To Reverse or Not to Reverse

ana luisa said:

Wow, me too! I thought I was being inconsistent in choosing to use reversals with only some of my decks It is true. With some, it simply DOESN'T work ! The Steampunk, for instance does not accept them. It gives me such jumbled answers that I opted for only using uprights. The Anna K., on the other hand, works beautifully with reversals. Go figure...

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Actually, I believe there are many people that are inconsistent as we are I know many people who use the Thoth, and 9/10 don't use reversals with it, but at the same time many of them also use the RWS or the Marseille, in which case they add the reversals. I don't really think it's a problem, as long as the choice, whatever it is, does not feel forced: one friend of mine gave up learning tarot for a period because he felt that he "had" to use reversals and found learning so many meanings daunting.

....keep on keepin on....

Well, all these posts are just fascinating to me. I have never read reversals in all the years since the 80s and today, I starting writing down the reversal meanings in my tarot notebook because I am going to give it a try. Obviously, there is no defining consensus that says "yes" or "no" to reversals. So, at least I now know that there are some strong feelings from those of you who use the reversals....that they add so much to your readings. Now I'm curious to know what you know so I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

I came across something interesting in this connection: the Spread of Becoming as outlined by Barbara Walker, "Secrets of the Tarot". There is a higher, spiritual, vibration to a major arcana as well as a lower, mundane vibration, and therefore two ways of seeing a card. I'm considering using the lower vibration where a card is reversed. For instance, the higher vibration of the High Priestess is The Moon.....when the HP is reversed then you get the Moon. The key to this connection is the number "20". Two (HP) plus 18 (Moon) = 20 which is the higher and lower vibrations. Three (Empress) plus 17 (The Star) are the two vibrations, and so on. Four (Emperor) and 16 (Tower)......

5 Pope and 15 Devil
6 Lovers and 14 Temperance

Some very interesting definitions come out of this technique in the higher and lower vibrations. Not sure why 20 is the key number....maybe I'll figure it out at some point.

.....just saying thanks......and keep on keepin on.

I don't read reversals - never have... not sure if it is because the first reading I ever had was with a round deck - but, being seriously visual I like the cards to be upright, as they seem to talk better when they're not standing on their heads

I think finding what works best for you is good advice

Forgot to mention....For me, I am also very visual. I get most of my meaning in a reading from the card image but I do use reversals more often than not.

When I use reversals, I don't actually "read" the cards upside-down. Once the cards are drawn, I make note of which ones were reversed. Usually I write that info down, then I upright any reversed cards and only THEN I start to read

I don't actually read them upside down, it's just to take note of which came up reversed so as to read those using their reversed meanings.

Of course it is easy for me to take notes as I only do remote readings. But I have thought of it, and if I read for others in person I would use some kind of visual sign. Like, as I upright each reversed card, I might put a poker chip to the side of it, or some such sign to remind me which had originally come up reversed.

But I do uprigth them all before I start. I could not actually read with the images upside down either.

Babs

SunChariot said:

Forgot to mention....For me, I am also very visual. I get most of my meaning in a reading from the card image but I do use reversals more often than not.

When I use reversals, I don't actually "read" the cards upside-down. Once the cards are drawn, I make note of which ones were reversed. Usually I write that info down, then I upright any reversed cards and only THEN I start to read

I don't actually read them upside down, it's just to take note of which came up reversed so as to read those using their reversed meanings.

Of course it is easy for me to take notes as I only do remote readings. But I have thought of it, and if I read for others in person I would use some kind of visual sign. Like, as I upright each reversed card, I might put a poker chip to the side of it, or some such sign to remind me which had originally come up reversed.

But I do uprigth them all before I start. I could not actually read with the images upside down either.

Babs

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Same here. "Looking" at them upside down is really hard is you're very visual I do use reversal and use akirafist's suggestion : I put the cards in a 45 degree angle. The chip suggestion also sound quite nice; I have to try it one time . HOWEVER, I do look at them UD first to check on their directions, especially if there's a character moving somewhere.

I'm not a professional reader but I believe reading reversal, professional or not, is a personal choice. I don't do reversals. Unless the deck is meant to read both ways like Revelations tarot, I think the deck is designed to read perfectly upright.

