#witchlife
Things to do with dried rose petals
- Steep them in your tea
- Bake them into your pastries
- Smoke them
- Grind them up with your salt
- Burn them with your incense
- Add them to your altar
- Add them to your cleansing water
- Place them in your bos
Feel free to add you own ideas!
Black Girl Magic isn’t just for black women with college degrees, big houses, fancy cars, and/or own businesses. Black Girl Magic implies to all black women and girls. Black women and girls who grew up poor have magic. The ones with high school diplomas have magic. The ones who dropped out of school for whatever reason have magic. Magic shouldn’t be exclusively preserved for the rich and famous. Struggling black women and girls deserve recognition, respect, and love too.
More magic is found in the struggle
Part 1: Why Should You Cleanse a New Tarot Deck? And How to Cleanse Your First Tarot Deck?”
When you are working with Tarot, you are working with energy.
I mentioned in my Blog post “Is Tarot Witchcraft or Evil?” that a Tarot or any kind of divination reader does not primarily work on their own energy, they act as a guide between the querent (asker) and the source where the information comes from.
Related Post: Are Tarot Cards Witchcraft, Magic or Evil? Understanding How Does A Tarot Reading Work
This does not, however, mean that the Tarot reader’s energy field does not get affected. The energy still passes through the Tarot reader and the reader not only needs to cleanse the deck, they also need to know how to protect and cleanse themselves. If that’s something you want to know more about, drop me a comment below and I would be happy to create a Blog post dedicated to protecting yourself as an energy worker.
When you grab a new divination Tool, be it a pendulum, a set of Runes that you did not create yourself or a Tarot deck, there are some situations you need to consider:
1. Who made this object?
How was your Tarot deck created? Are you sure the person had a good heart, positive energy and intentions? What if they were angry that day because they had an argument with their neighbors?
The strength of a negative emotion can be very powerful and it will inevitably stick to anything a person touches and what if this is your future Tarot deck?
2. Who sold you this Tarot deck?
Again, this can be a very serious matter.
It can be a beautiful store with a nice and positive worker.
It can also be a place where things have gone a wrong way and the energy is dark and ill.
And sometimes looks can be deceiving.
I hope I’ve convinced you that cleansing your Tarot deck is essential.
Ways to cleanse your Tarot cards deck
- Smudging: cleanse your Tarot deck using herbs
This is the most popular and easy way.
How to use herbs to cleanse your Tarot deck?
You are going to burn one or mix of the following herbs and run your deck through the smoke until you FEEL like that’s enough.
Here is the list of great herbs:
1. Sage. Sage is the most used herb for smudging and for this reason it is the easiest one to acquire. Sage has banishing and cleansing properties.
You should always keep some sage at home and you can use it once in a while to cleanse your Tarot deck if you do frequent readings or after someone touches it.
EDIT: due to some comments, I want to make something clear: I have NO MENTION of the type of Sage to use for cleansing. There are MANY different types of Sage that are used in the world. My great-great-grandmother used sage leaves for a practice similar to what now is described as “smudging” in Siberia over 100 years ago. Use the type you are comfortable to use based on your believes and values.
2.Cedar. Cedar is also a great choice and you can do cider smudging sticks yourself if you are on a budget. Cedar is often used together with sage in a smudging stick.
3. Rosemary. Rosemary is another great herb to cleanse negative energy.
4.Mugwort. Mugwort can be ADDED into the mix of your herbs. It’s not particularly cleansing on its own but has good protective qualities and is said to increase psychic ability.
5.Palo Santo. Palo Santo has been used quite a lot LATELY in ritual magic and spiritual healing. You can use Palo Santo to cleanse your Tarot deck but make sure you buy it from a known supplier, as there are a lot of fakes out there.
- Crystals: cleanse your Tarot deck using crystals
You will definitely find a lot of information of using crystals to cleanse your Tarot cards deck and divination tools BUT here’s the kicker:
You have to cleanse your crystals after you use THEM to cleanse anything because they absorb the energy like a sponge.
Nevertheless, crystals are worth to mention because they really are a great cleansing tool.
How to cleanse a Tarot deck using crystals
With tumble stones, you are going to place them on top of your Tarot deck. There is no need to use more than 3 stones. In fact, if it’s a large crystal, one is enough.
If you are using druses, then depending on the side you can either place the deck on top of the druse or put the druse on the deck, it really doesn’t matter.
1. Clear Quartz Crystal. Clear Quartz Crystal, just like sage is something you should always keep at home. It’s an amazing universal crystal that can be used for any matter, from healing to charging with any intention.
