reversals?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Zoe Kate	22 May 2004
All of the books I've read talk about reversals, instruct you to flip the cards around while shuffling, and offer reversed meanings for all the cards. However, I've talked to some people who read without reversals, using only upright cards and their meanings. Does it make a difference? Are you eliminating any negative possibilities in your reading by not using reversals? Is there a correct way? Just looking for opinions on this matter...thanks. *BB*

magpie9	23 May 2004
Well Zoe Kate, You've hit on one of the really HOT tarot subjects here-or anywhere. People get passionate about it, either for or against! Personaly, I've done it both ways, and now pretty much look harder at a card that's reversed. I don't try to create reversals so I pay a little more attention to them most of the time. I figure the deck had to work to create that reversal, so I should pay some attention to it. I never read reversals as polar opposites to the upright card, everything is in shades of light and shadow, just like in real life. But then, it depends on the deck, with some I pay absolutely NO attention lto reversals. :D O Dear, I'm not actually being very helpfull.... I think it comes down to this: We each decide for ourselves, and the cards cooperate. I quit using them regurly when I noticed how many doom and gloom readings I was getting, and how depressing the sight of a reversal had become. It didn't make sense to me that everything had to be so negitive. so I stopped, and now very rarely get reversals. I try to read the cards in a 'rounded' way, keeping in mind both the positive and negitive aspects of the cards as I read them, and this has done well for me for quite a while. I'm currently reading Mary K. Greers book on reversals, and may end up reading reversals as such again, in a more intellegent way than I used to because of it. I hope this is helpful.

Staramber	23 May 2004
I don't use reversals but when I first learnt about Tarot I thought I should. I always wondered how I was supposed to make them go upside down... I never use reversals because they don't seem right for me but I may change my mind in the future. I like to see the 'good' and 'bad' bits in each card and use my intuition, or my pendulum, to see which one to focus on.

Zoe Kate	23 May 2004
thank you so much for the help! for the longest time i never even knew it was an option to leave out reversals...it's nice to know that there are other ways to do things. the more i learn about tarot (and the more i read this forum) the more i start to realise that none of the "rules" i had thought were supposed to be so important in tarot reading are really set in stone. i feel like the more i learn, the more freedom i gain...i hope that makes sense. thanks again!

dadsnook2000	23 May 2004
A couple of months ago I had a great number of reversals within an astrological-house spread I was using. The "reversed" or modified meaning of each card, relative to its positon in the spread, actually yielded a quite positive reading. The querent appeared to have been trying to deal with a complex issue from the wrong perspective. Feedback indicated that the mostly reversed reading proved helpful. I believe that it is also correct that the reversed card does not just mean the opposite of the upright card. Using reversals asks us to go to deeper levels in reading for others -- no lightweight beginner stuff, but a lot more sensitivity and thought about what we say and what the querent is experiencing. Dave.

Satori	23 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Zoe Kate All of the books I've read talk about reversals, instruct you to flip the cards around while shuffling, and offer reversed meanings for all the cards. However, I've talked to some people who read without reversals, using only upright cards and their meanings. *BB* I don't use reversals. I'm not saying I never will, just that at this point in my tarot life I feel that with 78 cards, and the way they relate to one another, adding reversals for me is counter-productive. I do however read jumpers. You know the ones that leap out while shuffling? I set them aside and they are the first cards I look at before I begin reading the spread. Good Luck,

Catpaw	23 May 2004
I use reversals if they pop up in a reading and I find they often make me think more deeply about the card and its placement in the reading. Both Joan Bunting and Mary Greer offer ways of thinking about reversals which are helpful when getting started. Over time you find your own interpretations and how the reversal affects the reading's meaning to the querent. I think of when the reversal affect may be in the reading, such as more in the past or present or is it a future concern. Then I try to find the relationship of the cards surrounding it and determine the affect on those cards (past, present, of future). Why not ask aloud what the reversal is telling you? Humbly offered and I hope others sahre their wyas of looking at reversals too. CatPaw

contrascarpe	23 May 2004
My views on reversals are well-documented here on AT. I used to believe they were essential to a reading. As I trust my intuition, I realize that every card has so many meanings, whether they are upright or reversed. I prefer to trust my judgement when the card comes up. If it comes reversed, I may pause and consider it a little harder (and again, maybe not). But I do not subscribe that a reversed card will have a different meaning. Too many external factors involved in the shuffling, etc. to make me think that it is significant. I respect people who use reversals, but it is not for me. Dan

