How to Cleanse Your Tarot Deck (Best Practices)

Why should you cleanse your tarot cards
How often should you cleanse them
The Best Ways to Cleanse Your Tarot Cards
Good Times to Cleanse Your Cards
Do I have to cleanse my tarot cards every time before using them
What would happen if I don
How to Care For Your Tarot Cards
Conclusion

When it comes to unlocking the full potential of your tarot readings, one often overlooked but crucial step is how to cleanse tarot cards. Just as you would clear your mind before a reading, tarot card cleansing methods help to purify your deck, ensuring that it delivers the most accurate and insightful messages possible.

In this article, we will explore the most effective techniques to rejuvenate your tarot deck, so you can enhance your intuitive practice and maintain a vibrant connection with your cards.

Why should you cleanse your tarot cards?

Spiritual cleansing of Tarot cards is an important practice for every tarot reader. Any object that a person comes into contact with begins to bear the imprint of his energy. This imprint can be either weak or strong, depending on the duration and frequency of contact.

The deck of Tarot cards that a tarot reader works with daily is repeatedly picked up. Each such contact transfers the energy of the tarot reader to the cards, as well as the energy traces of those for whom the layouts are conducted.

Over time, these energy traces accumulate, creating a kind of "energy noise" that can affect the accuracy and clarity of predictions. Clearing Tarot cards allows you to eliminate this accumulated energy background, restoring them to their original neutral state. This is important so that the cards can better tune into the vibrations of a specific question and situation that the tarot reader is working with.

Regular Tarot deck cleansing helps to maintain its energetic purity, which, in turn, contributes to more accurate and reliable predictions. This practice is an integral part of working with maps, ensuring their maximum efficiency and accuracy.

How often should you cleanse them?

The frequency and necessity of clearing Tarot cards are influenced by various factors: usage intensity, type of practice, individual preferences of the tarot reader, and the card's energetic condition. Here are some essential guidelines:

1. After extensive sessions:

If the cards are utilized frequently or in intense sessions, it is advisable to purify Tarot cards after every reading. This practice helps dispel residual energies and ready the cards for subsequent use.

2. If readings are infrequent:

For those who use the cards less often, such as once a week or several times monthly, clearing them once a month can be adequate. This helps maintain the cards' energetic state.

3. After a long break:

If you haven't picked up the cards for a long time and there is a feeling inside that the energy is not circulating inside, but has frozen. It's like picking up an old book - it's all dusty, the pages are stuck together and yellowed - there is life in it, but it needs to be "wound up". Therefore, they should be cleaned before the next use to refresh their energy and remove the accumulated stagnation.

4. When changing owners:

When the cards are transferred to another individual, especially if they have been in use, a thorough clearing should be conducted to remove the previous owner's energies. A Tarot card energy cleanse in this situation ensures that the new owner can start with a clean slate.

5. In special cases:

The cards themselves are not capable of conversing with the owner, they only act as a tool that facilitates the process of communication with the Higher Powers. This is a kind of wire through which information flows from the source to the receiver.

If the energy flow becomes scanty, and it is increasingly difficult to understand and decipher the images sent, it can be assumed that the communication channel is clogged. The natural conclusion: it is necessary to clean the Tarot deck from this, regardless of when this happened last. Intuitive feeling is often the best guide in this matter.

Therefore, the frequency of Tarot deck cleansing depends on many factors and can range from daily to monthly, based on the usage intensity and the tarot reader's preferences.

The Best Ways to Cleanse Your Tarot Cards

Smoke

To cleanse the cards with smoke, you can use palo santo or incense. To do this, light the stick and let it burn until smoldering smoke appears. Bring the deck of cards to the smoke and slowly swirl it so that the smoke can envelop each card.

Concentrate on the intention of cleaning, imagining how all the negativity and alien energy leaves, leaving the cards energetically clean and ready for use. This method of Tarot card cleansing with incense helps to restore the “readability” of the cards and charge them with positive energy.

Shuffling

To cleanse the cards quickly and easily, you can shuffle them. To do this, take the deck and begin to slowly shuffle the cards in the technique that you like, focusing on the intention of cleaning.

As you shuffle, imagine how the negative energy leaves the cards, replacing them with clean and light. Repeat the process until you feel that the cards have become lighter and charged with positive energy.

