Reversals: how important is consistency?

Mostly i try hard to have all the cards reading upright. If one or two fall out face up on shuffling i make a note of this, reversed or not. If they fall out back up and manifest reversed on choosing from the spread then i place hightened significance on this. Face up reversals i always replace to upright in the pack.
This i do with all packs. Guess many of us operate in the same way here ?

Currently reading Joan Bunning's Learn Tarot Reversals

Learning how to read tarot cards, to me, is like going to college. I haven't Mastered the RWS deck yet, but have a firm foundation. And before one can interpret reversals, they need to get that firm foundation straight up.

I just graduated myself up to the next level, by purchasing Joan's book. And surprisingly, after reading only 26 pages (out of 173), I'm astonished at how important it is to read the card(s) as they fall. This book is so user-friendly, easy to understand and a must-have in every tarot-lover's library! I really feel I've been "messin' up" some readings by purposely turning cards upright just to suit my readability.

Just my .02

I like the extra dimension reading with reversals,the only deck I don’t read reversals is osho zen as it doesn’t feel right to do so.

Sometimes if I think there are too many reversals in the spread and it doesn’t feel right, I will re-order the deck into suits and alsos the right way up . Then I will reshuffle using the mix up method asking the same question, and see what happens, sometimes the same amount of reversals come out so I know the reversals were correct.
I am bad at shuffling so I don’t really take note of cards falling out, that’s just my useless ness of shuffling. If the same card keeps falling out I note it, and if its in the spread I place higher importance on it.

Sometimes after I have finished the spread , I like to pick up all the cards and drop them and see how they fall to get extra insight about the reading. Often one a few cards fall, and you can see one looking at another, or one you see in a whole new light.

Richard Pickman said:

I have several decks, but most frequently use my Universal Waite deck for reading (which, to this point, has been mainly for myself and also just from practice).

I have been trying to figure out if I prefer reading with reversals or not. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't.

I'm wondering how people feel about going back and forth like this...

Would you consider doing this to be okay, or not so good?

Am I making life more difficult for myself by doing this?

I have to say, I don't feel uncomfortable or overly confused, but I'm just wondering what others would have to say about this.

(Here is a point that might be worth noting-- I typically use my regular size UW deck with reversals, and my mini-size UW deck all upright.)

RP

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I am even more complicated than that! I sometimes use reversals and sometimes not...AND when I do I have three different methods of using reversals so I have to choose which I want to use in that particular reading.

If you don't feel uncomfortable and your readings are working for you, then there is nothing to worry about. That being said, to answer your original question, I don't think you have to do the exact same thing each time. You are free to follow your mood. BUT, imo, you have to be clear on what the rules you want to use are before each reading you start.

Like for me I have three methods to use reversals. So I can't just say ok, I'll use reversals today...and then just pull cards. I need to decide which method I am planning to use before I start or the powers that send answers to us (whatever you personally feel those are) might be answering me with method 3 and then I decide to use method 1....You need to be sure you're speaking the same language as it were. And if you know what I mean.

Again, whatever you feel called to do, no matter what, with your cards if it works for you and makes you happy, then it's alright. They are your tools to use and you are the one who decides what calls to you and how you want to use them. If you feel like something one day and not another, you are perfectly free to follow whatever calls to you.

Babs

Babs, that's what I'm talking about! Totally random for me, and if I do read the reversal, I'll read it however it feels right!

My favorite thing to tell my Tarot class is that the best thing about Tarot is that there are no rules. You can do whatever you feel is going to bring the most truth to your life.

rwcarter said:

If you use some decks with reversals and some without, there's no problem.

If you sometimes use the same deck with reversals and sometimes not, there's no problem.

If it works for you, there's no problem.

Rodney

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ditto. what he said.

Here is another monkey wrench to consider: Some decks were designed to read only upright (like the Thoth--with elemental dignities, instead.) And how about those circular decks? How would you read with them?

The thing is, know your deck and how it works best for you. You are the reader, and only you can determine (by loads of practice) what seems to work out in the long run. Keep your journal of readings so that you can follow what you thought you saw in the cards (whether upright or reversed) with how things ultimately turned out.

It's the only way to get to Carnegie Hall, you know.

xhollysue said:

Babs, that's what I'm talking about! Totally random for me, and if I do read the reversal, I'll read it however it feels right!

My favorite thing to tell my Tarot class is that the best thing about Tarot is that there are no rules. You can do whatever you feel is going to bring the most truth to your life.

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If I were going to take a Tarot class, that is the one I would want to take. I feel Tarot is a personal path. Learning to read is a path to finding and understanding yourselfm your true self . And you can't tell someone how to do that, it has to come from within.

The only real "rule" to me is if you feel something is the way to go follow it, if not then don't. Tarot to me teaches us to hear and listen to your inner wisdom. That is part of the path of learning to read. And along the way yuo find out what works for you, what doesn't and who you are at the deepest levels.

Babs

starrystarrynight said:

Here is another monkey wrench to consider: Some decks were designed to read only upright (like the Thoth--with elemental dignities, instead.) And how about those circular decks? How would you read with them?

The thing is, know your deck and how it works best for you. You are the reader, and only you can determine (by loads of practice) what seems to work out in the long run. Keep your journal of readings so that you can follow what you thought you saw in the cards (whether upright or reversed) with how things ultimately turned out.

It's the only way to get to Carnegie Hall, you know.

Click to expand...

Yes CAN round decks be read with reversals, how could you even tell if the cards were reversed? I have wondered about that too. I'd imagine it would be hard even to shuffle a round deck?

I still do use some decks that are not designed to be used with reversals, with reversals sometimes. Depends on which method I use...

Babs

I always read with resversals because I am comfortable with it. When I first started using reversals I used reversals as a card to pay attention to, kind of like a red flag, this card needs attention. Then I would try both reversed and upright meanings and see what made sense. After many readings I found that if a card was reversed there was a reason for it. This works for me.

You need to see what works for you. There is no right or wrong..you can always pull a card from the deck before the reading, is it reversed or upright?, that can determine if you read the reversed cards that time ....make it fun!