Do You Need To Cleanse A New Tarot Deck?

It might be hard to know what you are expected to do when you are new to tarot. Do you need to cleanse a new tarot deck or not? No one wants to look like a newbie.

Depending on how you intend to use the tarot cards, the answer will differ. Cleansing might be a good idea if you use the tarot deck for divination. If you are going to use it for self-development, you might not need to cleanse your deck at all. 

Cleansing the deck might be a great idea if you use the tarot deck for divination. You have no idea what energies the deck has been subjected to before you got your hands on them. 

If you are new to tarot and spirituality overall, you might not be familiar with divination. Divination is when you use your deck as a tool to connect to energies, entities, guides, or alike.

When you use the tarot for self-discovery and growth, you foremost use the deck to unlock the barrier to your subconscious mind. You are working with your energy, so to speak, not external ones. 

WHAT IS CLEANSING?

Cleansing is when you clear the deck from unwanted energies that might interfere with your reading. Energies can attach to your tarot decks from the surroundings. These unwanted energies might make your reading off or not make sense.

There are many ways you can cleanse your tarot deck. Standard methods are crystals, incents, rituals, or prayers. With time and experience, you will find the technique that suits you and your reading style.

I love using crystals for cleansing decks. It’s straightforward. You will pull this off like a pro, even as a total newbie.

CLEANSING AND SECULAR USAGE

If you use your tarot deck for self-discovery and growth, you might not need to cleanse the deck at all. 

You are not connecting with any spirit or energy as you are using the tarot to unveil the truths and wisdom hidden in your subconscious or unconscious mind. You are using your intuition to recall things hidden within. 

It’s common to use the tarot in a secular way nowadays. Many don’t use tarot for divination or part of a belief system.

WHEN IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO CLEANSE A NEW DECK

As your new tarot deck has been traveling from the manufacturer to the shop where you bought it, chances are your deck has been exposed to negative energy. You have no idea which has been handling it in the shop or where it has been in storage.

Even if the tarot deck is new, it has been subjected to energy from the surroundings. If you are going to use it as a tool for divination, it is always a good idea to cleanse it and charge it with your energy. In that way, your spirit guide will have an easier way of communicating with you.

CLEANSE YOUR TAROT DECK WITH SELENITE CRYSTAL

An easy way of cleansing your new tarot deck is with a selenite crystal. This is a method I use myself. You place the selenite crystal on top of your deck and let it sit overnight or for a couple of hours. 

Below is my selenite rod. If you are uncertain where to get a selenite rod of your own, I added a link to Amazon as well.

81% CLEANSE A NEW TAROT DECK

As there are so many opinions on cleansing, I decided to poll a tarot community on Facebook. What do readers do? Do they cleanse new decks, or do they start using them right off the bat?

According to the poll, 81% answered they always or sometimes cleansed new tarot decks. 70% stated they did so every time they got a new deck. I think this is quite interesting as it shows many use tarot cards as a part of some divination. 

Only 17% of the tarot readers answered they didn’t cleanse new tarot cards at all.

In the comments, the readers shared their techniques and thoughts. Many shuffled the deck and placed them back in order, some knocked two times on them, and some did more advanced cleansing methods as smudging and prayers.

The common consensus was that you had to go with your intuition. If you think they need cleansing, cleanse them. Otherwise, it’s ok to leave it be.

I cleanse my tarot decks when I feel there’s a need to. As an empath, I instantly sense if I need to remove negative energy or not. Depending on your reading style and belief system, you might not need to cleanse your deck at all. Always go with your gut feeling and what feels best for you. Nothing is right, and nothing is wrong when it comes to tarot.

In the table below, I have gathered the data from the poll.

Answer	Number	%
Yes	251	70%
No	62	17%
Sometimes	41	11%
I don’t know what cleansing is	2	1%
I don’t own tarot cards yet	1	0%

IN SUMMARY

As a general rule, you don’t need to cleanse a tarot deck if you don’t want to or if you are not using it for divination. If you’re going to cleanse your deck before you start using it, there are many ways you can do it. 

Using crystals is an easy way of cleansing tarot decks if you are a newbie to tarot and spirituality overall. Selenite, clear quartz, and tourmaline are excellent crystals for cleansing. 

81% of tarot readers cleanse new tarot decks every time or sometimes. The practice of cleansing new tarot decks is prevalent. But with that said, you don’t have to. It’s up to you and what you feel is right for you. Always trust your intuition. 

THE DEFINITIONS IN THIS ARTICLE ARE BASED ON THE RIDER WAITE DECK AND SYSTEM.