Weekly Magick: Journaling

Believe it or not, keep a journal is important for any Wiccan for many, many different reasons! Now, this journal is different from your Book of Shadows. This journal is for personal thoughts, ideas, and just general feelings. In fact, I have several different journals (or folders) for different areas of my life. I have my general journal, with things like how my day went, what I am feeling, what is going on, and things like that. Then I have a health journal for keeping my health problems in check. I have a financial journal to keep my feelings about how things are financially together. I have lots of little ones, like creativity, etc.But I also have records for spells, rituals, and even herbal remedies. During this week, we'll discover how important these journals are.

I don't know about you, but I journaled in middle and high school. In fact, I had an English class where we were required to keep journals on certain topics. It was part of a "Creative Writing" stint, but the classroom enjoyed it so much, the teacher decided to keep doing it. And if we had a spectacular weekend, we were able to "Sound Off" instead of writing about whatever was on the board. I "sounded off" more than I wrote a page or two full of fiction. In high school, we were required to write about Business topics in my Intro to Business class, but because I wasn't interested in business at the time, I decided to write about things that happened that impacted business. I was beginning to learn who I was at the time, and realized that I loved writing more than anything.

Keeping a journal while you walk the path of Wicca is important for that very reason. It helps you develop your closeness with your decisions during your lifetime. You learn a lot about yourself. You also learn a lot about your beliefs.

Not only do you learn, you get a sense of release. If you are angry and afraid you will say something nasty to the person, tell them in your journal. I know I've been so mad that I just wanted to yell at that person. But instead, I wrote it down. I made angry-looking drawings in the margins. I used big letters. I used black pens. I automatically felt a little better.

I am not a psychologist by any means. I am just going by what I have done and what happened. If you feel you have a problem that can't be solved by putting pen to paper or any other form of non-professional remedy, then it might be time to pick up the phone.

Weekly Magick: Tarot-Journaling

Whether it is for you or for someone you read for, keeping your readings together will help you in the long run so you can go back and look at any mistakes you made. If your readee (haha) comes back to give you updates, it will be easier to go back to that date for reference. You can keep track of several ways.
One of the ways I keep a track of a read for personal use is in this form.

Date, Day, Time, Weather, Emotions, Health, and the Spread you use. If you are doing a spread for a month, write it for Week 1, Week 2, etc. The same goes for several months but instead of "weeks", you would substitute that for "month". Beside the week/month/year/day, write the name of the card that was received. Then write the card's meaning below that and the result of what happened during that time.

When writing for a week spread, it is better to write the dates of that week. What I mean is if you are doing a read on October 14th (from one of my own records), next to "Week 1", write October 14-21. That way you know EXACTLY how long it will last for that week so you don't get confused.

For the "result" or what happened during those times, it is better to give details of it all. Even if you dropped a pot of boiling water. You may not notice it now, but it will eventually make sense. The card might not say "Bad day coming", but it is possible.

Another way to keep a tarot journal is to do the same outline above but with a section for notes at the bottom. If cards are repeating themselves in certain reads, you need to go back and think about what it means. Write it at the bottom of each read they occur.

If you are reading for someone, make sure to write any contact information at the top of the sheet in case you need to contact them. Write their emotions as well as yours because they both coincide with how things may come about. If you are feeling negative and so is the person, the meanings of the cards and their result may turn negative. So if something goes wrong, you can go back and see.

As far as health, it is inappropriate to strangers "What is your health like these days?" because it is personal business. Instead, ask how their wellbeing is. Are they usually sick, well, or in-between. Usually one can tell if someone isn't well, so if you are unsure they are telling the truth, write that down. They may not be sure themselves.

If you don't want to write during the read, feel free to have someone write it for you or video tape the reading so you can translate it to paper (or in some cases, hard drives) for your record. Ensure the person that only you will video the video.

If you aren't up for writing a journal, take a video of all readers (personal or otherwise) and just write small notes (like the outlines) and file them on disks.

Either way you journal is up to you. Make sure you are comfortable doing it and enjoy your new experience with tarot cards!