I won’t deny that this idea came to me when I was looking for excuses to use some of the lovely notebooks I’ve been collecting. I think it makes a fun and low-effort alternative to commonplace books and Zettelkästen.

When I posted my bibliomancy worksheet 9 years ago I used the phrase “aleatory guidance”, which I rather like as a description of this journalling practice. More recently, I also outlined a similar method in the 24h Calling to Adventure challenge for the Lady Writers League.

Basic Method

1. Every day — or as often as you like — open up a random book to a random page, and write down the first passage that catches your eye. It can be as long or as short as you feel like copying.
2. As you go about your day, look out for synchronicities related to the excerpt you wrote.
3. Maybe even journal about any thoughts that the excerpt brings up, either in the same notebook or in another one.

Further Elaborations

1. Try using the same “source” for a while to see how it affects your reflections, and your relationship with the book. You might choose a book you know well, or one that has special significance for you. In antiquity, it was common to use Virgil’s Aeneid for bibliomancy.
2. Look for connections between entries. These might be repeating words, themes or topics.
3. You can pose a question before you open the book, or ask for guidance in a specific area, such as a character or plot arc you’re struggling with writing.
4. You can also use this practice as a fun way to study. I love to turn to a random page in a grammar, copy out a word, a paradigm or an example sentence, and then watch out for examples of that linguistic red thread throughout my day or week. I never fail to spot further instances — which I note down — and which solidify the teaching.
5. Bibliomancy journals can also be fun ways to broaden your interests. All you need to do is follow the clues presented to you.
6. If you’re using digital texts, you can simply scroll to a random page.
7. You can also use your own old journals and notebooks – this is a fun way to resurface old themes and ideas, and look for recurring patterns.

The Aim

1. This practice is an enlightening alternative to commonplace books and Zettelkästen — it encourages random selection over logical searching and sorting.
2. It draws the focus from the significance of the excerpts to the metatextual (and personal) “order”, suggesting that meaning doesn’t come only from within the system but also from without.
3. On the other hand, it encourages texts to be taken outside of their context so the piece can stand for the whole, while at the same time fulfilling a specific function elsewhere.
4. It encourages greater awareness of and interest in synchronicities. Rather than trying to compartmentalise, order, and recall the world, you can allow it to act as the container and the sorting and delivery mechanism. This also increases your trust in being able to access the information you need, when you need it.
5. Because the excerpts lack context, the practice also frees you from the impulse to complete (or completely understand). There’s no need to (re)read the entire book — to know everything — only what’s essential to the message being delivered.
6. Most importantly, it’s fun and exciting — motivation in itself. It doesn’t require the setup and maintenance that a commonplace requires, but it still provides the pleasure of handwriting and of engagement with the texts around you.

It may take a while for patterns to emerge, or for you to tune in to the specific message you’re focused on. But in time, what might look like a collection of completely random excerpts to a stranger, transforms into a secret florilegium with you as its field of reference — not only are the words culled from your own library, but their significance can only be read by you, yourself.

🖤 Thank you to NFP Design for sending me the lovely marbled notebook that inspired this practice.