The 5 reversed! (especially 5 of pent Rx)

[tarot_quest]

Hi guys!

I would like to broaden my views of the 5. To me they all mean ''conflict''. I am just not sure about reversals. Sometimes I feel that the conflict got resolved/attenuated and sometimes I feel that it is more an inward conflict (internal struggle) than an external conflict.

I would like to have your opinion! Especially on the 5 of pent Rx

my interpretation:

-5 of cups Rx: internal/emotional conflict that is the process of being solved
-5 of swords Rx: conflict with ideas/dealing with different mentalities. I feel that Rx might also mean that the conflict is not that dramatic
-5 of wands Rx: Mmmm.... More meanings here. I personally see it as an inward conflict, sometimes failing a competition, having some difficulty energetically (health),...
-5 of pent Rx: Most of the time, I don't associate 5 of pent with material poverty like its traditional meaning, but it can point to a ''practical conflict'' lets say at work or even physically. Rx, I am not sure if it is attenuated or in the process of being solved...

Thanks guys!!

 

[Thirteen]

Reversals are not simply "opposites"

Reversals are tricky, because they don't usually mean that something we take as negative becomes positive (it's opposite). For example, the reversed Moon is not the Sun...because there IS a Sun card. Why would the cards give you Moon rx if they mean the Sun? Why not just the Sun?

Reversals, essentially, are the energy of the card blocked. This is why you need to really understand those upright cards (and not use reversals until you do). What is the energy of the card all about? So, for example, the 5's. You are right that they're about conflict. BUT they mean a lot more than that. They are also about having to go through something to learn something. Like loss and regret--5/Cups. Or understanding that sometimes, if we fight, we may lose: 5/Swords. Or dealing with fierce competition and how to stand out: 5/Wands. Or being on the outside of society and feeling impoverished...how do we learn how to handle that? 5/Pents.

The reversed 5's then, aren't about solving the conflict--that's the 6's! Reversed 5's are about not learning the lesson the conflict teaches us. For example: if you don't experience loss and regret, then you can't learn how to value things, or how to do all you must to avoid regrets. In 5/Cups the person is weeping over the spilled cups. But there are two upright cups. If he can stop staring at what he has lost, he'll see that, and having felt regret for what he lost, know the value of those two cups. But if you turn the card upside down, then even what he had in the upright cups is spilled out--message of the card: he can't learn the lesson. He's wallowing in regret, losing his chance to see that he hasn't lost all.

Thus, the whole idea of reversed cards is to understand what energy is being blocked, so you can tell your sitter important information--what they need to do to make things better. How they can turn that card upright. If you see reversals as simply the opposite of the upright (the Moon rx means the Sun) or something less than the original (not as dramatic), then you won't know how to turn them around.

Do you see? Oh, and 5/Pents can mean literal financial hardship. But it can also mean being an outsider--locked out or refusing to conform in order to be welcomed in.

 

[tarot_quest]

Reversals, essentially, are the energy of the card blocked. .

Hi Thirteen!

Thanks for your reply I am learning a LOT right now by reading it. You said that reversal are blocked energy, but is it always the case? For example, if I ask what somebody considered like my best quality and I get reversed moon, does it necessarily mean that the energy is blocked? I think that this detail is super important.

Also, when you see an ''inward'' conflict, how do the cards tell you?

What I like the most in your reply is that you said that the 5 are growing opportunities (not only problems to avoid), which sounds totally right! And that reversals point to the idea of not facing the challenge properly, or even avoiding it...

Thanks for the clarification

Tarot_quest

 

[Thirteen]

You said that reversal are blocked energy, but is it always the case? For example, if I ask what somebody considered like my best quality and I get reversed moon, does it necessarily mean that the energy is blocked?

Are you trying to turn the Moon into the Sun again Think about the energy of the Moon. On the positive, it is about romance, dreams, and creativity. But it's also about tricks, hallucinations, and lunatic mood swings. We're talking scary emotional rollercoaster ride. So...why would it be bad for a person to think your best quality is that you restrain or block your crazy, mood swings?

And you have to keep in mind the position. You're forgetting that again. This person thinks your level emotions (restraining that Moon) is a good thing. They may be wrong. Maybe it's not. Or they may be wrong that you're restraining the Moon at all. Maybe you're wild crazy emotional and Moon energy all over the place...just not with them. So, this is what they think. It may not be what is really true. That's the problem with asking what someone "thinks." You have to keep in mind that they may be mistaken in their thinking. Maybe that isn't your best quality, or a quality you have at all...just one they think you have.

Also, when you see an ''inward'' conflict, how do the cards tell you?

Any card relating to conflict can indicate inward conflict as well as literal, outward conflict. Position in a spread, the question the person asked, these tell you which is which. Also some cards are more evidently about that. Swords are about thoughts, so 9/Swords indicates a lot to inward conflict. There is probably some real conflict behind it, but most is in the person's head. Likewise Cups and emotions. That 5/Cups is a lot of inward, emotional conflict. Something caused it, but it feels much worse than it might be because it hit an emotional nerve.

 

[Prilica]

Reversals are tricky, because they don't usually mean that something we take as negative becomes positive (it's opposite). For example, the reversed Moon is not the Sun...because there IS a Sun card. Why would the cards give you Moon rx if they mean the Sun? Why not just the Sun?

