Importance of reading reversals vs. reading only uprights

[Guest]

Hi fellow forum-ers,

 

I have been on this journey of discovering my own technique to read tarot and this topic is a very interesting one for me. 

 

Initially when I was learning how to read the cards, I was able to catch up the upright meanings very quickly and they all made a lot of sense to me. However, when I started reading reversals, things just confused me and I could not make out what was what. After a lot of trials I decided to not read reversals anymore. 

 

But that makes me think if I am missing out on any messages from my spirit guide.

 

Apart from this, I also want an insight on other readers techniques and practice of reading reversals (and those who only read uprights) and talk about the importance of both.

 

I cannot wait to go through everyone's inputs.

[DanielJUK]

Reading reversals is a personal choice. Some people never use them, they can be confusing and hard to work out and also visually hard to read as they are upside-down in the spread.

 

I personally do use them, I feel they add to my readings. I don't use them with every deck though and some decks have authors who ask for people to not use them for reversals (for example Wild Unknown). I mostly use them on RWS decks and often not on other decks.

 

You can use them with some readings and some decks or not, you can make it work for you. Also people use them in different ways, like they are just blocked energy of the upright or they have their own interpretation.

 

It's fine to not use them! Many people don't. I think the message comes through whatever you do. If you don't use them, the cards will give the message by showing different cards and you need to get good at the positive / negative meanings of the upright. I don't think you miss out by not using them 🙂 .

 

Here is an old forum discussion which might be a good read about this.....

[Raggydoll]

My best advice on reading reversals for beginners, is that you decide on your method beforehand, and then use this same approach for every card. For instance, you might decide (like Dan said) that a reversed card means that the energy is blocked, and if that’s the case, then you’re going to want to interpret all reversed cards as blocked energies, and not have some of them be interpreted as a negative version of the upright meaning, for example.
 

But whatever method you pick, do take the time to contemplate what your approach means in practical terms. So if we stick with the example of blocked energies, then what does it really mean if an energy is blocked? Look at different cards in the deck, reverse them and start thinking about what a blocked energy would mean for that card. If it doesn’t make sense or if it’s too hard, then why not try another approach for reading reversals. I think the most common issue for beginners when they struggle with reversals is that they haven’t thought through how to interpret the reversed cards and what those type of interpretations will look like in an actual reading. 
 

Benebell Wen has outlined some strategies for reading reversals and she sums them up as the acronym WIND. You might find this useful (from her book Holistic tarot):

 

W: Weakened energy of the card meaning due to being overpowered by other forces.

I: Inverted meaning of the card, i.e., the opposite of what the card would mean upright.

N: Negative influence on Seeker (most notably in court cards; think N for nobility).

D: Delay before the outcome will materialize. Not all factors have fully matured yet.

 

As to whether or not you read reversals, that’s completely up to you. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I quite like reversals and think they add something extra to a reading, but it’s certainly possible to do without them!

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Raggydoll

[Tarritqueen]

On 9/18/2023 at 7:35 AM, Raggydoll said:

My best advice on reading reversals for beginners, is that you decide on your method beforehand, and then use this same approach for every card. For instance, you might decide (like Dan said) that a reversed card means that the energy is blocked, and if that’s the case, then you’re going to want to interpret all reversed cards as blocked energies, and not have some of them be interpreted as a negative version of the upright meaning, for example.
 

But whatever method you pick, do take the time to contemplate what your approach means in practical terms. So if we stick with the example of blocked energies, then what does it really mean if an energy is blocked? Look at different cards in the deck, reverse them and start thinking about what a blocked energy would mean for that card. If it doesn’t make sense or if it’s too hard, then why not try another approach for reading reversals. I think the most common issue for beginners when they struggle with reversals is that they haven’t thought through how to interpret the reversed cards and what those type of interpretations will look like in an actual reading. 
 

Benebell Wen has outlined some strategies for reading reversals and she sums them up as the acronym WIND. You might find this useful (from her book Holistic tarot):

 

W: Weakened energy of the card meaning due to being overpowered by other forces.

I: Inverted meaning of the card, i.e., the opposite of what the card would mean upright.

N: Negative influence on Seeker (most notably in court cards; think N for nobility).

D: Delay before the outcome will materialize. Not all factors have fully matured yet.

 

As to whether or not you read reversals, that’s completely up to you. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I quite like reversals and think they add something extra to a reading, but it’s certainly possible to do without them!

 

Thnx it was helpful. Appreciate it

[FindYourSovereignty]

I thought it was on this forum, but I cannot locate it so maybe it was elsewhere, someone shared that their mentor required five years of reading just upright before introducing reversals. Kind of like a level of progression in the study. I think everyone progresses differently, but I could relate to this effort to become really expert, natural and comfortable with reading upright before advancing to include reversals.
 

I know many people have different opinions on this, but I truly believe that the 78 cards communicate with us exactly correct whether we include reversals in the shuffle or not. As long as you are very clear with yourself and the deck about your process, the cards work with you. Taking the card position, the surrounding cards, the symbolism and energy in the image of the chosen deck, and relating it all back to the question is like a beautiful song that moves one to dance. Advancing to dancing with your feet in the air comes when the dancer is ready, imho.
 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by FindYourSovereignty

[Chariot]

From a practical viewpoint, I would urge forum members to make it clear if they do use—or don't use—reversals, when they post here for feedback on a spread.

