Manually reversing a card

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Milamber	05 Jan 2005
Has anybody ever done this in a reading? Being new at tarot, I've kept my shuffling to no-reversal methods, but the other day I did a celtic cross, and (without going into detail on the spread), the Ace of Swords fell in the eighth position. I spent a while "staring down" the spread, and picking out connections between certain cards, and various meanings, but the Ace of Swords was giving me trouble. Eventually, the thought occurred to me that perhaps it was talking about a lack of the sword's energies in the eyes of those around me (the meaning of the eighth position), and I turned the card around, physically. As soon as I saw the card reversed, something "clicked." That was the way it was meant to be read, and it suddenly made perfect sense. I imagine if you read with reversed cards, then you're going to trust the way they fall pretty much all of the time. But I was wondering if anybody has done the same thing I've mentioned here, by physically reversing a card while trying to read a spread.

TemperanceAngel	05 Jan 2005
Hello and welcome to AT! I often fan the deck and get my client to manually reverse three cards. They don't always appear in their reading, but if they do I know that it is important. There is no right or wrong with reversals and you will get many varied and interesting replies here :) Enjoy your Tarot journey!

RedMaple	05 Jan 2005
Milamber wrote: Eventually, the thought occurred to me that perhaps it was talking about a lack of the sword's energies in the eyes of those around me (the meaning of the eighth position), and I turned the card around, physically. As soon as I saw the card reversed, something "clicked." That was the way it was meant to be read, and it suddenly made perfect sense. I've read both with and without reversed cards. When I first started reading, I read just "straight up." Then I read with reversed cards for several years, as I didn't want to limit the possibilities of the reading. Now I do either or both, depending on the reading. All of those reversed meanings, are somewhere in my head, and I trust to the connection with the cards to tell me which meaning is right in a particular reading. Which is just what you did when you turned the card around and something "clicked". That's the intuitive "click" we all hope for, when we just suddenly "know" what the card means. Eventually, you won't need to turn the card around physically, all those meanings will be there in your subconscious, and the "click" will happen sometimes so quickly you won't be aware of it. You'll just know what the card means. Congratulations on finding a great learning and reading technique for yourelf. It doesn't matter if anyone else does it this way if it works for you. Welcome to AT. RedMaple

full deck	06 Jan 2005
I usually fan out a deck, on a low table and have my "director" pick cards. Sometimes they will reverse a card themselves. Mind you, most of my "directors" are mental projections but they are quite real, nonetheless.

Milamber	06 Jan 2005
Thanks for the thoughts. :) I remember reading somewhere that even if you don't deal with reversed cards, the meanings may still be reversed, and that seems to be what happened here. Would you think it advisable to try reading with reversed cards next time I read, or should I continue without reversals until I have more experience?

Flavio	06 Jan 2005
Milamber wrote: Would you think it advisable to try reading with reversed cards next time I read, or should I continue without reversals until I have more experience? Beign new to Tarot is advisable to forget about reversals for a while BUT there is people who likes the challenge from the first readings, is up to you!, do what feels better for your own learning process. :)

contradiction	06 Jan 2005
most people will tell you that it is easier to start without reversals. but personally i say why learn it, then have to start over and unlearn, half of what you know then re-learn it the other way. if you feel that you are going to use reversals, start out that way. if you are not going to use them then learn without them. but, that is just me, some people will find it easier to add them later. it is whatever works for you.

April	06 Jan 2005
contradiction wrote: most people will tell you that it is easier to start without reversals. but personally i say why learn it, then have to start over and unlearn, half of what you know then re-learn it the other way. if you feel that you are going to use reversals, start out that way. if you are not going to use them then learn without them. but, that is just me, some people will find it easier to add them later. it is whatever works for you. I don't think it's a matter of "unlearning" or "re-learning" but adding to what you already know. It's the same if one were to add astrological or cabalistic correspondences. Your not starting over, just expanding. But I do agree that a beginner doesn't have to wait. I don't think reversals are such a dificult concept to grasp that a beginner shouldn't be able to understand it. I am actually doing it the other way around. I used reversals right when I started learning and now, several years later, I'm not sure I want to any more. Maybe I should have waited.:) But back to the original topic. There are some readers who read reversed cards without the card physically being reversed. I'm experimenting to see if I can make that work for me. Sounds like you're already good at it. Peace, April

Milamber	06 Jan 2005
I think I might try them from a spread-to-spread basis, deciding before I start shuffling. I personally believe I may have learned more about reversals picking one from a non-reversed spread, than I might have had I seen reversed cards, and tried to pick out their meaning as they were. How to explain . . . whereas seeing the card dealt reversed would have made sense quickly, this made me stop and think; it made me take the non-reversed meaning, and get the reversed meaning from that. It's a bit hard to explain what I mean, but I hope that makes sense.

