How To Cleanse Tarot Cards?

November 30, 2023 AstroTarot

Tarot card cleansing is a skill many tarot practitioners use to keep their readings as accurate as possible. Tarot experts believe that the energy you use on your cards daily can influence your reading.

They recommend cleansing your cards every time you get a new deck, or when you want to reconnect with an old one.

In today’s guide, we’ll tell you all you need to know about tarot card cleansing, from its importance to the many methods you can use.

Contents

What Is Tarot Card Cleansing?

Cleansing is the act of resetting the energy of a particular object or even a person. It is part of spirituality and religion, and it plays an essential role for tarot practitioners.

For instance, in Catholicism, baptism cleanses the body from sin.

In tarot, cleansing plays a similar role. You cleanse your deck, and you take away all the bad and negative energy. Positive and negative energy are essential to spirituality and tarot reading.

Negative energy can influence your reading and give you negative results. That’s the reason tarot readers cleanse their decks.

Why Is Tarot Card Cleansing Important?

Tarot cleansing is a tarot tradition among practitioners, and the need to do it can vary for each person.

For instance, you could do it if you buy a used deck of tarot cards or feel like you want to connect with your new deck.

Cleansing Used Decks

The main reason to cleanse your deck is if you feel there’s negative energy around it. If you buy a used tarot deck, you don’t know if the person who had it before was filled with negative thoughts and energy.

So, if your new deck is a used one, you should consider doing a cleansing.

Cleansing If Someone Has Touched Your Deck

This is something of a controversy among tarot practitioners. Some believe that their cards read differently after someone has touched their cards.

That’s the reason many card readers never allow others to handle their decks.

This is not something accepted by everyone, but if you believe a cleansing will help, go for it.

In the end, it is about how you feel about the cards and what will make you feel more comfortable.

Cleansing If Your Readings Are Negative All the Time

If every reading you do, ends negatively, then there might be negative energy in your deck.

Remember that reading under negative circumstances can result in negative readings.

However, if you are reading in the same way you’ve always done, and the results are different, you might have to consider some cleansing.

Note: Sometimes, reading a subject too often can lead to inaccurate results. If that’s the case, you only need to let your deck rest for a bit.

Cleansing to Reconnect With a Deck

You could also need to cleanse your tarot deck if you want to reconnect with cards on a deeper level. Imagine you put your deck away for a long time, and you want to revisit it.

In that case, you could use a cleansing to make a restart and let fresh energy flow into the cards.

Cleansing After a Draining Reading

If you’ve performed an extended reading that has drained your energy and your deck’s, you can cleanse your cards to recover their strength.

Some experts prefer to do a cleansing to let the tarot deck recover.

How to Cleanse Your Cards?

You can use many different techniques to cleanse your tarot deck.

Each method will depend on how intense the cleansing needs to be, and each method requires additional tools and items.

Here are the most common ways to do some tarot deck cleansing:

Sorting and Shuffling

Here are the steps you need to follow:

Start by sorting your cards in order—first, the major arcana and then the minor one.
While you sort them in order, look at every card and remember the message they have for you.
Once the deck is in order, proceed to shuffle them and put your energy into it. By doing it with a positive mind and energy, you transmit that energy into your deck.
If you want, shuffle the cards seven times.

Meditation

You can follow these steps:

Sit or lay. Whatever feels more comfortable.
Place your deck in both hands. You can do major arcana on the right and minor arcana on the left.
Close your eyes and relax. You need to allow your thoughts and energy to get into your deck.
You can even combine this method with some Reiki if you are experienced with it.

Moon Baths

Follow these steps to cleanse your deck with a moon bath:

First, you need to wait for a full moon.
All you need to do then is to place your deck under the full moon. You can create a ritual or recite incantations if you want to.

Salt Burial

You can follow these steps to cleanse your tarot cards with a salt burial:

Start by wrapping your tarot cards in a clean plastic bag. Do it as tightly as possible.
Then, get a container that you can seal tightly. The container should be bigger than your deck.
Now, place your wrapped deck inside.
It is time to bury your deck with salt. Do it until your entire deck is covered in salt.
Remember to seal the container as soon as you’ve buried the deck.
Keep the deck sealed for a couple of days.

Fresh Air

You can do this just after a rain or on a sunny day. Just place your cards outside and let the earth cleanse the deck. Remember to be careful of the wind when placing the cards.

Smudge Stick

Follow the steps below:

Get some rosemary or dried sage.
Proceed to burn these herbs.
Now, pass the cards through the smoke.

Tip: This also serves to cleanse any crystal you possess.

Elemental Clearing

Elemental clearing is a combination of the various methods mentioned above. You can pick four methods representing the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air.

For example, you can use a salt burial to represent the earth. A moon bath means water. A smudge stick generates smoke for fire, and some fresh air cleansing represents air.

Keeping Your Tarot Cards Clean

Although cleansing and cleaning are not the same, it is essential to keep your cards clean. Dirty cards won’t last long, and they can accumulate negative energy.

As we’ve mentioned before, avoiding your cards to collect negative energy is essential for accurate readings.

Additionally, there are ways you can prevent your cards from losing their energy and accuracy. Here are some of those ways:

Proper Protection

Your tarot cards and decks should be precious to you. Because of how much they mean, you should seek the best way to keep them protected.
Protecting your tarot cards from negative energy and thoughts should be a priority, for this negativity can influence your reading.
To avoid having to cleanse your tarot card regularly, you can wrap them in special cloth or boxes. These cloths or boxes will keep the negativity as far away as possible.
It does not mean you shouldn’t cleanse your cards anymore, but it will keep your reading accurate for longer.
Note: Tarot boxes are a tradition among the community because they keep bad energy and spirits away.

Proper Storage

Keeping your cards and decks wrapped in cloths or inside boxes is useful if you use them regularly. However, if you leave your cards stored for prolonged periods, we recommend taking extra measures.
For instance, many crystals may hold power to repel negative energy and even evil spirits.
Quartz crystals are known among the community as excellent energy absorbers. Although, you should remember that quartz crystal also requires cleansing after a while.
To cleanse them, all you need to do is follow the methods mentioned above. A salt burial or a moon bath should do the trick.
Additionally, you could build an altar with crystals and candles to keep your tarot boxes and decks in between readings.
An altar is a sacred space that you can personalize to your taste and needs. Each altar is different, and yours can be made of anything you want.

Here are some things you can put on your altar:

Tarot boxes and decks
Quartz crystals
Candles
Statues of any deity
Totems representing the four elements
A vessel of water
Coins or symbols of wealth
Essential oils

What you put on your altar is up to you. But, crystals and candles should be your first choice to keep your tarot cards and decks protected from any negative energy.

You can add other items depending on what you want to accomplish with your altar. For instance, coins on your altars could bring wealth to your life.

Conclusion

Tarot card cleansing is essential for tarot practitioners. Unclean cards can lead to inaccurate readings or constant negative readings.

Your cards may need to be cleansed if they’ve fallen to the ground or someone beside you have touched them. Additionally, you should cleanse them if you bought a used deck.

There are many methods you can use to cleanse your tarot deck. For example, a salt burial or some elemental clearing could remove any negative energy from your cards.

You could also use quartz crystals and smoke to keep them protected when you are not using them.

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