Welcome to The Tarot Table, the podcast where we explore the mystical world of tarot, delve into the secrets of the cards, and talk about all things spiritual with a no-nonsense, no-BS lens.
I'm your host, Miriam Rachel, psychic medium and tarot reader, author of Overcoming Echoism with Tarot: Using Tarot for Boundary Setting and Stopping People-Pleasing, and freelance writer.
I am so glad you are here. I have a question for you. How often do you cleanse your tarot cards? If you never do, and you find that your readings are crappy, then it is time to listen up because you need to cleanse your cards.
When you consider that tarot cards are only 78 pieces of beautiful cardboard, you may wonder why it is necessary to cleanse them.
Nevertheless, if you are truly getting into the craft, you will see that these cards have more meaning than just being 78 pieces of cardboard.
It is essential to do that when it comes to cleansing these cards; it is a great self-help tool for divination and spurring creativity.
Cleansing Tarot Cards: Why Should You Do It?
Everything is energy, and everything you touch is where your energy is transferred.
You want to ensure that your frequency is high when reading tarot, whether for a client, a friend, or yourself, so you get a precise reading.
A stagnant or polluted energy will taint the cards and affect the reading negatively. You want to practice your best spiritual hygiene, so cleansing your cards is essential.
The Effects of Not Cleansing Them
Would you want to wear a shirt every day that is full of sweat, dead skin cells, and food crumbs that you have eaten even if you can’t see them?
You are practicing poor physical hygiene unless you cleanse your cards every time.
I hate to say this, but it is not really any different from not washing your hands after using the toilet. And yes, I am making that comparison.
Your cards may not smell bad if you don’t cleanse them, but you might feel stagnant energy and pull up either readings with bad outcomes or readings that don’t make sense if you don’t cleanse them. I mean, It makes sense to clean your tarot cards.
Consistently cleaning your cards is similar to regularly doing laundry or showering. The things you do cannot be imagined without them. Because otherwise, ewww gross.
You may wonder how often or when to cleanse your cards. Let’s discuss that.
How Often Should Tarot Cards Be Cleansed
You don’t have to cleanse your cards at any particular time or frequency. When cleaning your cards, you should use your intuition.
If you feel stagnant or unhealthy energy around them and don’t remember when you cleaned them last, it is overdue and time to cleanse them.
You don’t have to cleanse a deck of cards if you don’t use them too often and feel their energy is fresh each time you use them.
You decide how often and when to cleanse them. When you start a new deck, you must first cleanse it to know what energies surround it.
You must know the energies surrounding the manufacturer's printer if you purchase a brand-new tarot deck from Amazon, Etsy, or a shop.
Negativity could rub off onto your new deck if negativity existed around the printer.
You don't want to read a deck that has the energies of someone that has been having a crappy day, right? You should cleanse the new deck as soon as you receive it or before you use it.
Also, cleaning your cards is a good idea if you have done plenty of emotional readings for friends or clients.
No matter how many positive readings you have done, your cards must be cleansed.
You should keep cleansing your cards as long as you are using them. You are entirely responsible for determining how often to cleanse your cards. You may now be wondering how to cleanse your cards.
Are you washing them? You can do that if the cards are laminated, or you could ruin them. I mean, that is not rocket science.
How Can Tarot Cards Be Cleansed?
There are several ways to cleanse your tarot cards. Choosing a way that resonates with you is essential.
Put A Crystal On The Deck
You can cleanse your deck by absorbing its energies, such as clear quartz, selenite, or black tourmaline, by placing a crystal on the deck.
To absorb negativity and stagnant energies from the deck, place the cleansing and protective crystal on it overnight.
The crystal can be placed on the deck for an hour if you want to do a light cleanse due to reading for several clients in one day.
Cleanse with Sacred Smoke
Use sage, lavender, palo santo, cedar, or dried rosemary to cleanse your deck. During the burning of the herbs, you will place the deck near the smoke with the other hand so that the smoke will surround the cards and remove negativity or stagnant energy.
Ensure that all corners and sides of the deck of cards are in contact with the smoke so you are effectively cleaning it.
The cards can be purified by placing them in a bowl of sea salt. Salt is known to be very cleansing, so you can cleanse your cards effectively by placing the cards in the bowl and allowing them to absorb their energies.
Obviously, you should ensure that humidity levels are manageable when cleansing them this way. Having clumped salt stuck on your cards will ruin them and your mood.
Allow Sunlight To Cleanse The Cards
The cards can always be placed on the window sill during the day to be cleaned by the sunlight. Keep your cards away from the sun for too long, or they may warp.
Negative and stagnant energies can be washed away by sunlight, however. If kept too long in the sun, the art can be damaged, so you should keep them there for only a few hours at most during the day.
To soak up the moonlight, place the cards on the window sill overnight: If you are concerned that sunlight could warp your cards, you can always put them overnight so they can soak up the moonlight even if you don’t want to place them on the window sill during the day.
Cards can be cleansed at any time, not just during full moons. Nevertheless, you would not achieve anything with a New Moon, as there would be no moonlight. Some may argue with that, but I have found that the New Moon energy does not cleanse the cards.
The cleansing process may be interfered with if the cards are placed during a lunar eclipse.
Shuffle Chaotically
Arrange the cards chaotically on the floor. You can also use that method to purge the cards of stagnant or negative energies. It may be an excellent way to get rid of it quickly if you read for clients.
These are the main methods of cleansing cards; however, you choose to cleanse them is up to you! Don’t hesitate to follow your instincts.
How To Clean Tarot Cards The Right Way
When cleaning your tarot cards, there is no right or wrong way. However, you should be responsible for how you do it. What I mean is to use common sense.
If you put your cards on the window sill, they could warp and ruin the cards, and, at the very least, the artwork may be destroyed if they are left there for over five hours.
Cards should be cleansed using alternative methods if humidity levels are high instead of salt, as I already discussed.
To avoid readings with old energies tainted by your cards, you must cleanse them in the ways mentioned. Whether you received the cards directly from the manufacturer, were given them as a gift, or used them for some time, it doesn’t matter.
Now you have it! I will talk to you again next Friday. Don't forget to subscribe to my Substack! Follow me on Medium at msmir.medium.com, and check out my site at miriamreadstarot.com.
Next week, I want to talk about one of the cards that scare people, the Tower, and explain why it may be one of the best cards to get in a reading. Until then, see you next time, ciao for now.
Episode003 - Gross Things Can Happen if You Don’t Cleanse Your Tarot Cards Regularly