights of the cards that day.
After you've sat with the card for a little while, take out your journal. You're going to want to write down the card that you pulled, the date, your initial thoughts about seeing the card, and any intuitive thoughts that popped into your head. Some other questions that you can ask yourself are:
- Think about how the card relates to your everyday life or the challenges that you're having at the moment.
- What kind of emotions are you feeling from the card? And think about why you're feeling that way.
- Where in my life can I apply the energy from this card? How is it going to benefit me?
If you've been reading tarot cards and journaling together for a while, you're going to notice that your reflections are getting more detailed and are helping you understand what's going on in your life more.
Creating Tarot Spreads for Journaling
Once you feel comfortable reading a one-card draw, you can branch out into other kinds of tarot spreads. Or you could even decide that you want to create your own tarot spread because you have a unique situation and you can't find a spread for your particular situation. For example, if you are in a relationship and you have questions about the relationship, you could create a Tarot spread specifically for that. You can do it for work questions, financial questions, and personal growth.
How to Craft Your Own Tarot Spread
- Embrace Your Intuition: Tarot is an art of intuition, so let your inner voice guide you. Meditate, clear your mind, and tune into the whispers of your soul.
- Define Your Intention: What burning question or life area do you seek clarity on? Your intention will shape the spread's structure and card positions. Clarify your focus – relationships, career, self-discovery, or any other realm that calls to you.
- Tap into Symbolism: Tarot is rich with symbolism, so let it inspire your spread's design. Consider incorporating elemental associations (fire, water, air, earth), celestial bodies (sun, moon, stars), or archetypal figures (The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess) that resonate with your intention.
- Play with Patterns: Tarot spreads often follow geometric shapes or patterns that hold symbolic meaning. Experiment with layouts like the Celtic Cross, the Tree of Life, or the Zodiac Wheel. Or create your own unique pattern that speaks to your intuition.
- Assign Card Positions: Determine how many cards your spread will include and what each position represents. Will some cards represent the past, present, and future? Or perhaps obstacles, advice, and outcomes? Clearly define each position's role in illuminating your intention.
- Name Your Creation: Once you've crafted your spread, give it a name that captures its essence. Draw inspiration from your intention, symbolism, or the pattern you've used. A name like “The Seeker's Path” or “The Cosmic Mirror” can imbue your spread with extra meaning.
- Test and Refine: Like any creative endeavor, your tarot spread may need some tweaking. Try it out and see if the card positions and layout effectively address your intention. Adjust as needed until it feels just right.
- Share Your Vision: Tarot is a beautiful, communal practice. If your spread resonates strongly, consider sharing it with others. Write about it, teach a class, or create a shareable graphic – your unique creation may inspire fellow seekers on their own journeys.
Remember, creating a tarot spread reflects your self-expression. Trust your intuition, use the images on your cards, and let your creativity flow. Your one-of-a-kind spread will customize your tarot reading.
Deepening Self-Exploration through Tarot Journaling
Once we have our tarot cards, our journal, and our tarot spread, we can start using these tools to help us understand ourselves a little bit better. You're going to use your intuition and your thoughts about your reading, and this is going to help you on your journey.
Here are a few ways that you can use journaling to help you understand yourself better:
- Explore the themes and patterns in your journal. After you have been writing in your journal for a while, take a day to look back at all of your journal entries and see if you begin to notice any patterns or things that have come up in your life.
- When you are looking through your pages, you might want to use some highlighters or different colored pens to bring attention to different things that have shown up for you. For example, if you are reading and you've noticed that there's a lot of negative thoughts about work, you can explore that more in your journal.
- Use a different section of your notebook to do these different reflections. After you've gone through and highlighted the information, it's going to allow you to compare and contrast what's been going on, and you'll be able to notice if any of the changes that you might make are working.
Setting Intentions with Tarot
Before you start your tarot reading, you're going to want to set some clear intentions about what you want from your reading. Think about the specific questions that you might want to ask. Then, as you're shuffling, ask your tarot cards to answer that particular question.
