While it has become quite common for many people to have or use a journal as part of their practice, the act of journaling is often seen as an auxiliary thing. You write things down as a secondary part of a primary practice. But the journaling itself isn't seen as spiritual (with the exception of a practice like morning pages, which does embrace journaling as a daily practice).
I have a sort of funny relationship with journals. I have a TON of them, and I do use them. I tend to like themed journals, so I have tarot journals, magical journals, book journals, rune journals, study journals and activity journals (like for challenges and what not). But I also often journal in phases. I much prefer to journal by hand, but hand writing doesn't work well for me (my handwriting is atrocious, and it hurts me to write for any length of time by hand).
But there is something so very satisfying about grabbing a pen (or a handful, I tend to write in rainbows!) and filling a blank page with words. I adore looking back through my journals and reading what I was about at different times in my life. Even reading notes I took while researching a subject tells me a lot about my mindset at the time.
With Art and Junk Journals being quite popular right now, a lot of people are finding that creating beautiful artistic pages in their journals brings them a lot of joy. I've seen fabulous spreads dedicated to a wide variety of topics, and there are definitely people who turn making these works of art into a spiritual practice. Finding the right way to decorate a page to represent the information on it is a wonderful way to deepen your understanding (and experience) of a subject, whether it is one you are studying about or something you are reflecting on.
On the other side of the spectrum, Bullet Journals offer a lot of great organizational options, helping you keep all your writings neat and tidy. And they are highly customizable, so if something doesn't quite work for you, simply change it!
But even if you aren't artistically inclined (or maybe you don't want/have the time to devote to this level of journaling), or you don't want to fuss with all the organization of a proper journal system, you can still use journaling as part of your personal practice.
I've been working with moon cycle journaling for just over eight months now. The bones of my moon cycle journal practice are simple: note the moon phase for the day, write an intention, and do one more thing for each phase (typically a card draw or more writing). For me, taking the time to look up the phase (I use an app on my phone for this), and then think of an intention for each day helps me tune into both my daily life and the larger, natural cycles (that I often struggle to tap into, being very much an indoor person).
This moon cycle journaling led me to Sabbat journaling, and using my journal as a vehicle for observing and honoring the Sabbats. I've journaled Sabbats (as record keeping) on and off for a few years, but I'll be honest, my actual observance of Sabbats isn't regular. I try to keep my altar set for the current Sabbat, and to do other little things around my house to honor the shifting of the seasons, but I don't always have big work to do, so doing a full ritual (on my own), often feels off. Instead, I find that spending some time writing about what the Sabbat means to me is helpful and allows me to honor the thoughts and feelings the Sabbat brings up for me.
Another journal practice I've started is an ancestor journal. The idea is to have a place where I can write to my ancestors (blood, spirit or otherwise...pretty much anyone who isn't alive anymore). This sort of encompasses themes from Samhain, Memorial day, Veteran's day, Mother Night and the many other times where we honor our dead. But I like the idea of a journal that is kind of like letters to the dead, where I can talk to my beloved dead whenever I feel the urge.
And of course we have tarot journals! I'm one of those people who thinks better in writing, so for me, journaling out a reading is an important part of the reading. I also find that reading my notes on readings helps me to refine my understanding of specific cards. I can see how I interpret the same card in different ways depending on the style of reading, the other cards involved, the deck and any other influences I may have experienced.
One thing I'm looking forward to is expanding my tarot journaling to include tarot journaling games, which I've recently become aware of. I have a couple now that I've picked up, that include prompts that you then answer by drawing cards, but you weave a story in your journal, which I find absolutely fascinating. And while it may seem to be a bit frivolous, I'm one of those people who learns best through play, so any way to play with my cards is a way to get to know them better.
I feel like one of the best things about journaling as a practice is it is something that you can do pretty much anywhere, with no one the wiser about what you are doing. Which makes it great for travel or doing work when around non-witchy folks. You can use your journal as a visualization tool, writing out what you are visualizing as you 'do' it (which means you don't need to have your tools or supplies with you, you can simply write out what you are doing and with what). The brilliant thing about this is you can easily dip into guided meditations as well, where you note down the prompts, but then write out your responses.
In this digital age, of course you could also do some or all of your journaling online. And you could absolutely make parts of it public (especially if you have other witchy friends who might want to journal along with you!), but I think there is something special about having words that are only for yourself, and journaling often fits that need.
So no matter how you do it, journaling can be a main part of your practice, not simply a way you make note of the other things you do. Find new ways to entwine your practice and your journal, and you might be surprised at how robust a journaling practice feels!
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