How to Cleanse a tarot deck – How to Purify a Tarot Deck

Cleansing a tarot deck or Purifying a tarot deck

 There are many ways to cleanse or purify a tarot deck. My favorite way to cleanse a tarot deck is to smudge it with a sage smudge ceremony. You can the same thing with incense. I offer some wonderful all natural resin incense sticks that smell amazing.

 Take your tarot cards face down in the hand you do not write with (receptive hand). Hold over the sage or incense smoke for a few moments. Take your other hand a hit the top of the deck sharply with the knuckles as if knocking dirt off of them. Continue holding the deck in the smoke, asking your guides, deity, angels etc… to bless and purify the cards. Envision the sage seeping in the spaces between the molecules in the cards.

 I recommend before a reading, that you purify yourself and the room you will be reading in with sage or incense.

You can cleanse your tarot deck before you start a reading. If you will be doing numerous readings, you may want to do a fast version between clients. When you are finished, do a final tarot card cleansing and take a moment to cleanse the storage box, pouch or cloth.

 Some people have a deck only for themselves and another for everyone else. I use the same one so it’s like an old faithful deck to me. I just make sure to cleanse the deck each time.

 Other ways to cleanse a tarot deck –  purify a tarot deck:

 These cleansing methods put your cards in risk of damage. Take precautions to protect them.

 Allow it to sit out all night in a full moon phase. Take care that the dew doesn’t get on them. I would suggest putting them on a plate and put a clear glass bowl over them. Or put them in the house on a window sill that will allow the moonlight to hit them.

 Allow them to sit out in the sunlight all day. Again.. take great care not to damage them.

 Place cards in a ziplock bag and bury them for 24 hrs. Make sure it’s not a cheap bag or water could ruin them.

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

How to Consecrate a Tarot Deck

How to consecrate your tarot deck

Whether you have purchased a new tarot deck or you have one that you have been using, you should consecrate and cleanse/ purify the deck . The purification ritual is on another post.

What is consecration? 

To consecrate the tarot deck means “to make it holy”. In other words, you are taking your tarot cards and transforming them from pieces of card stock into a sacred tool for communication with the divine. You can repeat it as needed if they have lain dormant for a time or if you feel that your readings are not as clear as they should be. The act of consecrating your deck isn’t just about honoring and preparing the deck, it’s about you making a spiritual connection with the tarot cards.

This may sound a bit strange. You do not have to be psychic to read tarot cards. It’s a great tool for those who feel that they are not psychic enough but desire spiritual guidance and perhaps wish to guide others. Tarot cards have more symbolism than they appear. They make have a person, animal and/or objects on them. They have a numerological, astrological and seasonal meaning. Tarot cards have many colors and symbols that give meaning. A tarot card is mainly male or female in it’s energy. The people may face right or left. They may be royalty or peasant. They may be greatly adorned, wearing tattered rags or naked. All of that means something to a tarot reader. When you combine all the cards in a reading, they tell a story. But more than that, they can show a pattern or trend. You consecrate your tarot deck to create a bond with you. You do it to program your brain to accept that each color, number, symbol, suit and so on, speaks volumes to you. Your tarot deck in a tool with which spirit is able to communicate with you for guidance for yourself or others. You are the translator. Spirit can work through tarot symbols as a form of communication.

Working with tarot on a regular basis usually causes one to become psychic as you are opening the doors to spirit communication. Yet… another post for you to read.

Consecrating a tarot deck

I like to use sage to consecrate a tarot deck. It purifies the deck at the same time. Sage is an herb sacred to the Native Americans believed to remove negative energy. If you don’t like the aroma of burning sage, then you can use incense. I highly recommend my natural incense sticks. Frankincense and myrrh is traditional for consecration. If you don’t like aromas, you can choose a plain white candle as a substitute. In smudging, it is the smoke from the sage or incense that is desired, not some much the smell. If you use a candle, it will be the warm light of the candle that you would focus upon. Use what works best for your needs.

1. Light your sage or incense and use the smoke to purify yourself and then the area where you wish to consecrate your deck include the store box, pouch or wrapping.

2. Take your tarot deck and hold it face up in the hand that you do not right with. This is your receptive hand.

3. Hold the deck over the smoking sage or incense or the candle light (taking great care not to burn your self).

4. Ask your guardians angels or guides to protect you and you cards from anything but the highest of energy forms.

5. Recite:

Paper and ink let secrets unfold,

Ancestors and guardians message be told. May wisdom guide my every word

So sacred insight may be heard

By ears open and ready to receive

Divine guidance to believe.