Reversals, essentially, are the energy of the card blocked. This is why you need to really understand those upright cards (and not use reversals until you do). What is the energy of the card all about? So, for example, the 5's. You are right that they're about conflict. BUT they mean a lot more than that. They are also about having to go through something to learn something. Like loss and regret--5/Cups. Or understanding that sometimes, if we fight, we may lose: 5/Swords. Or dealing with fierce competition and how to stand out: 5/Wands. Or being on the outside of society and feeling impoverished...how do we learn how to handle that? 5/Pents.

The reversed 5's then, aren't about solving the conflict--that's the 6's! Reversed 5's are about not learning the lesson the conflict teaches us. For example: if you don't experience loss and regret, then you can't learn how to value things, or how to do all you must to avoid regrets. In 5/Cups the person is weeping over the spilled cups. But there are two upright cups. If he can stop staring at what he has lost, he'll see that, and having felt regret for what he lost, know the value of those two cups. But if you turn the card upside down, then even what he had in the upright cups is spilled out--message of the card: he can't learn the lesson. He's wallowing in regret, losing his chance to see that he hasn't lost all.

Thus, the whole idea of reversed cards is to understand what energy is being blocked, so you can tell your sitter important information--what they need to do to make things better. How they can turn that card upright. If you see reversals as simply the opposite of the upright (the Moon rx means the Sun) or something less than the original (not as dramatic), then you won't know how to turn them around.

Do you see? Oh, and 5/Pents can mean literal financial hardship. But it can also mean being an outsider--locked out or refusing to conform in order to be welcomed in.

Hi thirteen I was looking for 5 of pentacles RX regarding feelings... I really like your interpretation, but how is it different from the upright 5 of pentacles? I mean because they are still left outside sad and hurt?
I'd love to read your thoughts[emoji3]

 

[Nemia]

I've been struggling with reversals, too - I try to incorporate all nuances also into upright cards and for a long time didn't use reversals at all. But Benebell Wen's book with the acronym WIND helped me better grip. Let's try it on the Fives. Just a little exercise.

W: weakened
I: inverse
N: negative
D: delayed

Five/Wands
- an unpleasant conversation, a little issue
- turning aggression inwards
- an elegant solution
- brewing of a conflict that may break out later

Five/Cups
- a slight disappointment
- querent disappoints others
- a happy surprise, "disappointed" pessimism
- heading for frustrating times or regret

Five/Swords
- being slighted or treated selfishly by a person who doesn't the power to hurt much
- querent takes advantage of others or exploits them
- an act of honesty and courage
- taking on a conflict with an unscrupulous person

Five/Pentacles
- having to cut down expenses a bit or not being invited to a festivity you'd have liked to go
- querent excludes others or looks down upon them
- a warm invitation or gift
- taking financial risks or stepping into conflict with one's community, friends or family

I didn't read before what others wrote but took a look now - and i see I'm not the only one who sees Five/Pentacles both as social marginalization and material deprivation.

 

[Thirteen]

how is it different from the upright 5 of pentacles? I mean because they are still left outside sad and hurt?

5/Pents is a very interesting card. Consider that "church" there with a window showing a tree full of Pentacle "fruit." Why can't the poor people there get money from that church? Usually the answer is either that the church refuses (the person is on the outs with them) or the person refuses (their pride won't let them take charity from that church). The church may require something of them they can't or won't do to get that charity—not something morally wrong, but rather something more along the lines of fitting in. This is why the card can indicate someone having an extra-marital affair—Pents are often about society, and society does't approve of what they're doing. So they're out in the cold, no one willing to help them till they give up that other woman/man and go back to the wife/husband.

Now here's a trick about reversals I learned thanks to a reversal expert here when I was a newbie: Turn the card upside down and really consider what you're seeing. What would that upside down world be like? Upright, those two cold people can at least walk. But if it's upside down, all that snow comes down on them. They end up buried in it, heads down, legs sticking up. And how about that window featuring a flourishing tree of pentacles (note that pentacles growing is seen again in 7/Pents)? Upside down it's no longer a tree. It's buried roots.

So now the message does seem blocked, doesn't it? The upright shows hard times, but there are ways out of the conflict: the person can swallow their pride, or change their behavior—and get help--or decide that their situation, hard as it is, is better than having comfort—they still have friendship, right?—so keep walking, looking for other solutions. But reverse it, and the situation is much more dire. They've lost their options to escape this situation. They're buried in it. And the one solution they might have (charity from the church) is either out of money or so corrupt that it would put them in worse trouble. (I'd read the reversed pentacle tree window as something dangerous—like loan sharks, or having to do something morally wrong to get the money).

This is why I say that most times, when a reader gets a reversed card, their advice to their sitter is "this needs to be turned around." Because no matter how hard the upright, there is usually some escape. In the reversed card, this might not be so.

 

[Prilica]

Thank you so much! I learned a lot today from you. And thank you for the great advice about reversals!

 

[nisaba]

Reversals, essentially, are the energy of the card blocked.

Or turned around.


Some examples:-

If the Five Pentacles usually means to you that you feel impoverished, perhaps reversed it might mean that you are a drain on the resources of others, or make tem feel poor in comparison to you.

If the Five Cups usually means that you feel regret, perhaps it means that you will cause others to feel regret.

If the Five Wands means to you feelings of aggression and disruption, perhaps you may not feel that way but will cause others to feel that way.

See were I'm heading?

 

[Thirteen]

Or turned around....See were I'm heading?

Indeed! And I like it Nice turn of phrase (pun intended) and view on those reversed cards. I especially like that it tackles the view of a reversed card as "opposite" of the original meaning. These are opposites yet not in the way most people think of such (i.e. the Moon rx isn't the Sun--in this case, it's be the dark of the moon, yes? The Moon turned around?).