To allow reversals or not - that is the question!

I voted YES because I always do. It doesn't seem right to mechanically manipualte the cards so that there will be no reversals. Afterall, if you want to give your querant, or yourself, an accurate reading, then surely you MUST include reversals?

I believe that the cards are not shuffled, but that the cards use our hands to place themselves where they should be. A friend of mine used to steadfastly go through her deck turning cards the right way round, and yet somehow, one or two always got reversed!!

Yes.

I read with reversals. I don't try to shuffle any specific way to cause them to be reversed or to prevent them from being reversed. I just shuffle and let the cards fall as they will. It seems that not reading reversals is like approaching Tarot with one eye closed; you can't see as well.
Blessings,
Indigo Rose

I voted YES; when I deal the cards, I shuffle them, deal them out into three (usually) piles, then spread them out and mix them around on the table/floor/bed/whatever so they can truly go wherever they want. I like to leave as much as possible up to them....!

I voted no, because when I first started I only learned upright meanings. After awhile I tried reading with reversals too, but they didn't add anything, everything got confusing. After awhile I figured, that to me there is nothing 'reversed' in life either, situations/energies/forces,etc. are as they are, it's just our viewpoint which changes. So to me they are quite able to express what the situation is, right sided up. I just go by surrounding cards, and how the 'energies' the cards represent affect each other.

I think I missed this thread the first time around.

I voted yes, but sometimes not. I use reversals with most of my RWS/Thoth decks, but I am thinking maybe I won't with the TdM decks. There are a few specific decks I don't reverse, like the Spiral, and a few others.

I learned with reversals, so it seems odd not using them.

i always allow reversed cards i beleive they turn out that way for a reason

I always allow it. And like Night Queen said, they are there for a reason. If I ever decide otherwise, I'll let you guys know

I use them, i vote yes on this poll. if reverse show up then reverse show up. i think it very confusing to ignore them. i like nightqueen and agathe answer, them mean something or they not be there.

When I first began Tarot I read reversals. It drove me crazy to look at images upside down and I found it overwhelming to get a sense of the card meanings using them. Because of this I stopped using reversals and I found my readings were much clearer. Later on I learned about elemental dignities, positions in spreads, and just the general context of the surrounding cards to determine what meaning to use.

I read this thread this morning and I decided to do some readings with reversals. I had excellent results! It was a little like being on vacation--I didn't have to calculate in my head what elements complement one another, what astrological associations they have, whether there was a predomincance of mutable, cardinal, or fixed energies, etc.

I think looking at all of these things can be very helpful but it can get in the way of the storytelling aspect of reading. The reversed cards made perfect sense to me and I was able to concentrate on telling the story of the cards.

I'm going to continue using reversals (with decks that it works for). I'm excited about this.

Oh, and one more thing. I still hate reading the artwork upside down so what I do is I keep a little notepad next to me and just make scratch notes on what came up reversed. This way I can still look at the artwork the way it was intended and get the benefit of the reversed meanings.

Ultimately, I think that whatever your method, even if it changes, it will work.
The cards have a wisdom that shine through no matter what pathway to take--it all leads to the same destination.

I voted "no" reversal but rarely "yes" because up until recently that's pretty much how it went.

Mostly I use small spreads (5 cards or less) and read each card for both the negative-positive content. Occasionally I would use a larger spread and then I might deliberately shuffle to introduce reversals, but ordinarily I'd keep the cards upright.

The last month or so I've used reversals always with non-RWS decks, and I'm satisfied with the results. I still don't normally do reversals with RWS decks. Reminds me of algebra somehow.