Thoughts on Reversals?

I don't read reversals for a couple reasons- I think that you can use the upright interpretations and find plenty of nuance in a reading, using the surrounding cards for context.

The next reason is that when you sit with a querent, some people will shuffle to try and "mix up" the cards the best they can. I do try and straighten out out my decks as best as I can, but I find that I get better readings if I don't pay attention to reversals if they pop up.

Now, if I knew that my deck was straightened out and I still had a reversal pop up and the upright meaning of that card did not fit the reading very well, I will try out the reversed meaning to see if that makes more sense in the context of the reading.

I don't like reversals either but over the years I have noticed that when a card is reversed its saying I need you to really pay attention to me and look at this reading because I'm saying something really important right now...it's just been my experience tho..hpx

I like reading reversals because it's like extending the vocabulary that the cards can use to speak to me. It provides a cornucopia of nuances with which a situation can be painted, thus posing some very interesting mental challenges for a reader due to the wealth of ways a reversal can be interpreted. You have to narrow them down so it can tell a cohesive narrative vis-a-vis the other cards in a spread. Once I grasp what the cards have been trying to reveal to me, it gives me this sense of satisfaction unlike any other. It certainly heightens a reading for me, and I don't think I'd ever junk it from my repertoire.

EmpyreanKnight said:

I like reading reversals because it's like extending the vocabulary that the cards can use to speak to me. It provides a cornucopia of nuances with which a situation can be painted, thus posing some very interesting mental challenges for a reader due to the wealth of ways a reversal can be interpreted. You have to narrow them down so it can tell a cohesive narrative vis-a-vis the other cards in a spread. Once I grasp what the cards have been trying to reveal to me, it gives me this sense of satisfaction unlike any other. It certainly heightens a reading for me, and I don't think I'd ever junk it from my repertoire.

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This for me as well. It was part of the tradition I learned. I never liked the interpretations I found in books, beginning with the PKT, but slowly, over decades, I made my peace with reversals by coming up with my own approach that treats them as a "redirection" rather than a contradiction of the upright energy.

Schmendrick said:

I like reversals. I think they add nuance to readings in a way that isn't always possible with just uprights. For example, the upright sun card may represent enlightenment and joy. Usually, no matter where in a spread the card shows up, that meaning will shine through. If it shows up in a "problem" position, maybe the card means that the person is too bright and intense, for example. But if the sun appears reversed in the same problem position, the reader might instead infer that the person has dimmed, or that the person is not as bright as they once were, etc.
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As for how I shuffle the cards - I generally do a standard riffle so that orientations do not change, but every so often rotate a pile 180 degrees so that the orientations of some cards are reversed. I like to do it like that so that the number of reversed cards always changes, and which cards end up reversed is unpredictable. But then, I'm never upset to see a reversed card in a reading - I just think of them as changing the nuance of the card meaning.

In particular, I try to remember the "5 D's" as Ms. Greer quoted in her book: "Delay, Diminution, Direct Opposite, Dark Side, and Direction Change."

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on reversals

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Thank YOU as well! For the book recommendations and for the shuffling recommendation. It's not so much that I get 'upset' at a reversal so much as for some reason, it strikes my brain as unbalanced, meddling with the probability of it all, but some of your suggestions really helped address that.

I'm going to give both of those books a read and those 5 Ds already sound great.

Barleywine said:

My feeling has always been that use of reversals increases - if not quite doubles - the interpretive range of a spread. While reversal doesn't change the basic meaning of a card, it alters the "mode of delivery" and the "angle of attack" for the energy. It's more about the querent's experience of the influence than its objective reality. It provides a quick visual "pointer" for accessing the problematic subtleties already present, to a greater or lesser extent, in every card, making it a useful tool to ferret out oblique aspects of a situation that could otherwise take considerably more contemplation (and time) to identify.

ETA: I missed the other question. When I do a thorough randomizing of my decks, I always randomize for reversal as well as order. I do this by randomly dealing out a deck into seven piles, turning about half of those piles upside-down, reassembling the deck in a random order, and then shuffling overhand a few times. I don't riffle. I then expect my clients to shuffle and cut the deck to put their own subconscious "imprint" on the reading.

