Should you use reversals?

Brown Eyed Mystic said:

Thanks guys. I've just started using them recently and find answers getting super-negative.

I mean the moment I get a reversal, I'm frozen. "Oh shucks, not again that darn reversal."

In short, they scare me.

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While everyone here (and in the umpteen other threads on this subject) has already underlined that the use of reversals is a matter of personal choice and that there's no authority on who should use them, I would say that one thing you (or "one", rather) should not do is avoid them because they are difficult or frightening. If you are scared of reversals and uncomfortable with them, then working with them presents an opportunity for you to grow as a Tarot reader and work more fluidly with negative images in the cards--even if you ultimately end up working without reversals the way Obsydian does.

I would also echo Barleywine's sentiment that a reversed card is usually not just the opposite of the card's upright meaning. It can mean a weakened energy, a blocked one, an excess or deficiency, a delay, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of nuances to work with in reversals, and while it can be scary to start out trying to learn them, avoiding them seems to me like running away from a challenge that will ultimately strengthen your abilities as a reader. (Because even if you eventually decide you don't want to use reversals, once you've learned how you can apply that same methodology--see the laundry list of possible reversal interpretations above--to negative influences in upright cards. It shades things more deeply.)

You have to figure this out yourself. Think about what makes sense to you. Pros and cons. Journal about it.

In the beginning when I started study tarot I didn't want to mess with my mind too much, so I wanted things to be "simple" and thus stayed away from reversals. I thought I could save them for later. But you know what? I never found any reason to incorporate them in my reading style so I still don't do reversals.

I find that the card position in a spread, or the surrounding cards, can make it clear to me if the card should be read in a "positive" or "negative" way, or if the energy of it is blocked.

I'm surprised most (?) tarot readers seem to use reversals, it feels like a very left-brain thing to do, while I find most people interested in divination to be right-brained usually.

What others said. Do what works best for YOU. I do and don't use reversals. Some decks of mine do wonders with reversals; they "accept" and thrive with them. Other decks simply won't work with upside down cards. Talk about personality ...

I don't use them. That said - there are exercises where they are required - but that is a whole different issue !

I think upright cards have quite enough in the way of shades of meaning to cover all eventualities. It's not a matter of fear or negativity, just a feeling that there is enough there already.

If you use spreads with positions it is far easier to work out what reversals are pointing to.
If you mumble a multipoint query to yourself and then line up cards all you get is a mumble back.

The 'should' word makes my hackles go up.

l agree with other posters here that its all to do with personal choice. l do not use reversals, never have. Its difficult when starting out with Tarot, you have so many books giving you different ways to read tarot. There is no should to any of it, its like when choosing your tarot decks, you find those that work with and for you, the same goes with how you want to shuffle the cards.
If reversals work for you and you feel comfortable do it, if not relax and read them upright. As l have mentioned here in another thread whatever needs to come up in a reading will do so. There are enough positive/negative cards in the upright position to give a fulsome reading anyway.
Happy reading

As I have stated in many threads along these same lines - do whatever works for you.

The way I shuffle (explained many times) I DO NOT get reversals; however, when you do readings for the public they invariably DO get reversed cards so if you want to consider yourself a 'well-rounded' Tarot reader you should know 'something' about reversals whether or not you personally understand, use, or believe in them. There is no such thing as 'wasted knowledge.'

teawoman said:

The 'should' word makes my hackles go up.

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Yes ~ in a strong way it implies that your decision to do so is somehow wrong in the mind of the questioner ~ but I think we are over-reading, here.

Yes, you should try them because you have nothing to lose and more to gain.

I started on reversals because I had no one telling me otherwise and reversals were good for me. When I went on my upright-only binge, that was uncomfortable to change my methods, but I did it anyway. I learned a lot. I got different perspectives and new insights.

When I went back to reversals, I learned more. I started mixing and matching on my thought processes and became more open-minded to how the cards were working for me.

It's my opinion that everyone would be better readers if they challenged themselves to practice the uncomfortable until they could break through those blocked feelings. When I get reversals now, I don't feel that way (unless that is specifically what the card is trying to show -- a blockage, which is not as likely as I used to think). Now it just feels like the reversed card is flowing on a lower frequency (usually). It's a challenge within itself to fight with your brain on why it thinks up(right) is better than down (reversed). That alone will free your mind a bit more if you can break past that barrier.

Just my opinion!