Knocking

Cleansing the cards by tapping is the simplest method, which is often used to remove accumulated energy and restore their purity.

To do this, hold the deck in your hand and tap it on the table, as if throwing off past questions and the energy associated with it.

This method is especially convenient if you are doing several layouts for the same querent or for yourself. Tapping is like drawing a line after one question, cutting off the old and switching to another. That is, you shake off the old, no longer needed and then start shuffling, asking another question.

Crystals

Many natural stones have cleansing properties and can affect the Tarot cards to cleanse their energy. Therefore, in order to thoroughly cleanse the Tarot cards from someone else's influence, you can buy yourself crystals that are placed on the deck of cards for the amount of time that your inner voice tells you.

For example, a Tarot deck can be cleaned with rock crystal druse, smoky quartz and obsidian. You can also choose the stones that you like the most or that correspond to your zodiac sign. Perhaps they will match your personal stones, and then the power of the cleansing energy will be enhanced.

Flower Petals

Cleansing cards with flower petals is also an effective method for getting rid of and renewing the energy of the cards. For this method of tarot card cleansing, choose a flower with strong cleansing properties, such as rose or lavender. Lay the cards out on a flat surface and scatter the flower petals evenly over them, the main thing is that they are dry.

Leave them for a few hours or overnight so that the petals can absorb unwanted energies. Finally, carefully remove the petals and visualize how the cards are filled with fresh, positive energy, ready for further use.

Salt

Salt is considered the most powerful cleansing agent. It is necessary to cleanse with salt a new deck or one that you received from another owner.

You can also use salt cleansing after working with negativity. For example, if you looked at very difficult questions associated with pain and grief.

For that Tarot card cleansing ritual, wrap the deck in a bag or cloth, release it to the bottom of the container, and fill it completely with salt. You need to make sure that the packaging is as airtight as possible so that moisture does not get inside, so as not to spoil your cards. Let the cards lie for at least a day, even better if it is several days.

Additionally, you can cleanse anything that you think needs to be cleared of negative energy. For example, jewelry or gifts.

The Full Moon Bath

Cleansing cards during the Full Moon is a powerful way to get rid of accumulated negative energy. The Full Moon has a strong energy that promotes cleansing and renewal.

For this ritual, choose a place where the Moon is visible, for example on a windowsill, and lay out the cards. Under the light of the Full Moon to cleanse tarot cards, focus on your intention to cleanse and charge the cards.Imagine how the moonlight washes away all the negativity, filling the cards with clean energy.

After completing the ritual, carefully collect the cards. Repeating this ritual regularly every Full Moon will help maintain the energetic purity and strength of your cards.

Sunlight

The Sun radiates vital energy that penetrates every particle of our world and fills it with light and warmth. This powerful energy has the ability to cleanse and renew, penetrating into the deepest layers of matter.

Using sunlight to cleanse cards allows you not only to get rid of accumulated negativity, but also to charge them with new power. To do this, fan the cards out in a place where the Sun's rays fall and leave for 5-7 minutes.

However, this ritual of Tarot card energy purification with the help of the Sun is not recommended to be used often, because under the rays the cards can lose their original appearance and become discolored.

Meditation

For Tarot card purification, you can do meditation. To do this, turn on some calm music, take the cards in your hands and concentrate on your breathing. Close your eyes and visualize how your hands begin to glow. This luminous energy envelops all the cards, you can even feel how your hands begin to pulsate.

Imagine how the cards shed all the accumulated negative energy and become new, renewed and stronger. Maintain this feeling for a few minutes and then gradually you can open your eyes.

Blessing the Cards

You can come up with your own blessings for cleaning the cards, work as your intuition tells you. However, there is also a full-fledged ritual for blessing the Tarot cards. To do this, you need to prepare: a purple candle, incense, the cards themselves, water and salt.

Light incense on a previously lit candle. The deck of cards should be placed in front of you. Take a deep breath, and as you exhale, direct the air to the cards and say: "I give you a breath of air, take its purity."

Then quickly pass the Tarot cards over the candle flame and say: "Now take the warmth of the fire." Pass a bowl of water over the cards, saying: "I give you water, the true source of life."

