Do you keep a journal of any kind? For a very long time, I didn’t. I was always afraid that the secret nature would be revealed by someone too nosey to not let me have my privacy. Other times, as i got older, I would have good intentions and buy a book, begin to journal and then quickly give up the routine. Several years ago, I had a doctor tell me how journaling was very good as a way to release anxiety and stress. Later on, my craft teachers would stress the importance of journaling in tracking our successes and failures. The hard head that I am, it took many years to finally get into a habit of it but now I feel that it is a very important process for me. And I now know that this is a tool that everyone should use. A journal doesn’t have to be used as a place to write down day in and day out account of every moment of your life. That would get very boring, really, for me, it takes on a few different roles depending on my mood for the day. Most times, I use it to record very important events where I know I need to remember the details, times when I am truly pissed off and need to blow off some steam, or times when I feel that I need to speak directly to the divine or higher consciousness. What constitutes an important event? Well, for me, these weren’t events like kid’s birthday’s or anniversaries, etc. We usually have pictures and numerous accounts of these events. The important events that I am speaking of are more like self-revelations, magical workings, rituals involving manifestation, divination readings, etc. Making note of the atmosphere, the correspondences and tools used, what our EXACT manifestation was, the time of day, the moon stage, etc. Then going back and making notes over the next moon cycle on how these workings manifested a change, if they were successful or correct in their projection, and how I could possibly make adjustments in the future to be more specific in directing the energy or more accurate in interpreting divination symbols, etc. This type of journaling has become a game changer for me in my craft. Journaling away my stress and anxiety: Sometimes, we need to allow ourselves to unload and by doing that we release what is weighing us down and back. Rather than speaking the words to someone who may or may not understand, have a loose tongue, or even have the ability to lend an ear, I normally use my journal. I don’t rant to be heard or to hurt someone, I rant to remove the negative feelings from myself and embed them on that paper. Sometimes the paper is full of pissed off scribbles that no one, not even I, could possibly even read later on. Although that doesn’t matter since I actually never refer back to this type of journaling. Once I release that energy from myself, it would be pointless to even try to reread it and reabsorb the power it once held over me. After I have left my stress, anxiety and anger on that paper, I am lighter and of a better frame of mind to find a solution. We don’t always rant because we are asking for a solution from someone else or wanting advice, we just want a trustworthy ear. And time and time again, I learned a hard lesson that was those ears are very hard to find. And other times, through working out my trouble on paper, it was revealed that the problem was really just me being an asshole and it gave me a direction to work on. Journaling used as a direct line to the divine and/or our high consciousness. When I am really seeking insight, direction or purpose I will journal to my higher self or my deity. In this journaling I actually address who it is I am seeking: Dear Self, My Dearest Hekate, Dearest Pan, etc. I have found clarity many times through this type of journaling but it is something that requires a little more work. This journaling requires less thought and more letting myself relax into a meditative like state and write what comes to mind rather than complete and well thought sentences. It is through the lack of editing my thoughts and words that I find the truth in what I am asking and truly seeking. In a way, this can be used as a sort of divination of its own. And because of that, I tend to follow up after a while to see if questions were answered over time. It has always been useful to pay particular attention to dreams within the following moon cycle for answers from the divine after a request. Because I journal on these occasions alone, I do not have a daily entry. There have been times that weeks or months go by without really having anything noteworthy to write about, and it is during that time that I let myself off the hook. It is by feeling like I am required to write in it every single day that I became bored, lost interest, and began to dislike the idea of journaling all together. It felt like more of a chore rather than a tool. However, when I began journaling for necessity (or what I had defined as my need of it), that I seen it as a nonreplicable tool. Your need may be very different than mine, that is not the point here. The point is to discover your need and then to allow the journal to be your personal tool for success and well-being. Blessed Be )o( Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/135152783@N02/38021335125/
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Keri Nichol
Founder, Artist, Herbalist, and Writer Archives
August 2018
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