Reversals and readings for others?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

renard	12 Nov 2002
Hey, all. I did my first formal, face-to-face reading for someone else last week -- before this I'd only "come out" on the Forum and in(completely unsolicited!) readings for my bewildered DH. So, it went pretty well, I think. The only thing I felt wobbly on was reversals, of which there were plenty. I kept finding myself explaining what the card was upright, then what I thought was going on with it upside down. At home, I consult Mary Greer's "Tarot Reversals" All The Time, and, oh, did I miss it. Like most readers, I suppose, I learned the upright meanings first, and they have sunk in much deeper. So here's my question, oh Tarotistas. Do you think it's reasonable to do no-reversal readings for others for the sake of simplifying explanations, if not the reading itself? (Any reading is obviously going to be inflected by the subject's reactions, questions, etc.) My friend seemed really startled by seeing, for example, the Lovers (R) as "what was before her" (RW, CC), and I found myself scrambling to say that her marriage was *not* about to break up, etc. She felt that the card was about whether or not she could rely on others in her vocation, and I think she could have pulled that out of the upright Lovers just as easily. What I guess this boils down to is that the images on the cards are so powerful and full of meaning -- are they too much reversed for us beginners and our poor victims? Another reason I ask was that the only professional, face-to-face I've had was with an extraordinary woman who turned all the cards upright as she laid them out. I remember being overwhelmed by the pictures and the information as it was. Your reactions? Namaste, renard

allibee	12 Nov 2002
Hi renard, there is another such post recently made about reversals, and the general concensus was - feel free to correct me anyone - that it is more beneficial for the confidence of the beginner reader to avoid reversals to start with, and just read the spread intuitively, balancing the yin yang properties of the cards and spread. It somewhat depends on all the cards as a whole, making a story, speaking to you, as opposed to taking each card and reading off individual meanings. I hope that makes sense, lol http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8921 good luck allibee

Mojo	12 Nov 2002
Personally, I feel that not reading reversals in some manner is a copout. Don't mean to offend anyone, but the cards come up one way or another. To try to control that or ignore it flies in the face of what Tarot is all about. Of course, I also am opposed to memorizing meanings for the cards, either upright or reversed. To me that feels like such an artificial way to read. Your approach to telling your usual interpretation of the card and then brainstorming what you think the reversal might be is actually a pretty good technique until you're really comfortable with the cards. I always tell new readers to just keep talking even if they're not completely sure of what they're seeing. I lot of people think while they're talking and if they will just keep talking long enough, the story will start to come into focus.

Lee	12 Nov 2002
There are many experienced readers who never, ever read with reversals, and many who read with reversals with some decks and all upright for other decks. It's really just a question of personal preference. -- Lee

Joywalker	12 Nov 2002
I,too,don't read reversed cards.If I saw one,I simply turn it right- side up and continue with the readings :D Like Lee said,it's really based on personal preference. :)

Keslynn	12 Nov 2002
Do what makes you feel most comfortable, but don't do anything to "coddle" the client. If you normally read with reversals, and you know them pretty well, then by all means do so with clients. Them being afraid of the reversed cards is just due to their ignorance of what it means. However, you're there to fix that lack of knowledge, and it sounds to me like you did a pretty good job. :) I also use the technique of explaining the upright meaning and then telling how the reversal will modify that. I think it makes things a lot clearer for the querent. Do what makes you comfortable but at the same time stretch your boundaries. Books are great (especially Tarot Reversals) but after a while, you have to fly without them. :) Kes

anjocoxo	13 Nov 2002
I don't read reversals b/c I believe there is a very good equilibrium Yin/Yang in a deck... and I know the meanings of them (incl rev). I just think there is no use in doing reversals, since there are good and not-so-good cards. But this is just my opinion and I think we shouyld just follow our intuition; how do you feel better? It's like the spreads, we must do what we feel more confortable with... Harmonia para todos Anjo

MeeWah	13 Nov 2002
Renard: I do not look for actual reversed cards (so I shuffle the cards upright) because the individual card encompasses the entire spectrum of meanings from the extreme to the median. As the purveyor of energy, an apparently upright card can still express itself as reversed. It all depends on the throw, the moment & how the card may strike one, whether on its own or in relation to the surrounding cards. Some of this comes with practice; or with the honing of the intuition. I do read reversed cards if they actually appear (despite shuffling upright). If one is new to readings for self &/or others, it may be easier to avoid deliberately producing reversed cards until one is more comfortable with reading. Dealing with reversed cards & their possible meanings can enhance the reading experience so I do not recommend discounting it altogether.