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That's a really interesting way of thinking of it! When it comes to literature, I'm always a fan of kind of puzzling out the intricacies of unreliable narrators so that kind of angle is definitely one I find both interesting and understandable. And again, because I know it's kind of a weird question, thanks for the suggestion on shuffling!

Thirteen said:

Ironically given that I did a whole section on reversals for the "Tarot Meanings" here on AT, I don't use reversals and never have...with the exception of the Revelations tarot deck (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/revelations/), where using reversals is pretty much the whole point. And yes, I learned to read the cards without ever using them. Why not? (1) I buy decks because of their pretty pictures, and I want to look at them. I also want my sitter to see them (which is why I have the sitter by my side rather than across from me). (2) Seeing these pictures upright, one flowing into the next, gives me a "story" while a reversed card interrupts the story. To some the reversed card might indicate something important in the story, but for me it's like a page in a book upside down. It's just stops me from reading it. (3) Like many, I feel that the spread, the question, the circumstances of the sitter are enough to clue me into the meaning of the card. Reversals are redundant.

I do think reversals can be useful for many readers, as Barleywine said, as "pointers." Especially if they're at that confusing stage: "The card can mean so many things...how do I know which one?" Reversals can be very helpful with that. There is, however, a problem with reversals in that respect. Readers often view cards as being either positive or negative. Just those two. And reversals can reinforce that. But no card in the deck is just good or bad (good when upright, bad when reversed). All cards have multiple meanings that cross the spectrum from light to dark. And a lot of whether that meaning is positive/negative depends on the person and their circumstances. The 9/Pents single woman, for example, could be a devastatingly negative card for someone eager to get married, but perfect happiness for the woman wanting a room of her own, quiet and solitude.

So, if you're asking if you can read (learn to read) tarot with all the nuances and complexities without ever using reversals...then yes. Absolutely. And if you're asking the benefits of using reversals, then I would say that they can help readers to gain a wider range of meaning, and hone their instincts when it comes to assigning meaning. But reversals can trap a reader into seeing the cards even more as just "positive/negative." And it's important for readers to get past seeing cards, even reversals, as fitting into only those two slots. That narrows, rather than expands, the nuances and complexities.

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I have the Revelations, though at the moment due to some moving and some shuffling around in my house, that particular cache of cards is Somewhere. Some of this discussion is definitely making me excited to pull it out again. When I got it initially, it was with the idea of kind of getting more of a feel for reversals and I suppose, like you, it's felt like the exception as opposed to the rule in reading.

But yeah, I'll admit, that duality is something I've been worried about.

And I guess that it's not so much that I'm wondering if I can or can't read that way or learn that way as I'm super curious about people's perspectives, people's feelings on it. The more points, the smoother the curve, so to speak, and while I can read plenty of books, folks who've been quietly reading for ages or someone who's new to it and everyone in between have neat ideas too. I've read for years, but this is one of the first times where I've felt confident enough to go talking to other people about it. It feels, to me, like something that could be a great tool but I'm still feeling it out. So thank you for the feedback and the ideas and the link!

Honestly, everyone's given lovely comments and I'm just working on going through them at the moment and trying to take it all in.

JDusk said:

Personally I really like reversals, and I think some decks read better that way.

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Huh. Other than something like the Revelations, I guess I'd never considered the idea of certain decks being more or less comfortable with reversals. Now I'm wondering if some decks that I've found less friendly towards might play nicer working that in! Ugggh, as soon as I have time, I'm going to poke at that concept. That's really exciting!

JDusk said:

If I'm having a hard time reading a card upside down, I just pick it up and look at it upright for a minute to get a grasp on it before returning to its reversed position. I don't think this is disrespectful at all, as you say - I can only see that being the case if you decide you don't like it reversed and decide to read it upright anyway! But in many cases the reversed image can actually be helpful - the example that I read somewhere which sticks with me is the RWS 3 of Swords, which reversed looks like the swords are falling out of the heart, instead of sinking into them. Very telling!

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Some of the comments like that were what really started making me more intrigued about the idea, how some images can change a lot when flipped upside down. And given that I definitely read using the relationships between the cards (who's looking at who, what's sitting where) the idea of that being able to give some cards more 'direction's is definitely intriguing!