Satori	23 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Catpaw Joan Bunting and Mary Greer offer ways of thinking about reversals which are helpful when getting started. Over time you find your own interpretations and how the reversal affects the reading's meaning to the querent. CatPaw You know Catpaw, it occurs to me that yesterday evening I was doing a reading for myself and my first turn of the cards was a reversed card. So I spun the deck around, because I take care to make sure go thru the deck to upright cards. Well, it was still reversed. For a total of 3 times flipping that top card reversed. I never thought twice about until now reading my post and yours... What do you think, Universe trying to get my attention or what?

magpie9	23 May 2004
I really like the jumpers..and I do pay attention to the ones that reverse themselves when I Know that there can't be reversed cards in the deck..(**weird music here**)(Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus..) But I do hold to that if you're open to a lot of reversals, you get a lot of reversals and if you're not, you hardly get any. I have no idea how that works--does anybody?

Zoe Kate	23 May 2004
for now i'm thinking about not using reversals...again, i'm just beginning, so trying to keep things as simple as possible. however, i suppose if i card comes up reversed...somehow, even without me trying to create reversals...then will take a look at it...maybe do it on a card by card basis depending. also...jumpers? what does this mean? is it a card that you just notice more than others...? and someone mentioned putting them aside, is this common practice?

Satori	23 May 2004
When shuffling the cards sometimes a card will just leap out of the deck...or a bunch of cards just seems to fly free from your hands and the deck...hence the term jumpers. Look out below!

Zoe Kate	23 May 2004
so it actually falls from the deck, or physically moves somehow? it's not just that you percieve it as standing out?

magpie9	23 May 2004
It actually falls, or jumps out at you, it's like it's yelling, "Hey! Look at me!!" They feel to me like the deck has just been waiting for you to come along and ask the right question, it's got something it realllly wants to tell you. Very enthusiastically! :) Sometimes it's a whole bunch of cards that do that, and when that happens I stop shuffling and use the jumping bunch for the layout.

Zoe Kate	23 May 2004
awesome. thanks for the info.

Nitewindz	24 May 2004
There's no "right" or "wrong" way to read Tarot. The more you read the more you will learn what feels most comfortable for you, and, more important, which methods and interpretations produce most accurate readings. If you get reversed cards in your spread, read the spread as if all cards were upright, then again with the reversed cards as they fell. Take notes on both versions and refer back to them at your next reading. After awhile it will become clear to you which way works better for you. If reversed cards work for you, use them; if they don't, don't use them, and don't worry about it .

Sillanza	26 May 2004
I don't prefer to intentionally reverse cards, so I definitely pay attention to those that show themselves reversed. The only time I don't is if I get 4 or 5 reversals in a row -- then I check the deck. Nine times out of 10, I was holding it upside down. On those rare occasions when I'm at a loss for clarity, I will put all the cards out on the table and sort of mix them around with my hands. That way, the reversals that occur are totally random, and I give them a bit *less* weight than usual. Jumpers -- gotta love them. It's like a built in shuffle-stop! If it's one or two, I'll make them the first cards in the spread. If it's a chunk, then I'll admit that I just dropped them.

Sulis	26 May 2004
I use reversals now, I find that they help to clarify which meaning to use for a particular card. I do think it's important though to wait until you feel completely comfortable with the upright meanings of your cards before you bother with reversals - I only started using them about 6 - 8 months ago. I think that if you try to learn tarot with upright and reversed cards you're just doubling the amount of stuff to learn and you may end up completely bogged down - when you're happy with the meanings of your cards upright then of course it's entirely up to you whether you decide to throw reversals into the equation :) Love Sulis xx

Catpaw	28 May 2004
Reversals that jump,bump, thump their way into a reading no matter how many times you sort the cards to be right side up is very interesting and perhaps there is a message that we need to look into more carefully. Tarot is such a powerful teacher if we open up our hearts, minds, and eyes to all the possibilities. If I continually had the top card jump out as a reversal I woudl meditate on it for awhile and see if something actually happens to shed light into a deeper meaning or something I need to pay attention to now. Hope this helps.

The reversals? thread was originally posted on 22 May 2004 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.