Types of Decks and Reading Reversals

[Tom]

I have read people saying that if they get a deck in which the backs of card and definitely oriented to the card being turned over to the upright positions.  That they don’t read these cards with reversal.  I read with reversals, that’s the way I was taught.   I don’t see what difference it makes whether the back is right side up or upside down.  Do you think that knowing if I card will be reversed makes a difference?  Some reversals are improvements over the main messages of the cards right side up.  

 

What do you guys do, do you read with reversals?  Do you think decks with and upright back image should be only read without reversals.  I have never seen that it’s made a difference.  I’d appreciate your thoughts.

[tetragrammaton]

Some people think reversals add extra meaning and I respect that. I used to read with reversals myself when I first started. Now, I feel it's more beneficial for me to read without them. I believe reversals "limit" the readings, like upright means x and reversed means y when I can look at a card on whatever position it is instead.

 

In the end, do whatever works for you.

[DanielJUK]

Reading with reversals is a personal choice, some people do and some people don't, with some decks and not with others.

Deck artists and creators though sometimes say that their deck is not intended to be read reversed and don't provide ideas for the reversed cards. It's your reading of the deck, so you can ignore this or not. I sometimes think those only one way up deck backs are due to this but other times they were just lazy with the artwork. Again it's how you want to read it and how it works best for you 🙂 

 

I tend to read RWS based decks with reversals and other decks I don't

[Tom]

@DanielJUK I guess if I were to read with one of those decks that are designed to be read right side up I can look at the manual and see what their intention was.  I read primarily with RWS based decks.  I guess ultimately the choice is mine, but I am a collector and I buy just for the artwork , not necessarily to read with them.  I have some favorites and bought some new decks recently that I think would be great to read with--others not so much although I can admire their artwork.

[Misterei]

9 hours ago, tetragrammaton said:

Some people think reversals add extra meaning and I respect that. I used to read with reversals myself when I first started. Now, I feel it's more beneficial for me to read without them. I believe reversals "limit" the readings, like upright means x and reversed means y when I can look at a card on whatever position it is instead. ... In the end, do whatever works for you.

I went through a similar process. Today I seldom use reversals. Especially with Tarocchi, TdM, or other Pip decks where the Pips might look the same, anyway.

 

I sometimes use reversals in certain spreads and certain situations. But this is more of a "custom spread" scenario where reversals serve a necessary purpose. My basic style is all upright.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Misterei

[Arania]

I am hardly using reversals unless the design of the card is made that way, as in some of my self made decks. But when I do the backs don't matter to me. At best you can see if a card would come out reverse or not, not which, and once you are done shuffling, no difference.

[Tanga]

22 hours ago, Tom said:

I have read people saying that if they get a deck in which the backs of card and definitely oriented to the card being turned over to the upright positions.  That they don’t read these cards with reversal. 

 

What do you guys do, do you read with reversals?  Do you think decks with and upright back image should be only read without reversals.  I have never seen that it’s made a difference.  I’d appreciate your thoughts.

That's interesting - I've never heard that.  So they are assuming the card backs are deliberately lending this interpretive style to the deck.

Well!   Why not - I suppose.

 

Reversal reading is entirely up to you - like everything else in the end, once you've got a handle on how to read & have decided on your own style.

I read reversals - when I feel like it.  Sometimes I'll look at the reversals and just think - "nahhh - these should all be upright".

And sometimes I look at them and think - yup - that SHOULD be reversed.   Instinct?  Who knows?

What the backs look like makes little difference to me.

[Guest]

This might depend on how you actually interpret reversals. Like, when you simply interpret a card's reversed form as the opposite of its upright essence, there is a much higher chance that an upright card may have a positive meaning. I guess it's just human nature that in a self-reading, he may be more compelled to choose a card with an upright back than otherwise, if only to get a possibly more favorable message in the first position. 

 

There are decks where the creator expressly forbids reversals. Sklyarova's Tarot of Shadows come to mind - she says that since all the 78 cards are varying expressions of The Devil arcanum, they are already sort of reversed in the first place. In that case, I respect their advice. If the creator also didn't include reversal meanings, I'm more inclined to simply read the deck fully upright.