JDusk said:

I used to flip half, but it's more helpful to me to have most cards upright so that the reversed ones are more meaningful - especially if I get a spread and they're suddenly mostly reversed! I might also flip small portions as I shuffle if it feels right.

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I think you actually hit the nail on the head: the ratio is what's always stuck for me, not so much that I'm bothered by 'too many' reversed cards as that a lot of the nuance of reversed cards might be lost when or if there's just too many in there. The one way I've ever used reversals has been when card 'jumped' at me during shuffling; I'd put them back in reversed so that when or if they came back to me in the reading (as honestly, they are wont to do) I'd have an indicator for it. Though I'd have to figure out a new way for that now ^_^;

JDusk said:

But I think it's worth at least trying.

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Yeah, that's definitely where I am: I want to experiment, see how it fits, and now given your comment, see how it fits with different decks. So thank you for your feedback and your ideas. It's super appreciated.

No I don't.. but wait, actually I do !

Hello,

Last year a tarot friend asked me if I used reversals and I started to answer "no, I don't", then I added "but wait, sometimes I do, actually"

I dont really like reversals. Here are a few reasons :

- I do not like to see the cards upside down. It seems a little bit disrespectiful for the image to be put upside down, and for the characters to be left with their feet hanging in the air. And I do not like my decks all mixed up with cards in all position, I more like my decks to be well kept, all cards up, in their little cosy pouch.

- I read with a mix of book knowledge and intuitive interpretation of the images, and most of the time I have difficulty seeing whats going on when and image is not upright

- the meanings given in many books, and in particular in most LWB, for reversed position, is very often frustrating. Most of the time I feel like whoever wrote the LWB did not give a damn, and basically just used their dictionnary of antonyms to come up with a keyword that is just the opposite of whatever keyword they gave to the upright card (but then... I am not a fan of LWB in general, and I usually dont read them. Companion books are different - sometimes)

- I think all cards contain their whole range of meanings, positive and negative, inside and outside, diminished or exagerated etc, and you can have an opinion from the question, the other cards around, the position in the spread etc.

So I mostly read without reversed cards.

But that is not to say that I never use reversed cards, because I have three decks that are excellent for reversals, and just beg to be used that way :

My two round decks (Gorgon's and Motherpeace) are my favourite for reading that way, because they offer so much more than mere "upright" and "reverse". With them, the infinite possibilities of subtelties is just awsome !
It is not even possible to keep the cards upright in the deck, so they WANT to be read in all directions !
I love how the ways the cards land, tilted to the right, tilted to the left..... i And, some cards can litterally be pointing to other cards, or at the sitter ! Like the arrows in the 8 of Wands (Motherpeace) for example.

I also have the Madam Clara Sees it All tarot which is specificaly made to be used both upright and reversed, so I am not going to ignore it. It is my only "rectangular" deck that I willingly mix up in order to get reversed cards.
I do not have the Revelations tarot, but I wish I did.

For all my other decks, I really prefer to keep them upright. When I gather my cards, I pay attention that they are upright.
For that reason, I normally do not have reversals in my readings, and I can say that I "do not use" reversals.

But, sometimes cards have a way to do what they want... and sometimes a card shows up reversed in the spread.
In that case I understand that it has really insisted to be reversed ! So I never ignore it. The rarity of the occurence makes it even more interesting.
And, even if I do not like to see images upside down, I have come to realise that sometimes, I am able to see things in the picture that I had not seen when the card was upright.

So, to sum up, with the exception of a few special decks that like reversals, I do not willingly put cards upside down in the deck, on the contrary. But I will read a card reversed if it shows up upside down.

I personally don't use reversals. I found them useful as a learning tool in the beginning, but as I improved I found I no longer needed them as my understanding of the cards improved.

That being said, with all the cards in all my decks being upright, every few months a single card will come out reversed. I take that to mean the card is important: it is screaming at me for extra personal attention.

When people are casting about for "other" ways to read reversed cards, I tend to suggest this:

nisaba said:

Why not read it as the way that the energy flows or the happening happens? For instance, if your understanding of the Six Pentacles is an act of generosity, perhaps upright is you being generous to others whilst reversed is you needing to accept the generosity of others. And if your understanding of the Three Swords is pain, perhaps upright it is you experiencing that pain, and reversed it is you causing that pain to someone else.

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