Amsonia
I don't use reversals, mainly because I don't like to look at upside down cards, it makes it harder to get an intuitive interpretation for me when the art and people and images are upside down.
Do you use reversals? Why? Why not?
Trogon
I've been using reversals since I began learning the Tarot. The book I had at the time (Eden Gray's) had reversed meanings, so I started learning them as I went along. However, I will say that I feel that learning the reversals from the start probably slowed down the learning process for me ... it felt like there was more to learn. I now realize that the reversed meanings are inherent in the cards anyway. I still use reversals as they help me to see how to interpret the card. Reversals are just part of how I do readings.
As far as introducing reversed cards, I do it while shuffling. I kind of use my intuition while shuffling; sometimes I'll grab a few cards from the middle of the deck and rotate them then put them on the top or the bottom, depending on what seems right. Sometimes it's a group out of the upper third or lower third of the deck. And I usually end up doing this at least a couple of times while shuffling.
As far as introducing reversed cards, I do it while shuffling. I kind of use my intuition while shuffling; sometimes I'll grab a few cards from the middle of the deck and rotate them then put them on the top or the bottom, depending on what seems right. Sometimes it's a group out of the upper third or lower third of the deck. And I usually end up doing this at least a couple of times while shuffling.
Barleywine
This is a common objection. In thinking about it for an earlier thread on this subject, I realized that I don't dwell on the images on the cards much now, just noticing them enough to identify what each one is. So they become more an abstraction than a visual experience, and reversal is just a twist on the delivery of the message. My analytical and intuitive sensibilities kick in and sync with the idea behind a card, so the appearance and orientation don't faze me. Not a very romantic way to approach them, I guess, but - for practical purposes - the cards become simply a tool, a means to an end and no longer just a "miracle of rare device" (in Coleridge's memorable phrase).
Barleywine
I also started with Eden Gray's The Tarot Revealed (1960), and worked slowly through the whole experience of seeing reversals first as the direct opposite of the upright meaning and eventually arriving at a much more flexible approach that treats them as an opportunity to "think outside the box." I sometimes think of them as “turning over rocks to see what crawls out from underneath.” I posted an overview of the significance of reversals a while back that was just published in the ATA monthly newsletter. This is the gist of my understanding of them:
"Reversal can highlight a sensitive or vulnerable period for the querent, perhaps a “tipping point” where the situation can go either way. There are countless variations on this theme but, in general, reversal changes the angle or mode of delivery for a card's influence rather than significantly altering its meaning. Reversed cards are more cautionary or advisory than prescriptive, and often serve as signposts pointing down less visible byways in a reading that may otherwise remain unexplored. Numerous reversals in a spread may show an undercurrent working at cross-purposes to the main thrust of the reading, “for good or ill.” This can also reflect a very complicated or difficult situation."
snowmoon
hi,
i don't use reversals. i do read reversals(because i need to teach)
the first official deck that i stick with many years was gilded tarot without reversal.
some people would say it won't give you the layer if you don't use. it just a personal choice. i stick with the reader who came with the book, deck. she doesn't t use reversal..
Valeria
Don't worry about what others are saying.
I love reversals, but I know they aren't needed to give you a good reading. I feel reversed cards just allow us to tap into our subconscious, play with unconventionality, and give us a way to balance our yin side if we are too yang. But if you aren't comfortable with them, it's not going to block you from being a good Tarot reader. The creators of the Wild Wood Tarot don't use reversals either, and that's a well-loved deck with good insights.
MissChiff
I was going to add that I never read reversals with the Thoth.
ilikeskittles
I didn't used to, but I recently started. I like having an alternate interpretation, and I do use alternate meanings for upright/reversed cards. That just seems to work best for me and seems to come out the most accurate. But not everyone reads the same way or assigns the exact same interpretations to cards, so I can understand why not everyone does this. I have a professional read my cards every now and then and she uses reversals, so I kind of adopted her method because I found her particular style of reading to be accurate.
Brown sparrow
I have also struggled with 'Do I read reversals or not?'. Now I mostly do not read them for reasons others have repeated but if the reading and questions are very nuanced and layered I will sometimes read the minor cards in rx; if the image provokes something in me, I don't ignore it. It's just about learning to trust your instincts, sometimes. I however, very very rarely read the majors in rx as I feel they are a strong bold message on their own.
An example of a point where I might choose to read reversals is - if say, I ask the cards wether someone is still suffering from heart break and draw the 3 of swords rx, I'm likely going to feel that the symbolism of the swords pointing downwards is a strong clear image telling me the pain is easing and healing. Again, it's down to intuition and how much you already know for sure about the situation. It can be good to have a system that you stick to as well, it really depends on your style and comfort.
An example of a point where I might choose to read reversals is - if say, I ask the cards wether someone is still suffering from heart break and draw the 3 of swords rx, I'm likely going to feel that the symbolism of the swords pointing downwards is a strong clear image telling me the pain is easing and healing. Again, it's down to intuition and how much you already know for sure about the situation. It can be good to have a system that you stick to as well, it really depends on your style and comfort.
Trogon
My way of seeing and reading reversed cards had morphed over the years. As I've done more readings, studied and/or meditated on cards, I've found that reversals aren't quite as simple as they seemed to be at first. But then, nothing about the Tarot is as straight-forward as it seemed to be at first ...
Anyway, my actual interpretation of any given reversed card will vary from reading to reading. It will also change depending on what deck I'm using and what spread I'm using. But in general Majors and Courts I read them as being somewhat opposite of the upright meaning (again, depending on the deck, the position in a reading, etc...) - so, for example, The Fool-rx might be showing indecision, or a refusal to move forward, or the King of Swords, might be an abuser.
The minors I kind of think of the upright vs. reversed as like a big "X". With the Ace and reversed Ace at the tips on the left, the Ten and reversed Ten at the tips to the right, and the Five right in the middle. So (again, in very general terms), as one moves further from the 5 in the middle, the reversed meanings become more opposite as you move towards the ends - with the Ace vs. Ace-rx being more opposite than the Two vs. Two-rx, the Four vs. Four-rx somewhat opposite and the Five vs. Five-rx being slightly modified.
The meanings of the reversals are inherent in the cards anyway. I just find that using the reversals makes it easier for me to see and feel how to interpret the cards. That's the "why" I use them ... I use them because I've always used them and they work for me. (See ... I did, eventually, answer the question posed in the original post!
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