This Connect With Your Deck Journal was created by Elizabeth Roebuck-Jones, and is a printable set of pdf files to help you form a stronger connection with your tarot deck. It is available to purchase on Etsy.
I originally discovered this journal while browsing Etsy, I was looking for a printable set of pages to get me in the habit of journaling with my tarot cards. Elizabeth also has a free Facebook group-based course which works really well with this journal, as well as monthly challenges on Instagram, all designed to help you connect more with your tarot deck.
This set of 4 pdf files give you a lot of pages to play with. It starts with a set of Tarot Symbols which can help making tarot journaling a lot quicker and easier, especially when taking notes about a large tarot spread.
There is then an Interview Your Deck spread, which is a lovely way of getting to understand your deck better. It’s a spread I’ve started to use for each of my new decks to gain a better understanding of how best to use them.
Then you come to a mandala habit tracker. You can assign a colour of your choice to each of the habits, then colour a piece of the mandala in that colour when you complete that positive step towards connecting with your deck. I admit this is one part of the journal I’ve not always kept up with, as I don’t always have my coloured pencils handy when I’m doing my tarot journaling.
And then we get to the bulk of the journal, pages for each of the 78 tarot cards, divided into the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana, and then the court cards. Each page contains spaces for you to put the date you worked with that particular card, the deck you’ve used and the name of the card in that deck (names are not filled in because not all decks use the traditional suits of Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles). There is a place for you to draw or stick an image of the card. I scanned my decks into my computer and printed them out onto sticker paper, but you do receive printable black & white images of the Waite-Smith deck to use if you are not able to scan in your own deck.
You can draw in your chosen symbol, the keywords you assign to that card, and your own interpretation of that card’s meaning. The main journal card pages also include the traditional meaning on that card, and it’s keywords. If you do not want the filled in traditional meanings, there is a “Tarot Card Connection” page in the bonus pages pdf which has an empty “Traditional Tarot card meaning” box, and “Your Feelings about the card” replaces the “Your card meaning” box.
There is a Daily Tarot Draw section, which allows you to track daily card pulls if you do them. I originally used these pages for the monthly Connect With Your Deck challenges on Instagram, but I now use the dedicated pages for this that are now available as a separate purchase and download here.
Then there is a pair of 3-card reading layouts, before offering some helpful tips about reading for other people, and finally a page about Elizabeth’s background.
The bonus pages also include a guide to calculating your birth card, finding the intent of your deck (the author’s thoughts when creating the deck), an exercise for journaling after sleeping with a card under your pillow or beside your bed, and some reflective journal questions to consider. These bonus pages were designed to compliment the free Connect With Your Deck course, offered via Facebook groups, but they are useful even if you decide not to take part in the course.
The pdf set includes a front and back cover, as well as a spine image, in both black & white and colour, so if you want to print them out to decorate a folder you can. I personally just punched the pages to work as a disc bound journal.
I personally have printed the pages out onto A4 paper, but they work well printed at US letter size too (I believe that’s how they were designed to be printed). As you can see from my photos, I’ve printed them both on parchment print paper as well as plain white sheets and they work well on both.
I am very pleased that I decided to purchase this journal, and it’s definitely helped me get into the habit of working with, and journaling about, my tarot cards which was exactly my goal ^_^
If you decide you would like this printable journal for yourself, you can get a discount code for the Connect With Your Deck Etsy shop by clicking here and signing up to Elizabeth’s newsletter. If you are interested in the monthly Instagram challenge, more details can be found here.
The Divination Dragon 