Reversals
Reading Tarot card reversals is a key technique in Tarot, giving you extra insights and a deeper understanding of the cards. It’s a great way to add more layers to your interpretations.
An Optional Technique
Reading tarot reversals is totally up to you! If you're not feeling it, just flip any reversed card right side up and read it the usual way.
For beginners, tackling reversed cards can be tricky. It adds more layers to consider, which might make things more confusing. The best approach is to stick to the basics at first. Get familiar with the upright meanings of the cards before diving into reversals. Each Major and Minor Arcana card has both upright and reversed meanings, so you can compare them and see how they differ.
Once you're comfortable with the basics, you can start exploring reversed cards. If it enhances your readings, great! If not, no worries—stick to what works for you.
Remember, this flexibility applies to all tarot techniques. It's good to learn different methods to deepen your understanding of tarot, but ultimately, how you read the cards should be based on your experience and personal style. Every technique is a tool to help you solve specific problems or achieve particular results, but none of them are mandatory. Do what feels right for you!
Topsy-Turvy
Reading reversals can add a whole new layer of depth to your tarot readings. If you're ever unsure whether a card is leaning positive or negative, reversals can give you that extra bit of context to help clarify things. Give it a try and see how it changes your perspective!
Shuffling the Cards
If you shuffle the Tarot deck the regular way, you might not get any reversed cards. To mix things up (literally), try these alternative shuffling methods that many readers use for incorporating reversals:
The Cut: While shuffling, cut the deck a few times and put the halves back together with one half reversed.
The Palette: Spread the cards out on the table randomly and mix them up like a painter mixing colours. When you gather the deck back together, a lot of the cards will be reversed.
Remember, how you shuffle affects how many cards end up reversed. For example, using the cutting method, roughly half the deck will be reversed. But if you only cut the deck once and flip a few cards, you'll end up with fewer reversed cards. Choose the method that feels right for you!
Opposite Meanings
In a nutshell, the reversal technique means that if a card appears reversed in a reading, its meaning changes. But don’t worry, it’s still connected to the original meaning of the card.
The simplest way to use this technique is to interpret the reversed card as the opposite of its traditional meaning. Here are a few examples:
The Fool: Usually means innocence or folly, but reversed, it suggests guilt or seriousness.
The Chariot: Symbolizes achievement or arrogance, but in reverse, it’s about defeat or humility.
The Tower: Represents exile or ruin, but when reversed, it signifies reunion or rebuilding.
The Ace of Cups: Normally about an abundance of emotion or energy, but reversed, it indicates rigidity or spiritual impoverishment.
The Queen of Pentacles: Signifies well-being or wealth, but in reverse, it suggests poverty and difficulties.
The Eight of Swords: Associated with restrictions, fears, and obstacles, but reversed, it symbolizes freedom, courage, and unlimited progress.
While reading reversals might seem straightforward, it can also be tricky. Even without using this technique, each card can have a positive or negative interpretation, often decided intuitively by the reader. With reversals, the positive or negative meaning is fixed, based on whether the card appears upright or reversed, which might clash with an intuitive reading. So, use this method if it feels right, but trust your intuition too!
Essential Meanings and Reversed Cards
Another way to interpret reversed cards is by using the Essential Meanings listed on each card's page. These meanings capture the dual nature of the Arcana, offering two perspectives on the same card. You can associate the first meaning with the card when it appears upright and the second meaning when it’s reversed.
This approach means the reversed card will represent one of the traditional meanings of the Tarot card, rather than a completely different and opposing interpretation. It’s a simple and consistent method that stays true to the core meanings of each card.
Reading a Reversal (or Upside-Down Card)
Looking up the opposite meaning is a straightforward way to read a reversed card, but there are several other techniques you can try.
For Beginners: Opposite Meanings
The simplest method is perfect for beginners—just assign the opposite meaning to the reversed card as you would for the upright one.
Going Deeper
The downside of this approach is that it doubles the number of meanings to remember. More meanings don’t always make a reading clearer or deeper. As you get more comfortable with the Tarot, you can explore advanced techniques to elevate your interpretation skills.
Quality over Quantity
The basic idea stays the same—a reversed card has a different meaning than its upright version. However, the difference isn’t just in the meaning itself but in the quality of that meaning. This concept can be tricky, so it’s best explained through practical examples illustrating the six techniques below.
