What? It’s not like you’re cooking with them. Bay leaves are a helpful plant for divination because they are primarily used to ward off evil. Your cards should be protected from the ex (and other monsters!) who forced you to sage your entire freaking house if you bookend them with the bay leaves.
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And finally, put a crystal on top for protection
The black tourmaline that Tarra gave me is a pretty intriguing choice. Negative energy is absorbed by black tourmaline and transformed into harmless energy. Additionally, it enables you to respond with greater compassion by enabling you to see circumstances clearly and objectively free from harmful influences. All of that seems helpful when it comes to divination, but if your neighborhood occult store is out of black tourmaline, you might want to consider alternative crystals for protection. Again, ugh?
Do I need to always cleanse my tarot cards before using them?
That’s correct
Magdaleno really suggests cleaning your deck before each reading to achieve the most accurate results. She advises starting with a cleansing to make the cards clear for your reading, whether it’s for yourself or someone else.
Can a Tarot deck be saged?
White sage is the most popular smudging plant, but others like desert sage, cedar, sweetgrass, or a combination of them, may also be employed. Even though sage is the traditional smudging substance, you are free to use your chosen incense. Sometimes herbs like copal, lavender, and others are added to invoke benevolent or protective energy.
These herbs are offered for sale in dried bundles known as “smudge sticks,” which when burnt smolder like incense. The object you want to cleanse is then covered with the smoke rising from the smudge stick.
How to Do It
The cleaning procedure is really straightforward. You can purify your entire house, just your tarot cards, your reading space, or any combination of these, as well as your entire household. If at all possible, the cleaning should occur during the daytime in both scenarios. Alternatively, simply the ones in the space where you are smearing can be opened. This will provide the bad energy a quick way out.
There are only five steps to smudging:
- Open all windows and doors
- Activate the smudge stick.
- Waft the smoke over your object or environment as you focus on cleansing and rebirth.
- Shut off the smudge stick.
- By (carefully) clinking a spoon on a glass, you can ring a bell or create a chiming noise.
Home Smudging Walkthrough
- Start with the front door of your house. Although not often the front door, this entrance gets the greatest traffic.
- Holding your smudge stick over a flame will light it; blow softly on the lit end to make it smolder. Keep a lighter nearby so you can restart the stick if needed.
- Concentrate your will on the notion of purification and rejuvenation. Some people like to say a quick prayer of appreciation or thank the herb for aiding them.
- To clear negative energy, smudge the door by sweeping smoke counterclockwise around the doorframe.
- Smudge the entrances just like you did at the front door, going counterclockwise through your home and each room. Many individuals only smear windows and doorways. Mirrors, reflective surfaces, and even electrical outlets are examples of additional objects that act as thresholds and, as a result, as energy entry sites.
- After you’ve completed your circuit, go back to your primary entry and re-smudge it. You might make an affirmation or a prayer here, or you can ask for good energy to enter your house.
- Put your smudge stick out in a heat-safe container like an ashtray or ceramic dish. The lit end should simply be stubbed out like a cigarette. The majority of smudge sticks burn out naturally, so you might opt to do the same.
- The last step is to chime a bell or click a spoon against a glass to create a sound. This harmonizes everything by spreading a vibration of sound energy throughout the area.
You may reset the energy in your house or your tarot cards using smudging, and you can do it as frequently as you wish. Smudging helps remove any negative energy from readings before you read them again because readings might disclose some truly unpleasant things. Between each reading, some tarot readers smudge their equipment and workspace, while others do it on a weekly or monthly basis.
How should I prepare tarot cards for use?
While rearranging the cards in the tarot deck is a good approach to purify and clear their energy, there are some circumstances in which you might wish to perform a more specialized ritual. If you’re just getting started with tarot, cleaning your deck can be an excellent place to start.
You might want to clean your tarot deck for a variety of reasons, including:
- beginning with a fresh deck
- readings for other people
- You think you need to recharge.
- Your card readings seem a touch “odd” or “disconnected”
- Your deck hasn’t been used recently.
- Your deck has been handled by others
- You think you’ve been utilizing your deck a lot. A LOT, especially for books with strong emotional content
Why should you cleanse or clear your tarot deck?
Tarot deck cleansing helps keep the energy flowing between you and your deck. Consider it as a little spiritual hygiene to maintain a strong and clear connection. It’s not necessary, but if you have any of the aforementioned symptoms, try a few of the energetic cleansing techniques listed below and note which ones seem to work the best for you.
How often should you cleanse your tarot deck?
This is another way of stating USE YOUR INTUITION: there are no hard and fast laws. Don’t stress if you don’t believe it is necessary for your deck. Alternately, if you like to cleanse them once per week or once per month, that’s great. If it feels appropriate to you, you can even place your favorite crystal on the balcony each night.