Greyling	06 Jan 2005
Milamber wrote: I remember reading somewhere that even if you don't deal with reversed cards, the meanings may still be reversed, and that seems to be what happened here. I think this is true, Milamber. Even as beginners, we look at a card and have the choice to read it straightforwardly: "this is the way things are, or this is the way I am doing things", or we have the choice to read the opposing viewpoint: "this is the way things SHOULD be, or this is the way I SHOULD be doing things." We make these choices based on the context of the reading instead of the actual physical reversal of a card. This is an intuitive step in the direction of reading formal reversals.

Milamber	07 Jan 2005
Heh, Greyling, I have to thank you. You have unwittingly opened my eyes to one other possible meaning of the Ace of Swords in that spread, enough so that I am now considering an option that I hadn't even thought of as a choice before. I hadn't considered the possibility of reversing the problem indicated by the reversed card. In fact, I decided to deal a three card spread regarding the thought, and it confirmed this new possibility as a good one. It was the thought, "this is the way things SHOULD be," that inspired this new line of thought. Ideally, the situation could change or develop so that an upright Ace of Swords would be accurate.

tarotlova	07 Jan 2005
I never read using reversals but, having said that, if they they do turn up in a reading (after first checking that the deck isn't turned around the wrong way!) I will read it as I think it is emphasizing the negative side of this particular card in the whole reading, keep doing what you feel is right and it is right for you, what I do other people would shirk from but it's right for me! Blessings

Emerald	07 Jan 2005
I have just signed on the start a thread about reversals. Thank you Milamber for starting this for me as I have found the answer in the replies you have received. Thanks to all that replied.

Ivy Rhiannon	10 Jan 2005
I've always used reversals. I've switched the entire spread upside down before, because the deck gets so switched around going back and forth between the client, and if you read with the cards in between you and the quarent the question is, "is it read facing me or you?" I would always follow your gut instinct on this!

Milamber	10 Jan 2005
Coincidentally, I was pondering just that possibility last night, though I have no idea what put it into my head. I just caught myself wondering, "What if the entire spread seems reversed? Would you turn the whole thing around? Is that okay?" Then one of the first things I see here in the morning is your answer to that question. :)

MeeWah	10 Jan 2005
On rare occasions & only if prompted, I turn upright cards upside down; also reversed cards upright--because they made more sense to do so. Such instances unusual as I do not look to adjust the cards. Nor to use reversals based on the view that upright cards contain the entire spectrum of the possible. Hence, not unusual to read lesser meanings in upright cards & without them physically reversed. Since reversals do occur even as I shuffle the cards in upright position, I take special note as they appear & read them accordingly. There are cards whose meanings may actually be better reversed & depends on the context of the query.

Fudugazi	10 Jan 2005
I see what you mean. I don't read reversed anymore, but I still mentally reverse cards - that is, try and pick up when they are actually giving me something negative. It happened the other day - I just knew there was some difficulty around that card. I read it as though it were reversed (not reversed, exactly, but I was picking up a negative sense from it, if you understand my meaning - from the other cards, from the way the whole reading looked, and that something you feel in the stomach that tells you that's it).

Kit	10 Jan 2005
Milamber wrote: Coincidentally, I was pondering just that possibility last night, though I have no idea what put it into my head. I just caught myself wondering, "What if the entire spread seems reversed? Would you turn the whole thing around? Is that okay?" Then one of the first things I see here in the morning is your answer to that question. :) Done That! Actually, it's a bit easier to go to the other side of the table/spread/thing rather that reverse every card. Sometimes it's as if I've been holding the deck upside down (which is probably true for someone who generally doesn't use reversals and has an entire spread come out reversed :D). Still, some spreads are meant to come out all reversed. I guess I wouldn't reverse it unless it seemed to be reversed. Does that make any sense? I'm probably rambling...haven't had breakfast yet...

Milamber	10 Jan 2005
Yep, it makes perfect sense. :) However, going to the other side of the table wouldn't be a great idea, since you'd also be switching the positions. (After all, while the deck may have been reversed incorrectly, the cards still come out in the same order.) Especially on a symmetrical spread, which you might get confused with. For example, with this spread: 1-------4 --2-7-5-- 3-------6 If you moved to the opposite side of the table, you'd have to remember that the positions are now: 6-------3 --5-7-2-- 4-------1 So it's probably just better to reverse the cards, so that the positions are the ones you're used to.

Kit	10 Jan 2005
True! :| My brain doesn't work very well without food. I feel silly. Still, what a pest it would be to reverse an entire really complicated spread (through not that common). Gone to find food :laugh:

The Manually reversing a card thread was originally posted on 05 Jan 2005 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.