[Tom]

@Akhilleus I will just check the LWB or manual and see what the author intended.  It does seem that some card companies don’t care so much what the flip you’d get from the cards backs.  The Tarot of the Owls that I just got has a back where I could tell before flipping a card, weather it will be right side up or reversed.  The book that comes with it says this deck is meant to be read with reversals. So it would seem the design of the card back in most cases aren’t relevant.  At any rate it doesn’t matter whether I know there will be a reversal or not—some cards are better or have a meaning whose influence is waning reversed.

[Barleywine]

I don't care about non-reversible backs because I always lay the cards face-up and seldom notice back orientation; I think it's much ado about nothing. I use reversals with most decks, just not with TdM decks (or with the Lenormand system), and sometimes I design spreads that don't benefit from them. But my style of reading them has evolved considerably over the years, such that I don't think they change the core meaning of a card much if any, just the way the influence is received. So it's more about how we experience it than how it projects. We can of course do the same thing with an upright card, but I don't like to work that hard and see reversal as an interpretive  short-cut.

[Tom]

@Barleywine as I said before I learned tarot with reversals.  Everyone should read  the cards they feel would work best for them, not a LWB author. After thinking about, I don't really care what the back is the cards look like.

 

Conversely I feel with Oracles, it's best to read them as they were designed to be read. 

[Barleywine]

36 minutes ago, Tom said:

@Barleywine as I said before I learned tarot with reversals.  Everyone should read  the cards they feel would work best for them, not a LWB author. After thinking about, I don't really care what the back is the cards look like.

 

Conversely I feel with Oracles, it's best to read them as they were designed to be read. 

Good point about oracles. I don't use them (except for Lenormand and Kipper) because I don't have the time or patience to learn the creator's personal system every time I buy a new one. But with those few I have I don't use reversals because the card meanings are already enough of an enigma for me without some dedicated study.

[Chariot]

On 11/26/2023 at 3:47 PM, Tom said:

I have read people saying that if they get a deck in which the backs of card and definitely oriented to the card being turned over to the upright positions.  That they don’t read these cards with reversal.  I read with reversals, that’s the way I was taught.   I don’t see what difference it makes whether the back is right side up or upside down.  Do you think that knowing if I card will be reversed makes a difference?  Some reversals are improvements over the main messages of the cards right side up.  

 

What do you guys do, do you read with reversals?  Do you think decks with and upright back image should be only read without reversals.  I have never seen that it’s made a difference.  I’d appreciate your thoughts.

Yeah, that's my view as well.  I don't care what the backs look like.  I do read reversals ...always have done.  Once I've shuffled the cards (after mixing them face down so I DO get reversals) I just deal them out as they come.  

There is a superb quote in a book I'm currently working with ...Tarot For One, by Courtney Weber, that sums up my own philosophy about reading tarot—not only the particular card meanings, but whether or not you read reversals.  On page two of the Weiser Book edition, published in 2016, she says:

 

"Approach the work with an open mind to your personal associations with the cards.  Know this: Tarot needs to learn YOUR system of association more than you need to learn its system of symbolism. (Through this book) you will have the opportunity to discover your own association systems and  share them with the cards, creating a unique language for you and the cards alone."

I've maintained all along that Tarot is a language that develops between a reader and the Great Unknown Out There.   Any way to read and interpret Tarot is the 'right way,' as long as it works for an individual reader!

[Tom]

@Barleywine I just learned one Oracle Deck and I don't do Lenormand yet or Kipper.  But it really is off putting that units they are supposed to be read entirely intuitively you have to learn the authors system.  I don't have enough time to learn every deck. 

[Tom]

@Chariot I agree.  It is about relationship building and communicating with the cards.  I, for instance, have found the LWB  for Folk Cards of Destiny Oracle to be worthless. Lo Scarabeo provides the exact booklet and definitions for the Medieval Oracle deck even though the pictures in the cards don't resemble one another at all. I really need to do this intuitively. 

