Should you use reversals?

Imho, absolutely yes. I can't imagine getting an accurate picture otherwise.

Let's say if you are asking about the outcome of a relationship, getting 10 of cups RX is way different than getting it "up".

That said, RX meanings are not necessarily negative. And a pretty much positive card may not signify something necessarily positive. I know it's confusing, but indeed there is no positive or negative (duality) but the WHOLE for whatever it is. The more detached you are, the better you'll be able to see the meaning of a card for what it is for a given question.

Tarot is a tool connecting us to our higher selves. Of course it deserves respect, yet it's still a tool. Don't give it such a power.

Brown Eyed Mystic said:

So I'm stumped.

Should you use reversals in tarot?

Should you just interpret negative and positive aspects of an upright card depending on your intuition?

Or should you never bother about any ill-dignified cards because if tarot wants to warn you about something negative, it will bring up traditionally "negative" cards -- you know the ones right?

What do you think?

BEM

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My answer is likely going to confuse you more. But....first there is no such thing as should. Just do what you want to. If you want to use reversals use them. If you don't, then don't. Many people read their whole lives without doing them and are very good readers. It is not necessary to use them. Some people find it adds something to their readings, others don't.

So how do you know which category you personally fall into, if reversals will improve your readings or not add anything to them. The only way you can know is to try. Then you will SEE from first-hand experience if your readings are better with them, worse because of them, or no difference at all. And once you see the evidence, only then can you decide if you want to keep using them or not.

Learning Tarot is like that. No one can tell you what is the best way for you. YOU are the only one who can find out what works for you. And you find out by trying, trial and error.

That does not mean that you have to start right this moment, if you don't feel ready. Wait until you do, but you can only know if they will add something to YOUR readings or not by trying both ways (with and without) and seeing which leads to better readings for you. We are very much individuals when it comes to learning to read. What works for one, may not for another. You have to find what works for YOU personally, by trying.

And yes, imho, intuition is a huge part of Tarot. I believe it even trumps your usual card meanings. If your intuition tells you in a reading that the cards are telling you something different than your usual meaning that let your meaning go and follow that intuition. You can tell if a card is saying something more positive or negative by intuition. A lot of times you can tell by the logic of the question too. Eg if the question was "What can you tell Joe right now that will make him really happy to hear it?" You can bet the answer will be very positive, if the answer is something that will make him happy.

That being said, and here comes the confusing part, reversals do not at all have to change negatives to positives or vice versa. There are many different methods of using reversals. I alternate between 4 different methods. NONE of them change positives to negatives or vice versa. Yes, I also find that it is unnecessary as my intuition can tell me which is meant to be the answer.

Some methods I use are:

1) a reversed card indicates something is stalled or blocked. It says what the card is talking about WILL happen but you have to be patient as it will take some time. It says what the card is talking about is trying to come to you, but something is in the way and slowing it down.

When this comes up there are two things you can do. If you WANT this this thing that is trying to come to you, you can pull more cards and ask what it is that is slowing it down and getting in the way. And then how you can remove it so what you want is free to flow to you.

If you don't want what is coming you can ask how to keep the blockage in place or how to change the future to one you like more.

2) In relationship readings about two people, I often use upright cards to indicate the querent and reversed readings to indicate the other person. This is useful in questions like "What will our relationship bring in the next 2 years?" For example, if you get The Lovers reversed and Hermit upright it could be saying that the other person will feel a lot of love for you, but you will feel the need to take some alone time to think and make sure he is the right person for you. Reversals here let you know which one of the two of you each card is talking about. This can be useful in readings about two people.

3) I also sometimes use upright cards to indicate what is INSIDE the querent and reversed cards to indicate what is coming to them from the world around them,from OUTSIDE them. Eg in a question such as "What does Joe need to know about this situation right now?" And let's say The Magician comes up. If it came up upright it could say that Joe needs to know that he himself has within him all the he needs and more to deal effectively with whatever may come up. If The Magician reversed came up it might be saying that Joe needs to know that he can trust in the magic of life/the universe. And that if he tunes into that and follows it he will end up in the best place for him. Upright,the magic in him, reversed it is coming from the world around him.

I have one more method I usually use but is one I invented myself. ALWAYS remeber you are free to invent your own methods. Anything that works for you and gives you the results you want is valid.

Personally, I am not a fan of the methods that turns positives into negatives....To me, you can tell all that by intuition so it means more work to do and it doesn't add much.

Those are my opinions and experiences, and my belief that you can only know what will work for the individual who is you by trying. Keep doing what works. Alter or let go of whatever does not. No guilt. We are individuals and it is normal that different things work differently for each of us. It's ONLY about finding out what works best for you. And you WILL find out. Just keep at it.

I never even bothered to learn about ill-dignified cards personally. I didn't feel called to. And my readings never suffered from it.

