Cards in reverse - when do you start?

[Guest]

I have no idea if this is the best place for this question?

 

I bought my deck of cards for myself to contact someone in spirit and whilst the tarot overall seems to be a method of contacting your higher self it still seems to be the best way to do this. I've been reading my cards for all of a week and I'm quite happy with the interpretations I've made from the energies that I feel as I do it. Sometimes I don't even need a question, the overall energy makes cards pop out as a I shuffle that give me answers before I start and I generally use between 1 and 3 cards max. However, as I've gone on I do get cards in reverse, which would (if I didn't ignore them as a rank amateur) would alter the interpretation to my question. As I'm seeking the best answer I can get I wondered how many of you use reverse cards and how long after you started did you start to add this to your readings and if you have, how much harder did you initially find it to determine an answer. 

 

Many thanks

Death

[Arania]

I started out with using reversed cards, as instructed by the books I read, even though my granny advised me against it.

 

I do not usually use reverse cards anymore, as the images move for me when they are upright and normally do not when reversed. Reversals are static, one dimensional and usually show a good quality turned stale,so to say. If they pop out of a deck in reversal (or even sideways), I pay attention.

[Guest]

Hi @Arania thanks for your post. Can I just clarify popping out? is that when the card turns over but still sits in the deck or pops out and lands on the table? 

[Arania]

Both is possible. When it is still in the deck I have found I am asking the wrong questions. When they fallout it usually turns out to be the most important aspect of a query.

[geoxena]

When I started reading tarot in the late '70s and early '80s, I followed the directions in the book and read reversals.  Using the huge Celtic Cross spread, trying to memorize all the cards' upright and reverse meanings, and reading reversals all made tarot reading tedious and difficult for me.  I felt like there was just so much getting in the way of my being able to connect with the cards and the querent.  Then I had a wonderful teacher who said "throw your book away" and look at the pictures.  She was the first person to tell me that even the direction a figure in a card is facing would be something to look at and interpret, in relation to the other cards around it.  This was the late 80s and, around that time and into the 90s, I took a bunch of workshops on developing my intuition and generally anything related to the human potential movement (that I could afford).  I'd always experienced moments of psychic clarity since I was young, but it was through the intuition workshops when I began trusting my ability to read tarot intuitively -- and reading reversals doesn't really jive with that very well (for me).  I also don't pay much attention to jumpers, other than to put them back in the deck and keep shuffling, because I have never been great at shuffling and I'd rather stop to pull cards when it feels right to do so.  So, basically, I don't bother with reversals, don't consider every little thing (like jumpers and cards that come up reversed even though I shuffled to prevent that, etc.) as imbued with some kind of serious meaning, and just trust my intuition while reading.  BUT, that being said, if my intuition told me I really should look at a card that fell out while shuffling, I certainly would.

Edited February 25, 2020 by geoxena

[stephanelli]

When I first started reading tarot I was following an online course and duly did the reversals section and used it in my readings.

 

As I moved on and went through life continuing to read I discovered that using reversals didn't matter to me.  If it was meant to be read in 'reverse' so to speak then the energy would just be there waiting for me to pick up on it.  It would be the only way to read that card in the context of the reading.

 

That said, I know some readers who use reversals all the time and it is an important part of how they read.  My suggestion is that you just give it a try when you feel the time is right and go for it.  The fact you're asking this question tells me that you might be ready to try already!  Don't worry about how long before anyone else did it, the journey with the tarot is deeply personal and we all progress through it in our own time.

[Guest]

Thank you @Arania @geoxena @stephanelli for your responses. I found that I didn't really like the feel of the cards in reverse but I didn't really want to say that first, the negativity in them seemed to cloud the reading and my energy. I've found that in life, negative energy does not help to solve anything and so perhaps it is for me in tarot too. Even answers that are not the ones that we hoped for can be put to us clearly but in a kind way. Maybe I'll revisit it later when I'm more comfortable.

[jdusk]

I like using reversals, and I've used them from the start, but it does depend a bit on the deck I'm using. I'll often use upright-only when I'm getting familiar with a new deck, and some decks don't seem to work so well with reversals - things will just feel bent out of shape and not in a helpful way. Other decks I find seem reluctant to cooperate with everything upright, like the deck doesn't think I'm taking it seriously so it refuses to take me seriously. Or just heavy passive aggressive energy, the cards just staring at me like a long row of the creepiest versions of dead-eyed smiling emojis lol.

 

My readings usually feel more clear and dynamic when I have reversals in play, but it's worth noting that I have less experience than a lot of the members here (only a few years really) and I've often heard that reversals are more useful to beginners than advanced readers. Some people have such strong intuitive reads of cards that they'll understand the reversed meaning is present even if all cards are upright, so reversed cards are unnecessary for them, but I appreciate a bit more guidance to make sure I'm understanding correctly.

 

It's worth noting that reversed doesn't automatically mean "negative." You might find a reversed 3 of Swords to be a happier sight than the upright, for example! Because reversal can mean the opposite of the usual meaning, and because a reversed RWS 3 of Swords will show the swords visually falling out of the heart instead of piercing it deeper, it can suggest healing from emotional pain.

