Where Introverts Dance with Their Shadows
A Game of Journals by Maurllan
Synopsis: A Game of Journals represents a novel fusion of psychological transformation and social gameplay mechanics, specifically engineered for introvert-centered interaction patterns. Developed by author Maurllan, this innovative system integrates Jungian shadow work, Blues musical structures, and traditional grimoire practices into a collaborative journaling framework. Players engage in a carefully orchestrated dance of revelation and reflection, using a 19-minute cognitive reset window and widdershins progression to create psychologically safe spaces for authentic expression. The game's mechanics incorporate celestial timing, trilingual day aspects, and cross-modal sensory experiences, while employing a point system that rewards both personal vulnerability and collective synchronicity. Through the ritualized sharing of embodied writing experiences, participants navigate what Maurllan terms the 'Inner Domain Map,' facilitating both individual transformation and group cohesion without triggering typical introvert social fatigue patterns. This system represents a significant evolution in both therapeutic journaling practices and social gameplay design, offering a structured yet organic approach to collective shadow integration and creative expression.
Top Nine Reasons to Play
1. Sacred Solitude, Shared: Experience the paradoxical joy of being alone together, like cats in a sunlit library
2. Alchemical Transformation: Watch as everyday embarrassments transmute into Shadow points and personal power
3. Lunar Linguistics: Journey through three languages and seven celestial energies to unlock hidden truths
4. Blues & Whispers: Let your journal absorb both structured verses and wild confessions
5. Sensory Magick: Engage all senses through seasonal anchors and ambient soundscapes
6. Introvert's Rebellion: Finally, a social game that honors the power of pause and written reflection
7. Cross-Modal Mysteries: Experience when ink becomes music and silence turns to color
8. Celestial Timing: Align your journaling practice with lunar phases and planetary hours
9. Living Grimoire: Transform your journal into a personal spell book of authentic becoming
Transparency
As an Author whose primary goal is to entertain myself, hoping to entertain others as well, I totally made up A Game of Journals to feature my amazing book, Bard Poet Journal Edition : Falling in Love Journal. The contents are 50% poetry and 50% color book & journal.
Creating the rules was entertaining. I had noticed at a local writer's group how a group of six or seven writers could hang together through the first ten or fifteen minutes window of light socializing while waiting for late arrivals, then the immediate relief as everyone entered the hour of writing time. There is usually a comfort in having others at one's elbows writing with a pen or laptop. From there, I imagined A Game of Journals.
I'd love to hear about your experience.
Before Game Play
• Each player must whisper her pen's secret name into the pages of her Bard Poet Journal Edition ('the journal').
• Each player must place a "pause token" on the table. The pause token may be redeemed and pocketed during game play to invoke one 3-minute writing break when emotions run deep.
• Each player who takes lead begins the round by speaking the mantra, "I ever am / as I ever do."
Game Play
1. The person furthest into the journal is the first lead for game play. If everyone in the coven is starting with fresh journals, she with the most beautiful pen is the first lead.
2. The lead picks a poem from the journal to read to the group.
3. The player widdershins (counter-clockwise) from the lead declares how many lines she is comfortable reading out loud.
4. A third player seconds the number of lines to be read.
5. The widdershins player reads the lines as playfully as she can.
6. Someone in the group sets a timer for 19 minutes.
7. Everyone journals. If there are bubbles on the journal page, itemize the most embarrassing things which surface on the top bubble lines. For the bottom bubble lines, enter guesses about what the others wrote for their most embarrassing shares.
8. When the timer expires, the time keeper announces, "Wherever you are, take another minute to return to where we are now." At 20 minutes, everyone pauses journaling. Since eighteen minutes is the average time for a mood change, the lead will declare how she felt at the start and how she feels now.
9. The widdershins player picks one embarrassing thing from her list and shares to the group. If the player chose a journaling page which did not have bubbles, she must declare 'pass.'
10. Any players who guessed the embarrassment would surface in the group may write a "1" near their guess, then circle the "( 1 )".
11. If two or more players independently write about similar embarrassments (as judged by the group), each earns an additional "Shadow point" — write a "1" near the guess, then draw a box around the "[ 1 ]".
12. The first to collect three regular points and two Shadow points achieves "Inner Author" status. Draw a playful five-point star on the journal page.