If you want to take it one step further, you can create a ritual for yourself for when you are going to start reading your cards. When I am ready to do a tarot reading, I usually get my space all set up. I like to have a piece of fabric that I lay my cards on so that I have a clearly defined area for my reading. I like to light some sage and clear the energy of the room. Then after that, I light some candles to set the mood. I know some other people like to set up crystals around their area or they might like to have some other little personal things that help them focus.
Writing Prompts and Creative Exercises
Are you looking for some other ideas on how to combine your tarot reading with journaling? Here are a few different ideas that you can try. They are meant to help you connect to your cards and build your intuition.
Tarot Exercises: Enhancing Intuition
Three-Card Past, Present, Future Spread: Exercise: Shuffle the deck while focusing on your current life situation. Draw three cards to represent the past, present, and future. Reflect on how the past card contributed to your current situation and how the present card can influence your future trajectory.
Journaling Points:
- Describe each card and its conventional meaning.
- How do these cards reflect your personal experiences?
- What intuitive feelings or thoughts emerge as you reflect on these cards together?
Tarot Exercise: Intuitive Storytelling
Objective: To deepen the connection with your intuition and see how different cards interact in a narrative that reflects aspects of your own life or spiritual journey.
Exercise:
- Set an Intention: Begin by setting an intention or asking a question that you want guidance on. This could be related to your personal development, a relationship, or any other area of life where you seek deeper insight.
- Draw Three Cards: Shuffle your tarot deck and draw three cards. Place them in a row in front of you.
- Create a Story: Without looking up the traditional meanings right away, create a story based on the images of the cards. Start with the first card as the beginning of your story, the second as the middle, and the third as the end. Focus on how the figures, symbols, and actions in the cards interact with each other.
- Reflect on the Narrative: After you’ve created your story, reflect on how it might relate to your life. Consider the emotions, challenges, and solutions that appeared in your narrative.
Journaling Points:
- Describe the story you created from the cards.
- How does this story relate to your current life or the intention you set at the beginning?
- What new insights or perspectives did you gain about your situation through this narrative approach?
- How did the act of storytelling help you tap into your intuition?
I would love to hear your story that you wrote using your tarot cards. Join my FB group and share there!
Joining my Facebook group is another resource to learn more about tarot and manifesting.
Journal Prompts for Tarot Intuition
Here are some tarot journaling prompts that you can use over and over again to improve your tarot reading skills! I like to use number 3 a lot.
- What emotions do I feel when I look at my tarot card of the day? Why might this card evoke these feelings?
- Reflect on a recent decision you made. How would your tarot cards have guided you in this situation?
- Write about a recurring symbol that appears in your tarot readings. What might this symbol be telling you about your life path?
- How can the lessons from today's tarot card be applied to a current challenge I'm facing?
- Describe a situation where your intuition was right. How do your tarot practices reinforce this intuitive sense?
- What fears does my tarot practice reveal, and how can I address these fears constructively?
- What strengths are consistently highlighted in my tarot readings, and how can I utilize them more in my life?
- How has my understanding of tarot changed as I have continued to practice and study the cards?
- Write about a tarot card that I initially disliked or felt uncomfortable with. What has changed about my perception of this card?
- What card do I feel represents me best at this moment, and why?
- How do different spreads (e.g., one card, three cards, Celtic Cross) influence the insights I gain from a reading?
- In reflecting on a tarot reading from a week ago, what predictions or insights have manifested in my life since then?
- If I could create a tarot card that represents my current emotional state, what would it look like, and why?
- What lessons can I learn from the suit of cups (or wands, swords, pentacles) that apply to my personal life?
- How does journaling about my tarot readings enhance my understanding and intuition?
As you can see, there are a lot of benefits and many ways for you to combine tarot reading with journaling. By using the two together, you are going to get deeper insights into your thoughts, your feelings, and your life's journey. Please remember to keep an open mind while you are doing your readings. I have no doubt that journaling will help you gain more confidence!
If you like free things, check out this Freebie Marketplace. I have a free gift for you there. It is the Tarot Intuition Playbook and I think you will love it!
