Reversed cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Nina*	19 Feb 2005
I want to try to read with reversed cards but am not sure how to do it 'right' ;) How many cards do you reverse before a reading and how do you do it? I always shuffle the cards in my hands and not on the table...

rainwolf	19 Feb 2005
usually the cards reverse themselves...if you shuffle right. If you get Greer's tarot reversals or Bunning's tarot reversals, it will explain in depth how to read them, but most books also explain how.

tarotbear	19 Feb 2005
In the book that goes along with the deck for the Sacred Circle tarot, the author tells you to (deliberately) turn over half the pack and shuffle. I dislike that becuse the cards that come up reversed will come up reversed of their own accord during the shuffling process. You do not have to physically turn any over. Most people who have only shuffled playing card decks automatically reverse some cards without knowing it. If you shuffle your Tarot deck the same way, you will get reversed cards, too. You cannot 'set up' reversed cards; they have to happen on their own. If you try to 'set up' a deck .. why not just pull out the World card every time and get the perfect reading every time? It amounts to the same thing. Let the reversals happen. If you shuffle, they will come.

Nina*	19 Feb 2005
Not the way I shuffle... I've never had one reversed card in my readings. I don't shuffle my deck like I would shuffle playing cards... Well then perhaps I just shouldn't use reversed cards :confused:

contradiction	19 Feb 2005
i probably shuffle the same way you do. there are two ways to go about this if you don't have any reversed now. 1. fan out the cards on a table, then mix them up by pushing them around in circles, this will get some reversed to the others, 2. when i pick up the cards from a throw, i do not pay attention to how they are turned, i just scoop them up, straighten them and add back to the deck. either way you are sure to get reversals from time to time. i agree with tartobear, any deliberate reversals, is defeating the purpose.

Nina*	19 Feb 2005
Well... I'm not so fond of the table-thing... But thank you for answering my question... I think that maybe I shouldn't read reversals, because I do understand why one can't just turn them around on purpose but on the other hand I don't think I can shuffle in another way than I do and still feel it's right :)

SunChariot	20 Feb 2005
Ninamagic wrote: Well... I'm not so fond of the table-thing... But thank you for answering my question... I think that maybe I shouldn't read reversals, because I do understand why one can't just turn them around on purpose but on the other hand I don't think I can shuffle in another way than I do and still feel it's right :) For what it's worth here is what I do, and you don't need to let the cards touch the table to do it. :-) I hope I can explain this well. I take the deck in my right hand. Then I slide a few cards of the top of the deck, whatever feels right (aobut 3-10) and put them in my left hand, then I slide a few more, and a few more,... reversing every second pile, till they are all in my left hand. Sometimes I add them to the top of the pile in my left hand, sometimes to the bottom. That leaves about half the deck reversed. I tend to shuffle 4 times. I like the number 4, the number of completion. Although occasionally I get the feeling that the shuffling is not done after 4 times, then I go on till it feels right. I tend to reverse the cards after the first shuffle. Although, to be perfectly honest, sometimes when the last reading I did used reversed cards and half the deck is already reversed when I pick it up, I don't always bother with reversing them again. I just shuffle and do the reading. Although usually I will do the card reversing step. Hope I explained that well enough so that someone can understand. LOL Bar

Fulgour	20 Feb 2005
Ninamagic wrote: How many cards do you reverse before a reading and how do you do it? I always shuffle the cards in my hands and not on the table... Since this is a case where you're experimenting, why not just keep one deck all scrambled to use? Jumble them up and leave them whicheverway.:)

Milamber	20 Feb 2005
Whether or not cards reverse when you shuffle naturally entirely depends on how you cut the deck. My method of shuffling normally, I can guarantee you, never reverses cards. I got into the habit of shuffling that way from playing collectable card games back in high school, so that all the cards would be upright. The only way I can think of to get reversed cards without reversing a section of the deck is to have the deck upright, cut, and turn each half of the deck in a different direction before shuffling back together. (Turn one half clockwise, the other half counter-clockwise.) In the end, this has the same effect as reversing half the deck. I'm used to holding the deck lengthwise in front of me, so I have to manually reverse half the deck if I want reversals.

Apollonia	20 Feb 2005
I shuffle the cards on the table, and if there are a couple of cards that are "jammed" and can't readily be just pushed right back into the deck, I take it to mean that these are the cards that need to be reversed. I then manually reverse just those and continue shuffling. I don't get many reversals this way (often none) but I feel they are especially meaningful when they do come up. Has anyone noticed, by the way, that sometimes when the reading is about a "sticky" subject, or one the querent feels confused about, the cards can be more difficult to shuffle? I can sometimes tell that things aren't going well for someone by the way the cards go every which way or seem not to shuffle easily.

Nina*	20 Feb 2005
Thanks to you all for trying to explain and give advice :) I will try some of it (Fulgour: :eek: jumble up my deck???) ;)

Fulgour	20 Feb 2005
Ninamagic wrote: (Fulgour: :eek: jumble up my deck???) ;) Well, I was thinking like, do you always put a deck back in its original order after a reading, or leave it "shuffled" until next time, and then go from there? Same with reversals: jumble, rumble, tumble, roll... create a dedicated "reversals" deck to use for this. If you want reversals why start over from scratch? Edited to add: It can be done with solemnity and a deep sense of reaching out spiritually.

Nina*	20 Feb 2005
Fulguor wrote: Same with reversals: jumble, rumble, tumble, roll... create a dedicated "reversals" deck to use for this. If you want reversals why start over from scratch? It actually sounds like a good idea to create a deck specifically for this purpose; I'll do that and see how it works for me... and I will do it with solemnity ;)

psychic sue	21 Feb 2005
I shuffle on the table to start as a way of cleansing. Then I ask the querant to handle the cards. I say they can be shuffled, cut, moved about in any way they feel like. Then they hand them back to me and I lay out the spread. I was told many years ago, that the first card should be upright so I turn the pack round if the first one is reversed, and follow on from there. In my experience, if you are meant to have a reversal, then it will pop up. Even if you try your best to make them all upright. Remember, not all reversals are negative! As I have said before, we are not really shuffling the cards anyway. The cards are using our hands to put themselves in the right positions.

The Reversed cards thread was originally posted on 19 Feb 2005 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.