smittenkitten Posted April 10, 2021 Posted April 10, 2021 Hi! I just wanted to share a picture of my new folder and journal for tarot study. I'll primarily be working with Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot. I'm excited to get started on Monday when the book arrives, but for now I'm getting organised. I'm going to use the folder for my readings and general notes, and the journal for card interpretation (I'm considering setting it up for each card in advance with stick on images of the cards but it would be a LOT of work. (not pictured: new fountain pen and sapphire ink on its way) I would love to see how others organise their study!
HOLMES Posted April 10, 2021 Posted April 10, 2021 Kudos for such organization I once tried to take notes.. it didnt go well my hand writing is really bad. So all my study is done on the forum. When i am exploring my tarot thought. An exercise i used was to choose a keyword between 3 or 4 books i had at the time for the major arcana.. so i contrasted and compared. Like for examole the devil what is it. Fear? Ego? Actual evil? . Open up a decent book and you will see many keywords for any major arcana. So which one do you choose, it depends on the situation when reading due to feeling.. But before the reading times. Still in the study part. It helps for me anyeays to pick one theme to go on. Of course that was back in the 90s. You are about be bombarded by one heck of a tarot text book. It looks like you are a great student so in book knowledge you are about to grow in leaps and bounds.
smittenkitten Posted April 10, 2021 Author Posted April 10, 2021 @HOLMES It definitely helps to have nice handwriting! I started journaling extensively 3 years ago so my hand has improved over time. I think comparing keywords is definitely an interesting approach, and a good way to gain new insight. Sadly I gave away most of my tarot books years ago, but as I work with Holistic/Tarot for Yourself in parallel I can certainly compare those! I think I would have had a very different tarot journey if I'd had books like this in the 90s! Back then it was hard to get good books in Australia (or at least in the city where I lived). The internet has truly transformed things. Thanks, I'm actually taking a break from a Psychology degree this year, so I've learned to be organised. Usually I prefer to do study digitally, but there's just something that helps me to retain and feel connected to the tarot when I take paper notes. It also helps that I have a lot of time on my hands so I can work through the study guides hopefully a bit quicker than if I was confined to studying only one or two days a week.
Guest Posted May 8, 2021 Posted May 8, 2021 I have a tarot journal but not as detailed as yours @smittenkitten. As I am still very early in my journey I do small spreads max 5 and don't look at the meanings but use what I see and write it down using keywords and questions even if I am not sure. Right now I am studying from Mary K greer. I do a few readings a day and journal them and keep track of the cards that come regularly.
smittenkitten Posted May 9, 2021 Author Posted May 9, 2021 @Pink it's great that you're journalling what you're learning! I'm doing a bit of work with Mary K Greer too, I find her approach is more about intuition than Benebell Wenn's (she doesn't discount intuition at all, but recommends learning the "traditional" meanings of the cards too). I am trying to get into the habit of daily readings, but I don't like to read about things that are important to me which I can't predict/control. I recently started a new relationship and was drawing a LOT of swords cards around that time, and it really gave me a negative mindset when (so far) it has been a very positive relationship. I also have to be mindful of my mental health - reading when I'm upset usually leads to being too pessimistic or feeling hopeless, so I try to avoid it.
Guest Posted May 10, 2021 Posted May 10, 2021 @smittenkitten I don't have Benebell's book, but it does not appeal to me right now. Maybe in a later stage. I think though, using intuition and traditional learning is both great. I don't think there is only just one way of learning tarot. It is very personal how someone approaches tarot. I have a few books and each author takes a different approach, so I take what works for me and don't fuss about the rest.
smittenkitten Posted May 11, 2021 Author Posted May 11, 2021 @Pink I think that's a really smart approach. Everyone's approach is different and it's important to find what works for you! It's good you've explored a range of authors to determine what suits your learning style right now 🙂
Pretzel Posted May 18, 2021 Posted May 18, 2021 Thanks for sharing! I was making some haphazard notes and since watching Benebell Wen's videos on YouTube I decided I should get serious about creating a journal. I'm using Evernote since my current notes are already there, but I've set it up kind of like a binder with different sections. What are you putting in the Rhodia notebook? I love those little books!
smittenkitten Posted May 18, 2021 Author Posted May 18, 2021 3 minutes ago, Pretzel said: What are you putting in the Rhodia notebook? I love those little books! I'm using it for my personal card meanings. So I've slowly been adding notes on the cards, both from Holistic Tarot and other sources. I've allocated 3 pages per Major Arcana card, 2 per Minor. And I have a few pages left for random stuff like study trackers or spreads or whatever. I love the physical process of taking notes, but I imagine the bulk of the study could easily be done digitally (and save a lot of paper too!)
