Soft Spirituality

If you looked at my bookshelf, you’d see a crap ton of journals. Some filled out, some barely started, some a mess, some perfectly organized. But each served (and serve) a purpose: they’ve helped me grow into the witch I am today. Whether I’m tracking moon cycles, journaling meditation sessions, or jotting down quick notes about rituals, keeping documentation of what I’m learning and experiencing has been one of the best things I’ve done for my journey as a witch.

Keeping a spiritual journal perfect for both new and experienced witches. This guide offers 15 journal ideas to inspire and deepen your own spiritual practice.

Discover the history of witch’s journals and the types of magical records. Learn how keeping a Book of Shadows can benefit you. Find out how to set up your writing space and protect your journal.

Explore writing prompts for witches and how lunar phases can guide your journaling. This guide covers many journaling techniques to improve your witchcraft. It also shows how dream journaling can boost your intuition and reveal your future.

Benefits of Keeping a Witch’s Journal

Keeping a witch’s journal has many benefits. It helps with self-awareness, tracking progress, and finding patterns. It also helps in learning from past experiences and deepens the magical connection.

Essential Tools and Materials for Your Magical Journal

Making a magical journal is key for any witch. You need the right notebook, writing tools, and decorations. These choices make your journal special and meaningful.

The Notebook

Start with a good notebook. Look for one with thick, durable pages. A hardcover keeps your writings safe and allows your journal to grow.

Writing Instruments

Choose pens, pencils, or calligraphy tools that fit your style. Wooden pencils or fountain pens with refillable ink are great. They add a timeless feel to your journal.

Decorative Elements

• Dried flowers, leaves, or herbs for a natural look
• Crystals, charms, or symbols to add energy
• Washi tape, stickers, or stamps for fun and personal touches

Choosing the right tools and materials makes your magical journal special. It becomes a sacred space for your spiritual journey. Enjoy making your own grimoire and let it be your witchcraft companion.

Creating Your Book of Shadows and Spiritual Journals: Foundation Steps

Making a Book of Shadows is a special step for witches. It’s a place for your spiritual finds, spells, and growth. Start by making your journal special with rituals, a sacred writing area, and protection.

Consecrating Your Journal

First, consecrate your journal. This act fills your space with purpose and connects you to your magic. Use items like sage, crystals, or moon water to purify and bless it. This adds your energy to the journal.

Setting Sacred Space

Find a quiet, peaceful place for your Book of Shadows. Make it welcoming for your magical work. Add symbols, candles, or altars that mean something to you. This creates a special area for your journal and rituals.

Protection Rituals for Your Writings

• Cast a protective circle around your writing space to shield your journal from unwanted energies.
• Inscribe runes, sigils, or other symbolic markers on the cover or pages of your journal to guard your words.
• Perform a cleansing ritual with sage, salt, or other purifying elements to maintain the sanctity of your Book of Shadows.

By consecrating your journal, setting up a sacred space, and using protection rituals, you lay a solid base for your magic. Your Book of Shadows will be a treasured friend, showing your growth and spiritual journey.

Here’s 15 ideas for journals you can keep if you’re looking for deepening your witchy life:

1. Seasonal Tracker:

Use a seasonal journal to track and record the things you are naturally drawn to doing (or feeling). Keeping this tracker will help you align yourself to your own natural cycles throughout the year. I’m not sure about you, but it’s become very clear what works for me during each season and what doesn’t work for me. I am very productive and have lots of ideas during spring, but omg, I am drawn to not working on projects that take mental capacity during the summer. In the summer all I want to do is use up my physical energy. And on and on, by tracking this year after year you’ll be able to plan what feels natural to you. I won’t plan for a big project in the summer…but I absolutely would in the fall when I’m going inward and want to use up my mental capacity.

2. Moon Journal:

Like the seasonal tracker, tracking the monthly moon cycle will help you align to those shorter natural cycles. Keeping a journal can help you attune to those changing energies.

As a witch, linking your journaling to the lunar cycle can enrich your magical journey. Each moon phase brings unique energies. These can make your spiritual journal entries more meaningful and boost your witchcraft practice.

• New Moon Writing Rituals
  • The new moon is a time for fresh starts, self-reflection, and setting intentions. Start your magical journal starters by thinking about your goals and personal growth. Light a candle, create a sacred space, and write from the heart.
• Full Moon Reflections
  • Use this time for witch’s writing exercises to release and celebrate your achievements. Reflect on how the moon has impacted your life and magic.
• Waxing and Waning Energy Records
  • The moon’s cycles mirror the changes within us. Record your spiritual journal notes as the moon waxes and wanes. Note how your energy and focus change. This helps plan your rituals and self-care.

3. Astrology Journal:

I feel like there’s always new information coming at me about astrology. I think it’s really fun to learn about astrology, but I cannot mentally hold all of the information and be able to recall in. By keeping an astrology journal, you can hold onto the pieces of information that are coming at you in one place…and bonus points for keeping your natal chart in your astrology journal for easy reference.

