laying the cards....

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

lucid	24 Jan 2003
Hi All , I'm relatively new to tarot so pls bear with me! :) Pretty confused with laying the cards and reversals. When laying the cards do you lay them top to bottom, or the other way? This is very confusing since if you layed them top to bottom and that was the wrong way to do it you'd get reversals where you shouldn't and vice versa. And also,...why do some people not regard reversals? Shouldn't there be a standard way of reading the tarot? Thanx for your help in advance........ lucid

wavebreaker	24 Jan 2003
Hi lucid, welcome to Aeclectic! Quote: Originally posted by lucid Shouldn't there be a standard way of reading the tarot? Actually, the thing I like about tarot is that there is no standard way... ;) On this forum, you'll often see the answer "whatever feels right for you" in answer to a question about how something is done. Find a way of using the cards that feels right for you, as long as you determine before laying out the cards when you are going to consider them reversed and when not.

tarotbear	24 Jan 2003
The standard is ...there is NO standard! To answer your question - Yes- if you flip the cards end-to-end you are reversing the card so a reversed card will come out upright, and vice versa. If you turn the cards side-to-side, like turning pages in a book, you will maintain the upright or reversed status. Since I do not read reversals AND shuffle the deck so I do not get reversals (explained once too often here - check the archives) I turn the cards side-to-side to keep them that way. Since the Querent will inevitably shuffle the cards so there are reversals, I still turn the cards side-to-side to preserve the cards they did reverse. ( I said I don't use reversals, however, since Querents get them I do have the knowledge for what reversals are- !) The point is - don't think about it too long. Do whatever you feel most comfortable with and use that method consistantly, regardless of what anyone tells you is right or wrong. There are NO absolutes in Tarot.

lucid	24 Jan 2003
Thanx alot you two! Makes more sense to me now! :)

HudsonGray	24 Jan 2003
Whichever way you pick, be consistent! Once you've got it in a habit, you don't have to worry about placing them down wrong. The deck knows how you operate then. I was taught to flip so the top of the card was actually laid down so it was on the bottom. Basically 'flipping' it. It took a while to learn how to take the card & just turn it over side to side instead (I decided to change my 'm-o'), and I had some squirrely readings for a bit till I adjusted.

The laying the cards.... thread was originally posted on 24 Jan 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.