Got this deck from someone who brought a lot of negativity into my life. The first few readings felt so heavy that I actually stopped using tarot for months. Ready to try again, but wondering how to cleanse tarot cards when there’s really bad energy attached? Heard about moonlight, smoke cleansing, shuffling with intention, but not sure what actually works.
Maybe it’s just in my head? But these cards still feel… off.
Has anyone successfully cleared a deck with stubborn negative energy? What method worked for you? Really want to give this deck a fresh start, but might need something stronger than the usual quick cleanse.
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I switch up my Tarot practice depending on what’s going on.
Sometimes I just pull one card when I need a quick answer, other times I’ll do the whole Celtic Cross spread when things get complicated. I found out something interesting the other day. Back in medieval times, monks would practice a technique called lectio divina, where they’d read a single line over and over until they derived a deeper meaning from it.
Kind of like how you can just sit with one Tarot card and see what comes up. The cards work with whatever you bring to them, whether you just need a quick check-in or want to go deeper.
I keep my deck close when I first get it - usually by my bed for a few nights and I carry it around during the day. Helps build that connection.
When the cards feel off or the readings get muddy, I use selenite. I just put the deck on a selenite slab for a couple hours and it clears right up. Sometimes I’ll leave it on the windowsill during a full moon, too. What do you use to cleanse yours?
So the cards suggest that smoke cleansing and moonlight charging can get blocked when there’s too much discord around. A cluttered space appears in the reading.
When your sanctuary isn’t peaceful, these practices lose their power. They need stillness to work. The message is pretty clear, without a calm environment where you can focus your intention, the results stay out of reach. That’s just how these practices seem to work.
Cleansing through intention is nice. I shuffle and think about what the deck has taught me - helps reset things between readings.
Been experimenting with Tree of Life cleansing for my decks.
I place them at the center point and visualize energy flowing down from the crown (Kether) through each sphere to the earthly level (Malkuth). It grounds out any stuck or negative energy using the pathways between spheres.
Those 22 paths correspond to the Major Arcana cards, so the deck basically cleanses itself through its own symbolic framework. Works pretty well for me.
I cleanse my decks a bunch of different ways depending on my mood.
Incense smoke is probably my most common method, just pass each card through the smoke. Lavender and sandalwood are my favorites, but honestly, any incense works.
Other stuff I do:
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Leave the deck on selenite for a few hours
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Blow on the corners three times (learned this from my grandmother)
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Sleep with it under my pillow when it’s a new deck
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Circle of sea salt around it overnight
Oh and I always draw a card after cleansing. Started doing this years ago because someone told me it helps keep the connection strong. Who knows if that’s true but I like the ritual of it. I don’t cleanse after every reading though. Maybe once a week or if I’ve been doing readings for other people a lot.
If the deck has taken in a lot of negative energy, it’s going to take some time to clear it.
It might be a week or longer before the cards feel like they’re back to normal. Be patient and keep at it if you’re trying out different methods. Eventually, your deck will feel renewed and ready to use again.
Have you actually looked at your cards? Sometimes that weird feeling is just fingerprints and sticky spots from whoever had them before. Just wipe each card with a slightly damp microfiber cloth.
It’s surprising how much better they feel when they’re not covered in someone else’s grime.
Had the same issue with a deck once.
The energy was really stubborn, and one cleanse didn’t cut it. I ended up cleansing it every morning for like a week straight. Just used whatever method I felt like that day. Took a while, but eventually the cards felt normal again.
I like to reset my deck by putting all the cards back in their original sequence.
Major Arcana first (starting with The Fool), then the Minor Arcana through to the King of Pentacles. I take my time with each card and let my intention flow into them as I restore the order.
Once they’re all arranged, I burn some incense and waft the deck through the smoke. It’s just what feels right to me, other readers probably have different methods that work better for them.
Sound cleansing might help.
Ring a bell or use a singing bowl over the deck, the vibrations can clear stuck energy. I had this one deck that just felt wrong, no matter what I did. Finally tried playing some 528Hz music while fanning out the cards.
They read much better after that. Something about the sound waves shifting the energy field. Worth a shot if your deck’s been feeling heavy.
I’ve been using the same deck for over a decade, and when it picked up some seriously dark energy after a difficult period in my life, salt cleansing completely transformed it, literally buried the whole deck in sea salt overnight and it came out feeling like it had been reborn. The cards went from feeling heavy and reluctant to shuffle to practically jumping into my hands again.
Decks really do develop their own personalities after cleansing. My Rider-Waite is like the Hermione Granger of tarot, brutally honest but always right.
My Celtic deck feels more like a wise grandmother who breaks hard truths gently. When I inherited a deck with heavy energy, the cleansing ritual helped me form my own connection with it. Sometimes a deck feels off because it’s still carrying someone else’s energy. A good cleanse helps reset it so you can actually bond with it.
If you’re doing any cleansing with candles or incense, ventilation is key.
And obviously don’t leave them burning while you’re in another room. Safety stuff might seem boring but trust me, you don’t want to explain to your landlord why there’s a burn mark on the carpet.
I once had a deck that felt just as toxic as the person who gave it to me.
Knocking on it while shuffling made a noticeable difference in its energy. It was like hitting a reset button. I also tried leaving the deck out under the moon with some clear quartz, and it transformed into a deck that feels supportive instead of harsh.
When I was constantly cleansing my deck and worrying about negative energy, my readings were terrible.
It was like being stuck in my own head. I eventually gave up on all the cleansing rituals and just started pulling cards. The readings improved a lot. Sometimes I wonder if we create our own problems with all these “rules” about energy.
When a deck doesn’t resonate, it can be frustrating. We’ve all been there.
I had a similar experience with a deck that felt off, no matter what I tried. I eventually gave it to a friend who resonated with it right away. Sometimes it’s just about finding where a deck belongs, even if it’s not with you.
Yeah, decks can absorb energy from whoever’s been using them. If the previous owner was dealing with a lot of negative stuff, that can definitely linger in the cards. I’ve had similar experiences with secondhand decks feeling weird or heavy. Sometimes they just need time to adjust to a new owner, but sometimes the energy is just too much, and you need to step away for a bit, like you did.
