When delving into the world of tarot, one quickly realizes that it’s not just about the cards themselves but the entire environment and ambiance that’s created during the reading.
One significant aspect of creating this sacred space is the use of incense. Burning incense during a tarot reading can have a powerful effect, enhancing focus, setting the mood, and even influencing the energy of the reading.
But can the type of incense used be paired more deliberately with specific tarot cards or types of readings? The answer is a resounding yes.
Covered below:
🌕 Incense with tarot cards
🌔 Types of readings & incense
🌓 Best incense for daily readings
🌒 Incense & tarot card combinations
🌑 Incense for grounding
Incenses With Tarot Cards ★
The art of pairing incense with tarot readings is a holistic approach that deepens the connection between the reader, the cards, and the spiritual world.
It’s an exploration of the sensory, spiritual, and symbolic ties between specific scents and the diverse themes that tarot cards can represent.
Much like the intricate and layered meanings within each tarot card, various types of incense carry their own unique energy and symbolic associations.
Whether it’s a love reading paired with the warming scent of rose incense, or a career-focused spread accompanied by the grounding aroma of sandalwood, the careful selection of incense can amplify and mirror the themes you’re exploring in your tarot reading.
Types of Readings ☆
Sure, let’s delve deeper into the idea of pairing specific types of incense with particular tarot readings or cards:
1. Love Readings: For readings that involve love, relationships, or emotions, you might consider using incense that promotes a calming, peaceful environment and enhances emotional connection. Rose incense, for example, is associated with love and the heart. Its warm, floral scent can create a loving and open space, making it a great choice for love readings. Another choice could be Jasmine, which is known to soothe the emotions, enhance self-love and attract positive love energy.
2. Career Readings: When focusing on career, ambition, or personal growth readings, incense that grounds and centers might be beneficial. Sandalwood, with its grounding properties, is an excellent choice for these types of readings. Its warm, earthy scent promotes clarity and calm, helping you to focus on the practical matters at hand. Cedarwood is another good choice, known for its stabilizing and strengthening properties.
3. Spiritual Development or Intuition Readings: If the reading centers on spiritual growth or enhancing intuition, Frankincense or Myrrh might be good choices. These incenses are known for their spiritual properties, promoting meditation, and enhancing psychic abilities. They can create a sacred space, enhancing your connection to the spiritual realm.
4. Health and Healing Readings: If the reading is about health, healing, or self-care, Eucalyptus or Lavender could be beneficial. Both have healing properties and promote relaxation and stress relief. Lavender, particularly, is known for its calming effects and can help create a soothing environment for a healing reading.
5. Energy and Vitality Readings: For readings centered around energy, vitality, or creativity, you might consider incenses like Cinnamon or Citrus. These scents are lively, stimulating, and known to boost energy and creativity.
Remember, this process is highly personal. The pairing of a specific incense to a tarot card or type of reading is subjective and based on personal preference, intuitive feelings, and experience. Some people may be more sensitive to certain scents than others, so it’s important to use an incense that feels right and enhances your personal connection to the cards.
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What’s The Best Incense For Daily Readings? ✦
The good news here is that you can simply pick an incense that you either adore all the time, or choose one depending upon the mood and how the day feels.
✹ It could depend on the focus of the reading, or how the reader is feeling that day. Different smells will evoke different emotions and thoughts.
If the day feels great with energy and has an uplifting vibe about it, then the incense could be some kind of citrus option to give follow along with that energetic boost.
But again, nothing is wrong here! Ultimately, whatever smells you personally love, just go with them!
I’m a sandalwood fan personally, so that’s what incense I use on most days.
♡ You might also like: The Best Cleansing Incenses For Tarot Cards
Incense Tarot Card Combinations âœ
Let’s explore potential pairings between the 22 major arcana tarot cards. Please note that this is subjective, but here are our ideas! We sometimes pair these together at home.
The Fool and Lemon Incense:
The Fool represents new beginnings, spontaneity, and innocence. Lemon incense, with its invigorating and uplifting aroma, can mirror these themes, promoting a fresh start, optimism, and vitality.
The Magician and Cinnamon Incense:
The Magician signifies manifestation, resourcefulness, and power. Cinnamon incense, known for its stimulating and invigorating properties, can enhance these themes, promoting personal power, creativity, and manifestation.
The High Priestess and Moon Incense:
The High Priestess represents intuition, mystery, and inner wisdom. Moon incense, with its connection to intuition, dreams, and the subconscious, can enhance these themes, promoting a deeper connection to the mystical and the inner self.
The Empress and Rose Incense:
The Empress represents femininity, nurturing, and abundance. Rose incense, with its connection to love, compassion, and the heart, can mirror these energies, promoting nurturing, abundance, and emotional openness.
The Emperor and Pine Incense:
The Emperor symbolizes authority, structure, and leadership. Pine incense, with its refreshing and grounding properties, can enhance these themes, promoting strength, stability, and authority.
The Hierophant and Myrrh Incense:
The Hierophant represents traditional values, religious beliefs, and conformity. Myrrh incense, known for its purifying and spiritual properties, can mirror these energies, promoting wisdom, spiritual connection, and adherence to tradition.
