In most magical paths, the diary is probably the single most useful tool: it is an aid for memory and further introspection. In an informational model of magic, it is possible to say that the diary is the prototype of the talisman: both contain meaningful, arranged, information, chosen by the magician, for later use.

And yet, a suitable monograph on the use of the magical diary is missing (as I already said in my review of Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary). Even Kraig in Modern Magick spends a whopping total of four pages (still much better than a few lines) to give instructions on how to getting started. This, from some point of views, is somewhat obvious as the whole, generic, wisdom on journaling is to write down everything you find meaningful, and only that. But what is meaningful? And how should the diary be written? There is no general answer and a satisfactory solution can be found only with trial and error. (Is your cat or its name meaningful in your magic? And your love life?)

I use simple A5 notebooks, but I have a fancy leather cover if I need to use the diary during a ritual. I tend to use a cheap black ballpoint pen to write in the diary, as I psychologically linked the black ink with “serious stuff” when I started compiling my first diary, and a blue pen (a common, different color) to take fast notes or doodle. The attitude towards the diary can be highly ritualized, but I prefer to keep things simple as it is quite easy to find oneself unable to enact all the ritual steps to compile the diary. (What happens when there are no black pens around?)

I tend to not copy rituals and tables of correspondence in my diary (but some translations, modified version and tables found their way into some of my diaries to better contextualize my notes): a diary is a series of snapshots and its space is limited. I found it is way better for me to have a separate grimoire (a ring binder in my case) if I need to copy informations from books. All my original rituals are actually written down in my diaries.

I use several kinds of diaries: generic magical diaries, dream diaries, mundane diaries and diaries for particular magical workings. I advice everyone to keep at least a generic magical diary and the dream diary. A mundane diary is useful to better remember emotions, events and contexts that after years might appear foreign. Sometimes a separate diary might be useful: for example I used one when I experimented automatic drawing. I also have some notes in electronic format to keep track of sigils and channeled magical words. As I have a Quantified Self feticism, I also keep other kinds of data electronically; but I don’t like the idea of a electronic-only diary, as pen and paper still have a strong magical feeling.

Every entry in the diary should have at least date, time, location, a brief description of the practice (or a reference to other books) and an assessment of the performance. It is important to note if physical, mental or any other conditions influenced the ritual. Other “redundant” informations (day of the week, moon phase, astrological conditions, …) might be useful to understand some phenomena faster when reading the diary again.

Further Reading

James Wasserman, Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary

I reviewed this book here.

Donald Michael Kraig, Modern Magick

Brief advice on how to keep a magical diary.

Examples on how to use the diary from a psychological point of view.