6. As each card faces you, take a moment to contemplate it. Feel its energy. And envision your own going into the spaces between the molecules that make up the card.

7. Lay the card face down when you have done that… and move to the next card.

8. Repeat until you have touched each and every card.

9. Pick up the whole deck with your receptive hand and hold it over the smoke.

10. Ask whatever deity you choose to bless and consecrate this deck so that you may use it only for the greater good.  Don’t forget to thank them when you have finished.

You can now use your newly consecrated deck. After that, you should store them in a pouch, box or piece of natural fabric like cotton or silk. Some say to use black for protection. Others say white for purification. Do what feels best for you.

Hint: I offer another post to program and energize a crystal to store with your tarot cards for protection, purification and to empower your cards further.

How to Choose a Tarot Deck – How to Buy a Tarot Deck

How to Choose a Tarot Deck

 

Being in the metaphysical store business for 15 + years, I have often had customers tell me that they would love to learn how to read tarot cards but they must be gifted with a deck.  I don’t have any problem with it as long as you have friends and family that you can open up to about your beliefs and interests and that they would take it upon themselves to buy you a deck.

 

My personal opinion is that you should be the one to choose your own tarot deck. I also believe that you should start off with one of the Rider Waite decks even though there are hundreds of gorgeous decks from which to choose that would better reflect your energies, beliefs, interest and lifestyle. I recommend the Rider Waite decks so that you can build a strong foundation that will allow you to evolve towards other tarot decks that reflect who you are. The Rider Waite decks are not the most attractive decks. The reason I want you to start out with one of these decks is so you will have a deck that corresponds to most tarot books and tarot workshops. These decks are very similar in symbolism, numerology and color. Books and classes are designed to teach you to interpret all of these aspects for not just each card, but also the combination. One book will undoubtedly lead to numerous others. By choosing the best selling decks, you will be able to follow the instruction. A tarot reader doesn’t just look at a card. She studies it. A card isn’t just a picture. Rider Waite has people and animals on almost every card. What are they doing? Which way are they facing? What are they wearing? What are they doing in the picture? What emotion do they show? What is the number on the card? What colors are there within the card? My favorite part is the small details that are easily missed. Perhaps there are symbols on their clothing, a chalice or sword in hand. Those aren’t decoration. Those are hints or reminders of what that card represents. All these aspects are to help open you up to an opportunity to communicate guidance via the cards laid out in front of you. To the client, those cards are pretty or scary pictures. As a tarot reader, it is your job to translate the message to them. As you study and come familiar with your Rider Waite deck, you will start to understand how it all comes together. At that point, you may wish to choose a deck that you find more appealing. Start with a good foundation and all other decks will be much easier to interpret.

 

I offer numerous tarot decks and a variety of tarot books that I have read and recommend.

 

http://www.alleghenycandles.com/tarot.html

 

http://www.alleghenycandles.com/tarotbooks.html

 

 

 

Learn how to memorize tarot cards

Learn how to memorize tarot cards

Tarot reading can be a helpful tool in your spiritual evolution. Tarot readings can act as a guide when you are seeking a solution to a problem, making a decision or looking for the outcome on a situation. It can be a fun and rewarding skill to possess. If you practice enough, tarot reading can be a good way to generate a supplemental income. Almost anyone can learn to read tarot. You do not have to have any psychic ability to read tarot cards. Though we all have psychic ability but most of us can’t give a “psychic reading” as we haven’t been trained to receive messages. That’s a whole different ball of wax. You do not need to use psychic ability to read tarot cards because they are what are called a “divination tool”. In other words, a tarot deck is a tool in which the reader divines messages from spirit. Spirit sends a message to the querent through tarot cards. You are the translator between spirit and the querent. In other words, you look at the card layout and divine the message from symbolism, numerology and card patterns. Even though this is not a psychic reading, you may get messages from spirit. You may have words or symbols pop into your head that probably don’t make sense to you but they may to the querent. Likewise, you may just get a “gut feeling” on the querent’s question before they even shuffle. What is happening is that you are an open channel.