I can see that I am gradually being drawn to paying attention to reversals, but turning them upright to read. I think the cards let you know which position to read when you see the whole picture. So, like many of you, I, too, are taking note of reversals, but allow the reading to reveal the way to read it.

I did a reading last Friday and forgot that the World card came up reversed. Later I looked it up to see what the reversed meaning was and it was "country property" in the Grand Etteilla deck. Turns out the fellow was on a trip looking for a retirement place. Still, the upright position was applicable in his case also. So, I think reversals carry a message. Perhaps it is not the main message, but a sort of "sub-message".

TdM, Thoth and its clone decks - no reversal reading, but for the RWS and its clone decks seem reading better with reversal.

LRichard said:

Here is a poll that started in 2002. The no reversals have a slight lead.

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I notice this poll has an option for "Not yet, still learning", yet to me, not using reversals is a more sophisticated technique, and I needed to have the prop of reversals when I was learning. There isn't an option for that on the poll.

Starlily said:

I personally don't use reversals. Looking at upside down cards in a spread has always felt jarring and "wrong" to me.)

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I'm with you, here!

AJ said:

I've never had nor seen a professional read, it would be interesting to know. This is such a small community with fairly advanced principles, I really wonder what the millions of those readers working along every day do do.

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Working alone?

I think, if you haven't had the benefit of this community or classes or even a group of local enthusiasts meeting at a cafe once a month, you'd be likely to do whatever the LWB in your deck told you to do. If the deck didn't list reversed meanings for cards, you probably wouldn't think to reverse them. If the deck listed reversed meanings, you'd probably reverse a few cards in every shuffle. That is, I think, for the first few years, when you are on a steeper learning-curve. Afterwards ... perhaps you'd think independently of the LWB, or perhaps you'd become locked-down in habit and not make changes.

I personally, found reversals to be a very useful crutch to learn with. After several years, I found I could trust my instincts to tell me what part of a card's many meanings might be screaming at me, so I stopped reversing cards as I became a better reader. Now I am utterly horrified if someone shuffles reversals into a deck of mine - although very polite about it. And I make a point of uprighting the cards as soon as I can do so politely.

Just to add in, there are many different ways to use reversals. They don't have to follow the plan where a reversal turns the upright card into its opposite. I have used 5 different reversals methods over time (I still each of them at times depending on what feels right. But I have never used the usual method that turns negatives into positives or vice versa..I never saw that as necessary. To me all cards contain all aspects of their situation already in them. The plus and minus. They can talk about the absence of their energy as well as the presence of it. Which one the cards are talking about, you can sense that with your intuation and from which makes more sense given the questions asked.

Briefly just to add it in. here are the methods i have used for reversals.

1) Here a reversed card says that the energy of the card is there and trying to manifest itse;f but it will take time. There will be a delay as something is blocking it from coming. I've found that is usually something the querent is doing. Then you can ask what is blocking it and how to remove it so that what hte person wants can come more quickly and smoothly to them.

2) This one is for a relationship reading. Upright cards represent the querent, reversed cards represent the other person involved. It serves to clarify which person of two the cards are talking about.

Like if Mary asked where were relationship with Joe will be 6 months from now. And if she got the Lovers reversed and the Hermit upright, it could say that in 6 months from now Joe would be in love with her, but she would be unsure inside and need time out to think things out. Reversals are handy in that kind of quesitons to show which the cards are talking abou where.

3) I sometimes use reversals to differentiate between inner and outer processes. Here an upright card means what is going on inside the querent and reversed means something more general of coming from outside of themlselves. EG The Lovers upright could be love they feel for something of someone. The Lovers reversed could to talking of the concept of love itself, univeresal love, or talking about the energy of life being love-based.

4) Reversals are also the simplist, imo, way to do yes/no questions. When I do this, upright = yes, reversed=no. No guesswork, just pure and simple.

5) My own personal method I invented, which is the one I use most and that I won't get into at the moment. Somewhat complex but it's me. My last bit of advice is to always remember that you ARE free to invent anything you want to in Tarot. Whatever method works well for you is fine. No matter where it came from.

If you ever find you would like your cards to do something for you they are not currently doing, invent it. Reverse problem solve. Figure out what the end result you want is and think out ways the cards can get you there. Keep experimenting and trying out the new ways till you get there.

Babs