Pollux	13 Nov 2002
MH... Take this as spam... :P I am just totally with her! *hugs Meewah* :* Thirteen, you are precious as ever. :*

Mystica	13 Nov 2002
I have never read reversals, IMHO I think it's just a matter of personal choice. I don't feel there's any right or wrong in this, as long as you make the decision before laying out the cards.

Thirteen	13 Nov 2002
Quote: Mojo wrote I feel that not reading reversals in some manner is a copout. Don't mean to offend anyone, but the cards come up one way or another. To try to control that or ignore it flies in the face of what Tarot is all about. With no offence to Mojo or any reversal fan, don't you think reversals are a bit of a copout? Do you really need the cards to be upsidedown in order to tell if the Hermit card means that the person is "shutting themselves in" rather than being introspective? I don't. I mean, if you need the hint, you need the hint, but I can usually tell just by looking at the spead which way to read the card. Can't you? ;) With all due respect, Mojo, that was a bit patronizing to those of us who don't use reversals. After all, the cards come up reversed ONLY if you deliberately turn half the deck around when you shuffle. That seems like an artificial construct to me. But if they make the reading richer for you, more power to you. However, if they interfere with the reader's ability to interpet the tarot, to fall into the reading, see the connections, and get whatever vision of reality they're going to get--then they're flying in the face of what Tarot is all about. Which is, in the end, interpeting the cards.

Demonesse	13 Nov 2002
Yes, I've been exploring reversals recently and I find that what Thirteen says is true; I have to cut the deck and deliberately turn half of the deck around just to make sure the same cards don't come up reversed again, especially if I'm doing a reading for another person right afterwards. This has put me off reversals greatly, although I do find they do add another dimension to interpretations of readings. This lack of a true random element in coming up with reversals makes me disagree that not reading reversals is a "copout". Not only is it a matter of personal choice, I think I have read somewhere recently that reversals are a fairly 'new' addition to the manner of card interpretation (I know not if this is true)?

Talisman	13 Nov 2002
'Lo all, Oh, joy! Here I sit before my 'puter, promising myself that I won't post so much 'cause I don't really have that much to say (My imaginary sign on my computer says: "Who'tha hell cares?"), and here comes my two very most favorite posters duke'in' it out. Mojo has the very best story-telling style I've ever seen, but trying to track it down is like trying to capture greasy BBs spilled off the table, left-handed, rolled in a dark corner. Comes in bits and pieces. Thirteen is probably the first person in human history who should be burnt at the stake for NOT publishing a book. Yet. (My fingers are crossed so hard they hurt. Please! Please!) So, I'm a little kid on the playground, jumping up and down, shouting: "Fight! Fight!" Talisman

Mojo	13 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Thirteen With no offence to Mojo or any reversal fan, don't you think reversals are a bit of a copout? Do you really need the cards to be upsidedown in order to tell if the Hermit card means that the person is "shutting themselves in" rather than being introspective? I don't. I mean, if you need the hint, you need the hint, but I can usually tell just by looking at the spead which way to read the card. Can't you? No need to be condescending, my dear. If you've ever read any of my interpretations, you would know the answer to your own question. I take reversals into consideration whether they appear upside down or not. However, when a card actually does appear upside down, I think it sends a very specific message and it cannot and should not be ignored. Hence my copout comment. To shuffle cards so that they never get mixed up or to rearrange the cards between readings so that they all face the same direction is very artificial to me. I allow my clients to shuffle any way that want and I read them as they fall.

Mojo	13 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Talisman Mojo has the very best story-telling style I've ever seen, but trying to track it down is like trying to capture greasy BBs spilled off the table, left-handed, rolled in a dark corner. Comes in bits and pieces. Talisman, I love it. That's the best description of my style I've ever heard. How did you know my corners were full of greasy BBs?

renard	13 Nov 2002
I just opened this up to see the boards' very own Major Arcana weighing in -- lordy! Your advice (and, mmm, spirited discussion) has helped me clarify: Reversals send me running to my memory bank and that throws me out of the reading. So until and unless I feel more at ease with them, I'll stick w/ right-side up when reading for others. Thank you all, all the time, for enriching my thinking and feeling life -- along with the lives of so many others. (A special, belated thank you to Thirteen for the mighty Tarot Basics. Where would we newbies be?) Namaste, renard

The Reversals and readings for others? thread was originally posted on 12 Nov 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.