PDF · A4 · 30 days + 12 spreads
Printable tarot journal: 30-day PDF template
A tarot journal for 30 days with one page a day, plus 12 tried-and-tested spreads with layouts and guiding questions. Print them and fill them in with your deck.
The package includes the templates, together with every calculator in full. Bought on their own, you get both PDFs right away as a download.
Video · 30 seconds
Your Tarot Journal
A single three-card spread has 456,456 possible outcomes. Writing your cards down helps you see the patterns that would otherwise stay hidden. Calculate it for free: theastroacademy.com
Read along
A 3-card tarot reading has 456,456 possible outcomes. So you will probably never see that same combination again in your life. Imagine each card is a single dot on a blank piece of paper. When you write down your readings, you gradually connect these dots. This is an invitation to see for yourself what themes and patterns emerge. Try a spread for free at theastroacademy.com.
What the tarot journal holds
The printable tarot journal has 33 pages: a cover, a page of instructions, 30 daily pages and an overview of your 30 cards at the end. Every daily page has the same frame, so after a few days you no longer have to think about where things go. Across the 30 days the journal asks for 44 cards. Most days it is one; every seventh day you look back on the week with three cards.
- A line for the date and one for the moon phase, if you like to track it.
- Two lines for your question, before you shuffle.
- One to three empty card slots with a name line and a box for reversed cards.
- A prompt of the day that asks about your impression, not for a verdict.
- Eight writing lines and a small evening box: did the card show up?
The prompts build on one another. In the first week they are about the picture itself: colors, figures, the mood of a card. Then come work, money, relationships and the question of what holds you back and what supports you. At the end you leaf back and see which card came most often.
The 12 spreads as a PDF
The second PDF collects 12 tried-and-tested spreads for the questions people ask most, from the daily card to the Celtic Cross. Each sheet shows the layout with numbered slots, the positions with their guiding question and, on the smaller spreads, room for your question, the date and notes. Together that makes 58 positions. You can also draw every spread online here; the links in the table take you straight there.
| Spread | Cards | Possible layouts from 78 cards |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Reading | 3 | 456,456 |
| Past, Present, Future | 3 | 456,456 |
| Situation, Action, Outcome | 3 | 456,456 |
| Mind, Body, Spirit | 3 | 456,456 |
| Relationship Spread | 3 | 456,456 |
| Compatibility Spread | 7 | 13 trillion |
| Stay or Go | 6 | 185 billion |
| Turbulent Finances | 6 | 185 billion |
| Week Ahead | 6 | 185 billion |
| New Moon | 3 | 456,456 |
| Full Moon | 5 | 2.5 billion |
| Celtic Cross | 10 | 4.6 quintillion |
The last column counts how many ways the positions can be filled from a 78-card deck when the order matters. With just three cards it is almost half a million. That is why writing it down pays off: the same layout practically never comes up twice.
How to keep your tarot journal
A tarot journal works best when it stays small. Put it next to your deck or on your nightstand and give yourself five minutes. Short sentences are enough. If after three days you notice you lack the time, draw just one card and only fill in the evening box.
- Ask open questions: "What do I need today?" carries further than "Will today be a good day?"
- Write down your first impression before you look up the meaning. That is exactly what is interesting later.
- Check for yourself in the evening whether the card showed up. Often it is a conversation or a small decision.
- Leaf back every seventh day. Which card comes back, and which theme does too?
You will find fitting questions for every topic among the questions to ask the tarot cards. And when you want to look a card up, each of the 78 is listed with its meaning among the tarot card meanings.
Paper or the diary in the app
Both have their place. Every reading you draw online here lands automatically in the tarot diary in the app, with the date, the question and the cards. The paper journal is for what no app writes down for you: your first impression, a sketch of the card, the line in the evening. Many people like writing by hand precisely because it is slower and makes you look more closely.
If you want to read up on the cards in depth, there is the Tarot Handbook with all 78 cards. The journal and the spread sheets are its counterpart: little text, plenty of room for yours.
How often does a card repeat within 30 days?
Almost always. Draw one card a day from the full deck for 30 days and at least one repeats 99.8% of the time. After a single week the chance is already 24.2%. The reason is that the number of possible pairs grows every day, just like two people sharing a birthday in a group.
On average you see 25 different cards in 30 days, so on about 5 days a card turns up that is already in the journal. Drawing from the 22 Major Arcana only, you see 16.6 different ones on average, and after 23 days a repeat is certain. A card that comes back is not a sign in itself. What is interesting is whether the same thing comes to mind each time.
| Days | At least one repeat (78 cards) | At least one repeat (22 Majors) | Different cards on average (78) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 24.2% | 65.5% | 6.7 |
| 14 | 71.1% | 99.6% | 12.9 |
| 21 | 94.8% | 100% | 18.5 |
| 30 | 99.8% | 100% | 25 |
Method: pure probability. One card a day from a freshly shuffled deck, days independent of each other; 78 cards or the 22 Major Arcana. Possible layouts in the table above: ordered draws without replacement from 78 cards, no reversals. No usage data.
Tarot journal: frequently asked questions
- How do I keep a tarot journal?
- Before you draw, write down the date and your question, then the cards and your first impression. In the evening, note briefly whether the card showed up in your day. Five minutes a day are enough; what matters is that you keep going.
- What do I write in a tarot journal?
- The date, your question, the cards and whether one was reversed. Add what you notice in the picture before you look up the meaning, and a sentence or two on the prompt of the day. The template gives you one such prompt for each of the 30 days.
- Is the printable tarot journal free?
- No. Both PDFs are included in the package and cost €9.99 on their own. The diary in the app stays free: every reading you draw here lands there on its own.
- What format are the templates?
- As two A4 PDFs: the journal with 33 pages and the spreads with 14 pages. Print them at home, have them bound at a copy shop or fill them in on a tablet.
- Do I need my own tarot deck?
- No. You can use any deck or draw your cards online, for example with the daily card. The card slots in the journal are blank, so you write in the name or sketch the card.