When Does a Tarot Deck Need to be Cleansed?

You’ve done a particularly draining Tarot reading

Your Tarot cards have been sitting dormant or unused for quite some time

You or your Tarot cards have been exposed to a lot of negative energy (for example, a particularly negative client, or a challenging situation in your own personal life)

Your Tarot readings are beginning to feel unclear, disconnected or ‘stuck’

Your cards have fallen all over the floor or had some other sort of accident

You simply want to reconnect with your cards

how would you "cleanse" a second hand deck?

Sorting and Shuffling.

Meditation

Moon Bath

Salt Burial (First, wrap your Tarot in a plastic bag as tightly as you can. Then take an airtight container that is larger than your Tarot deck, place your wrapped cards inside and then completely surround your cards with salt on all sides, above and below. It is imperative that this is an airtight container as salt not only gathers the energies from a Tarot deck well, it also gathers any moisture that might be in the air, potentially damaging your cards. Keep your cards buried in the salt for at least a few days or a week before taking them out and disposing of the salt.)

Fresh Air

Smudge Stick (Burn some dried sage or rosemary (or use a store-bought smudge stick) and simply pass the cards through the smoke several times. You can also cleanse any crystals that you use during the process)

Elemental Clearing. Elemental clearing brings your awareness to using different techniques that are aligned with each of the four elements used in Tarot. For example, for Earth clearing, use the Salt burial; for Water clearing, use the Moon Bath or sprinkle a little water on your cards; for Fire clearing, pass your cards over a candle; for Air clearing, use a smudge stick. You may like to go through each of the four elements for a more comprehensive cleansing.

While there are many ways to cleanse a deck -- new, used, or somehow in need of a good "scrub" -- use good ol' sunshine. put the cards in order by suit and number, including the Major Arcana, place a crystal on top of them (any stone you might use along with your readings, like a clear quartz (for clarity), citrine (for insight) and amethyst (for healing) but any personally-relevant stone/crystal will do) and set them in a sunny window for at least 8 hours. Let intuition tell you when they're good to go. If after one or two go-rounds with this method they still don't feel "good," you might want to pass them along once again.