smudging alternatives

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Eviemay	07 Nov 2002
I usually use sage smudge sticks to cleanse my decks etc. But I find this leaves my chest tight and whezzy. What effective alternatives are there? Bright Blessings Evie

divinerguy	07 Nov 2002
I believe that decks dissipate residual energy just as fast as it is accumulated. Leaving the decks in a quiet place for a day or two should do the trick quite nicely.

wavebreaker	07 Nov 2002
I simply shuffle the deck after a reading. That's sufficient for me.

Maan	07 Nov 2002
I usally leave a crystal on top of my deck Maybe it will works for you too, but you need to cleanse the crystal before and after! :)

la_huesera	07 Nov 2002
The (cleansed) Crystal does the trick for me too!! Very effective!! Try it out and let us know how you get on :-) Blessings, *Mareike*

Eviemay	07 Nov 2002
I always keep a crystal with my deck, and cleanse that regularly. The deck is often left out on a window sill to bathe in the moonlight. But I find that after reading for others and allowing them to shuffle the deck, smudging is the best way to clear the deck. I was hoping to find something as effective. Thanks for the feedback, Bright Blessings, Evie

HudsonGray	07 Nov 2002
Crystals are the easiest (Quartz mostly) however, I have heard of an herbal way to 'smudge'. Get some herbal tea with whatever effective scents you want (cinnamon, maple, etc.), make the tea & waft the deck over the steam. Not long, you don't want the moisture to condense on it. Then take the cup with you all through the house, doing a room cleansing to get out bad vibrations. This was mentioned on a Wiccan site for someone who wanted to do a workplace cleansing but not to let the other employees know that she was pagan. Her cup of tea, walked around the immediate work area, helped cleanse it for her without anyone suspecting.

SlyR	07 Nov 2002
I don't mean to sound like a skeptic, but when you claim that so-and-so works well in cleansing a deck, upon what do you base your claim? How can you really tell that a deck is "cleansed?" It's not like washing a shirt, where you hold it up to the light to look at it.

Silaria	07 Nov 2002
The best way to describe it is as a feeling. Some people are very senstive to the energies in their environment. By tuning into these engergies you can remove/cleanse the energies you don't want and leave behind the ones you do... such as removing negative energies from a room. The best example of this I can give is walking into a highly stressful environment. The air itself tends to feel thick and heavy. You can perform a cleansing to remove this sensation. Some crystals are very good at removing negative and/or residual energies from their environment - it's a metaphysical nature of the crystal itself. As with anything else though, if you don't believe it will work it won't.

Eviemay	08 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by SlyR How can you really tell that a deck is "cleansed?" It's not like washing a shirt, where you hold it up to the light to look at it. Hi, I used to cleanse things, not sure if it was having an effect, "just in case". But since I had my Reiki attunement I find I'm alot more sensitive to energy and can actually feel the difference. Also I find if I've been doing alot of readings for others their energies remain with the pack, so I like to cleanse it to have clearer, more acurracte readings. Hope this makes sense! Bright Blessings, Evie

Eviemay	08 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by HudsonGray I have heard of an herbal way to 'smudge'. Get some herbal tea with whatever effective scents you want (cinnamon, maple, etc.), make the tea & waft the deck over the steam. Hi, This sounds like an interesting one to try. I'll have to give it a go. What are the most effective herbs to use for cleansing, do you think? Bright Blessings, Evie

wavebreaker	08 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Eviemay But since I had my Reiki attunement I find I'm alot more sensitive to energy and can actually feel the difference. Then why not use reiki to cleanse the deck?? ;) I use reiki to cleanse stones and I also use it to "initiate" a new deck, before starting to read with it.

Sulis	08 Nov 2002
I use Reiki to cleanse my decks and before I had my Reiki attunement I used to cleanse them by visualising them being bathed in silver or golden light. Crystalmynx xx

Eviemay	12 Nov 2002
Hello, It hadn't even occured to me to use Reiki to clear the deck!! Now that you have mentioned it, it seems so obvious! Thank you, Evie

Teal	12 Nov 2002
I read somewhere that you can pass the deck above a candle's flame four times as a means of cleansing the deck. You can also pass it through the smoke of incense, they say.

Laurel	12 Nov 2002
Being severely asthmatic, I have problems using incense or sage during ritual and cleansings. I've come up with a lot of substitutions, many of which have been mentioned here- crystals, oils, energy work, fresh air.. What I find works best is for me to preform the LBRP and Middle Pillar every day and just have the cards within my ritual space as I do them. The cards don't pick up "bad vibes", "negative energy", "inertia", etc., a tenth as much as -I- do... so if I'm in the right way, the cards will be almost by default. Laurel

ChrisTheObscure	12 Nov 2002
I have a special candle for the god and one for the goddess on my portable altar...where I usually read when I'm @ home. I generally cast a circle, ask their blessing and pass the deck over the flame of each candle, asking the energies of both to imbue themselves in the cards, and to guide me. This works exceptionally well and helps me to focus a lot better. Chris

DarkElectric	13 Nov 2002
Hi :) I have used the bowl of rock salt approach, when I have some kind of virus and can't smudge or burn any incense at all without asphixiating myself. I have a large pyrex glass pie plate half filled with rock salt. I just set my deck in there, leave it overnight, and voila! Cleansed deck!

The smudging alternatives thread was originally posted on 07 Nov 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.