How do you interpret all reversals in a spread?

[greenribbon]

Do you reshuffle and pull new cards? Flip the reversed cards upright? Do you apply some larger meaning to the spread (for instance, I've heard it said that when all cards are reversed it signifies an internal conflict on the part of the querent, or that it means somebody is moving)? Other?

[Misterei]

13 minutes ago, greenribbon said:

Do you reshuffle and pull new cards? Flip the reversed cards upright? Do you apply some larger meaning to the spread (for instance, I've heard it said that when all cards are reversed it signifies an internal conflict on the part of the querent, or that it means somebody is moving)? Other?

I don't know if there's a one-size-fits-all. Yes, it's noteworthy that all the cards in your spread were reversed [statistically it should be 50-50 reversed and upright] but how you read 100% reversed depends on your attitude toward reversals. How do *you* read reversals?

 

For example, some people just read reversed cards as having a defined meaning different from the upright. A card means xyz when upright and abc when reversed. In this case, you simply do it like any other reading--take the card meanings at face value.

 

Some people feel reversals signify a more internal process vs. exterior events. Or various more fluid ways of reading reversals. In this case, it would be a highly personal and intuitive take on an all-reversals spread. Intuitively *I* might say that 100% reversals would be like a retrograde planet in Astrology. The energy is going backwards. This is just an example of how personal intuition may say more about the spread than any single rule.

[DanielJUK]

There's an old tarot myth or maybe a way of reading, depending on your view that if the whole reading is reversed, you should discard it and not read on that for a while again.

I find that reductive, the cards that come up is the message / outcome or answer we need to interpret it. I don't think we should reshuffle or ignore it, this is part of the important message. Although if you ask something and they keep being mostly reversed, that could be sign to stop reading on this or have a break from reading for a while.

 

When I was in my second year of seriously learning tarot, I was feeling quite depressed and blocked in life. All my readings were majority reversed cards. This was important as it was accurate. Understanding the reversed cards helped me in the situation, as I felt better, they become uprights. It was important they were reversed as it showed the energy of the situation at that moment.

 

I think I would ask....

 

Why is the regular upright version of this card blocked right now?

What can I do (usually internally) to work on this?

 

I think sitting with them and working out the reversed message is better for an outcome than just reshuffling and discarding it.

[Raggydoll]

6 hours ago, Misterei said:

Intuitively *I* might say that 100% reversals would be like a retrograde planet in Astrology. The energy is going backwards. This is just an example of how personal intuition may say more about the spread than any single rule.

Yeah. I tend to view reversals as having a disrupted or distorted energy. In this case, I think the analogy of retrograde planets is a good one. 

[geoxena]

This is an interesting question.  Personally, I do not read reversed cards.  It's just been kind of ingrained in me not to, for many years.  I make sure to shuffle in a way that keeps them all upright, and usually only do 3-card spreads (or up to 5 cards, at the most).  If a card comes out reversed, I ignore that and turn it upright.  So, I have never even considered the possibility of getting all reversals in a reading.  I'm not sure what I would do.  Since I carefully make sure they are all upright while I shuffle, I would probably assume that I had accidentally held the deck the wrong way when I pulled the cards.  So, I'd likely just turn them upright like I usually do.  If I were the kind of reader who does include and read reversals, getting all reversed cards in a spread would probably be more of a big deal to me and so I'm sure I'd leave them as they are and see how the reversed meanings of all the cards relate to each other.

Edited December 16, 2024 by geoxena

[Mayari]

If most are reversed or the reading does not seem to make sense with the reversals, I flip them over and usually that seems to give a clearer interpretaion. O know thevreading works if I can relate the cards to each other as of it were a storyline. 

[Voice-in-the-Wind]

Hey 😉

 

I do use reversed cards...but I am not very good at it... As I read it; they are more internally? Or are they reversed in there meaning?

 

Grts

Voice-in-the-Wind 

[Mayari]

I first look at the reading as a whole and see how they connect to make a coherent story. Usually it becomes clear how that reversal is going to be interpreted depending on the cards surrounding it. A lot depends on  the common theme throughout

[Saturn Celeste]

On 12/11/2024 at 5:56 PM, greenribbon said:

Do you reshuffle and pull new cards? Flip the reversed cards upright? Do you apply some larger meaning to the spread (for instance, I've heard it said that when all cards are reversed it signifies an internal conflict on the part of the querent, or that it means somebody is moving)? Other?