If you frequently place crystals on your deck and store it on an altar while not in use, you might not feel the need to cleanse it frequently because this quick ritual will likely be sufficient to keep your deck feeling nice.
There are numerous ways to cleanse your cards, just as there are numerous reasons why you might desire to do so.
Different ways to cleanse your tarot deck
Use holy smoke. Light a dried rosemary, lavender, cedar, sage, or palo santo cleansing wand until it begins to smoke. Hold the smoke a safe distance below the deck while holding the burning herbs in one hand and the deck in the other so that the smoke drifts upward onto the cards. Turn the deck so that the smoke covers it from all angles. Next, safely put your deck to the ground and put out the fire.
On the deck, set a selenite stone (or a black tourmaline or a transparent quartz). It works well to leave it like way for an hour, but I prefer to leave it overnight.
Set them on display during a new moon. The New Moon is energy of a blank slate; you can purify the deck by setting it on a window sill on a new moon night. At this moment, you can also make a brand-new intention for your deck.
Place the cards in a salty dish. A strong and stabilizing cleaner is salt. My preferred choice for a thorough cleansing is this. Allow it to sit anywhere from one to eight hours in a dry area.
Unorderly shuffle. Spread the cards out on the ground, then shuffle them around like a child playing in dirt. This method’s freedom and randomization serve as an excellent reset.
the shuffle and sort. Set up the deck in rows of seven cards across, commencing with the Major Arcana numbers 0 to 22. (see photo above). Next, arrange the cards, Ace through King, one for each suit, as follows: Swords, Pentacles, Cups, and Wands. View the deck in this configuration, then mix everything up (like the chaotic!) and shuffle it thoroughly.
How can I give my tarot cards more life?
“Knock or tap the pile of cards numerous times while holding them in your palm to disseminate your energy throughout the deck. Shuffle the cards completely. The cards are divided into three heaps, which are subsequently reassembled into one pile.
Do you need tarot cards from Sage?
In the tarot world, it is customary to cleanse and clear both new and used tarot cards.
It’s completely acceptable that many readers don’t clean their tarot decks. Some people I know who don’t cleanse their cards are amazing readers. However, many individuals believe that tarot cards can accumulate energetic muck over time.
If they’re utilized, it’s unknown whose deck they were. Was their use accompanied by any unfavorable, nervous, or obsessional energy? It’s preferable to give them a makeover and acclimate them to you as the new owner.
If they were touched by someone else, this is a controversial piece of tarot mythology. Some tarot readers forbid others from touching their cards.
Adherence to this concept is optional, regardless of what your tarot teacher insisted upon or what you read in a book.
Don’t allow people touch your cards if you believe that doing so will change how they read. Otherwise, it’s a matter of taste rather than a set guideline. Do remember proper tarot etiquette and never touch another person’s deck without their permission.
If you routinely get bad or unclear readings
Perhaps your cards have some strange energetic gunk on them that is interfering with the reading. Reading on a bad scenario could result in a bad card outcome. However, occasionally you will experience an odd, strangely unfavorable sensation that needs to be cleared.
Reading about a subject too frequently can make the readings unclear. In that situation, it is customary to allow the deck to “rest” or restart by cleaning it.
You need to get back in touch with a deck.
Cleaning or cleaning your cards is a fantastic method to re-establish contact if they have been put away for any time. The same holds true for an old deck you want to use again.
Questions you don’t really want answered
Even though it might seem apparent, it’s advisable to refrain from asking the tarot cards questions that you aren’t prepared to hear the answers to. That’s because answers to these questions can reveal information you’re just not quite ready to hear.
“Tarot can definitely come off as offensive if you’re not willing to hear the truth or consider an opposing opinion. Tarot reading Nicole Fortunaso
According to tarot reader and life coach Nicole Fortunaso, “tarot may truly come out as offensive if you are not willing to hear the truth of the problem or look at an alternate viewpoint.” She advises analyzing why you’re reacting the way you are in order to reflect on how to effectively address the underlying problem if you ask the question and aren’t satisfied with the response.
How can I get my tarot cards back together?
Advice on connecting with your tarot cards whether it’s your first time using them or you’ve owned your deck for a while.
Connecting or reconnecting to your deck can be a helpful activity, regardless of whether you haven’t picked up your deck in a long, are hesitant to conduct a reading for yourself, feel “wrong” with the readings you’ve been conducting, or have purchased a new deck.
Check out Reading Tarot for Beginners: How to Start Reading Tarot for Yourself for advice on how to pick your deck.
Being a competent reader requires you to connect with your tarot deck. But you must invest time, effort, and attention in a good relationship.
How can I tell if I’m not meant to work with a deck or I just need to reconnect?
