Yes, Cartomancy does have its own jargon. Clearing the deck means to remove stagnant energies. Many folk may think this applies only when clients handle the deck, my experience finds it pertinent to a reader’s energy even more so, as it is not just dirt or oils on fingers which require removal.
At best a new deck frequently used is clean for 3 moons before it needs clearing. Think of the clearing process as opening up the deck and letting it breathe. The reading of energies represented by their card symbols are looked at by the eyes of the reader and it is the “looking” which creates the residue on the cards. Over time the remnants of our fixed attention can turn sticky or tacky and hinder the shuffling of the cards causing them to “cluster” or make patterns which are not related to what is currently being read.
Each person has their own method of clearing. It however should be a dry method. Misting or spraying is out. Holding the individual cards in the smoke of incense is a solution. Placing your deck in a ziplock bag with some white flour for a shake-shake then removing the deck and wiping each card off, back and front with a clean soft cloth is another. Remember the key to clearing the deck is a separation of each card from the deck to remove the accumulated substance of one’s gaze. It will take some time.
The flag or alert for deck maintainence for me falls under the Clouds card in lenormand method. When card 06 appears in consecutive reads or if the pair 26-06, Book- Clouds falls, the notation reminds me to “clear the deck!”