I think some of this is how you deal with reversed cards in your deck.  Do you keep them reversed reading after reading, or do you put them upright after each reading?  I never keep reversed cards in my deck.  If I know I'm going to use reversals for a reading, I'll put them in at the time of the reading.  I also use Benebell Wen's W.I.N.D. technique:

 

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 materialise. Not all factors have fully matured yet.

Edited January 18 by Saturn Celeste

[Barleywine]

I have a few opinions on the subject. (Well, a lot more than that, but this is my most recent thinking.) Some of these are about a large majority of reversals but not necessarily "all reversals."

1) The entire deck is upside-down and wasn't shuffled to randomize for orientation. (Like it just came out of the box for the first time.)

2) In my most recent essay on the subject, I observed "A whole chain of randomly-drawn reversed cards might be seen as persistent inattention to the warning signs or a dissociative pattern of “avoidance behavior.”

3) In a slightly older essay I noted "This abnormal preponderance may indicate that the querent or another party to the situation is engaged in systematic "covert operations" (in military terms, "black ops") that are intended to circumvent any staunch and (at least in the querent's opinion) unfair opposition to the proposed agenda."

4) And back in 2017 I mentioned "Numerous reversals in a spread may show an undercurrent working at cross-purposes to the main thrust of the reading, 'for good or ill.' They can also reflect a very complicated or difficult situation in which it is more important how the energies are received and processed than how they are delivered."

Edited February 7 by Barleywine

[Morwenna]

I've never seen a reading that was totally reversed, but in any case I would start by reading each card as it was, either upright or reversed, and relating them together, as always. But if most of them were reversed, I might suggest that the client is feeling blocks in most of their life in general, and go from there. 

[MlleTemperance]

I don't always use reversals because I feel like most cards have both a more positive and a more negative side to them. Depending on the surrounding cards and global feeling of the spread, these positive/negative traits become more of less predominent to me I guess. But sometimes I do reversals juste for the fun of it, thinking that upright would be the positive aspect and reversed would be the negative aspect. For example, the upright Temperance would be the idea of a healthy and harmonious balance, but the reversed card for me would indicate that we're overdoing it and thus it might bring up insatisfaction or a feeling of restriction.

 

I think a spread full of reversals would give me disconnected vibes, if that makes any sense? Like the spread would hint a blindspot or something I am avoiding, and probably overcompensating (something along the line of cognitive dissonance).

[Chariot]

I do use reversals. I nearly always interpret them as “the upright meaning is not happening” although the general topic of each card remains the same.

 

For example, the topic of the Death card is about natural or inevitable endings. I would interpret the upright card as something coming to a natural end. The reversed card would mean something is not coming to an end. Whether that is a positive thing or not depends on the subject itself, the question asked, and the surrounding cards.

 

I find this way of interpreting reversals not only doubles the meaning of each card without having to memorise more than just the upright version, but it also evens out the number of positive and negative cards in the tarot deck. A negative card …like, say, the 5 of Pentacles, which usually means a material loss of some kind …when reversed, means the loss is overcome or wasn’t as bad as originally feared.

 

I would be inclined to read an all-reversed spread no differently from any other spread.  That being said, I often do get readings where most cards are reversed, and there is a feeling when I first begin the interpretation that perhaps the energy of the reading isn’t all that strong.  But once I begin to concentrate on each individual card, that feeling often passes.

 

 

Edited March 8 by Chariot

[xTheHermitx]

Been reading for about 35 years now....

 

I always use reversals. I feel like "editing" them is messing with the stream of fate (The Norns have more control over it than I do...I am just a messenger). I also only usually do 3 or 5 card spreads, and have never had a fully reversed draw in the 5 card spread that I remember, but have definitely had "majority" reversals. I have had fully reversed 3 card draws though. 

 

I like the challenge of reading the reversals (it challenges my knowledge of the cards, and their relationship to the query). I also always preface the reads by reminding the querent that a reversed card does not always mean "doom and gloom"....as with everything else in life, it is contextual... and "doom and gloom" is part of Balance (The Supreme Force), so you can't have good without bad.