I DO use reversals, and occasionally I get a reading where all the cards are upright.  That gives me a different result from deliberately turning reversed cards around after they are dealt, or if I shuffle in a way that all the cards remain upright.

I agree with @DanielJUK that the message will come through clearly to the reader, whether that reader uses reversals or not. But for outsiders attempting to deliver insight on a spread you've laid, it's helpful to know if you use reversals.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Chariot

[Misterei]

On 9/18/2023 at 2:23 AM, Tan said:

Initially when I was learning how to read the cards, I was able to catch up the upright meanings very quickly and they all made a lot of sense to me. However, when I started reading reversals, things just confused me and I could not make out what was what. After a lot of trials I decided to not read reversals anymore.

As a young reader, I memorized the meaning of every card and every reversal from Eden Gray's book, "Tarot Revealed"

This was in the ancient times when there was only one Tarot book and no internet };>

 

After all that memorization ... i still HATED reversals aesthetically. I have virgo (Chitra) moon. Reversed cards look messy. Yuck.

I stopped using them 90% of the time simply so my spreads look nice and tidy, god help me.

I developed a "card yogas" system to get the depth I lost by reading all uprights. It works like planetary yogas in Jyotish ... but with cards.

That being said, MANY readers read all uprights and have their various methods.

 

I use reversals for certain types of spreads. About 10% of the time. When it's helpful for the question and the technique.

I re-quote Raggy's post about the WIND method. the specialized cases that I might use reversals ... it's applying the "w" aspect from below.

 

On 9/18/2023 at 4:35 AM, Raggydoll said:

Benebell Wen ... sums them up as the acronym WIND. You might find this useful (from her book Holistic tarot):

 

W: Weakened energy of the card meaning due to being overpowered by other forces.

I: Inverted meaning of the card, i.e., the opposite of what the card would mean upright.

N: Negative influence on Seeker (most notably in court cards; think N for nobility).

D: Delay before the outcome will materialize. Not all factors have fully matured yet.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Misterei

[Mister]

Reversals, I do not use for I have been handling (not reading) packs ever since being a child.

When a card flips during the shuffle, my fingers move it back to upright right away without missing a beat.

It has become a reflex.

 

Which leads to the following: Reversals rarely appear, and if they do, I've gotta pay attention, for (obviously) something is not right with that card - it even went past my reflex! Practically speaking, it comes down to stuff which can be arrived at by a good look at the surrounding cards with an added emphasis on the theme highlighted by the reversal.

 

Which is why I do not use them - every so often, they pop up and have to be integrated, but that is another matter.

[Natural Mystic Guide]

I read with reversals for many readings.  I find that this doubles the possible meanings for a 78 card deck.  My Tarot Netivot system, though, only assigns positive meanings to every card in the deck if it is upright.  There are no scary cards.  There are no 'bad' cards.  This makes things less confusing (at least for me).  Upright, the card meaning is positive.  Reversed, it represents a possible challenge or lesson.When a card does show up reversed, I first check in with Guidance to see if it should remain reversed.    Probably more than half of the time, I do receive that I should turn the card around so that it is not reversed.  Cards that are reversed take on a different meaning.  Usually I think in terms of a 'heads up -- be aware of this and here is how to correct it'.  Earlier on in this conversation, @Raggydoll listed the WIND acronym and its meanings that appears in Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen.  That is also a very good approach.

 

The types of spreads in which I do not use reversals:  Elemental readings.  Cards are evaluated in terms of which Kabbalistic world they fall into.  They may be ill dignified or they may be totally positive depending upon elemental compatibility.  Also I am now deeply immersed in the study of the Spirit Keeper's Tarot Revelation 2nd edition by Benebell Wen.  Her system is her system.  I totally respect it and am not going to impose my way of doing things on it.  So far I've been doing her readings straight up.

[Esclarmonde]

I do use reversals as that's the way I learned to read Tarot initially. Though I found what DanielJUK said interesting regarding not using reversals with some decks. I have that with the Dark Angels Tarot - I tried reading with reversals and it just felt wrong, so I read only upright cards in that deck. I read reversals with other decks.

In general, reading reversals is a personal choice. 

[DanielJUK]

It's totally flexible, so you can try reading reversals and with some decks and see if it adds to your readings or not. Fortunately there isn't the tarot police to make us do it only a prescribed way 😉 .There are many methods and "add ons" you can have in readings and my rule is whether they add something to my readings or not. I don't do the things that don't  🙂 . You don't have to read the same way all the same and in the same way with each deck 🙂 . A fun part of finding your reading method is to experiment! My style has changed and I have added and dropped other things over the years. It's never all set in stone.

 

RWS is quite a good deck to read reversals with or to start to read reversals with as you can find reversed meanings all over the net, to help you and give you inspiration.

 

I would repeat what @Raggydoll said earlier though, if you do decide to use reversals in a reading, work out what method you are going to use before the reading. It's so confusing to then decide they mean blocked energy or then change to the energy of the upright is doubled or something. Work out how you will use them before you shuffle and stick with it, it you decide to use them. I would also suggest if you are making your own positions to write them down, I always do the reading and forget all my positions 🤣 Which card was the outcome? argh!

[FindYourSovereignty]

This video crossed my path yesterday about reading reversals or not and thought I’d share. She did a nice job of presenting many angles and some suggestions.