Pretzel Posted May 18, 2021 Posted May 18, 2021 4 hours ago, smittenkitten said: I'm using it for my personal card meanings. So I've slowly been adding notes on the cards, both from Holistic Tarot and other sources. I've allocated 3 pages per Major Arcana card, 2 per Minor. And I have a few pages left for random stuff like study trackers or spreads or whatever. I love the physical process of taking notes, but I imagine the bulk of the study could easily be done digitally (and save a lot of paper too!) Cool! Thanks Smittenkitten. Yeah I love the physical process too, so I'm a little torn.
Annaporia Posted June 24, 2021 Posted June 24, 2021 @smittenkitten I love your setup. I'm still trying to figure out mine. I use Rhodia journals - for the lovely smooth paper and that orange elastic band🧡. My handwriting isn't pretty but legible to me, so that's all that matters. But it's really hard to refer to previous readings in journal format. I am keeping separate notes on cards as I accumulate various interpretations and systems, but haven't yet settled on a way to organize them that works for my particular brain.
Mesha Posted June 24, 2021 Posted June 24, 2021 @smittenkitten- I recently discovered Benebell when I ran across her recent deck and decided to buy. I’ve been looking around her site and watching her videos so far and found her to be a good resource. I was considering buying her book so I’d be very interested in how it works for you. I started Mary Greer with a group but that fell apart since the group leaders weren’t invested in it. Whole thing was such an ordeal that I hadn’t picked it back up. I’m of the opinion anyhow that one needs to start with the basics anyhow. Currently my method is to color my own card deck while looking over the meanings from various sources and listening to video discussions on the cards meaning. It’s working fairly well at getting me to retain the meanings but something more is needed. I haven’t been journaling so taking notes in a book like you’ve set up would likely help. The main issue I’ve had is not knowing how/where to get clarity on some of the meanings that don’t fully make sense.
smittenkitten Posted June 30, 2021 Author Posted June 30, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 10:19 AM, Annaporia said: @smittenkitten I love your setup. I'm still trying to figure out mine. I use Rhodia journals - for the lovely smooth paper and that orange elastic band🧡. My handwriting isn't pretty but legible to me, so that's all that matters. But it's really hard to refer to previous readings in journal format. I am keeping separate notes on cards as I accumulate various interpretations and systems, but haven't yet settled on a way to organize them that works for my particular brain. It definitely took me some thinking to figure out my system. I agree the Rhodia journals are the best! I've never been big on taking notes on cards, I think they're probably a bit haphazard for me. But using looseleaf paper for my readings is definitely a good compromise for me.
smittenkitten Posted June 30, 2021 Author Posted June 30, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 8:07 PM, Mesha said: @smittenkitten- I recently discovered Benebell when I ran across her recent deck and decided to buy. I’ve been looking around her site and watching her videos so far and found her to be a good resource. I was considering buying her book so I’d be very interested in how it works for you. I started Mary Greer with a group but that fell apart since the group leaders weren’t invested in it. Whole thing was such an ordeal that I hadn’t picked it back up. I’m of the opinion anyhow that one needs to start with the basics anyhow. Currently my method is to color my own card deck while looking over the meanings from various sources and listening to video discussions on the cards meaning. It’s working fairly well at getting me to retain the meanings but something more is needed. I haven’t been journaling so taking notes in a book like you’ve set up would likely help. The main issue I’ve had is not knowing how/where to get clarity on some of the meanings that don’t fully make sense. It's a very dense book, but it's also comprehensive. I've found the accompanying study guides invaluable. Thus far, I've completed the Beginner Study Guide with the exception of the individual card studies. I've had a rough year so I've been taking a break from formal study to just practice reading and slowly I'm relearning the meanings of the cards (I have a LOT of recurring cards). I'd love to do a Mary Greer group but I wish I could get prerecorded meditations for entering the card. That is my main stumbling block with her book. Colouring your own deck sounds like a great way to create a really intimate connection to the deck. I've definitely found listening to interpretations of the cards from various sources useful. I'm a particular fan of The Antifragile Tarot podcast for it's far left readings of the cards, although I find Benebell's interpretations rich and detailed and I don't always need to look further. My intuition isn't great at the moment, I really need to do more intensive study of the cards and their symbolism so I can connect better I think.
Mesha Posted June 30, 2021 Posted June 30, 2021 2 hours ago, smittenkitten said: I'd love to do a Mary Greer group but I wish I could get prerecorded meditations for entering the card. That is my main stumbling block with her book. If you do one I’d love to take part! For the individual card meditations you could always record your own with your phone. I looked around a bit to see if anyone had done some but didn’t find much. This blog here has a written one that looks like it would be a great generic one you could use as guide to record your own. When I got the recent deck from Benabell I paid the extra $10 for the deck guide. It turned out to be 700 pages! I can’t imagine I’d need the Holistic book after that so we shall see.
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