The connection you have with the deck has to be strengthened, or it might not be the best fit for you at this time, if you’re having trouble getting a good reading from it or feel off with it.
It’s possible that you and your tarot deck aren’t intended to be in a serious long-term relationship if you don’t feel like you connect with it or if you don’t appear to speak the same language. There is a deck available for you if you want to learn, therefore this does not imply that you are not destined to be a reader.
However, there’s also a strong chance that you can establish the connection with a little time and effort. especially if you were initially drawn to your deck.
You can utilize some decks for specific purposes and not others. The majority of your magic will probably be performed with one main deck, although you may occasionally use other decks for fun, support, or clarity. Since decks are exquisite works of art, I love collecting them. And I adore using them when I want to switch things up or am performing a certain style of reading, but I only use my original ride or die deck for all of my professional readings and lectures.
All of this is to indicate that testing out a variety of decks is a wonderful idea. For your first deck, conduct some study, examine the imagery, and choose the one that sparks your interest.
Here are some methods for getting back on your deck. I’ve listed them in the sequence I’d perform them, but you should feel free to customize this exercise according to your own preferences.
How to connect with your tarot cards
You can accomplish this in a number of ways, including by shuffling, using crystals, moonlight, salt, or sacred incense. Click here to learn more about cleaning your deck.
Hold your cards firmly in your palms while taking a few deep breaths. After that, think about the intention you want to have for your practice with them. It could be a word, a sentence, or an emotion. You can use this time to ask any guides or spirits you enjoy working with for assistance or to help you open your channel to divine advice that is in your highest and best interests.
Cleaning the energy in the deck through shuffling. Additionally, it creates the random system that allows us to access the advice we need from the deck. We can gain a completely new viewpoint from the cards because of the randomness that shuffling creates; by doing so, we are deviating from logic and embracing the unknowable. Check out this article on card shuffling.
To get to know one another, gain some fresh perspectives, and, yes, bond, spend some time completing a tarot spread that is tailored to your deck.
- What details about you do you want me to know?
- Your restrictions?
- What type of partnership are we capable of having?
- What task are we supposed to complete jointly?
- Which card can currently be my teacher?
- How can I use this card to explore deeper?
Make putting your deck away a ceremony. You might keep it in a box, cover it in a special scarf, place a crystal on top of it, or place it on an altar while not in use. Choosing to follow this quick procedure at the conclusion of each session or day is a way to show your deck some love, gratitude, and appreciation.
Bonus Tarot bonding exercises:
the whole picture The Major Arcana numbers 0 to 22 should be arranged in lines of seven cards across. Next, arrange the Ace through King cards for each suit in the following order: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. Take a good look at the deck in this format. Then thoroughly jumble everything together.
Select a map. To serve as your anchor and guide for connecting with your deck and intuition, choose a card based on its look and/or its meaning. Write down all the thoughts, emotions, and queries this card triggers for you in a journal. Use it to meditate. Keep track of how it manifests in your daily life and tarot practice (and keep a notebook of your observations!). When not using your deck, place this card on your altar. You can carry out this for a week or a lunar cycle before selecting another.
Put your deck beneath your pillow while you sleep. You can connect with the cards in your unconscious time if you can make it comfy.
Also keep in mind that it takes time to establish a connection and relationship with your deck. Like any relationship, it evolves as you develop and gain new knowledge.
More about reading Tarot:
- Materials for Learning Understanding Tarot
- 44 Tarot Questions for Free Download
- How is tarot used?
- Books & Resources for Tarot
- Tarot Reading for Novices
- How to Purify Tarot Cards
- Free Enhanced Intuition Challenge for 3 Days
- Tarot Foundations: A training program for more intuitive, linked reading
If someone touches your tarot cards, what should you do?
If you have been reading Tarot for years without allowing anybody else to touch your cards and this is how you prefer it to be done, maintain reading in this manner. Do it if it works.
However, if you are new to tarot and unsure about whether you should allow others to touch your cards when reading for them, REST! Others are welcome to touch freely. In fact, I believe that doing this makes a reading seem more genuine. You simply need to believe in the strength of your intention to afterwards purge any negative energy from your Tarot deck.
What are your thoughts on this? I’m interested to know! Therefore, please share your thoughts regarding individuals touching your cards in the comments section below. Do you agree with it? Or do you strictly enforce a no-touch policy?
How can I wash cards?
Most domestic playing cards can be quickly cleaned by placing them in a paper bag with a few teaspoons of flour, talc, or cornstarch. Shake firmly. Then use a paper towel to clean each card.
The superior plastic-coated cards, on the other hand, can be cleaned by drenching a clean towel in a mixture of cold water and a few drops of mild soap (not detergent). A soft, clean, dry cloth should be used to quickly dry the card once the damp cloth has been used on both sides. Before storing the cards, let them thoroughly dry on the air.