Samhain Journal Prompts with Tarot Cards

Writing your way into the dark

October is a long hallway leading to Samhain. The light shrinks a little each day. The air cools. Something inside you starts to slow down, turn inward, remember. This is the season that asks you to write — not plans or goals, but truths. The kind that only come when the light is low.

These 31 prompts — one for each day of October — pair journaling with tarot. Each prompt comes with a card to meditate on before writing. You don’t need to pull the card from your deck (though you can). Just hold its image in your mind and let it open the door.

Week 1: Honoring the dead (Oct 1–7)

Oct 1 — Judgement: Who among your dead do you think about most often? Write them a letter. Tell them what’s happened since they left.

Oct 2 — Six of Cups: What is your earliest memory of someone who has passed? What did they smell like? What sound do you associate with them?

Oct 3 — The Empress: Which woman in your lineage shaped you most — even if you never met her? What did she give you that you still carry?

Oct 4 — The Emperor: Which man in your lineage do you need to understand better? What questions would you ask if the veil were thin enough?

Oct 5 — Four of Cups: Is there an ancestor whose gift you’ve been ignoring? Something they tried to teach you that you weren’t ready to receive?

Oct 6 — Ten of Pentacles: What did your family pass down that you’re grateful for — skills, stories, recipes, values? What did they pass down that you’re working to unlearn?

Oct 7 — The High Priestess: If your ancestors could send you one message right now, what do you think it would be? Write it down without overthinking.

Week 2: Shadow work (Oct 8–14)

Oct 8 — The Moon: What are you afraid of right now — not rationally, but in your body? Where does that fear live?

Oct 9 — The Devil: What habit or pattern do you know isn’t serving you but keep returning to anyway? Write without judgment.

Oct 10 — Seven of Swords: Where in your life are you being dishonest — with others or with yourself? What would full honesty cost?

Oct 11 — Five of Cups: What grief are you still carrying? Is it time to turn around and see the two cups still standing?

Oct 12 — The Tower: What in your life feels like it’s about to collapse — or should? What would you build differently if it fell?

Oct 13 — Eight of Swords: Where do you feel trapped? Write about the bindings. Then write about whether they’re as tight as they seem.

Oct 14 — Strength: What does your shadow need from you? Not suppression — what does it need to be acknowledged, held, integrated?

Week 3: Releasing the old year (Oct 15–21)

Oct 15 — Death: What has already died this year? Name it — relationship, belief, version of yourself, hope, habit. How do you feel about its death?

Oct 16 — Ten of Swords: What was the worst moment of this year? Write it down completely. Then write one thing it taught you.

Oct 17 — The Hanged Man: What did you have to surrender this year — willingly or not? How did the perspective change once you stopped fighting?

Oct 18 — Eight of Cups: What did you walk away from this year? Do you still look back? What would it take to stop?

Oct 19 — Three of Swords: Who hurt you this year? Write it out — not to relive it, but to name it and set it down.

Oct 20 — The Star: After all that — what still gives you hope? What light survived the year’s darkness?

Oct 21 — Wheel of Fortune: Looking at the full year: what was fate, and what was choice? Can you tell the difference?

Week 4: Planting seeds in darkness (Oct 22–28)

Oct 22 — Ace of Wands: If you could begin one thing in the dark season — knowing it won’t bloom until spring — what would you plant?

Oct 23 — The Hermit: What does your inner wisdom say when the noise stops? Sit in silence for 5 minutes before writing.

Oct 24 — Two of Wands: Where do you want to be by next Samhain? Not career goals — who do you want to have become?

Oct 25 — Nine of Pentacles: What does abundance look like for you — specifically, not abstractly? Describe a single day of your abundant life.

Oct 26 — The Magician: What tools do you already have that you’re not using? Skills, connections, knowledge, energy — what’s waiting to be activated?

Oct 27 — Ace of Cups: What emotional capacity do you want to develop? More compassion, more boundaries, more vulnerability, more joy?

Oct 28 — The World: If this coming year is a complete cycle, what does its completion look like? Write the last page of a story that hasn’t started yet.

Samhain week: The threshold (Oct 29–31)

Oct 29 — The Fool: What are you willing to not know? What would it feel like to step forward without a plan, trusting the dark?

Oct 30 — Temperance: What needs balancing before you cross the threshold? Light and dark, grief and gratitude, holding on and letting go — where’s the equilibrium?

Oct 31 — Death + The Star: The old year dies tonight. Write two things:

1. A eulogy for the year that’s ending — honest, complete, unglamorous.
2. A single wish for the year being born in the dark. Fold it up. Put it somewhere you’ll find at Imbolc.

How to use these prompts

Daily practice: One prompt per day, 10-20 minutes of writing. Pull the named card from your deck and set it beside your journal as you write.

Intensive: Do all 31 prompts over a weekend retreat before Samhain. Immersive, emotional, powerful.

Selective: Pick the prompts that pull you. Skip what doesn’t resonate. Trust your instinct about what to explore and what to leave.

With a partner or group: Share a prompt per day in a group chat or with a journaling partner. Samhain is personal, but witnessing each other’s process adds depth.

Whatever approach you choose — write honestly. Samhain doesn’t respond to performance. It responds to truth.