Various Methods of Cleansing, Aligning, & Clearing Your Tarot/oracle Deck

This is a handout I created for one of my meetup classes. A new student yesterday inspired me to start putting these up online! I hope you find them useful.

This is NOT a comprehensive list. You do what’s best for you. Some people like a lot of fanfare, others like simple, and for others it’s whatever the mood strikes them. Context matters as well. If I’m reading at a fair I do the knocking method between each reading. At home, I do what strikes my fancy but tend toward the simple, and toward combining methods.

These methods can be used to cleanse, align, and clear yourself or any of your personal things.

Also, some people will have different associations, such as smudging with air because of the smoke, but to me, it’s primarily fire because there would be no smoke for the air to play with had it not been for the fire.

There is no right or wrong. There is only doing what's right for you while at the same time accommodating others. For example, my family hates the smell of sage, so I don't use that method.

Elemental methods

• Holy Song (Air)
• Chanting 
• Om mani padme hum
• The Divine in Me sees the Divine in You
• Or other phrasing, or poetry that feels right to you
• Singing
• Feathers
• Ringing a bell(s) 
• A bell app will do if you don’t own an actual bell
• Holy Water
• Submerged in blessed/holy/moon water (in a ziplock)
• Spritz blessed/holy/moon water above the deck.
• Put under the light of the moon
• Place it in a seashell or put seashells around the deck
• Holy Soil (Earth)
• Submerged, or sprinkled, with salt or in soil (in a ziplock)
• potted soil is sufficient
• Crystal Grid/Crystals
• Selenite and/or clear quartz
• on top of the deck or wrapped with it
• NOTE: You can use pictures of crystals to call in that energy. It’s a part of the Earth, and we all have ready access to that energy
• Holy Fire 
• Tea-light candle burning on top (if thin, put a piece of aluminum foil for safety underneath it)
• You can use an electric candle for this
• Smudging w/sage or a santo stick (but ethically since these things are endangered now)
• Incense
• You can use a wax warmer for this
• Put under the light of the sun.
• Holy Spirit
• Reiki (Universal Life Force Energy)
• You can also chant it to bring in the Reiki energy
• Motoki (Calling on Mother Earth)
• Shamanism
• Asking Light/Source/Divine/Love/Angels/Guides/ to bring in the energy of cleansing, aligning and or clearing. 
• Prayer - power words & phrases, holding intention for cleansing, aligning, and clearing
• Trace holy symbols that have Divine meaning to you.

• NOTE: You can use symbols of the elements to bring in the elements without bringing in the literal elements. 

Combination & Miscellaneous methods

• Meditation
• Free Insight Timer App (for both Android and Apple)
• Dancing, around or with your deck to spiritual music
• Put inside an abalone shell (water) with a selenite stick or other cleansing crystal (earth), and then have a lit tea-light candle (fire) set on top of it in fresh air (also fire breathes air)
• have a small bowl of crystals and water with a small candle on top. Set entire bowl on top of the deck, or next to the deck on a special cloth.
• Setting deck out in nature for earth energy, or some good for fresh air
• Holding deck to the Heart, expressing love and gratitude for the deck, then kiss the deck
• Shuffle with the intention of cleansing and clearing the deck
• Invoking the four directions
• Essential oils, the scents can be grounding
• Creating blessing jars to put on top of your deck/item, with the intent of cleansing, aligning and clearing
• Other not mentioned nature items that feel right to you
• Knock on it three times 
• I like to do this once with each hand then with both hands together for the Celtic triple sacred three (3x3) effect