4. Ritual and Spell Journal:

A ritual journal is a place where you can jot down what you do while working your own personal magic. Use this for new moon and full moon rituals, how you feel on Sundays, when you naturally feel like cleaning, how you do monthly resets, how you break up your years, what you like doing on rainy days, how you connect in with your spirit team.

Tracking your spell work and ritual outcomes in your magical journal starters is powerful. It’s a tool for self-reflection and growth. This practice honors your work and helps you navigate your witchcraft path with clarity and effectiveness.

5. Dream Log:

Messages find us while we’re sleeping and if you’ve ever kept a dream log before, you’ve probably noticed the more you log, the more you remember, and the more you remember, the more you can find those messages and truths that have come out while you’re dreaming.

our subconscious. This way, you can understand your spiritual practice better. Magical dream journaling helps you record and use the symbols and messages from your dreams, making your witchcraft stronger.

Dream journaling adds a special tool to your spiritual journey. It lets you see how your conscious and unconscious minds connect. You can find hidden truths and guidance that help with your spells, rituals, and witchcraft.

Harnessing the Power of Dream Symbolism

Dreams are full of symbols and archetypes that mean a lot for your spiritual growth. By writing down and analyzing your dreams, you can find important symbols and messages. These can help you understand your subconscious, intuition, and the forces working in your life.

Cultivating Dreamwork Rituals

• Make your sleep space peaceful and have a bedtime routine to help you dream better.
• Keep a dream journal and pen next to your bed to write down your dreams right away.
• Try meditation or visualization to remember your dreams and understand their symbols.
• Use dream symbols in your witchcraft journal and spells to guide your magic.

By adding dream journaling to your spiritual practice, you open up a source of mystical insight and creativity. Let your dreams guide you to a deeper understanding of yourself and the world.

6. Meditation Journal:

If you’re like me, I bet a lot of things come up during your meditations, use a meditation journal to log when/how you meditate and any guidance that came through during your meditation.

7. Spirit Guide Journal:

Whenever you connect with a spirit guide, jot it down in your spirit guide journal. Keep track of your relationship and how they send you messages here. You can use this journal to look back at their messages and see how it unfolded in your life. I can’t tell you how many times something didn’t make sense when I received the message, but a few months or even years later I went back and it all made sense for what I’d gone through.

8. Recipe Journal:

Every witch needs a recipe journal. Whether you’re brewing spells and potions or you’re just doing normal cooking I’ve found so much magic can come through intentional cooking (or baking). Write down recipes and what they mean to you. Tweak them with special correspondences based on what season you or the weather is in.

9. Ancestor Journal:

An ancestor journal can be used as a spirit guide journal or as a true ancestry journal. My ancestors visit me and some of them I consider “spirit guides” – but not all ancestors have to be spirit guides to help you on your spiritual path. Use this journal to track anything that feels good to remember about them. For me that’s recipes, birthdays (natal charts), things they were known for, their favorite things, and memories. The older I get the more I see how much we can be a product of who we come from (for good or bad) and how healing can come from acknowledging that.

10. Daily Planner:

Ahh, it just feels good sometimes to have a daily planner. I won’t lie, I don’t always have one – but when I’m in the right mindset for one, I love how it keeps me together. Use a daily planner in the traditional way, or use it in a witchy way to track the moon, the seasons, your daily card pull or meditation.

11. Correspondences Journal:

Everything has a correspondence…which means there’s a million correspondences. Use this journal to write down correspondences you want to remember – crystals, days of the week, herbs, flowers, seasons…whatever you have a hard time keeping track of in your brain.

12. Book Log:

A book log is a perfect way to write out all of the books you’ve read and takeaways you’ve had from each (especially if you’re borrowing the books from a friend or the library). I also have a really hard time remembering all of the books I want to check out, so writing them down somewhere is super helpful when you’re in the mood for a new book but you don’t want to spend the research time to find one.

13. Tarot Journal:

If you love pulling a daily (or whenever) tarot card, use a tarot journal to track the guidance you receive. Use this journal to document spreads that you’ve made up or ones that work for you.

14. Book of Shadows/Grimoire:

Probably the first journal you’d think of when you think of ‘witchy journal’ – use a book of shadows or a grimoire to document all of your witchy learning and spiritual path. Witches use magical journals to record their spell work and rituals. These journals are sacred records. They help us understand our craft and improve over time.

• Creating Effective Spell Records
  • When recording a spell, include the intention, components, steps, and date and time. This detail helps track patterns and successful magic elements.
• Documenting Magical Results
  • After a spell or ritual, document the outcomes. Note any energy shifts, synchronicities, or manifestations. Reflect on how they match your intent. This habit deepens your craft understanding.
• Learning from Past Workings
  • Reviewing past spell and ritual records offers insights. Identify successful techniques and approaches. Use these lessons in future work. This reflective process is key to a witch’s writing exercises and a refined grimoire.

15. Junk Journal:

Lastly, but I think the most fun – a junk journal. Collect all of that crap you have sitting around you and plop it into a beautiful collaged journal. Create magic from your junk.

How to Create a Digital Grimoire

Crafting Your First Grimoire

Spiritual Journaling