Everyone says that journaling about tarot is one of the best ways to learn the tarot cards. But just pulling one card a day and writing about it can get pretty…. well, boring. To combat this dryness and give you something to look forward to as journal time approaches, here are some really fun tarot journaling exercises you can try out.
Ask the Cards Something Ridiculous
This is pretty straight-forward, but think of a question or problem you’ve been having, and ask your tarot cards about it. I honestly have a very hard time reading for myself, and can’t make sense of the cards when I ask them a serious question of my own. It’s like my intuition shuts down completely and the cards become these meaningless objects in front of me. Hopefully it’s not the same for you, but if it is, or if you just want to try something fun, then do a reading on a ridiculous topic.
What on earth do I mean? Ask the cards what their favorite movie is. Ask them if they are early risers or night owls. Ask them if they have a hard time eating all their vegetables. These questions sound ridiculous, right? And you also kind of really want to know the answers, right?
This kind of reading accomplishes a lot – you get to practice finding meaning in the cards for really obscure contexts, you get to “interview” your tarot decks and feel like you are getting to know them as full entities with their own personalities, and you get to do destress and hopefully have a laugh over the silliness of it all. Tarot doesn’t have to be so serious!
Document The Fool’s Journey from Your Own Life Experience
This falls in line with the one card a day standard. Pull each card in the major arcana in numerical order, and tell your own life story, mirroring the Fool’s Journey. Don’t worry about plotting this out in any kind of detail, just write the next event in your life that mirrors each card.
This exercise helps you tie the meaning of the cards to events in your own life. This deepens your connection to the tarot, while also giving you easy mnemonics to remember the meanings when you are doing readings.
Find the People You Know in the Cards
Pull a card. Maybe it is the Queen of Swords. Who in your life does this remind you of? Maybe it’s your mother. Write about how all the qualities in the card match your mother. Pull another card. Who does this remind you of? Pull as many cards as you feel like each day, and see who in your life – past or present – each card represents.
I think it makes it even more fun to include celebrities, or even fictional characters.
One of My All-Time Favorite Tarot Journaling Exercises: Combine The Fool’s Journey with Finding People to Make an Epic Adventure
Ok, now we get to do something really interesting by combining the previous two exercises. This one is really great if you are interested in writing fiction or storytelling. We are going to tell a detailed story.
Separate out the major arcana and the minor arcana. Pull a card from the minors. This is going to be your main character. Pull another card. This is your antagonist, aka the Bad Guy. Pull as many more from the minors as you like, and get your cast of characters. Write out in detail who each character is.
Now, tell the Fool’s Journey using the characters you set up. As the journey progresses, you can pull more cards from the minors to expand your cast of characters.
I love this exercise because it can really develop into something extraordinary, and you can maybe even turn it into a real work of fiction worth publishing.
Don’t Just Write: Video Your Tarot Journaling Exercises
This last suggestion can be applied to any and all other tarot journaling exercises that you have ever heard about: don’t write them down, video them! Simply get your phone, prop it up along a wall or some books, hit record, pull your cards, and start talking.
This helps you read quickly and intuitively and encourages you to not stop to look up meanings while your doing it. You also get to rehearse how you communicate your readings when not writing. This is a critical exercise if you plan to live readings for others, or want to record yourself for YouTube or TikTok.
Getting comfortable reading in front of a camera can open up so many doors for you, so I very strongly recommend this step. It can feel terrifying at first, but once you’ll do it you might find that it’s loads of fun. (Or if you absolutely hate it, you can rule it out for good!)
I hope these suggestions help liven up your tarot practice and your journaling! Please feel free to share this article if you thought it was helpful.
And now for some links! I earn a small commission from Amazon if you click through the links below and purchase something, and this does not affect the price you pay in anyway. I appreciate your support!
A Course In Tarot provides lots of in-depth lessons and detailed exercises to help you get a better grasp of the tarot, and expand your skills through practice. Available on Amazon:
If you want a unique approach to the cards to help you develop a personal connection with them as you do your tarot exercises, I highly recommend this gem I found called The Transformational Truth of Tarot. It is available at Amazon:
If you’d like a free copy of the tarot cheat sheets I use in my practice, and to receive my newsletter to stay up to date on my latest blog posts, sign up here: Tarot Elements Cheat Sheets