[Chariot]

41 minutes ago, Tom said:

@Chariot I agree.  It is about relationship building and communicating with the cards.  I, for instance, have found the LWB  for Folk Cards of Destiny Oracle to be worthless. Lo Scarabeo provides the exact booklet and definitions for the Medieval Oracle deck even though the pictures in the cards don't resemble one another at all. I really need to do this intuitively. 

I think it comes with practice as well. Since mid-December, I've been doing a daily 4-card reading, as recommended by Theresa Reed, called the mind/body/spirit reading.  I do it first thing every morning, and add in an Advice card as well, meaning four cards get pulled.

Mind is how I'm thinking that day or what I'll be thinking about.  Body is either about health (if that's relevant) or is more likely to be what I will physically be doing that day. Spirit is how I'll be feeling.  The Advice card comes into play as the day unfolds.

I think this is a great way to normalise card reading, and to get into the notion that tarot doesn't always have to be about Major Life Events. It is a language that can describe fairly mundane days and events as well—and can be VERY helpful.  These daily readings have kept me on track during a complicated period of my life, and have saved me a few mis-steps.  And they are GREAT practice in helping me get even more familiar with the cards and more in tune with what they mean to me.  I'm finding I can nearly always snap straight into a useful and accurate interpretation now, and adjust my day accordingly. 

Edited January 19, 2024 by Chariot

[Rshwdrz]

I agree that it’s more like a personal choice and have gone through a few phases regarding the usage of reversals. Very recently I switched to use positive meanings for each card in their upright positions and negative meanings for their reversed positions.
 

For some cards, this is straightforward: for example, Death, with its associations of both endings and rebirth, which I use for the reversed and upright meanings, respectively. Another example is the Three of Cups, while the upright meaning signifies celebration and happiness, the reversal highlights the potential danger of masking underlying problems.

The key to this approach is not to deny the card's appearance. A reversed Death doesn't mean "death not happening," but rather that the focus is on the negative aspect of its occurrence.

 

I've just started using this method and have encountered some challenges in determining the negative aspects. For instance, with Temperance, I find it difficult to imagine what could be negative about an angel standing at the edge of a pond!😀

 

I guess this is actually a bit similar to the one Barleywine put forward in the earlier posts. I do enjoy it as it seemingly balances the positivities and negativities of the deck, but in practical readings, I do find it makes the interpretation not as intuitive as I would like it to be…

[Misterei]

On 6/4/2024 at 4:34 PM, Rshwdrz said:

I've just started using this method and have encountered some challenges in determining the negative aspects. For instance, with Temperance, I find it difficult to imagine what could be negative about an angel standing at the edge of a pond!😀

Wouldn't the reverse side of Temperance be LACK of balance and LACK of sobriety / temperance? Or are you after something different?

[Rshwdrz]

8 hours ago, Misterei said:

Wouldn't the reverse side of Temperance be LACK of balance and LACK of sobriety / temperance? Or are you after something different?

That’s my usual interpretation as well. With the new method mentioned above, I interpret reversals as another aspect of the upright meaning, not a denial. So they don’t directly oppose the upright meanings.

 

For example, the Three of Cups depicts three women celebrating. Upright, it signifies happiness, while reversed, it can represent excessive joy masking underlying issues. The scene stays the same; it’s just the perspective that changes.

 

Applying this to Temperance, the upright meaning is balance and moderation, I’m actually trying to find other nuanced interpretations that align with the approach above: keeping the image true in both upright and reversed meanings, and just adjust the interpretation.

[Tom]

I have learned the meaning of Temperance from Eden Gray long ago.  Her definition of it was not sobriety, it was tempered, like the tempering of steel.  Good combinations, like getting the perfect desert to go with a dinner, or matchmaking.  The reserve in her definition is bad combinations or unable to balance things properly.  I use her definition because there other  tarot cards that can mean dependence or addiction, overindulgence. The angle is like a mixologist.  He’s sensible and has one foot in the subconscious and the other on land representing the conscious.  I think the RWS silver and gold cups are important to the meaning.  Some decks turned them both gold.

[Misterei]

On 6/6/2024 at 2:14 AM, Rshwdrz said:

For example, the Three of Cups depicts three women celebrating. Upright, it signifies happiness, while reversed, it can represent excessive joy masking underlying issues. The scene stays the same; it’s just the perspective that changes.

