The Moon: Narrative Journaling

A great way to get to know your cards is to actually put yourself in the cards. Whether stepping into the cards as part of a meditation or assuming the position of a person or object in the card, you can learn a lot about the card and its meanings.

Here is a short narrative piece from a Tarot meetup about the Moon card. I write as if I am the Moon in the card, describing all I see around me:

“I look down onto a blue sea and mountain range. There are two towers below, as well as a wolf and a crayfish on a stone landing. The feeling is calm as the waves rhythmically crash against the shore where the animals stand. The air is cool.

The animals stand expectantly and guarded, as if the alone offer passage into the sea to reach the towers and mountains beyond.

I hang heavy and low in the sky and silently work with the sea below as I make the tide come in and go out. My movements are cyclical as are the cycles of the sea’s tides. Though we seem like two very separate entities, we are tied closely together in our cycles. Grays and blues are I see. Visibility may be limited but I know the sky and sea are deeper than they seem.”

This narrative is a bit rough but for 10 minutes worth of journaling time I uncovered meanings in this card that hadn’t occured to me before.

Have you done a journaling exercise where you wrote as someone/something in the card? How did that entry reveal meaning to you? I think doing this exercise for each card is an excellent way to not only get to know your deck better but to also intuitively learn new meanings and associations.

“Story of my Life!” – a Tarot Timeline

In Corinne Kenner’s “Tarot Journaling,” she suggests a way to use Tarot to understand your past: assign the Majors to big events in your life thus far. In her book she lists the Majors in order and attaches an event to each card. These events are out of order, taken from her youth to her adulthood. A variation of this would be to depict the timeline of your life using the Majors chronologically. I’d like to share my timeline here.

This was an interesting assignment. First of all, I’m 22 years old and there’s 22 Majors (ha) so at times it was hard for me to place all the cards. I found that cards were easiest to place for my college years. These events are the most recent, plus I think I went through lots of big changes, which explains why a large chunk of the Majors in my timeline represent these years.

The major events in my life were easy to assign a card to, but some of the cards were more difficult. In all I think the cards either ended up representing a person, an timeframe or a specific event for me.

1. The Sun – Growing up, raised by parents and grandparents, perfectly perfect.
2. The Hierophant – Attending Catholic School, a world of order and discipline.
3. Justice – My parents divorce.
4. The Empress – I go to live with my mom, who becomes mother and father.
5. The Hermit – I grew up with good role models to shared their time with me.
6. The Devil - High School A time of much pain – a slave to my anger.
7. The Emperor - My first boyfriend.
8. The Magician – My second boyfriend, who introduced me to everything Pagan.
9. Strength – Overcoming “The Devil” part of my high school experience thanks to the Magician.
10. Wheel of Fortune – Acceptance into several colleges.
11. The Fool - Choosing a college in another city.
12. Judgment – The Call of the Goddess. I become Wiccan.
13. Temperance – Wicca helps me complete the work of the Strength card, bringing balance into my life.
14. Death – My Grandmother passes away, the first death in my immediate family I’ve experienced.
15. Moon – Engaged to Magician, but all is not what it seems.
16. The Hanged Man - The Magician joins the Army, goes to training. Left alone in stasis, my religion saves me.
17. The Tower – I break the engagement.
18. The Lovers – I begin to date a long-time friend, who shows me what a real relationship is supposed to be. (My 2007 card.)
19. The Star – Preparing to graduate, I hope for a bright future.
20. The Chariot – Graduation, propelled into a new apt and my first full-time work. I move again and change jobs again 8 months later. 2008 is also my Chariot year, obviously.
21. The World – Changing jobs, returning to work the college I attended (full circle).
22. The High Priestess – Re-dedication to Wicca and my Tarot studies. Enhancing my creativity through my spirituality.

Whew! Really puts things into perspective. Maybe I’ll do this again at 33, 44, etc and see how it changes Have you done this exercise before? Please share your thoughts!

Types of Tarot Journals

I’m currently reading Corrine Kenner’s “Tarot Journaling” again. I read this book about a year or so ago but I wasn’t as passionate about Tarot as I’ve become now – perhaps the book came a bit too early for me Anyway, I’m enjoying it much more now and each page seems to contain a tip that makes me think “oh, I should try that” or “i need to remember that”.

In the beginning of the book, Kenner talks about the different kinds of Tarot journals you can keep, some of which I’m already doing! Here are the ways I currently document my Tarot experience:

1. Reading record – I keep a little black unlined book in my Tarot bag for recording readings when I’m not near a computer. This includes readings for myself and others. In this notebook I can jot down the cards in the spread to re-create for later study as well as any other pertinent information or intuitions I have at the time.
2. Card interpretation notebook – This notebook is a lined Moleskine notebook that is very durable and easy to carry around. I have a page dedicated to each card and include pieces of Tarot info that I’ll want to reference again and again, like spread layouts. For me this is a kind of Book of Shadows of Tarot, because it’s a compendium of my understanding of the Tarot and is my number one reference for card info.
3. Workbook – That would be this blog! A place for working through Tarot exercises or writing about Tarot classes and meetups (which I’m attending soon) – this blog allows me to to see where I’ve been and where I’m at. I also have a physical notebook I use a Moleskine for recording personal spellwork, which I could also contribute Tarot work entries.
4. Artist’s Journal – this was my favorite recommendation, probably because I hadn’t really considered it till now! Use a sketchbook to illustrate cards, collage images that remind of you a card, etc. Not only will this deepen my Tarot connection but will also bring out my creative side too!

I hope if you’re into writing or into Tarot you’ll pick up “Tarot Journaling” and get inspired!

Tarot Journaling

Though this blog is my day-to-day Tarot journal, I maintain a physical notebook on Tarot. Whereas this blog is more about experiences and readings (like a traditional journal) my physical notebook is a simple ruled Moleskine notebook which is quickly becoming my own personal reference book on Tarot. It’s a little disorganized but for the most part is a collection of spreads and card meanings.(I’ll try to take some pics and add them to this blog later)

I have dedicated a page (front and back) to each card where I include:

• meanings based on my feelings and intuition
• some traditional meanings (upright and reversed)
• symbolism (traditional and my own interpretations)
• art/pictures of the cards and assorted magazine clippings

This notebook is like a growing scrapbook of personal Tarot knowledge – a better book than any money can buy I know several writers online have multiple Tarot notebooks and journals organized in different ways. Interested in starting your own? Need some ideas? Here’s a few resources:

• Crafting a Tarot Journal
• Your Tarot Journal
• The website for the book Tarot Journaling (which I’ve read and recommend).