diff --git a/patterns/default.yaml b/patterns/default.yaml
index 521b695..6f99461 100644
--- a/patterns/default.yaml
+++ b/patterns/default.yaml
@@ -81,6 +81,53 @@ patterns:
     severity: INFO
     description: IP address change or DHCP event
 
+  # ── System / journald patterns ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+  - name: systemd_fail
+    pattern: "(Failed to start|failed with result|entered failed state|start request repeated too quickly|Main process exited)"
+    severity: ERROR
+    description: systemd service failed to start or crashed
+
+  - name: oom_kill
+    pattern: "(Killed process|oom.kill|oom_kill_process|Out of memory: Kill|memory cgroup out of memory)"
+    severity: CRITICAL
+    description: Kernel OOM killer terminated a process
+
+  - name: disk_hw_error
+    pattern: "(ata[0-9]|sd[a-z]|nvme[0-9]).*(error|failed|reset|timeout|exception|EH|FAILED COMMAND)"
+    severity: ERROR
+    description: Storage device hardware error or reset
+
+  - name: fs_error
+    pattern: "(EXT4-fs error|XFS.*error|BTRFS.*error|I/O error|blk_update_request.*error|buffer I/O error)"
+    severity: ERROR
+    description: Filesystem or block I/O error
+
+  - name: kernel_error
+    pattern: "(kernel: BUG|kernel panic|Oops:|general protection fault|Call Trace|RIP:.*[0-9a-f]{16})"
+    severity: CRITICAL
+    description: Kernel bug, panic, or oops — system may be unstable
+
+  - name: ssh_brute
+    pattern: "(Failed password|Invalid user|authentication failure|Connection closed by authenticating user).*(sshd|ssh)"
+    severity: WARN
+    description: SSH authentication failure — possible brute force
+
+  - name: container_crash
+    pattern: "(container.*exited|oci runtime.*error|podman.*error|docker.*error|container.*killed|OCI.*failed)"
+    severity: ERROR
+    description: Container runtime error or unexpected exit
+
+  - name: smart_error
+    pattern: "(smartd|SMART.*error|reallocated sector|pending sector|uncorrectable sector|Current_Pending_Sector)"
+    severity: CRITICAL
+    description: SMART disk health warning — potential drive failure
+
+  - name: nfs_error
+    pattern: "(nfs.*error|nfs.*timeout|RPC.*timed out|nfs4.*server.*not responding|mount.*nfs.*failed)"
+    severity: ERROR
+    description: NFS mount or RPC timeout
+
   # Add device/service-specific patterns below this line:
 
   - name: qbit_tracker_error
diff --git a/patterns/sources.yaml b/patterns/sources.yaml
index 1421c7d..0bc89b5 100644
--- a/patterns/sources.yaml
+++ b/patterns/sources.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 # Turnstone log sources — edit this file to add or remove services.
+# NOTE: the system-journal entry requires export_journal.sh to run on the HOST
+# before the container ingest step. See crontab setup instructions in the README.
 # Run ingest manually:
 #   sudo podman exec turnstone python scripts/ingest_corpus.py \
 #     --sources /patterns/sources.yaml --db /data/turnstone.db
@@ -8,6 +10,10 @@
 # services that are temporarily down.
 
 sources:
+  # ── System journal (exported by export_journal.sh on the host) ────────────
+  - id: system-journal
+    path: /data/journal-export.jsonl
+
   # ── Download ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   - id: qbittorrent
     path: /opt/qbittorrent/config/data/logs/qbittorrent.log
diff --git a/scripts/export_journal.sh b/scripts/export_journal.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8493c1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/export_journal.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Export recent journald entries to a JSONL file the Turnstone container can ingest.
+#
+# Run this on the HOST before the container ingest step. The output file lands in
+# /opt/turnstone/data/ which is bind-mounted at /data/ inside the container.
+#
+# Priority filter 0-5 (emerg→notice) skips debug/info noise while keeping
+# all warnings, errors, and service lifecycle events.
+#
+# Usage (standalone):
+#   sudo bash /opt/turnstone/scripts/export_journal.sh
+#
+# Typical cron (combined with ingest — see crontab comment below):
+#   */15 * * * * bash /opt/turnstone/scripts/export_journal.sh && \
+#     podman exec turnstone python scripts/ingest_corpus.py \
+#       --sources /patterns/sources.yaml --db /data/turnstone.db \
+#       >> /var/log/turnstone-ingest.log 2>&1
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+OUT=/opt/turnstone/data/journal-export.jsonl
+
+# 20-minute window (slightly wider than the 15-min cron interval) ensures no
+# gaps between runs. Ingest is idempotent via entry_id hash, so overlap is safe.
+journalctl \
+  --output=json \
+  --priority=0..5 \
+  --since "20 minutes ago" \
+  --no-pager \
+  > "${OUT}"
+
+echo "Exported $(wc -l < "${OUT}") journal entries to ${OUT}"