After these actions, sprinkle the cards with a little salt and say the words: "I give you the earth on which the seeds of your power will grow." At the end of the ritual, take the cards in your hands and say: "Let the knowledge of the Tarot penetrate my soul and mind. Let these cards open the doors of knowledge for me." Next, meditate on the cards for 15 minutes, trying to understand their inner meaning. Then leave the deck near the candle until it burns out.

Good Times to Cleanse Your Cards

The New Moon

The New Moon is a unique period brimming with magic and potential. This stage of the Moon represents fresh starts and the chance to eliminate the past to welcome the future. It is a moment to discard gathered negative influences and get ready for upcoming successes.

The power of the New Moon helps to strengthen any rituals aimed at cleansing and renewal. Performing a ritual of cleaning the Tarot cards on the New Moon will help you remove accumulated energy from them and restore their power for further divination.

After Tarot card energy purification using any of the methods described in this article, place the cards on a windowsill or other place where the moonlight falls on them. Even if the New Moon is invisible, its energy will still work. Let the cards spend the whole night there, absorbing the renewing energy of the New Moon.

The next day, collect the cards and thank them for their work. You may feel that they have become lighter and brighter. Now your Tarot cards are ready for new readings, charged with the energy of the new lunar cycle.

By performing a ritual of cleansing the Tarot cards on the New Moon, you not only renew your tools, but also sync with the rhythms of nature, strengthening your connection with the magical energies of the universe.

After Traveling with Cards

When you take Tarot cards with you on a journey, they absorb the energy of the environment and the people you encounter. Even if you only use the cards for personal purposes, their energy field can be disrupted due to the change in location and contact with different energy sources.

This can affect the accuracy and clarity of the readings. Therefore, it is important to cleanse them after traveling.

When You Feel Low On Energy

Emotions, especially stress, fatigue, and depression, can create energy blocks that affect your interaction with the cards.

Tarot cards work on an energetic level, and if they are contaminated with negative energy, this can make it difficult to receive clear and accurate readings. Clearing the cards will help to get rid of accumulated negativity and reconnect them with positive energies.

After Guests or Parties

When you host parties or entertain guests, your cards can accumulate other people's energy. Regardless of whether you used the cards in the presence of guests or they were simply in the same room.

It is important to clear the cards after such events to return them to their original purity and energetic balance.

Do I have to cleanse my tarot cards every time before using them?

Cleanse and charge Tarot cards before each use is a topic of debate among practitioners. Many Tarot readers feel that this process is essential for removing the lingering energy from past readings, which aids in tuning the cards to fresh questions and enhancing the reading's precision. They might believe that every session leaves its own energetic mark that can influence future readings. For these individuals, consistently cleansing the cards turns into a ritual that facilitates the creation of a clear and neutral environment for new work.

Conversely, there is a viewpoint that cleansing Tarot cards before every use is not required. Some practitioners think that as long as the cards are stored in a serene and clean setting and handled with care, they maintain their energy without the need for frequent cleansing. These Tarot readers may choose to cleanse their cards only in particular circumstances, such as after a challenging reading or when the cards begin to yield unclear or confusing responses.

Ultimately, the decision about whether to cleanse Tarot cards before each use rests entirely with you. It's crucial to heed your feelings and intuition since every practitioner has their unique approach to working with the cards. Experimenting with various methods and frequencies of cleansing can help you find the approach that aligns best with you and your cards.

What would happen if I don’t ever cleanse my tarot cards?

If you never cleanse your Tarot cards, the consequences can be varied and depend on many factors, including your personal beliefs and approach to practice.

First, Tarot cards, like any instrument, can accumulate energetic residues from previous readings. These energies can be heterogeneous, since each Tarot session is accompanied by its own emotions, thoughts, and situations. Over time, this can lead to the accumulation of chaotic and unbalanced energy on the cards. As a result, readings can become less clear and precise, and the interpretation of the cards can become more complex and confusing.

Second, Tarot cards can begin to "clutter" with information, making it difficult to perceive clearly and connect with intuition. Gradually, you may notice that you begin to lose confidence in your interpretations, since the cards will give ambiguous or even contradictory answers.

Also, uncleaned cards can attract negative energy or even entities like a magnet, which will distort the information and because of this, the predictions will not be accurate. This is especially important if you often use cards to work with difficult emotional or psychological situations.

