If You Don't Use Actual Card Reversals, How do You Know When To Read Them As Reversed?

[gregory]

On 6/5/2019 at 8:23 AM, stephanelli said:

This will sound very vague, but to me it's all about the energy of the card and how it is in combination with the other cards, the question asked and such like.  It's easier to be sure when doing a spread with named positions but I find it sometimes comes up in 'puddle spreads' (I love that name for them!)

 

When I use a 'puddle spread' is generally because I want to intuitively feel into the situation more than in other readings.  I guess it's a pyschic gift of some sort but I can really feel the energy and emotions around a situation or person (whether I'm trying to or not), and often a reading will also come with the querents energy (even online readings).  For me, this is often my indicator for a card being read 'reversed'.

 

I'm not sure how helpful my two pennies worth is, but thought I'd share it anyway!

 

I don't use reversals. So I'm not quite sure why I would need to know "when to read a card as reversed." The question doesn't quite make sense to me.

 

But yes it's easy to make sure there are reversed cards in your deck - it happens easily when you shuffle. I have experimented with this out of interest - I don't go as complicated as Saturn - I flip half the deck and shuffle; rinse and repeat 7 times (because a friend who Knows Stuff assures me that 7 shuffles are what's needed to truly randomise.

 

The idea of reading 78 cards in one reading is alarming. As a bit of a joke some of us did 42-card spreads a couple of years ago - a Douglas Adams reference. It was VERY hard work.

[Canid]

On 6/5/2019 at 12:24 PM, AJ-ish/Sharyn said:

I've never understood this deck concept or construct. What does that mean? 

Plus, it’s often the backs that have a lot to do with the creator saying they’re not reversible. I do it anyway, although I no longer physically reverse the cards. If the shoe fits...wear it. It’s intuition combined with surrounding cards...plus, intuition.

[JohnLetter]

6 hours ago, Saturn Celeste said:

You've said this many times John about using 78 cards but I just want to make sure you understand what you are saying.  Yes, there are 78 cards in the deck but you only read a few cards at a time.  What I do to put reversals in my deck is shuffle the cards very well, then I count out 21 cards and reverse them.  Then I put those cards in the middle of the deck and shuffle really good again.  So, if I deal out 3 cards, I might get a reversal, I might get all reversals or I don't get any reversals.  After the reading, I turn all the reversed cards upright in my deck and I'm ready for the next reading.  This is how I do it but every reader has their own technique for adding reversals.  In a Lenormand deck you do a grand tableau spread where you read all 36 cards but to read all 78 tarot cards at once would be really time consuming and not very efficient.  One tarot card can give a lot of information but 78 would be crazy!  Using reversals is a choice, not mandatory.

Thank you thank you for your advice 🙂

 

[Decan]

It's up to us to decide if we want to read reversal or no. If we decide to don't, indeed, I don't see why to apply the reversed meanings for a card upright.

I think I will read reversal (it's something I plan), mainly because I tend to read from the meanings and a bit less from the pictures, and since with the Sibilla we can read reversal finally why not with the Tarot? If we read from the picture to read reversal can be a problem though.

Upright if a positive card is flanked by two negative cards, maybe its positive meanings will just remain a potential or the querent will face big blockages and don't have a positive result but some frustration.

On the contrary, if a negative card is flanked by 2 positive cards the situation won't be necessarily too bad, maybe there will be just a little delay with regard to a good result (I had this on my part for a parcel in a recent spread).

But it's not exactly to apply the meaning reversed. Interesting topic though! and my two cents!! 🙂

[DanielJUK]

I mostly do use reversals but with some decks and readings I don't. I rarely use intuition to decide to read with a "reversed meaning" but instead look at the pattern of the cards. If you have a spread and they are all negative and suddenly there is a card that doesn't quite fit (maybe overly positive) then I would read the reversal of it. I don't read with elemental dignities but it is similar as a basic pattern to that. The other time you really know to use a reversed meaning is if you have a negative card position, that really obviously fits with a reversed card meaning, for example "what are the cons of this choice?" "what are the negative aspects of myself I need to work on?", that sort of thing.

[gregory]

If you want to sort this out in one HUGE leap - get Zach Wong's Revelations deck, and shuffle it to allow reversals. That one does it all for you. It's the only deck with which I do actually use them at times.

