By Minerva Siegel
Smoke cleansing is a great way you can use the power of scent to prepare your energy for a tarot reading. Different forms of smoke cleansing have been used in cultures all over the world for centuries. In Catholicism, censers filled with smoking incense are swung back and forth during some liturgical services. Smudging is a practice common in many Indigenous cul¬tures that involves burning plants (commonly sage) in an abalone shell and fanning the smoke with a feather. In recent years, people have often used the term “smudging” incorrectly to refer to the practice of simply burning sage. The actual act of smudging is a sacred Indigenous ritual. If you’re not of a culture that traditionally practices smudging, please use terms like “smoke cleansing” or “aroma cleansing” to refer to your own sacred smoke practice.
Smoke cleansing refreshes both personal energy and the energy of a room. It clears the auric field, and it rids a space of unwanted and/or negative energy.
Spiritual Self-Care Tip: Cleansing Your Tarot Space
It can be difficult to feel relaxed and ready for a tarot ritual in a messy space. When in chaotic, unorganized places, your energy can often reflect that environment. Infusing a cleaning routine with magical intent is a great way to prepare a ritual location for a reading—plus, it’s just good spiritual hygiene. There are many ways to do this. You can:
• Play recordings of crystal singing bowls or other meditative sounds while you clean
• Use sage-infused cleaning products (sage is an energetically cleansing plant)
• Create a floor-washing solution with spiritually purifying essential oils such as lavender
• Burn magically dressed candles that feature uplifting essential oils
Spiritual Self-Care Activity: Smoke Cleanse with Sage
Smoke cleansing can also be used to cleanse residual energy from objects! You can smoke cleanse all second-hand objects that come into your possession to make sure they’re filled with nothing but positive vibes. Use the following guide to smoke cleanse with sage:
Items Needed:
1 small fire-safe container
1 bundle dried sage
A lighter or matches
Instructions:
1. Use light or matches to light one end of the dried sage bundle in fire-safe container.
2. Use lighter or matches to light one end of dried sage bundle in fire-safe container.
3. Blow out the flame after a moment or two, leaving the end smoking steadily.
4. Walk around the room with the container of sage, making sure the smoke wafts into every corner.
You can also say protective prayers or chants while doing this cleanse. Here is one example: “Chase away things that cause fright. Leave only love. Leave only light.” Perform this ritual weekly throughout your home as energetic maintenance. It can also be done when someone in the home is experiencing nightmares, after arguments, and before spiritual activities like reading tarot.
Filling the space with a cleansing aroma will set the perfect tone for reading tea leaves, trying out a new tarot playlist, or performing any other practice you enlist to prepare your energy for a tarot reading. Be sure to explore different scents as you gain experience reading tarot to find out which ones are most helpful to you.
Excerpted from “Tarot for Self-Care” by Minerva Siegel. Copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used with permission from the publisher, Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
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About Minerva Siegel:
Minerva Siegel is a writer, social media influencer, and model. A Sagittarius with a Capricorn moon, she has a deep passion for practicing secular witchcraft, which she considers an essential part of her self-care routine. Over the years, she’s cultivated her practices in the divination arts, such as tarot, reading tea leaves, and astrology, through a transformative and modern lens, while retaining respect and reverence for tradition. She has contributed to the publications “Offbeat Home” and “Offbeat Bride”, and currently writes for “Elite Daily”. Minerva is active with her 64k followers on Instagram, and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband and their rescue dogs. She is the author of Tarot for Self-Care.
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