Do you use reversals? Why? Why not?

lantana

I actually haven't read reversals since I first started tarot. Back then I misread some advice and made half my deck reversed, which made most of the spreads full of reversed cards. This stressed newbie me out both because I was already struggling to read the cards upright, and also because reversed cards seemed so "negative" that I would immediately assume the entire spread was negative as well. I almost gave up on tarot because of it.

Now that I'm more seasoned and less prone to freaking out over how a spread "looks", I've thought about re-introducing reversals to a few decks. I've definitely learned to see the reversed aspects of a card when the question or position asks for it, but I still think it'd be useful to learn how to apply them to any reading. From there I'll make my choice on whether to use reversals or not.
 

EmpyreanKnight

For my Thoth I only use dignities, but for the RWS and decks based on it, I always use reversals. It's what a majority of the books and materials I've read and consumed suggested, and its use does appeal to me personally. It just seems so right.
 

Valeria

I actually haven't read reversals since I first started tarot. Back then I misread some advice and made half my deck reversed, which made most of the spreads full of reversed cards. This stressed newbie me out both because I was already struggling to read the cards upright, and also because reversed cards seemed so "negative" that I would immediately assume the entire spread was negative as well. I almost gave up on tarot because of it.

Now that I'm more seasoned and less prone to freaking out over how a spread "looks", I've thought about re-introducing reversals to a few decks. I've definitely learned to see the reversed aspects of a card when the question or position asks for it, but I still think it'd be useful to learn how to apply them to any reading. From there I'll make my choice on whether to use reversals or not.

That is very similar to what I experienced with reversals the first few times around. It was just a bunch of gibberish to me. That's why when I finally learnt to read them, I wrote a book to make it easier for others who still haven't gotten the hang of it. The official launch is in another week or so. But I am keeping it free forever so more people can benefit from it. You can check it out here, if you want.

https://valeriablack.wordpress.com/books/ultimate-guide-to-tarot-reversals/
 

empress's dress

hi valeria,

everyone is clearly different, so here is my 2¢...

i never use reversals. i feel like it actually narrows the meanings of the cards. but i am also a person who cannot read one card and feel in anyway i have gotten a satisfactory answer. to me the interplay between cards create a whole universe and the upright cards with there positive or negative qualities emerge in relation to the other cards cards which then leads to them ultimately shedding their light in answer to the question.
 

Valeria

hi valeria,

everyone is clearly different, so here is my 2¢...

i never use reversals. i feel like it actually narrows the meanings of the cards. but i am also a person who cannot read one card and feel in anyway i have gotten a satisfactory answer. to me the interplay between cards create a whole universe and the upright cards with there positive or negative qualities emerge in relation to the other cards cards which then leads to them ultimately shedding their light in answer to the question.

I agree with you that all the cards together give a solid picture. That's why you don't really need reversals for an accurate reading. But have you ever tried reading with reversed cards mixed in? The entire spread gives various points of focus as always, but the interplay suddenly becomes even more intense. In fact, there was a time when a reversed 6 of wands was resonating clearly with a 9 of pentacles as 6 upside down looks like a 9.
 

empress's dress

I agree with you that all the cards together give a solid picture. That's why you don't really need reversals for an accurate reading. But have you ever tried reading with reversed cards mixed in? The entire spread gives various points of focus as always, but the interplay suddenly becomes even more intense. In fact, there was a time when a reversed 6 of wands was resonating clearly with a 9 of pentacles as 6 upside down looks like a 9.

yes i have, and i found the message for me became narrower. upright is my way, lol. yeah, reversals didn't help me read any better at all. but again this is a totally individual thing and more power to you and reading those reversals! my answer is pretty lame. but i think i just wanted to post to say: hey some people don't read reversals like myself and the message is loud clear for me and i don't feel like there are missing shades of meaning for me all...like i said i feel like things just open up much wider when i read only upright. each of us connect differently to the cards and that is what matters. that for ourselves that we connect and respect how we connect.
 

Schmendrick

When I first started reading tarot, I didn't incorporate reversals. Like some others in this thread, I actually started using a few after reading Mary K. Greer's book on tarot reversals. At least for me, a card showing up inverted sort of tweaks the meaning in a way I don't get from uprights alone.

In particular, I find the idea of the "five D's" to be very helpful: Delay, Diminution, Direct Opposite, Dark Side, and Direction Change. If I run through these, I can usually handle a given reversed card.

Valeria, thank you for sharing your book. I've looked through some of it and I think it is very well put together.
 

Valeria

When I first started reading tarot, I didn't incorporate reversals. Like some others in this thread, I actually started using a few after reading Mary K. Greer's book on tarot reversals. At least for me, a card showing up inverted sort of tweaks the meaning in a way I don't get from uprights alone.

In particular, I find the idea of the "five D's" to be very helpful: Delay, Diminution, Direct Opposite, Dark Side, and Direction Change. If I run through these, I can usually handle a given reversed card.

Valeria, thank you for sharing your book. I've looked through some of it and I think it is very well put together.

Thank you Schmendrick. I hope you find the book useful.

Mary K. Greer's book was definitely the starting point for me on this journey. The only bit of it that I didn't understand was the Dark Moon aspect of reversals, since I have never used round Tarot cards till now.
 

BodhiSeed

I completely forgot that I did use reversals when I first started using the cards. :laugh: Joan Bunning ("Reading Tarot Reversals") had an interesting take on them. She said to imagine a hill, with the top of the hill being where an upright card would be. Reversed cards would be starting up the hill or on the downside of the hill (waxing or waning, so to speak).
 

Grizabella

I sometimes use them, depending on whether it seems the right thing to do for a particular reading. When I do, though, I go back through the deck when the reading is finished and put the cards all upright again and then deal them into four piles to make sure they're well-randomized. I don't like thinking I might have picked the deck up wrong way to., And I only reverse something like a third of the cards when I do use reversals.