Reversals (yes, again)

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Star Spirit	17 Jan 2004
I had an odd experience the other night. I did a reading for someone (in the forum). It had 7 cards, and every single one was reversed. I thought that was significant because my deck is well shuffled. In addition to reading the cards individually, I read the multiple reversals as a "whole" to set the tone for my reading. I read them to mean that the querent was not dealing with their situation. I kept this in mind while reading the other cards as I would normally read them, reversed or not. The odd thing was, when the feedback time came around, I was surprised to find that while some of the cards made sense to the querent, others depicted exactly the opposite of what she was actually feeling. I've never had that happen to me before, and the reading seemed so clear at the time. A couple of the cards told me that the querent was in denial of the situation, and she said that this could very well be so and that perhaps that was why she was confused on some of the cards. But I get this weird feeling that reading those reversals two ways threw me off. So my question is, has anyone had a similar experience with reversals? If all the cards in your spread are reversed, do you read that whole as a message, or do you ignore it and just read the cards normally, OR as if they were upright? Does the fact that they were ALL pointing in the same direction change this? I know it might sound silly, but to have half my cards read exactly opposite of what is really going on is pretty unnerving, considering my readings are almost always spot-on.

jmd	17 Jan 2004
When a whole spread has been reversed, I have at times taken it, as you have, to be a general comment about the reading as a whole (in the case you mention, perhaps in denial)... I have also been known, in such situation, to reverse the whole spread to upright (in my mind only, never, as yet, physically)... One of the significant possibilities is the ways in which any figures faced certain other cards, which they would otherwise have turned their back to. 'Reversals' does not necessarily imply reversal...

maya	17 Jan 2004
Hello Dead Star, would you be so kind and tell what deck and spread you used and which cards came up. You don´t need to name personal issues, of cause!

Mojo	17 Jan 2004
The reason most Tarot readers can't effectively read for themselves is that they tend to see what they want to see in the cards. So, when you do a reading for another reader, if you see something other than what they want to see, you shouldn't be surprised if they think you're wrong. Don't worry about it. Stick with your own intuition.

lark	17 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Dead Star I read the multiple reversals as a "whole" to set the tone for my reading. I read them to mean that the querent was not dealing with their situation. I kept this in mind while reading the other cards as I would normally read them, reversed or not. It's not surprising at all that your cards and intuition were telling you your client was "not dealing with the situation" And when the feed back came they said the cards weren't saying the right things. It only proved that they were blocked and not seeing things in a clear way. And your original reading of the cards was "on" because you picked up on that. Mojo's right don't worry about it trust your intuition. :)

miss_apples	17 Jan 2004
I usually just take mental note of the fact that theyre all reversed and then I just read the cards one by one as I usually do. Your intuitions were probably right on the reading...dont worry about it!

lark	17 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Dead Star A couple of the cards told me that the querent was in denial of the situation, and she said that this could very well be so and that perhaps that was why she was confused on some of the cards. After reading your post more closely I see that your client could see the possibility of a block. It's wonderful to have open and honest people to read for. That is the best way to learn.

Star Spirit	17 Jan 2004
Thanks guys. The thing is, I think my querent was right. Yes, she was open to the possibility that it was her and not me, but the things she said and description of how she was dealing with her problem opposite of some of the things my cards said, sounded to me like I was the one who read wrong. And I couldn't think of a way that this could have happened other than reading the reversals as a whole kind of threw me off. I'd be happy for anymore feedback on this :) maya: I would post the spread and cards, etc. but I think that in this situation it would make things more complicated and more difficult to understand, because unless others had seen the reading and the feedback my querent gave me it wouldn't be a fair analyzation. I'm just trying to keep it general.

miss_apples	17 Jan 2004
well you know, there have been times where I have givin readings and they seemed wrong but then the person I read for would come back and give me feedback and I realized that I just may not have worded the descriptions correctly. Maybe thats what happened with your reading.

Star Spirit	18 Jan 2004
Thanks again, miss_apples. You may be right.

The Reversals (yes, again) thread was originally posted on 17 Jan 2004 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.