Finally, the lack of a cleansing ritual can lead to the loss of ritual respect and connection with the cards. Tarot cards are your ally, your assistant in spiritual work. Regular cleansing of Tarot cards helps to maintain this connection, shows respect for the process and helps to create a clean energetic space for work.

Thus, if you want the cards to help you catch answers, the layouts to be accurate and effective, then you should not forget to regularly cleanse the Tarot cards.

How to Care For Your Tarot Cards

Proper care of Tarot cards plays an important role in working with them. Keeping them in excellent condition ensures the accuracy and depth of predictions. These recommendations will help you keep the cards in the best possible condition and use them most effectively:

Use a Tablecloth

Laying out the arcana on the kitchen or work table is sacrilege and is not allowed. An important element of the altar is a tablecloth. A tablecloth for Tarot layouts is not just a decoration, but an important tool. It protects the cards from dust and damage, creating a barrier between the cards and the table surface.

The tablecloth should be made of a natural, single-color material (fabric or leather). This not only prolongs the life of the cards, but also helps to tune in to working with them, creating a special space for fortune telling.

Shuffle Correctly and Accurately

Careful handling of Tarot cards helps to preserve their physical condition. Tarot cards are often made of paper or cardboard, and careless handling can cause them to wear, bend, or be damaged. Proper shuffling can extend the life of a deck, preserving its aesthetic appeal and functionality.

Shuffling cards is also a way to focus and tune in to the process of divination. Even and careful shuffling helps the reader concentrate and tune in to the intuitive flow.

In this way, proper shuffling also demonstrates respect for the cards and the process of divination. It is part of the ritual that shows that the reader treats their instrument and practice with due care and seriousness.

Cleaning and Storing Your Cards

Cards should be handled with care, keeping them clean, wiping them with dry cloths to remove dust. And it is extremely important not to allow food near the cards. This can cause harm to the cards and to you.

Tarot cards should be stored in a clean, dry place, out of direct sunlight. The images on the cards can fade from sunlight, and moisture will ruin the cardboard they are made of. It is best to store the cards in a dark box or in a case.

Dispose of Them Correctly

Since Tarot cards are usually printed on cardboard, with regular use, they lose their original appearance over time: the images become faded, the edges of the cards become frayed and the entire deck begins to look like it is about to fall apart. Some tarot readers do not mind this at all, and even on the contrary - they believe that old, worn-out cards work better in some cases. But other masters, connoisseurs of aesthetic beauty, wonder whether it is possible to throw away Tarot cards that have become unusable.

Simply throwing a deck in the trash is unacceptable. This is a magical tool that you have been in contact with for a long time, and not just an unnecessary trinket, so it needs to be disposed of in a special way. In addition, Tarot cards are imbued with the energy of their owner, so by thoughtlessly throwing them in the trash, you are throwing away a part of yourself. You can’t do that.

There are several ways to get rid of unnecessary cards. Decide for yourself which one to choose. They all have a right to exist.

Method 1 - Give away, sell or exchange

If you don’t need the deck, this doesn’t mean that it won’t be useful to someone else. Today, there are special forums and communities on social networks where tarot readers buy, sell and exchange various decks. You can place your ad. However, before giving it away, it’s better to cleanse the deck of your energy.

Method 2 - Burn

If you don’t want to give your deck into the hands of others, then the cards should be ritually burned. It is fire that can absorb all the energy of the cards and break your invisible connection with them. It is better to burn the cards in a secluded place, where no one will stop you from calmly saying goodbye to the deck and letting it go with gratitude. The fire ritual is considered the safest and most popular among experienced tarot readers.

Method 3 - Bury under a tree

The essence of it is as follows: an unnecessary deck, previously cleared of energy, is simply buried in the ground under a tree - it is desirable to do this where no one else will find it.

Following these simple recommendations, you can keep your Tarot cards in excellent condition, which will ensure long and accurate work with them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s vital to incorporate tarot card clearing techniques to uphold the effectiveness of your readings. Learning how to cleanse and charge tarot cards not only refreshes their energy but also strengthens your connection with them. By regularly applying these practices, you keep your deck in peak condition, ensuring that each reading is as clear and insightful as possible. Embrace these methods to enrich your tarot journey and maintain the purity of your practice.