Babs

Sometimes a reversal means a "blocked" energy. Sometimes it's the opposite of the upright meaning. Sometimes it's a milder version of the upright card.

The one place where I use reverals is in the court cards. To me there is a BIG dfference between an upright Queen/Knight/Etc and a reversed one. To me a court card that is reversed is going to be a very bad and negative person.

I find it interesting that a few people who don't read reversals make precautions against even drawing reversed cards. So you're admitting that reversals exist, so much so that you purposely shuffle in a way that doesn't allow for them. That's kind of interesting. It almost goes back to what the original poster said about being scared of them.

It seems very subconscious to me.

Mystica7 said:

Let's say if you are asking about the outcome of a relationship, getting 10 of cups RX is way different than getting it "up".

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The tarot deck is fairly balanced. Every card has an opposite (or something close). If you don't use reversals, instead of drawing the 10 of Cups reversed, you'd draw perhaps the 10 of Swords. There is no particular need to use reversals.

SunChariot said:

Just do what you want to. If you want to use reversals use them. If you don't, then don't.

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Enough said!

Brown Eyed Mystic said:

Or should you never bother about any ill-dignified cards because if tarot wants to warn you about something negative, it will bring up traditionally "negative" cards -- you know the ones right?

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There you have it.

Try this:
Draw a card, determine the meaning, then find the card that most conveys the opposite meaning. Do this for all the cards and you'll find that there is a pretty good opposite card for each one you draw.

This might not work so great with the court cards, but in that instance, the surrounding cards will likely shed some light on whether the court should be interpreted in a more positive or negative light.

In the style of reading reversed as blocked energy, I think again the surrounding cards can indicate when an upright "positive" card should be read with a negative or blocked connotation.

Lastly, I think the question itself and the situation surrounding the question can indicate how to interpret the card as positive or negative.

Reversals on the whole really only help to essentially "double" your deck, making it more of a draw from 156 cards, but the percentage of drawing a card is still the same, so both methods should theoretically be equally effective. As long as you shuffle well enough for either method, of course.

Laurelle said:

Sometimes a reversal means a "blocked" energy. Sometimes it's the opposite of the upright meaning. Sometimes it's a milder version of the upright card.

The one place where I use reverals is in the court cards. To me there is a BIG dfference between an upright Queen/Knight/Etc and a reversed one. To me a court card that is reversed is going to be a very bad and negative person.

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I also find reversals especially useful with court cards, mainly in "line" readings. I picked up the idea of "gazes and gestures" from Camelia Elias. In a left-to-right "Past/Present/Futue" spread, a court card may be bodily facing, gazing or gesturing toward the right (future) showing alignment with the flow of events. When reversed, all of these actions are directed toward the past, implying that the individual suggested by the card is not only bucking the flow, but may be actively suggesting that the "clock should be turned back." It could also show disunity if facing away from another court card by reversal, whereas upright and facing could mean a meeting of the minds; alternatively, the pair could mean "avoidance" in one case and "confrontation" in the other. There are all kinds of possibilites with this.

With the minors, I usually see reversal as diminishment or maybe an oblique expression of the upright meaning (perhaps something that is harder to see in action or come to grips with). The Trumps are too dominant for their operation to be swayed much by reversal, but the querent's awareness of their appearance in the matter may be shifted by it (as one possible explanation, think being "blind-sided" or "waylaid" more insidiously than usual by unexpected events).

Barleywine said:

I also find reversals especially useful with court cards, mainly in "line" readings. I picked up the idea of "gazes and gestures" from Camelia Elias. In a left-to-right "Past/Present/Futue" spread, a court card may be bodily facing, gazing or gesturing toward the right (future) showing alignment with the flow of events. When reversed, all of these actions are directed toward the past, implying that the individual suggested by the card is not only bucking the flow, but may be actively suggesting that the "clock should be turned back."

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This is how the Golden Dawn used reversals with Court Cards (their only use of reversals). The direction that the Significator and other people faced indicated the timeline or focus or their attention. Caitlín Matthews also promotes directional readings using all the cards and even adding cards to a reading to find out what a figure is looking at or gesturing towards.

These are all great options if one chooses to use them.

I enjoy using reversals. In fact, I was annoyed when I picked up my Gothic Tarot after a while of not using it, only to remember that it doesn't tolerate them!

I read reversals primarily as a blocked energy. So if I got, say, the 5 of rods reversed, the cards would be telling me that in order to unblock that fiery spark of passion I need to return to the lesson of the 4 of rods. Or to put it another way, once I found my safety and stability in the 4 then I'd be be ready to take on the conflict of the 5.

While there are some consistencies almost every reader will have their own approach. That's mine, and you can take it or leave it. But I like it. It allows me to still be the deeply intuitive reader that I am but to also have reversals.