Reversals

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Simone	28 Apr 2004
I never use reversals because I think that every card has its positive and negative sides anyway. If you are aware that everything has its backside or reversal, and connecting each card to its position, there is, in my humble opinion, no need for putting cards upside down. If a so-called negative card appears in a position that indicates a blocking and the card is reversed, it would only confuse me, I don't like to think around too many corners ;) I would now like to know of you if you use or not reversals, always or sometimes, and why? Thanks in advance! Love Simone

closrapexa	28 Apr 2004
I never use reversals, not because of any world view, just never connected to the practice.

contrascarpe	28 Apr 2004
I never use reversals pretty much for the same reasons as Simone. I believe every card can have multiple meanings, positive or negative, upright or reversed. IF a card comes up reversed, I may look at it a little closer, but my energy comes from the card itself, not the direction it is facing. Dan

hyatt	28 Apr 2004
I use reversals - I guess just because I am a good girl and do what I am told. But, honestly I do not like reversals. I guess I need to know more about them. But I feel confusion when they are in certain places in spreads.

fairyhedgehog	28 Apr 2004
I wonder if my readings would be richer if I used reversals. But I can't bear to see the pretty pictures upside down.

Jewel-ry	28 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by fairyhedgehog I wonder if my readings would be richer if I used reversals. But I can't bear to see the pretty pictures upside down. Oh yes! The first thing I do is turn them up the right way. I find it really difficult to use my intuition and read them if they are the wrong way up? In that case you would probably be using pre-thought out meanings. That said, I have been known to use them on occasion.

Kittaine	28 Apr 2004
I use reversals when I don't assign a specific meaning to the position of a card, like just 3 or 5 cards from left to right.

skytwig	28 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by fairyhedgehog I wonder if my readings would be richer if I used reversals. But I can't bear to see the pretty pictures upside down. Oh, you are a fairyhedgehog, aren't you? I loved this.... so very true!! The pictures weren't created to be upside down...... PS.... I don't use reversals, either.... it's enough mastering Tarot when everything is right side up! :)

hedgecub	28 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by fairyhedgehog I wonder if my readings would be richer if I used reversals. But I can't bear to see the pretty pictures upside down. Ditto! I don't use reversals, partly because when I was starting to learn tarot, they confused me, and partly because seeing cards upside-down makes it so much harder to interpret them. If I see the card right way up, I immediately get intuitive 'hits' on the meaning, whereas if I see it upside down, I have to turn it right side up first before I can start interpreting. And I'm just too lazy ;)

tmgrl2	28 Apr 2004
Rarely...I'm too new at this...and it's just too hard for me...once in awhile in a very short spread, if one turns up by accident, I work with it...but I'm pretty careful about how I shuffle...if I goof on the shuffle, I tell the Q I am only going to read cards upright so I may be turning them to that position.... terri

janomalee	28 Apr 2004
I went for a long time without using reversals. Then I tried using them for a while but I found them confusing. Now I am back to not using reversals. I have gotten in the habit of not reversing my cards when I shuffle and I prefer decks with nonreversable backs.

Pook	28 Apr 2004
I'm pretty much a novice, so reversals are sorta out of my grasp. I have tried reading them, but only with one deck that I'm pretty comfortable with.

mysticalowl	28 Apr 2004
I have found that my readings have a lot more depth to them when I use reversals. There is only one deck that I do not use reversals with and that is the Shapeshifter.

lionette	28 Apr 2004
I said "No, never" Like you said, Simone, the cards already tell us both sides of the coin, so why add more complexity? I see reversals as a restriction to reading.

HOLMES	28 Apr 2004
which may become constants of tarot, "it is up to you if you use reversals" :O) and that means or not :O) *walks away shuffling his mixed up deck.. ooops dropped one , well since they are mixed up anyways ,, keep on shuffling *

TemperanceAngel	29 Apr 2004
it can help me assess where my clients energy maybe blocked at that particular time :) XTAX

Sulis	29 Apr 2004
I've been using reversals since Larks' first seekers thread in September last year. I think that once you have a good grasp of what each card means to you using reversals helps to just nail down the meaning. I didn't use them for about 2 years though and would advise a beginner to get a good understanding of the cards' upright meanings before you start turning them around. I've found Mary Greer's book on tarot reversals to be invaluable although I usually try to read them intuitively. Love Sulis x

Phoenix Rising	29 Apr 2004
I don't use reversals anymore. Looking at a upside down picture just confuses me. I used to using the "Quest". Only if for some reason the card turns itself around of falls out, then I take note.

