how to cleanse my cards

ritual isnt necessary before using a new deck, manypeople just feel closer to the deck if they do some kind of cleansig or dedicating ritual. Some people just sleepwith it under their pillow,soe people do sun and/or moon cleansing, some leave a crystal ontop the deck, some people go to great legths to find a perfect home (bag or box) for the deck, and some people just shuffleittil itfeels right and gofrom their. Me,I love to pass it through the smoke of Sage incense, since theirs a place here that sells it for 7 cents a stick (just went up from a nickle) thats high quality stuff. By buring it in an incense bottle it gives off a nice thick area opf smoke, making it easy to do, but since I like to do each card individually it takes awhile to go through 78

Ive only ever did a dedication ritual once, it waswith 4 otherpeople here we did a worldwide once, all of us doing it at the same time (4 am for some of us, 2 pm for others hehe)

You can just take them out under the moon, you dont have to spread them, you can even leave them in a window to asorb moonlight. Up to you. Dont know much with pedalums, but I figure that if it swings one way the deck is cleansed thouroughly, if it swings the other it needs more cleansing.

If you need to do a reading with a new deck cause its new, we know how it is, using the 3 card new deck spread is appropriate. You can find it at

http://www.anjastarot.dk/spreads/others/DifferentKindsOF3CardSpreads.htm

Its the second one

edited

jade said:

i channel reiki (healing energy) thru my cards to cleanse them.

Click to expand...

I love that idea! I'm a reiki master, and have never thought to use the energy to cleanse my deck!

The only ritual I have with a new deck is to go through it and look at each card to get a feel for it. As I'm looking, I separate the cards into piles based on how I feel about them: which ones I like, which ones I dislike, which ones require further study, etc.

If I feel my deck needs a "break," I put it all back in order again and place some amythyst and clear quartz crystals on it. That's about it.

Cleansing the deck...depends on how much you want to do so. Every once and a while, i just put all the cards in order, and then look throught them after that, and then shuffle about 7 times.

The other night, i did a much more involved one because there are some decks i dont use a lot/and or wont be using for a while, so i took a wand, asthame, pentacle, and cup of water, then with each deck in order, touched or placed the item on the deck for a little bit, and then for spirit, i would just hold them and meditate for a bit. I rarely do that tho.

Its just a personal thing, i dont do it except when im bored or when i cant think clearly with the shuffling of a question. The moon is special because it is more of a clairvoyant symbol (i didnt read all of the above replies, sry if im restating something). The sun is also purifying, maybe you should use both to balance out the deck, that sounds like a good idea

Shuffle

Love

Sulis xx

wish i'd seen this thread a while ago...

like Menmay, i was wondering about the 'proper' method of cleansing cards...after i did a lot of research and discussed cleansing rituals with a very knowledgable friend, i devised my own ritual for cleansing a deck that i'd used in my mother's house. she was a terminal cancer patient at that time, and there was a WHOLE lotta energy in the house--not all of it was good.

the deck was the Aquarian Tarot, and i remembered buying it then because it looked beautiful and soothing, and i was searching frantically for something to comfort me and help me focus--but that deck just never felt right.

a long while after my mother's death, i gathered some things that made me think of purification and new beginnings, and took them out into the moonlight (FULL moon) on our deck in the backyard. i lit white honeysuckle candles, and mixed sea salt with rain water, and waved a sage smudge in circles around the cards.

had no idea what to say or do, so i just kind of winged it with the ritual. (is it a ritual if you've never done it before??) I spread each card out in the moonlight and annointed each card briefly with the sea salt/rainwater combination. as i wiped it off with a piece of black silk, i asked that the card be purified and wiped clean, to have a new beginning in energy.

the ritual ended up being very satisfying, and i've done it (more or less, sometimes without the candles and smudge) with my other decks, but that Aquarian Tarot deck just never worked for me. I gave it to my friend, and hopefully she's had better luck with it.

really, when it comes to events like a purification ritual, it's most important that YOU feel comfortable with what you do. when you feel sincere about your actions and can ask for the purification of your cards with joy, that's what counts. at least, that's what i think.

i wish i'd known about this thread back in 1998! *sigh*

-karafarrah

Sulis, I'm with you. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle ... probably one of the best ways to realign a deck for me. Sometimes, I never get around to a reading for myself. I sit, start shuffling and thinking of what I want to work on, and before you know it, I've shuffled my way to an answer without ever throwing a card.

Menmay, there are as many ways to clear a deck as there are readers - lots of great ideas in this thread so far. When I purchase a used deck, I usually make it mine by smudging every single card. Takes a long time, but lets me really get to know the entire deck.

If you need a real quickie, you can smack the deck on a table top or the floor a couple of times. Guaranteed to shake out any lingering vibes and ground the deck.

Mnemosyne

Thought I'd post because I've just 'cleansed' my deck. Quite bizarre really. I've had the same deck for years and have had difficulty recently. The same cards coming out time and again for different people as though my deck was 'stuck'. I don't know how to say it really but maybe energy had built up but it felt a little confused.

So I read this thread with interest but didn't do anything suggested. Shuffling obviously wouldn't work as I always shuffle thoroughly and cut before each reading.

Anyway, I bought an Australian crystal some years ago purely for decoration. It was hanging by my window catching light and throwing out wonderful colours. It broke and I couldn't hang it anymore so it was in a drawer. I put it in my tarot bag - don't know why - but I had a vague idea of 'clearing' my cards.

It worked!!!!

Maybe too well as I feel like I'm starting again somehow and all my energy that has built up over the years has gone. The deck somehow feels new to me.

But it's shuffling better and I'm get a better variety of cards. Could be psychological, could be the clarity of the crystal - I don't know.

Might be worth trying though

I've taken to putting the cards in order in a conscious, in the present moment fashion, looking at the cards and thinking/feeling/intuiting whatever comes along. Then I place them securely back in their original boxes, no matter how worn, and then place them in their velvet bags that I bought specifically for them. They sit overnight or until I'm ready to use them again. Then, I shuffle, shuffle, shuffle and shuffle some more. Shuffling is really so meditative for me that I'm sure I'll be going through decks faster wearing them down by shuffling. My first deck already looks ages old and I just bought it about five months ago!

~Mercy