[DevonCarter]

4 hours ago, gregory said:

If you want to sort this out in one HUGE leap - get Zach Wong's Revelations deck, and shuffle it to allow reversals. That one does it all for you. It's the only deck with which I do actually use them at times.

I agree! It's a lovely deck - I've not used it much yet, but when I have it's been great. I'm planning to use it more soon. I only read reversals with it - the first time I shuffled I turned half the deck, and then sometimes I turn another stack here and there to mix it up further.

[gregory]

Exactly. But that way you simply read the card you see. No worries about this is 9 wands reversed and therefore.... It IS reversed, yes, but the meaning is right there in front of you, in the image.

[Czenzi]

I don’t use reversals except in the Vice Versa deck. It’s the overall feeling of the card and it’s relationship in the spread that guides me. Also, I trust whatever words I hear in my mind as the card is pulled. I have toyed with using reversals more, but have never really felt the need, yet. 

[Wyrdkiss]

In my experience, the position meaning of the Spread is key to experiencing the nuance of any card. I do not read or use reversals.

 

The 5 of Cups in "what is holding you back" conveys one message; the same card in "what is your greatest strength to draw on" entirely another.

 

 

[Annabelle]

I don't use reversals, in large part because I normally read with Marseilles style decks (for which reversals are not traditionally used).

 

Even back when I read frequently with RWS style decks, though, I didn't often bother with reversals. It seemed like an extraneous "layer" to me and I seldom gleaned anything of use from trying to read reversed cards.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Annabelle

[Carla]

I've never used reversals, but always looked at cards as being multifaceted. You will know when to use the darker meaning of a card according to a variety of factors, which might include the positional meaning (if using a spread), proximity to other cards, where the card falls in the story you're weaving from the cards (if you do that), or just flat out intuition. 

 

If we approach the cards with curiosity and in search of a story, with the mindset not of 'I will find the answer' but of 'I haven't a clue but let's see how this unfolds' --instead of as something akin to a maths problem or puzzle to solve -- we can relax into interpretation and this issue will no longer be a point of stress. You won't need to look at images upside down to know what they're saying to you. 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Carla

[bookshop]

I agree with Carla, and also just want to add that a card's position in a spread can add a lot of complexity and reversed meaning by itself, and my stance is that such a context can render the whole idea of an additional reversal unnecessary and confusing.

 

For instance, if I had a card position such as "what is your goal" and drew the Tower (upright), obviously the querent's goal, depending on the context of the reading, would not be to cause chaos and ruin and despair, but rather to embrace change and learn how to blow up one's own life if necessary to achieve the change they want. This is an interpretation that's basically already equivalent to the way we'd read a Tower reversed. So to me, though of course I think every reading and spread are different, more often than not, there's just no additional meaning to be gained in a reversal that isn't inherent to the cards already.

[MollyCat]

I think the answer to this depends on how and why one uses Tarot.

I don't use reversals because to do so seems to me to second guess the question.  Also, I think that reversals can complicate

the question.  I trust my intuition to let me see all relevant aspects of the question and to speak to them if appropriate.

 

In conversations with the querent during the reading, often positive and negative issues arise.  Questions too.

13 years ago I sought a reading from a lovely and well respected professional reader at a challenging time in my life

She was unaware that I knew anything about Tarot.  I noticed that she did pick up some reversed  cards, put them down

and  drew alternatives. 😀.  I later thought that was intuitive and kind  of her because I didn't need to see  those cards at the time. 

The cards she ultimately drew were  very useful to me, and I signed up later for one of her classes.  She still reads professionally.

I rarely read for others now but use Tarot on a daily basis.  It is a daily  ritual, and an unfailing way of communicating with my guide

or higher self.

[Jewel]

I sometimes use reversals, sometimes not.  Really depends on the deck.  What I like about using them is that when I look at the image reversed I see different things about the card I might not have noticed when it was upright, different things catch my eye if you will.  I use some basic numerology, elemental correspondences, and visual cues when reading and I do look at the cards holistically so I do think about the broad spectrum of meanings of the cards in readings.  Sometimes a reversed card can just be cards trying to get my attention, other times they may be blockages, other times they can be obstacles or challenges, it all varies on the question, spread, and spread position.