I’ve been Wiccan for probably 13 years or so now, but I still consider myself a student. I like to learn as much as I can about different theologies (and thealogies), rituals, ethics, myth cycles, etc. I do most of my learning through books and websites, and I generally keep to myself. However, I do read a couple of message boards.

There is one type of question, asked by newcomers and old hands (often those of a more… sweetness and light variety) alike that just gets my goat. “My bratty sister touched my Tarot cards and now they won’t work! What should I do?” “My brother’s icky friend looked at my Wiccan books, and I’m sure he’s got his bad vibes all over them! What should I do?” etc. :rolls eyes:

Mind over matter, people! No one has any power over you unless you give it to them. If you think that your little sister has jinxed your cards, then she has. But if you laugh and think that her innocent energy has been added to them, then it has. Or you can just shrug it off, after all, they are only bits of paper with the real power residing inside you.

Often, though, the replies to these request are of the commiserating kind–“Oh, you poor dear! No one understands us, do they?”–followed up by an elaborate ritual to cleanse the object and practitioner. I’ve read of people burning Tarot cards just because someone touched them. Again, though, it is mind over matter. If you believe that an elaborate ritual is the only way to make something useful again, then that is what you are going to have to do; not for the object, but for yourself.

My advice, if something like this happens to you and you feel you need to “clean” the object in question, is take some time to sort the cards, flip though the book, hand wash the item, etc. so that you feel like it is yours again. Then, if you feel you need to, have a simple ritual to rededicate it.

Personally, depending on the severity of the event, I just shrug my shoulders and carry on. The energy of my friends and family are part of me, so I don’t think it is so bad that it becomes part of my tools. Just don’t touch my Robin Wood deck! 😛