These techniques will help you refine your readings and add more depth to your interpretations.
Developing But Unexpressed
The "Developing but Unexpressed" approach links reversed cards with energy that's growing but not yet fully formed or mature.
The Sun: Normally about harmony and friendship, but reversed, it might suggest a budding romance that hasn't deepened yet.
Three of Pentacles: Associated with craftsmanship and mastery, but reversed, it could indicate a student needing more practice.
Eight of Swords: Symbolizes limits and obstacles, but reversed, it might warn of unexpected struggles ahead.
Present but Inhibited
The "Present but Inhibited" approach views reversed cards as representing energy or activity that exists but is restricted or held back.
The Fool: Usually linked to folly and creativity, but reversed, it might symbolise frustrated artists or office workers struggling to balance creativity with rules.
Declining but Persistent
The "Declining but Persistent" approach sees reversed cards as indicating energy that is fading but still impacts the current situation.
Two of Cups: Represents union and attraction, but reversed, it could appear when lovers lack the courage to end a stale relationship.
Five of Pentacles: Symbolises poverty and loss, but reversed, it might show someone who can't enjoy new wealth due to long-standing habits of scrimping and saving.
Desired but Secret
The "Desired but Secret" technique points to desires that are secretly wished for but not acknowledged.
The Devil: Normally about instinctual drives and passions, but reversed, it could indicate a conservative person secretly wanting to experience pleasure and hedonism.
The Empress: Associated with fertility and nurturing, but reversed, it might suggest a man subconsciously seeking a mother figure rather than a romantic partner.
Possible but Unlikely
The "Possible but Unlikely" technique works well for cards drawn about a desired future, indicating an outcome that is possible but very unlikely.
The Hierophant: Typically about guidance and forgiveness, but reversed, it might suggest a reconciliation with a friend is unlikely.
Justice: Usually a sign of balance and equity, but reversed, it suggests that achieving justice in a legal issue will be very difficult.
Imagined but Not Real
The "Imagined but Not Real" approach is useful for Querents who struggle with accepting reality, often getting caught up in fantasies or imagined scenarios.
Two of Cups: Normally about mutual attraction, but reversed, it could indicate that a Querent's imagined love affair is not real.
Ten of Pentacles: Usually linked to wealth, but reversed, it might suggest that a Querent flaunting their wealth doesn't actually have the financial resources they claim.
Using these techniques can help add depth and nuance to your tarot readings, offering a richer understanding of the cards' reversed meanings.
Choosing Your Approach
Reversals add texture, depth, and nuance to readings, but they aren't an exact science. Reading reversals takes practice and a bit of imagination. To incorporate them into your reading practice, try experimenting with different interpretation methods. Over time, you'll discover which techniques resonate best with you.
Working With Opposites
Advanced readers often apply various techniques for interpreting reversed cards to pairs of opposing concepts in a spread. Here are some common variants:
Expressed - Unexpressed
Free - Repressed
Energy - Restriction
Conscious Desire - Secret Desire
Possible/Probable Outcome - Unlikely Situation
Reality - Imagination
With practice, readers can create their own pairs of opposing concepts to use when encountering reversals, developing personalized techniques around them. For instance:
Strong Influence - Weak Influence
Rational Element - Emotional Element
Conscious Force - Unconscious Force
Action - Perception
Active - Passive
Querent-Dependent Factor - External Force-Dependent Factor
These techniques enhance the depth and precision of Tarot readings, allowing readers to explore nuanced interpretations and insights.
Introduction to Reversals in Tarot
In this section, we’ll introduce you to reversals in Tarot and how to read a card when it appears reversed, with the title, image, and number upside-down. This is one of the most common Tarot reading techniques, based on the notion that a reversed card has a different meaning from an upright card in a spread.
Reversed Card: A card is reversed when the image and text are upside-down.
Horizontal Reversal: A horizontal card is reversed when the number and title are on the left.
Reading Reversals for Yourself
Practising reversed card reading techniques when consulting the cards for yourself is a fantastic way to learn and deepen your self-discovery journey. Over time, you'll become more comfortable using these advanced techniques.
These methods might seem a bit complex when working with a Querent in a one-off session, but they can be incredibly useful with a regular sitter who has a deep interest in Tarot.
Enjoy exploring these techniques and uncovering new layers of meaning in your personal Tarot readings!