2. Citrine. I have seen a lot of people using Citrine to cleanse a Tarot deck and while it’s not really a cleansing crystal, it is good at BALANCING the energies.
3. Shungite. While Shungite is mostly known for its protective qualities, it is also an excellent cleansing crystal. It is also used to cleanse water.
EXCEPTION: Using Druses to cleanse a Tarot deck.
Druses are an excellent choice for cleansing an oracle or Tarot deck for the following reasons:
- They ALL have cleansing properties. You can use amethyst, quartz, fluorite, literally any druse you own.
- Druses do NOT need to be cleansed as they don’t absorb energy like other crystals
- Sea salt. Sea salt is a universal cleansing tool. Normally you leave an object in a bowl filled with sea salt for 24 hours. After that you throw the salt out.
READ PART 2: Part 2: How to Charge or Bless a New Tarot Deck?
Final Word
All the tips we mentioned are not used exclusively for a NEW Tarot cards deck. You should cleanse your Tarot cards after the following:
· You had an energy draining Tarot reading done for a client;
· Someone touched your cards;
· You had a client with a lot of negative energy outbursts;
· You feel disconnected from your cards or the messages they give are confusing.
How I Use Energy Work in Every Day Life
When I take showers I imagine the energy that comes with the water flowing through me and mixing with my energy to pick up impurities/bad energy and wash it down the drain at my feet.
This one is a bit harder but I read signs in the energy field in the general universe when I take tests if I don’t know the answer on a test. The energy feels different on right answers (again this was is very difficult and I in no way have perfected it, but on several tests I changed a wrong answer to a right answer through this)
Reading people’s energy. I have never had to deal with fake friends and being betrayed because I can very easily read the energy of other people when they are around me. I can feel the difference when someone is being fake or toxic. To be fair there are still “friends” that have this energy, I’m just not close to them cause I can feel their intentions are not good.
Nature’s energy. Just feeling the energy of changing seasons. This isn’t really using the energy in any way unless I am doing a ritual that requires that energy or using it to charge/cleanse items which brings us to the next topic
Cleansing. This is the easiest way to use energy work, and this is the main way I cleansed things when I don’t use moonlight or sunlight. Its simply using your energy (and the energy around you) to pour into an object (like tarot cards or crystals) and burning out the bad energy. I’ve also gathered bad energy into my hands, like when I’m cleansing a space like a room or altar, and push it lut the window. The bad energy will be naturally cleansed by the environment
Spells. Most of my spells are energy work more than anything else since my spells focus on sending some of your energy with what you desire (you’re reasons for doing the spell) and the universe using that energy to make it happen in your life.
Energy work helps a lot on your life once you learn how to use it! The best way to learn is a lot of practice with meditation and visualization in order to feel your own energy. It is nearly impossible to do energy work if you cannot feel your own energy.
Basil Tea
(I promise it tastes better than it sounds)
Ingredients:
- 4 fresh basil leaves
- Water
- 1 lemon (3-5 drops of juice to taste)
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- A teaspoon of raw sugar
Directions:
Pick the freshest basil leaves and wash them gently to avoid blemishing the leaves.
Place the leaves in the strainer
Boil water in a kettle.
Put the hot boiling water into your cup or mug. Then, put the fresh basil leaves into it with the other ingredients.
Let it set for around 3-4 minutes until the water turns into a bit of a golden colour.
Using the strainer, remove the leaves.
My basil bush is thriving.
The best time to harvest is on a warm, sunny day, just after the dew has dried and just before the flowers form. But you can harvest basil as you need it.
Harvest by pinching off leaves as needed once the plant is strong enough to handle it. If taking a large harvest, leave at least two shoots intact. It will grow back in a few weeks.
Hang upside in bunches or lay flat on a drying rack to dry. Ensure proper ventilation to reduce the chance of mold. Store in an airtight container away from heat or light for up to one year. The flavor of dried basil is not as good as fresh basil.
Basil helps steady the mind, brings happiness, love, peace, and money and protects against insanity.
Use basil in spells to attract love and in preparation for astral projection or to bring luck in physical journeys.
Carrying a leaf in your pocket or wallet will attract money.
Keep a bit of basil in each room to protect the home and family. To protect you when leaving the house, rub some basil on your forehead.
Also used in peacemaking spells and to make up after a fight.
Obsidian is truth-enhancing. A strongly protective stone, it forms a shield against negativity. It absorbs negative energies from the environment. Obsidian draws out mental stress and tension.