I see. I often *do* read 3 cups that way. A party is fun--but alcoholism looks like a party at first };>

Sometimes for married couples I get Temperance as a cooling of passions. It's not bad per se .... but in a marriage this can cause issues.

On 6/6/2024 at 4:09 AM, Tom said:

I have learned the meaning of Temperance from Eden Gray long ago.  Her definition of it was not sobriety, it was tempered, like the tempering of steel.  Good combinations, like getting the perfect desert to go with a dinner, or matchmaking.  The reserve in her definition is bad combinations or unable to balance things properly.

Good take. Score one for Eden Gray.

Over time I ended up reading Temperance / Devil / 3 cups as often having to do with addictions simply b/c often I get clients coming for relationship advice and part of the issue is an alcoholic [or other addiction] partner. Other clients are in Recovery and this also can surface in relationship readings.

[Tom]

I have decided that certain decks seem to work better without using reversals.  I don’t use reversals with the Anitque Anatomy deck because the author’s book stated that she didn’t use reversals when she designed them.  I sometimes think though I should use reversals because I can’t decide whether or not a card is representing a supporter or detractor role contextually.  More experimenting is needed to be done.  

 

I recently acquired the Happy Tarot—which although images seem happy, you still get the emotional impact of the “bad” cards.  I think this deck was designed more for Affirmations—it works really well for that—no reversals if I’m using them for that.  I did a state of energy spread with it without reversals today and the answer was clear to me.  The LWB gives the negative implications of a card while giving the reader a way to deal with those situations.  Same thing for the AFFIRMATIONS! Tarot—I don’t use reversals with them either.

 

Nothing is set in stone, but I think the one size fits all when it comes to decks doesn’t work well for me.

[Morwenna]

On 6/6/2024 at 10:09 AM, Tom said:

I have learned the meaning of Temperance from Eden Gray long ago.  Her definition of it was not sobriety, it was tempered, like the tempering of steel.  Good combinations, like getting the perfect desert to go with a dinner, or matchmaking.  The reserve in her definition is bad combinations or unable to balance things properly.  I use her definition because there other  tarot cards that can mean dependence or addiction, overindulgence. The angle is like a mixologist.  He’s sensible and has one foot in the subconscious and the other on land representing the conscious.  I think the RWS silver and gold cups are important to the meaning.  Some decks turned them both gold.

That's exactly like the Temperance card in the Prairie Tarot--the figure is indeed a mixologist, actually a pharmacist or apothecary.

 

I do use reversals, but, as so many of you say, it depends on the card itself how such a reversal is read. The reversal is some kind of modifier, and every case is unique.

[Laura Borealis]

On 11/26/2023 at 10:47 AM, Tom said:

I have read people saying that if they get a deck in which the backs of card and definitely oriented to the card being turned over to the upright positions.  That they don’t read these cards with reversal.   

 

 

I just ran across this line of thinking in a video. The guy had a bit of a beef with a deck creator because her card backs were not reversible, yet she had given reversed meanings in her book.

 

I can understand preferring reversible backs. I don't lay my cards out with the backs up, but I can see how, if you do, you might want the spread to look consistent, a blank slate with unseen potential. In other words, you might prefer to not know ahead of time that some cards are reversed. Maybe it spoils your focus, or gets you thinking ahead before you even see the card faces. That makes sense to me, even if I don't care about it myself (because I lay my cards face-up).

 

But this guy was literally like, how can she include reversed meanings when the backs are like this? Like for him, the two are so incompatible they cannot exist in the same space.

 

Honestly scratching my head over this one.

[DanielJUK]

I think it's best not to name it, but I saw about one of the decks a lot of us pledged for as a kickstarter. The artist unveiled the back designs recently and they were not reversible! Some of the funders said they really preferred to have reversible backs. They managed to change it before going to print but it was an interesting situation. It was all good-natured and props to the artist for changing with the majority of backers seemed to want. You know it's a deck that I wouldn't normally read reversals with but the backers wanted the option! It was changed and I think is an improvement 🙂 .

 

I think if you give the option of reversible backs it gives total flexibility with how people want to read with your deck!