How To Cleanse Your Tarot Cards: Smoke Cleanse

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When you bring home new tarot cards, you will want to cleanse your tarot cards to remove the energies from those who held them before you.

Tarot cards can come into our lives in a multitude of ways.

We buy them brand new, find them second hand, or are given them as a gift. Even if we are the first person to touch them since packaging, we have to remember the journey that the cards have been on since they were created. In most instances, many people have come into contact with our cards and who knows the energies that come with them.

Because of this, it is so important to cleanse your cards before you begin your journey with them.

Understanding the Energies

The items we interact with on a daily basis are full of energy. Energy that we have put in as well as energy from all the other beings have that been apart of their journey to get to where they are.

Everyone transfers their energy into the world, both positive and negative.

The person in the factory who packaged your cards might have been having a bad day because of a sick loved one at home. The shipper who delivered the package could have been experiencing anger as the traffic delayed their deliveries. But it is not all negative. Perhaps the person at the metaphysical shop hummed a happy tune as they lined the shelf with the beautiful new decks.

All of this energy was transferred to the cards.

If you are given a second-hand deck or happen upon one at the thrift store, you never know what kind of energies are held within it. Were you given the deck because your friend wanted to bless you with it or did it not connect with them? Who knows about the story behind the thrift store deck.

This is why it is so important to cleanse your cards when you bring them home.

Bonding with your cards is so important and being able to start out with a clean slate can really improve the experience you have with your cards.

Smoke Cleanse

Please note the term smoke cleanse. I prefer to avoid the term ‘smudging’ as I am not apart of the Indigenous community and do not want to culturally appropriate this sacred term. Smudging is more than a smoke cleanse. It is a sacred ritual.

There are many different ways to cleanse your tarot cards. From knocking and tapping, to moonlight and smoke cleanses. My favourite way to cleanse my new tarot decks is a smoke cleanse.

There are many different herbs, woods, and incense that you can use to do a smoke cleanse.

I like to use sage as it has potent properties to dispell negativity. Palo Santo is a popular wood to use for smoke cleanses as well. Do your research about what you would like to use. Depending on where in the world you live, you might choose different native plants for their special properties.

I have been gifted a sage bundle, as pictured above, but I actually prefer to use loose sage that I also received as a gift. The sage I prefer to use has been sustainably harvested with positive intentions and lovingly dried within my own home. Once dried, I can pick leaves off to use in my cleansing.

How to Cleanse Your Tarot Cards

The universe has gifted me with abundance recently. Many new tarot card decks have come into my life and I am very grateful for them. I have also been doing a lot of intense readings since starting my online presence and decided that all of my cards needed a good cleanse.

These six steps are how I cleanse my cards. How you choose to cleanse your tarot cards will depend on you. Be your authentic, true self and listen to your intuition when doing this process.

Make it your own and have fun with it.

Step One: Clean Your Space

This step is often overlooked but it is so important. The first step to cleanse your tarot cards is to clean your space. Whether you are working at an alter or on the floor, you want a clean space to work in.

I like to dust the surrounding area and give a quick vacuum. I do not want to work in a dirty space. Clean your space before starting your smoke cleanse.

Step Two: Set Up A Sacred Space

If you have a dedicated alter, you might not need to do this step. I am a mom of 4 children and do not have a dedicated alter space. We live in a small home and I actually set up in my living room which also doubles as my meditation space.

I will gather my trinkets, cards, and whatever I need to make my space feel sacred. Some people will have a ritual cloth that they like to use to cover their surface but I prefer to set up directly on the wood of my surface. I find working on wood helps to connect me to the earth. If I had a secluded back yard, I would love to set this up outside in nature to really release all the energy back to the earth.

Today, I gathered all of my tarot cards, oracle decks, abalone shell, and a few leaves of white sage.

The last part of this step is to open a window. You want the negative energies to be able to leave your space, so open a window.

For the next two steps, you do not have to speak these out loud. If you are a beginner, it may be beneficial for you to use the spoken word. You can also visualize your intention or just feel it within your being.

Do what feels right for you.

Step Three: Set Your Intentions

As you light your botanical of choice or incense, you want to set your intentions. Be mindful of the words you are using during your cleanse.

• My intention is to remove any unwanted or unneeded energies or vibrations that are not aligned with my best good.
• I am cleansing my space.
• My intention is to remove any negative energies that have been picked up from other people.
• I am removing energies that no longer serve me.

The words I use at the moment are ones that feel right. The phrases above are just examples. I want you to be your true, authentic self. If it doesn’t feel right to you, then try something different.

Step Four: Cleanse Yourself

Before I start cleansing my cards, I like to cleanse myself. I will use my hand to waft the smoke all over my being and focus on gratitude and positivity in the moment.

• I am grateful for the ability to understand the cards.
• Positivity and optimism fill my heart, every day.
• I am grateful to be able to be a messenger for the universe.
• Thank you for all of your wonderful gifts.

Once I am feeling the powerful vibrations of my ritual and cleansing, I will close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to clear my mind. Some days I will take 3 deep breaths, other days it is more. The goal is to clear my mind of unnecessary chatter.

Once I feel my mind is calm, I move on to actually cleansing my tarot cards.

Step Five: Cleanse Your Tarot Cards

The way I approach cleansing my cards will depend on 2 main factors:

• the number of decks I want to cleanse
• the power of the energy from the deck

Single Card Cleanse

If I only have intentions of cleansing one deck, I will take more time and cleanse the deck card by card.

I will also cleanse my deck card by card if I am feeling like there is a lot of built-up energy in a certain deck. Some times I feel this after a very intense reading and I want to thank my deck for its work by cleansing it. It might also be the case if you receive a deck secondhand.

Move the cards, one by one, through the smoke while setting your intentions of cleansing and positivity. Don’t forget to cleanse the boxes or bags that you store your cards in as well.

Whole Deck Cleanse

If I have a lot of decks I want to cleanse or if I just want to do a quick cleanse between readings, I will cleanse my whole deck at once.

To cleanse your tarot cards, fan out the cards so a small bit of each card is exposed. You can either wave the cards over the smoke, like pictured above, or wave your sage bundle over the cards that are sitting on a surface. Don’t forget to cleanse the boxes or bags as well!

As you move your deck through the cleansing smoke, set your intentions.

• I cleanse this deck of built-up energies.
• Negative energy moves from these cards and back into the earth.
• I cleanse this deck of any negative vibrations.
• I release the negative energies and vibrations back into the universe.

Step Six: Give Thanks

Once I have cleansed my cards, I will put them away in their boxes and back into the area in which I store my cards and crystals.

As I am doing this, I will give thanks. I will thank my cards for their beautiful images. I will thank the universe for letting the messages flow through me.

Giving thanks and ending with gratitude will help put positive energies and vibrations back into the cards. I always approach my cards with positivity. If I am in a bad mood, I stay away from my cards because I only want to work with them when I am in a positive state of mind.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you did, please share it!

What is your favourite botanical or incense to burn when doing a smoke cleanse? Let me know in the comments below!