Tarot Cleansing: How Often Should You Do It?

Keeping your tarot deck clean of icky energy is essential for helpful and precise tarot readings. When you cleanse your tarot deck, you remove any negative energy that may have accumulated from readings and help to recharge and reset the cards for clearer readings. So, how often should you cleanse your tarot deck?

The general recommendation is once a month. However, if you are using the tarot deck for divination purposes, it is recommended that you do it before and after every reading.

The answer depends on how often you use your deck and the environment in which it is stored. I know it is lots of variables. But let’s drill deeper so you can decide that cleansing interval suits you the best.

Cleansing, what?

First, it’s essential to understand what cleansing a tarot deck means. Cleansing removes negative energy accumulated in your deck over time. This can be done through various methods, such as smudging with sage, burying the deck in salt or soil, or leaving it in the moonlight overnight.

It is good to remember that you don’t have to cleanse it at all; there is no right or wrong when it comes to the tarot. Tarot comes with no set rules; you create your own. That is what is fantastic about the tool.

Some tarot readers believe cleansing is critical to precise readings; some do it when they feel it’s needed, while others never cleanse their decks.

The wonderful selenite crystal wand is my go-to for everyday cleansing and charging. If you want to peek at my favorite selenite crystal, you find it on my recommended products page.

WHEN YOUR GUT FEELING TELLS YOU TO

So, how often should you cleanse your deck? It depends on how often you use it and how you use it. If you use your tarot deck regularly, it’s a good idea to cleanse it once a month or when your gut feeling tells you to.

It is good to remember that cleansing is no must by any means. If you don’t believe in cleansing, you can skip it altogether. I think that cleansing, in many cases, is part of a preparation ritual that makes the reader grounded and focused; it might not have to do with “magic” in every instance.

General recommendations

As with all general recommendations, you should take it with a grain of salt. How often, or if you do it at all, is finally up to you and your style and vibe,

Cleansing your tarot deck regularly will help keep the deck’s energy fresh and positive. On the other hand, if you don’t use your deck very often, you can probably get away with cleansing it every three to six months.

It’s also important to pay attention to how your deck feels. If you notice that your readings are feeling off or you’re getting negative vibes from your deck, it might be time for a cleansing. Trust your intuition! If it feels like your deck needs a little TLC, go ahead and cleanse it.

Another factor to consider is the energy you bring to your readings. Your readings may be affected if you feel stressed, anxious, or negative. In this case, cleansing yourself and your deck before your next reading is a good idea.

The frequency of cleansing your tarot deck depends on how often you use it and the energy you bring to your readings. Cleansing your deck once a month is a good starting point, but feel free to adjust based on your experiences.

Remember, the goal is to keep your deck positive and in tune with your energy, so trust your intuition and cleanse as needed.

Divination and cleansing intervals

If you’re using your tarot deck for divination purposes, keeping the deck’s energy positive and clear is essential.

As you invite external energies and spirits to communicate through the cards, unwanted energies might stick to the deck. To keep this from happening, you need to cleanse your deck regularly.

The frequency of cleansing your tarot deck depends on how often you use it for divination and what energies you invite. If you only interact with light energies, you can cleanse the deck when your intuition tells you to.

If you, on the other hand, interact with darker energies (which I never recommend, by the way), you should cleanse and clear the deck every time you use it.

If you’re feeling negative, it can impact the energy of your deck, so it’s a good idea to cleanse yourself and your deck after your reading and before your next reading.

Cleansing your tarot deck regularly is an important part of using it for divination. I recommend you cleanse the tarot deck every time you use it if you use it as a divination tool.

54% cleanse their decks regularly

It is easy to make assumptions about how often tarot readers cleanse their decks, so I created a poll in a community forum on Facebook.

In total, 202 tarot readers participated in the poll. The most common answer was that they cleansed their decks when their intuition told them to or never.

It was very interesting to see the polarising answers in the comments – 32% said they never cleansed their decks, while 35% said they cleansed the decks when their intuition told them to. 19% said they cleansed it every time they used the deck. This makes 54% of the readers cleanse their decks regularly.

As in many cases with tarot reading, there are no clear-cut answers. I summarized the result from the poll in the table below.

Tarot deck cleansing frequency

Frequency of cleansing	Percentage
When my intuition tells me	35%
Never	32%
Every time I use it	19%
When I get a new deck	4%
Randomly	4%
Daily	2%
Weekly	2%
Monthly	1%
Every full moon	1%

I cleanse my deck regularly, but my ritual is not grand. I either knock on it, place a crystal on top of it overnight, or let the energy of my hands cleanse it and reset it. I might go bolder if I feel clogged energy by cleansing it with salt.

If you want to learn more about cleaning your tarot cards with salt, you find helpful tips and how-tos in the article below.

Related article: How to cleanse tarot cards with salt

FINAL THOUGHTS

The frequency of cleansing your tarot deck depends on how often you use it and the energy you bring to your readings.

It also depends on the way you use the deck. If you use it to access the spirit world, it is recommended that you cleanse the deck every time you engage in divination.

If you, on the other hand, use it to access your inherited wisdom, just playing with your energies, you might not need to cleanse it as often. Cleansing your deck once a month is a good starting point, but feel free to adjust based on your experiences.

Remember, the goal is to keep your deck positive and in tune with your energy, so trust your intuition and cleanse as needed.

You can read more here if you want to learn more about creating the perfect preparation ritual for successful reading.

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