 

There are lots of possible ways to read reversals, so I suggest doing a bit of research. You might find your perspective changing so you no longer see them as so negative. I heard someone suggest they can suggest the upright energy, but turned inwards instead of happening externally (so in 3 of Swords, a reversal could mean emotional hurt caused by your own unhealthy thought patterns instead of someone else hurting you, or a betrayal that's imagined instead of real) and I like that a lot.

[Norik]

I’m pretty sure I only did a reading or two before I started incorporating reversals. I feel like they give me a more nuanced answer, but I’m also not a big fan of ‘this card this way always means something bad’. Here are some more neutral ways to interpret reversals that I’ve use:

 

Not This:
If the question is something like “what do I need to focus on” and I get a reversal, I might interpret it as “this is a thing you’ve been focusing on and you need to not”

 

Not Yet:
I did one spread where the outcome was a king upright. A follow-up spread had the same king, reversed. I read that as “you need to keep working at it because you’re not there yet”. I’ve had other readings were the reversal was more “now is not the time to pursue this”

 

Not What You Think:
With cards in the overall situation position, I’ve read reversals as “This is what you think is going on, but it’s actually the opposite”

 

Of course, how you read them is entirely context dependent, but there are ways to read reversals that are more constructive than just negativeness.

 

On jumpers: Sometimes I feel like the card is meant to be part of the spread, other times it's definitely a more I am bad at shuffling vibe.

[Guest]

On 2/28/2020 at 4:06 AM, jdusk said:

I like using reversals, and I've used them from the start, but it does depend a bit on the deck I'm using. I'll often use upright-only when I'm getting familiar with a new deck, and some decks don't seem to work so well with reversals - things will just feel bent out of shape and not in a helpful way. Other decks I find seem reluctant to cooperate with everything upright, like the deck doesn't think I'm taking it seriously so it refuses to take me seriously. Or just heavy passive aggressive energy, the cards just staring at me like a long row of the creepiest versions of dead-eyed smiling emojis lol.

 

My readings usually feel more clear and dynamic when I have reversals in play, but it's worth noting that I have less experience than a lot of the members here (only a few years really) and I've often heard that reversals are more useful to beginners than advanced readers. Some people have such strong intuitive reads of cards that they'll understand the reversed meaning is present even if all cards are upright, so reversed cards are unnecessary for them, but I appreciate a bit more guidance to make sure I'm understanding correctly.

 

It's worth noting that reversed doesn't automatically mean "negative." You might find a reversed 3 of Swords to be a happier sight than the upright, for example! Because reversal can mean the opposite of the usual meaning, and because a reversed RWS 3 of Swords will show the swords visually falling out of the heart instead of piercing it deeper, it can suggest healing from emotional pain.

 

There are lots of possible ways to read reversals, so I suggest doing a bit of research. You might find your perspective changing so you no longer see them as so negative. I heard someone suggest they can suggest the upright energy, but turned inwards instead of happening externally (so in 3 of Swords, a reversal could mean emotional hurt caused by your own unhealthy thought patterns instead of someone else hurting you, or a betrayal that's imagined instead of real) and I like that a lot.

Those are all really good points and I hadn't quite thought about it that way. I guess that being relatively new it takes a bit of time to get into this. I suppose some of it's impatience on my part that I want to ask the questions and get all the best answers and not get confused along the way....haha...avoiding my own progression. I'll have a bit of a deeper dig! Thanks

[Barleywine]

This is always an interesting topic. I've also used reversals since I started in 1972, but I've drastically changed my approach from the old "it just means the opposite of upright" assumption. Now I see it as subtly changing the "mode of delivery" or "angle of attack" for the message without altering its fundamental meaning. It's more about how the information is received and processed than about how it is presented. I think of it as "oblique" rather than straightforward, requiring a more nuanced style of interpretation. I don't disagree that the cards already contain a full range of meaning, both obvious and more veiled, but reversal serves me as a shortcut that precludes having to puzzle out the latter by bringing it into high focus. It becomes a time-saver, although when developing spreads I sometimes stipulate "no reversals." I once tried to put together an exhaustive compilation of all the reversed connotations I could think of:

 

https://parsifalswheeldivination.com/2017/08/06/the-significance-of-reversed-cards/

[xTheHermitx]

I have always used reversals as well, and it took me a while to realize that they are not all negative...and that they also don't automatically mean the opposite of the upright card. I think the meaning HAS to be situational and/or contextual. And honestly, having to learn the reversal meanings has allowed me to know the cards better overall. 

 

Also, it sort of "freaks me out" to ignore the energy that is represented in the reversals.  I am a true believer in balance, and if you ignore the "dark" just cause it is scary, you are ignoring half of the message. If you are "filtering" pre-read, then the read is already "off". Again, that is just me....

 

I do agree that some decks don't lend them selves to "easy" reversal usage due to the imagery, but given that I learned on a RWS, I can usually get a handle on the basic reversal meaning of most cards if I just relate then to that foundation.  I only use my RWS when I am doing reads for others though because I know it the best, and it is a better use of the time. I save my "book fumbling" with my newer decks for my own time.