13. Proceeding widdershins, each player either declares they 'scored one,' or if there was no scored guess, must share from her own list of most embarrassing things. Play proceeds widdershins until someone in the group declares they have 'scored three.'
14. If someone 'scored three,' that person becomes lead for the next round of play. If there isn't a 'scored three,' the player who scored the most points (1 or 2) during the round becomes the new lead. If everyone in the group chose a journal page without bubbles, proceed to the next round of play and the person who read the poem becomes the new lead.
Tribe and Paramour
Environmental Touches
• Seasonal Sensory Anchors: Simple table decorations matching the current season (autumn leaves, spring flowers, winter pine, summer herbs)
• Ambient Soundscapes: Optional Blues background music matching the chapter themes
• Scent Memory: Incorporating different inks or papers with subtle seasonal scents
Lunar Phases & Linguistic Depths
• New Moon Sessions: Players only use black ink, focusing on Shadow points, emerging truths, wrapping up a Moon cycle and fresh starts.
• Full Moon Rounds: Multiple-colored inks are encouraged, with emphasis on thresholds, transformation, and accomplishments.
• Day of the Week Flavors:
- Spanish: Lunes, French: Lundi, English: Monday - the Moon’s day. Reflecting, Cycles.
- Martes, Mardi, Tuesday - Mars’s day. I AM, I DO.
- Miercoles, Mercredi, Wednesday - Mercury’s day. Mischief, Commerce.
- Jueves, Jeudi, Thursday - Jupiter’s day. Access, Publishing.
- Viernes, Vendredi, Friday - Venus’s day. Scorn, Adoration.
- Sabado, Samedi, Saturday - Saturn’s day. Structure, Achievement.
- Domingo, Dimanche, Sunday - the Sun’s day. Willfulness, Center Stage.
Notes
Sharing causes people to feel closer. The Ego may panic if its sense of identity is challenged, either fighting from fear or running from the fear of changing how we perceive ourselves. Usually the Ego holds one or more false premises, so encourage gentleness and kindness. Shallow sharing is not a sin. Sometimes people need time to experience and process before attempting deep changes. As a game for introverts, we can count on showing up as a win.
Occasionally you will meet a catalyst, or someone who is in an energy pocket of being a catalyst at the moment. A catalyst in one group setting on a particular day may not act as a catalyst at another time, place, or group. A catalyst will not change her Inner Domain Map, yet tremendous change may occur in others around her. Therefore, take turns as leads.
The true magick starts with changes to the Inner Domain Map. Writing and doodling invoke cross-modal processing and you may experience beautiful moments where the smell of ink becomes a bending Blues note while a sound you are hearing evokes visions. The goal of the game is to change your Inner Domain Map and the Universe shifts around you.
For Psychology Journals
A Game of Journals introduces a novel therapeutic framework merging collective Shadow integration with structured social interaction designed specifically for introvert psychology. By leveraging timed writing sessions, ritualized vulnerability sharing, and cross-modal sensory engagement, the system creates a unique container for processing emotional material without triggering social anxiety responses. Integrating lunar phases and seasonal rhythms provides natural cycles for psychological integration, while the widdershins progression and pause token mechanics offer built-in regulation tools for emotional overwhelm.
For Game Design Publications
Breaking new ground in social gameplay mechanics, A Game of Journals revolutionizes the intersection of tabletop gaming and personal development. The system ingeniously subverts traditional party game dynamics by rewarding introspection and measured revelation rather than rapid-fire interaction, while maintaining engagement through a sophisticated point system tracking both individual insights and group synchronicity. Its innovative use of environmental anchors, temporal frameworks, and multi-modal stimuli creates an immersive experience that seamlessly blends gameplay with genuine transformation.
For Literary Theory Quarterlies
A Game of Journals presents a fascinating metamorphosis of the communal reading circle into a dynamic space where text, Reader, and collective Unconscious engage in an intimate dance of meaning-making. Drawing on Blues structures and grimoire traditions, the system transforms Maurllan's poetry collection into a living text that both contains and generates narrative through player interaction. The trilingual day aspects and lunar timing create a rich semiotic framework where personal narrative intersects with archetypal symbolism, while the widdershins progression echoes ancient storytelling traditions.
For the love of your Craft,
Maurllan.
(Pronounced Mar•Law•on)
Comments ()