how to cleanse my cards

The simplest actions are often the most powerful. Simply moving your hand over the cards or shuffling them and declaring them to be cleansed of all unwanted influences will work just fine. I don't personally feel the need to cleanse tarot decks but I use a similar method to cleanse other things.

Wow! I read all these and am elated there isn't a "THE way" to do it. Seems pretty intuitive and personalized, like "what makes it feel cleansed for you?"

With my new deck (sort of a 1st deck ever since I haven't done this since late 80s in junior high school) for me it was like working with a [mental health/case management] client, you simply establish rapport. I like to "learn" clients enough so I can imagine going through an [so-called] average day in their shoes. After hearing how you all talk about Tarot and my own limited experience, it feels like a relationship more than anything else. If they have their own personalities, then in a certain sense they're persons you get to know ("Number 5 is alive!").

I do wonder about "adopted" decks (i.e., like my newly adopted deck that's on her/his way to my home through the mail), any thoughts on them? Is it like adopting an older child out of the foster system? More rapport building than with the newborns you pull out of the box?

I love Kilted Kat's "beware of Wiccan Tarot drama!"

Shuffle. Focus. To me, it's about clearing your mind, not the cards.

EDIT:

I wanted to add that if you have a cleansing ritual for your decks and cards, and that works for you, than it's the same as me just shuffling. Use whatever works .

Incense

I make sure they are well shuffled and burn incense. I pass the deck uncovered over the incense in a very methodical way making sure the entire deck gets "smoked" the top bottom and all sides. I wrap then in silk and keep semi precious stones with them.

I tend just to Shuffle them briefly.

Before a reading, it sets them up for that reading.

After a reading, it cleanses them and removes the reading. I just looked at the OP's introductory post, and they seemed to think huge space was needed - wha - ?

Like with anything new, even the house we moved into, I Reiki places, things, myself to cleanse and clear. I have done more complex cleansings like using Sweet Grass to smudge something or some place, but I like using Reiki because it can be done anywhere, without having to light candles, or call in directions, and I can do it at any time of the day or night, any time of the month.

I'm waiting for my Tarot cards to arrive and Reiki is how I'd have cleared, cleansed and charged them to begin my journey with them.

Bright blessings,

Shire

aurarcana said:

Shuffle. Focus. To me, it's about clearing your mind, not the cards.

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I agree, the cards are nothing more than printed, mass produced, bits of paper. the mind is everything.

When I first started I bought into the whole ritual, drama, performance thingymajig, crystals, smudging, silk, candles, moonlight, sunlight, burying in the garden, you name it I probably tried it.

And personally I've found it to be baloney, shuffle, reorder once in a while that's it. Connecting with the deck for me is familiarity and hands on.

irisa

I just bought Legacy of the Divine. To me it is the most brilliant deck I have ever seen! To make a long story short of keeping my deck clean..(I hope) I purchased a wooden box for it at an East Indian Bazaar store. 10 bucks, very cheaply made, but beautifully hand carved with inlay. India has always meant mysticism for me. The box is lined with purple felt. (My fave colour) I keep the cards in the box wrapped in a piece of silk scarf from my mother. (Light blue and white hues on the silk). Now for the funny part. I wear a cologne called Quorum. It is a totally masculine, and I would say anti-establishment cologne. Everyone loves this cologne on me, and I have been wearing it since my teen years. (I'm 42) It smells like you just walked into an old Mexican church. It's my mainstay, my big-hitter cologne. I am going to spray the inside of the box with this cologne. To describe it for you from a fragrance website:

Quorum by Antonio Puig is a woody aromatic fragrance for men. Quorum was launched in 1982. Top notes are artemisia, caraway, grapefruit, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are cyclamen, pine tree, carnation, sandalwood, patchouli and jasmine; base notes are leather, amber, oakmoss and tobacco.

I hope this works. I hope my cards "enjoy" the scent as much as I do. If anyone feels this is wrong please tell me, as I won't do this for another week during the full moon. I will also say a prayer to the Divine Guides as I perform this "ritual"

mikemike33 said:

Quorum by Antonio Puig is a woody aromatic fragrance for men. Quorum was launched in 1982. Top notes are artemisia, caraway, grapefruit, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are cyclamen, pine tree, carnation, sandalwood, patchouli and jasmine; base notes are leather, amber, oakmoss and tobacco.

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<grin> I always laugh when perfumers talk a bout "amber" having a smell. It doesn't - it's follilised wood-sap, and has no aroma (except, perhaps, the smell of charring when you burn it, which you could easily get by burning cotton). Now, ambergris has a smell - ambergris, from memory, is a substance whales exude to try and heal themselves of infection, so it is a scent-marker of illness.

I just checked after writing that, and Wikipedia says:

Ambergris (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, ambergrease, or grey amber) is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated by sperm whales.

Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. However, as it ages, it acquires a sweet, earthy scent commonly likened to the fragrance of rubbing alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency.

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(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris)

Delightful. Starts off as whale vomit that smells like fish sh*t, then progresses to smell like alcohol.

The woody scents you've listed, though, sound delightful. I was once seduced by someone who wore nothing more than cypress and sandalwood oils, and who smelled heavenly.

I shuffle. And I use an indiarubber for any marks. I tried bread (as per gregory's instructions) but I must have used a classy type of bread because it didn't do a thing. The rubber works well though, I find. Coffee is a bit problematic, but a quick go with a wet-wipe works wonders