Getting a new tarot or oracle deck is pretty exciting, even for me (and I have like a hundred decks!). But how should you clean and clear your new tarot deck, or even clear your tarot deck’s energy after you’ve been using it for a while? This article will give you information about cleansing your tarot deck and also recharging or cleaning it after you’ve been using it or if your readings start to go a bit funny.

Please note that this is SETTING INTENTION. There are people who don’t worry about clearing the energy of their tarot and oracle decks, and that is their choice. Personally, I prefer to cleanse new tarot decks and connect with their energy prior to working with them and also if my readings become muddled or confusing.

Cleansing A Brand New Tarot Deck

When you get a new tarot or oracle deck, you’ll want to clear the energy it picked up while it was being manufactured, packaged, displayed, and delivered. You also want to imprint your own energy onto the deck so that you can be a team when doing readings.

• Unpack the cards
• Take the cards into both hands, noticing how they feel
• Set the intention to clear the cards from any energy they’ve picked up along the way
• Breathe deeply, focusing your attention on clearing the deck in your hands
• Take a few deep breaths, keeping that same CLEARING intention in mind

Viola! Your new deck is squeaky clean and ready to be used.

You can also do this intention setting ritual with a used deck you purchase, but I also recommend doing a deeper cleansing of a deck that someone else read with so that you can really get rid of any residual energy left on the cards by their previous owner.

In order to do a more thorough clearing of the energy of a used tarot deck, I’d recommend the following:

Smudging

Another way you can clean and clear the energy of a new tarot is to use a sage smudge stick or incense stick. You can smudge your tarot or oracle deck to clean its energy when it is straight out of the box, and also after you’ve been using it for a while.

I recommend running a bit of smoke over each card. You can quickly and easily do this by holding the deck in one hand and the smudge stick in the other hand. You can either use the hand you are holding the smudge stick in to push each card off of the deck, onto the table beneath or take each card, individually, and hold it above the smoke coming off of your smudge stick.

You can do this once a month, as well, or even once a week if you are doing a lot of readings with a particular deck.

Reiki Your Deck

If you are a Reiki Practitioner, you can use Reiki to clear your tarot and oracle decks when they are new or even after you have been using them for a while. When I Reiki my decks, I also feel like I establish a better connection with them and release their strengths as a deck.

How to send Reiki to your tarot or oracle deck:

1. Establish your Reiki Connection
2. Hold the deck in your hands
3. Draw a Cho Ku Rei or Dai Ko Myo symbol *If you haven’t gotten to Level 2 yet, just let the Reiki flow.
4. You will feel a transition from simply sending Reiki to your deck to having it be interactive. I always experience it as a kind of flow from the deck to me.

Crystals

Crystals can be excellent allies in helping you clear and clean your tarot and oracle decks. There are several different choices that will help you clear your tarot and oracle card decks from any energy they’ve picked up and also to quickly clear them between readings or if they start to feel off or heavy.

Clear Quartz

You can store your decks with a Clear Quartz on top that has been programmed with the intention of clearing and protecting your cards between sessions. You could even put the Clear Quartz in your tarot bag or in the silk scarf that you store them in.

Selenite

Selenite is a super high vibe crystal you can use to clear your tarot and oracle decks in between sessions or as a part of a regular cleaning and clearing routine for your decks. Because Selenite generally comes in a wand form, you can either tap the entire deck with your Selenite wand, store the deck overnight with a Selenite on top, or go through the deck and ‘swipe’ each card individually to clear them off.

Black Kyanite

Black Kyanite fans are also great energy clearers that can reset the energy of your tarot or oracle deck. You would use it much in the same way as the Selenite wand: either tap the deck with the Kyanite fan, store the deck with a Black Kyanite on top, or ‘swipe’ each card individually with the Kyanite fan.

Amethyst Bed

If you have a nice, big piece of Amethyst, you can store your deck right on top of it to help keep the energy of your deck clear.

Other crystals, like Rose Quartz, Labradorite, and Lapis Lazuli will help you connect with your intuition while reading tarot, but they might not be the best crystals to use to clear a deck.

The Moon

Setting your deck in the windowsill during a full moon can help to clear and recharge the cards. You can set the deck out as a full deck—you don’t need to fan them out or lay them out individually. Again, this is an exercise in intention setting and letting the moon do her beautiful thing in clearing and charging your tarot deck.

Reorganize Your Deck

Another method I use to clear the energy from my tarot decks is to reset the deck by putting it in order. I organize the cards from the Fool to the World in the Major Arcana and then I stack the Minor Arcana in order from the Ace to the King for each suit, and then stack the suits in the following order: Pentacles, Wands, Cups, Swords (to show an upward progression of the elements) and then put the Major Arcana on top.

Of course, give them a good shuffle before you read with them again so you can thoroughly mix them and have a random layout.

What NOT to do to clean and clear your tarot and oracle decks

Water-Based Clearing Methods

Water will warp and ruin your decks. Just don’t. LOL! Spritzing them with holy water, moon water, or a spray-based mist might hurt your cards.

Salt

Salt is another substance that is GREAT for absorbing negative energy, but that can wreak havoc on your deck. Salt can dehydrate your deck, causing structural damage to the paper stock of your cards.

If you really want to use salt to clear your deck, you can do one of two things:

1. Use a big piece of Himalayan rock salt on the top of your deck. You might even protect the deck with a crystal coaster on the deck to hold the salt. Make sure that you dispose of the salt in a river or bury it after using it.
2. Wrap your deck in a piece of cloth before you put it on a salt bed.
3. Put a circle of salt around your deck, setting the intention of having the salt protect and clean your deck.

 

I’d love to hear your suggestions about how you clear the energy of your new tarot and oracle decks when you first get them, and also how you maintain their energetic clarity as you use them.