I'm Back Witches!

How To Cleanse Your Deck

You've been using your cards a lot lately and you are feeling as though your deck might be losing some connection...

You are wondering why readings might not seem as accurate or maybe your deck is not giving you as full of a picture as it previously has...

It might be time to cleanse your deck!

Reasons to cleanse your deck:

You are feeling a little less of a connection

Your deck is being very vague consistently

You don't feel the same power coming from your deck

You just feel like it

You've been doing a lot of readings

There are many reasons you might want to cleanse your deck, those are just a couple of them.

How do you go about doing that?

My favorite method is using dried rosemary and waving it over my deck, then using selenite or clear quartz to charge it.

Other methods:

Placing in a bowl of salt overnight

Use stones you associate with the cleansing energy and place them with it

Doing a full cleansing ritual complete with incantation (this will vary depending on the practitioner)

Simply sitting with your deck and visualizing the old energy leaving the deck

"You can sort the cards into order (Major Arcana 0-21, then the four colors each Ace-King) as a form of resetting the deck. Shuffle it well before you use it again." - via @rosehiphobbit

This can work for any deck you have even if they aren't traditional tarot cards. The idea is to place them back in their original order.

Something I like to do when I am finished with a reading and before I start a reading is something a basic as waving my hand over the deck I am using and stating that I am clearing the energy from the previous reading from the deck.

If you forget to charge your deck when you are done, you can concentrate on the energy you need when you do your next reading with the energy you feel (love, protection, wisdom, strength etc). If you do tend to forget and leave it uncharged, consider setting up a protection so that unwanted energies don't try to settle in. I like to charge the deck after I am done with selenite or clear quartz.

Do you have any favorite ways to cleanse your deck?

🤍✨🕯🔮

CIRCLE TIP:

I know books from the seventies would have you believe otherwise, but you don't have to mentally hold circle for the whole ritual, and you don't have to physically mark the whole circle boundary, nor do you need a coven member to hold space. You can put regular old rocks at each of the cardinal directions along the walls of your room or along the outer perimeter of the sacred space and use those as anchor points for the energy you lay.

Start by gathering, cleansing, and sanctifying/consecrating/blessing/charging/whatever four stones of any shape and size that suits your needs. Larger stones are good if you want them to be a visible reminder of the boundaries of circle, but smaller ones are good for discretion. Anoint them with a protection oil if you'd like (I only recommend doing this if you are using them indoors with no animals around), and/or pencil protection sigils on them. Cast circle but make sure your energy hits each stone and runs through it. If you call in the quarters, invite them to reside in their respective directional stones. Boom, done, now you have an easily marked sacred space that doesn't need constant maintain.

And, fun fact, circle doesn't HAVE to be round. Round is easiest when you're using mental energy to hold the space, but if you use physical barriers like existing walls then your cast energy resides in that physical block and is held automatically. I especially love doing this as a quasi-permanent marker to sanctify an entire room because any doorways become defacto entrances/exits that spiritually open and close when physically opened and closed.

Okay but isn't this being lazy? NO you rude hypothetical, it's not. It's being resourceful. Using these physical anchors allows a solitary practitioner to put their focus towards other things. I use this method when I'm studying magic texts, or so I can hang out with my ancestors and spirit friends casually for extended periods of time, or if I am going to be attempting astral projection. And by "I use this method," I mean it is one of the permanent protections I have in place in my home.

Has anyone else tried this? Please share any experiences or circle hacks you might have!

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”

— Carl Gustav Jung

Spell Bags

What Are Spell Bags?

Spell Bags are usually small bags that contain a range of ingredients linked to the intention of your spell. They can sometimes be known as different names, or have slight cultural differences. For the purpose of this post I will refer to a spell bag, but they may also be called spell sachets, charm bags, and in some cultures, mojo bags (please do your own research). You can also make spell jars, which are pretty much the same, only you use a jar and not a bag.

Bag Colors

Gold - wealth, protection, the God Silver - prosperity, the moon, the Goddess Yellow - healing Orange - travel, communication, messages Green - nature, growth, prosperity, abundance, friendship Blue - peace, calm, wisdom, benevolence Purple - wisdom, wealth, grandeur, mysteries, justice Red - success, romance, strength, protection Pink - love, healing, friendship Black - absorbs negative energy

How to Make a Spell Bag

Think about your intention for making the spell bag… Why are you making it?… What do you want to get from it?

Think about ingredients you want to put into the spell bag and their correspondences… What ingredients will fit into your spell bag?… What specific ingredients are associated with your intentions (for example, what herbs are used for protection)

Collect your bag and ingredients, and focus your intent on each of them. You may also want to write a magickal chant. This can be simply read out, or written down to leave inside the spell bag.

Assemble your spell bag.

Spend time either meditating on your intention, or reciting your magickal chant.

Find a place to put your spell bag. This may simply be on your altar, or in your pocket. Alternatively, there may be a specific place you want to put it (such as by your bed for a sleep spell bag, or in the corner of your room for protection).

Tip-Jar

My Thargelia celebration from this weekend. May the gods bless us with bountiful harvest, and ensure all in our communities have enough to eat.

Just got this today.