Mimers	29 Apr 2004
I voted sometimes. I don't delibertly shuffle my decks so that I will have reversed cards, but they all seem to end up that way. When I see a reversal, I see it as not so much the negative side of the meaning, but as the essence of the card taken to the extreme. Mimi

eastarot	29 Apr 2004
I read reversals, it took me a while to understand the shades of their meaning and I still have a way to go. But I feel it adds depth to a reading.

Bosorka	29 Apr 2004
I try to avoid reversal, as I have sometimes enough what to do with upright meanings. But when after all careness Rx appears, I read it you should pay more attention.

raeanne	29 Apr 2004
Hi all, OK, please define what you mean by “reversal”. Do you mean the card is physically upside down? Do you mean using the darker meaning (whatever “darker” means)? Do you mean understanding the opposite/blocked meaning of an upright card? Personally, I think each card has a full circle (actually, a sphere!) of meaning. Someone once said that each card has “360 degrees of meaning”. I like that! Use round cards just once and you can see a whole range of nuances jump out at you! Once you understand the full circle of meaning, I don’t think it is necessary to actually, physically reverse some of the cards in order to read a card as a reversal. I think it is easier for a beginner to have the cards be physically reversed. That might be why a lot of beginners who don’t use reversals have one or two cards that don’t seem to fit. They get confused by a reading because the couple of cards that don’t fit should actually be read as reversals. So, do I physically do anything to create physically reversed cards? No. Do I do anything to prevent this? No. Do I turn a card around if it ends up upside down? Only if it is a new deck and I need to remind myself what the picture looks like. Do I include the full range of meaning for each card? Absolutely! Is this using reversals? I don’t have a clue but I voted Yes!

fairyhedgehog	29 Apr 2004
What a wonderful post raeanne, you seem to have all bases covered. I think that although in theory I consider all possible meanings when I look at a card, in practice the reversed meanings probably don't often get a look in. Maybe I need to look at a book on tarot reversals :)

Simone	29 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne I think each card has a full circle (actually, a sphere!) of meaning. Someone once said that each card has “360 degrees of meaning”. Absolutely, good point, raeanne, and that's why I don't think it really is appropriate (for me, mind) to turn them physically upside down. In most of my readings cards only don't fit for a second, but then in connection to other cards in the spread the meaning gets clear quickly. So, if I think about it, it seems I use reversals too, just not physically... Love Simone

crystal cove	29 Apr 2004
I never use them. To me the "reversed" meaning is part of the whole meaning. It just doesn't feel right to base meanings on the physicality of the card when tarot is so emotional, intuitive and abstract. Just my 2 cents.

WalesWoman	29 Apr 2004
I learned without using reversals and scratched my head a lot, now I'm learning to use reversals and scratch my head a lot. I think I may try "Head 'n' Shoulders" Ok, joking aside, I didn't use reversals because it was hard enough to read the cards upright. Depending on the question, position and other cards I would look at both the upright and reversed meanings and try to decide which would apply or find some middle ground for the meanings. As I became more confident and familiar I decided that using reversals might give me a clearer sense of the card's real intent. So it's trippy getting a "negative" card reversed, when I might have gotten a "positive" card upright or visa versa. I usually use reversals when I really feel "in the dark" and just want a better idea of what direction I really need to be looking at. It mostly depends on my mood and what is being asked. I'm discovering Tarot can say the same thing many different ways with different cards, no matter which way you use them.

Indigo Rose	30 Apr 2004
I always use reversals. I believe there are important messages found in reversals, that can be missed otherwise.