The Lovers and Ylang-Ylang Incense:
The Lovers symbolize love, harmony, and relationships. Ylang-ylang incense, with its romantic and soothing aroma, can enhance these themes, promoting harmony, love, and emotional connection.
The Chariot and Pine Incense:
The Chariot signifies determination, control, and willpower. Pine incense, with its invigorating and strengthening properties, can enhance these themes, promoting vitality, resilience, and a sense of adventure.
Strength and Amber Incense:
Strength represents courage, inner strength, and compassion. Amber incense, known for its warm, empowering aroma, can mirror these energies, promoting inner strength, courage, and self-confidence.
The Hermit and Myrrh Incense:
The Hermit symbolizes solitude, introspection, and guidance. Myrrh incense, known for its purifying and healing properties, can enhance these themes, promoting meditation, introspection, and spiritual awareness.
Wheel of Fortune and Frankincense Incense:
The Wheel of Fortune stands for change, cycles, and fate. Frankincense incense, with its spiritual and meditative properties, can mirror these energies, promoting acceptance, spiritual connection, and adaptability to change.
Justice and Cedarwood Incense:
Justice signifies truth, fairness, and law. Cedarwood incense, known for its grounding and balancing properties, can support these themes, promoting justice, stability, and clarity.
The Hanged Man and Lavender Incense:
The Hanged Man represents surrender, letting go, and new perspectives. Lavender incense, with its calming and relaxing properties, can mirror these energies, promoting peace, tranquility, and a fresh perspective.
Death and Myrrh Incense:
Death is associated with endings, transformation, and transition. Myrrh incense, known for its purifying and healing properties, can support these energies, cleansing old energies to welcome new beginnings.
Temperance and Rosemary Incense:
Temperance represents balance, patience, and moderation. Rosemary incense, known for its purifying and uplifting properties, can enhance these themes, promoting balance, harmony, and a sense of calm.
The Devil and Patchouli Incense:
The Devil stands for bondage, materialism, and ego. Patchouli incense, with its grounding and sensual properties, can mirror these energies, promoting grounding, self-awareness, and a sense of liberation.
The Tower and Dragon’s Blood Incense:
The Tower symbolizes upheaval, sudden change, and revelation. Dragon’s Blood incense, known for its powerful protective and banishing properties, can mirror these energies, promoting strength, protection, and resilience amidst chaos.
The Star and Frankincense Incense:
The Star stands for hope, renewal, and serenity. Frankincense, known for its spiritual and meditative properties, can mirror these energies, promoting peace, hope, and spiritual connection.
The Moon and Jasmine Incense:
The Moon represents the subconscious, illusion, and intuition. Jasmine incense, with its calming and spiritual properties, can enhance these themes, promoting deep introspection, clarity, and a connection to the subconscious.
The Sun and Citrus Incense:
The Sun symbolizes positivity, vitality, and success. Citrus incense, with its uplifting and energizing aroma, can mirror these themes, promoting joy, optimism, and vitality.
Judgement and Sage Incense:
Judgement signifies reflection, awakening, and inner calling. Sage incense, known for its cleansing and purifying properties, can enhance these themes, promoting clarity, spiritual awakening, and personal growth.
The World and Sandalwood Incense:
The World represents completion, accomplishment, and wholeness. Sandalwood incense, with its calming and spiritual properties, can mirror these themes, promoting a sense of completion, unity, and spiritual connection.
As always, these pairings should be adapted based on your intuition and personal connection to the cards and the incense.
Remember, these pairings are suggestive and not prescriptive. The power of tarot lies in personal interpretation and intuition, so feel free to explore and experiment with the incense and tarot combinations that resonate most with you.
Incense For Grounding ✵
When it comes to grounding, certain types of incense are particularly well-suited to help you feel more connected to the earth, more present in your body, and more centered in the here and now.
Patchouli Incense: Patchouli has a deep, earthy scent and is often associated with grounding. It can help to balance the mind and calm the nerves, making it a great choice for grounding exercises.
Cedarwood Incense: Cedarwood has a warm, woodsy aroma that can help to connect you to nature and the earth, promoting a sense of stability and groundedness.
Sandalwood Incense: Sandalwood is known for its calming, harmonizing properties. It helps quiet the mind and deepen the connection to the physical self and the world around you, fostering a sense of grounding.
Vetiver Incense: Vetiver has a sweet, woody aroma and is known for its grounding properties. It’s often used for meditation and relaxation exercises because it helps to promote a sense of balance and stability.
Myrrh Incense: Myrrh is used for its soothing properties and can promote a grounding atmosphere. It’s often used in spiritual practices to promote a calm, centered state.
As with all things related to personal rituals and practices, it’s essential to experiment and see which type of incense resonates with you the most for grounding. You may find that one type works better for you than others, or you may enjoy using a variety depending on your mood, the time of day, or other factors.
Last thoughts
Pairing incense with tarot card readings is a great way to get the most out of the experience. Smelling beautiful aromas with specific scents will only be a catalyst for a stronger reading, so we definitely recommend giving it a try.
✵ Learn more about cleansing tarot cards with incense