How to study the tarot cards

If you really want to learn to read tarot without using a book, you will have to study each of the 78 cards including the reversed position. There is no shortcut unless you feel confident enough in your abilities to use your intuition.

I highly recommend the Rider – Waite tarot deck for beginners because you may want to buy books on tarot reading or perhaps take classes. This is the #1 selling deck and most books and classes will refer to it. It’s not the most attractive deck, but for a beginner, it will have more resources than the other decks.

You will need the following items:
Tarot deck
Book with interpretations for that deck– you can use the little white book that is included with the deck, however, it’s best to get a more detailed interpretation.
Notebook
Pen

My method for learning the cards is as follows:

Separate the deck into 5 piles based on suit (major arcana, wands, cups, pentacles and swords). Stack each pile in numerical order starting with the lowest on top, 2’s second….. and so on through to the king. The major arcana begins with the Fool card which is #0.

In your notebook, write the interpretation for the fool and each ace based on the book. Do upright first… skip a line or 2 for future notes and then write the reversed meaning. If you get any intuitive feelings, be sure and include them even if they go against the book. The book is only a guide used to give you a rough understanding of the suit, number, symbolic and elemental meanings and to jump-start your intuition. Repeat this for the 2nd card in each pile.

Set up your cards and notes as follows:
notebook

                                                                                 

major arcana        wands         cups      pentacles        swords

Now study the fool’s interpretation in the upright position. When you have it, quiz yourself (or a have a study buddy help you) till you get it right. Move onto the ace of wands and repeat the study / quiz process. When you feel comfortable, repeat for the remaining aces.

Go back to the fool and quiz yourself again and repeat with the aces of each suit. When you have them all, turn the cards upside down (called the “reverse” position) and repeat the process for the reversed interpretation of each card.

Continue to quiz yourself till you get them all correct in both positions.
Move onto the 2nd card in repeat the entire process. When you get them all correct, add them to the previously learned cards and quiz yourself.

I like to write the interpretations for a series of 2 numbers (a total of 10 cards) to give myself a break from the memorizing. I like the rhythm of learning 2 number cards and then getting the break. It’s less monotonous than writing them all out and then studying them. BUT… if you want to do that, or do more than a series of 2 numbers, that’s fine. The idea is to create a system that leaves you wanting more rather than feeling like giving up.

After you get through a series of numbers, shuffle the cards and quiz yourself. Create 2 piles. The first pile is for cards that come easy to you (“hit” card). The 2nd pile is for those that you “miss” on. Repeat the quizzing process to the “miss” cards until each one comes easy enough to you to be added to the “hit” pile. Keep the cards in the same position when you lay them in the correct pile.

Turn the cards around and study them from the other position repeating the “hit” and “miss” pile process.

Move onto another series of cards in the same fashion. Continue with the quizzing / hit and miss process.

Add all the cards you have studied to one pile and shuffle. Repeat the entire process until you get them all correct. By now, you should notice that they are starting to “sink in”. You may even get to the point that you don’t like the interpretation that they book gives and create one of your own. GOOD!

Keep at the process till you get through all 78 cards in both positions. Continue the quizzing till you feel confident to do a reading without consulting the book. Practice…. Practice…. Pratice!!!!

You can practice on yourself by doing a 1, 2 or 3 card reading for the day or week. Practice reading for friends and family that are open to tarot readings. You can also do readings on celebrities and current events and watch in the media to see what transpires.
Some areas require certification for professional readings. You can find information on tarot certification online.

To take your readings a step further, I highly recommend The Complete Tarot Reader by Teresa Michelsen and Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards by Corrine Kenner. I have used these books and found them to be very useful in learning the deeper meaning of each card and how to combine a series cards for a more in depth reading. Readers often get frustrated when the card they choose doesn’t pertain to their query. These books may help you learn to get around that problem.

Once you get comfortable doing readings, you may want to switch to a new deck that is more appealing or perhaps has a spiritual connection. That was my intention because I didn’t like the artwork on the Rider – Waite deck. However, as I learned the deck, I began to really connect with it. I even took the time to learn a lovely deck that was similar. But I found myself wanting to return to my original deck. I noticed that my attention was no longer focused on the artwork…. But rather on the symbolism that I found lacking in many other decks.

Note: There is a shortcut to learning the reversed cards. Some don’t learn the descriptions in the book. They take the upright means and consider the reversed as either energy turned inward or unrecognized.