Suriel	30 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Indigo Rose I always use reversals. I believe there are important messages found in reversals, that can be missed otherwise. i agree with you!..:D

tigerlily 6563	30 Apr 2004
I use reversal with the RW as I find it clarifies the deck more for me but found that with the Thoth deck it just made it more confusing

firemaiden	30 Apr 2004
Sometimes I like to consider what I can scry in the upside down image as an image, especially in the more abstract pips. But even when I read a card as reversed I take account of the unreversed meaning too. And I like to consider the full panoply of possibilities on how to read reversed cards, especially as explored by Mary Greer, in her book Tarot Reversals. See my thread: Reversals Revisted or Twelve Ways to Love Reversals Also, when a card is reversed sometimes the advice of the card is "upright me", and vice versa.

Bean Feasa	30 Apr 2004
I use them even though they flummox me half the time. I think they add an extra perspective to the cards. I find reversals intriguing, and I like a challenge. Gail Fairfield's suggestion of seeing them as a more inward manifestation of the card meaning is useful. I also think of them as pointing out a need for x, or a lack of, or excess of x, and I read somewhere else that they can indicate the energy of the card just coming into someone's life, or just leaving it. Trouble is - how to work out which it is, lol. :D

Moonbow*	30 Apr 2004
I voted sometimes, mainly I would say I don't - especially if the deck is fairly new to me (until I get to know it). Also some decks just don't lend themselves to reversals and those I read upright. Then again, if the reversed meaning doesn't fit in with the rest of the cards - I will ignore it. I think this is where 'going with your feelings' comes into reading Tarot. My view is that I don't ignore them but I take what I need and if that means puting the card upright to 'make sense' of the spread then I do it.

Bean Feasa	30 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Moonbow* ... Also some decks just don't lend themselves to reversals and those I read upright. Hi Moonbow, This part of your post jogged my memory and made me want to qualify my last post. Even though I voted yes always... I do agree with you that some decks seem resistant to reversals. For me it's the Rohrig - the cards just seem to insist on their upright meanings. I wonder if this is because it's Thoth-based. I don't have a Thoth deck, but I read somewhere that it doesn't use reversals.

Moonbow*	30 Apr 2004
Hi Bean Feasa For me it tends to be themed decks more - not always though. One that springs to mind is the Legend - The Arthurian. I just prefer it all upright.

collielin	02 May 2004
I don't like reversals, and don't intentionally shuffle the deck to get them. BUT - when I read for another person, I give them the deck of their choice, with all the cards upright. They then shuffle them to their satisfaction. If it turns out some of the cards are reversed, I work with that. I generally interpret a reversed card as the energy being "blocked" in some way. Even a negative card, reversed, can indicate that the querant is overly resisting the message of the card. So often I will see a reversed card as indicating resistance, denial, ambivilance, or down right stubborness.

Shalott	03 May 2004
I voted sometimes, but in actuality, I use them about 85% or more of the time. I've used them ever since I started reading in Jr Hi, never knew until recently that they were optional. My Universal Waite and Radiant RWS like to give me readings where every single card is reversed, so when I use those decks anymore I often just don't turn any upside down while shuffling, although those readings do still tend to seem accurate. When I get a reversed card, I do read it reversed because I don't want to end up ignoring a message just because I don't like it. But other decks, I end up getting a good MIX of reversals and uprights, I will always read both. I feel like reversals add a subltety and I'm almost scolding those two decks by taking reversals away from them! I like the "Complete Idiot's Guide" view on reversals, how to see what the character is loosing when it's upside down, and then adding Joan Bunning's view of energy stages. To me, it gives a more complete reading.

Niomi	03 May 2004
I carefully shuffle the deck so that I rarely, if ever, get reversals. But if a card does show up reversed, I can't deny it. I did pick up Joan Bunning's book on reversals, which has helped define the meanings of right side up cards more than anything else! I might try Mary Greer's book on it! Reversals seem like an interesting way to 'expand' a reading and I do intend to use them once I learn the right side up meanings well.

silk_selen	03 May 2004
I use reversals sometimes, depending on the deck and the layout I am using.

ros	04 May 2004
Sometimes I do & sometimes I don't. With the RWS I use reversals OR explain that when the card is reversed it means there is something blocking the energy of the card that is reversed. I have just started to study the Haindl Tarot and I don't even have any intentions of using the reverse meanings of these cards. (I have no idea why I'm studying this deck & why I will not read reversals with this deck.)

The Reversals thread was originally posted on 28 Apr 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.