Cult of Tarot Forum

So, I was just wondering how people feel about reading reversed cards. Is it necessary? Or is there already a good balance being as they are?

It really depends on how you read and what you're hoping to get out of the reversals. For me, the biggest problem that I have with reversals is the question of 'how do they get that way?" Taking a big chunk of the deck, like some do, and flipping it around seems like a real introduction of the reader's "will," if you know what I mean, into the reading. If I am going to do reversals, then I'm going to swirl the whole deck around the table as my method of shuffling. For that, I need a bigger space, etc. which I don't like so I don't use the reversals too much.

Also, for readers that use a lot of highly specific spread positions, the position title itself can often clue you in that it's the more negative side to the card that you're supposed to be reading. In those cases, reversals can be more confusing. If you're in the "bad" position and you get a "bad" card reversed is it good all of a sudden?

In any case, many of the best readers do great work without reversals, so it certainly isn't a question of "needing" them. But if they are important to an individual reader, then more power to them. Diana has done some interesting work recently around reversals. Maybe she'll pop her head in.

That's extremely insightful. I stopped reading reversed cards. Why? Because the back of my Tarot cards are illustrated in such a way that I was able to tell when a card was reversed before I even flipped it over. With that being said, it had a strong influence on how I would shuffle the cards, being more focused on avoiding reversed cards than the situation at hand.

Hi V. Great question.

Charlie Brown said the following :

"For me, the biggest problem that I have with reversals is the question of 'how do they get that way?" Taking a big chunk of the deck, like some do, and flipping it around seems like a real introduction of the reader's "will," if you know what I mean, into the reading. If I am going to do reversals, then I'm going to swirl the whole deck around the table as my method of shuffling. For that, I need a bigger space, etc. which I don't like so I don't use the reversals too much.

This is more or less how I feel, only I think that even if one swirls the cards round, it is also an introduction of the reader's "will". Come to think of, shuffling is as well. As well as the method we use to draw the cards.

At the same time, the Tarot works in mysterious ways. Perhaps whatever we do is okay. But I think my conclusion is that it doesn't matter. As long as the cards are well shuffled and mixed.

I don't like reading with cards reversed in front of me. I think the "reversed" meanings, the other side of the coin in other words, should be apparent when one does the reading, when the story unfolds before one's eyes. The tarot always tells us a story. In a book, we don't draw the wicked stepmother or evil king upside down. Why should it be necessary to do this with the tarot cards ?

However, the reversed meanings should be studied and retained and never forgotten. They're just as important as the rest. I recently did a study purely of the reversed meanings of the Tarot of Marseilles, as I was wanting to explore further the meanings of all the 78 cards. It was an absolute eye opener for me, notably when I compared the different suits and how they were each of a different kind of harshness and cruelty.

You can find my little personal study in my personal CoT blog :
viewtopic.php?f=221&t=1996

That being said, I've seen some hugely good readings by people who do reversals all the time. It seems to work very well. Some people enjoy reading the Tarot with them, so why not. Only I don't think it's essential.

Also I don't like seeing my cards upside down. They look all wonky. I don't like wonky things.

I never use reversals. Three reasons among many: 1) I believe each card has its full range of meanings in the upright position: light to dark, positive to negative, high functioning to dysfunctioning, etc. The meaning is revealed through: a) the question posed b) card's position in the spread, c) its context, i.e., its interrelationship with the card(s) on either side of it (or on top/bottom) as the case may be.

2) I read visually by first and foremost by looking at "story line", - the line of cards acts like a story board as one image proceeds to the next. Then, if necessary I look at patterns of colors and objects as they move from one card to the next; the "Principle of Regard" - where the person is looking, e.g., the next card, the "Principles of Exception and Equivalence", e.g., do the 2 swords in one card "become" the 2 vessels in the Star card, etc. It is extremely difficult to do all this when cards are reversed because it destroys the visual line. This style of reading was taught to me by the master tarologist Enrique Enriquez. It sounds complicated (my poor attempt in explaining) but it is much, much easier than memorizing not only the meanings of 78 upright cards, but also memorizing 78 additional meanings for the reversed cards.

Finally, I read exclusively with traditional tarot decks (i.e., decks prior to the "revisions" of the rws.) Those decks have pips for minors, not scenes. In pip minors you can not tell if 2 of the 4 suits are reversed - swords and staves - which would seem to make attempting reversals a bit nonsensical.

Now all that being said, another master tarologist Yoav Ben dov (R.I.P.) in his exceptional book, "The Marseille Tarot Revealed" has a great method, if one needs to read using reversals. Quoting him from his book, pp. 61-62:

"When inverse cards appeared in the reading, it is not necessarily a negative thing. The card is already there on the table, and we can simply stretch out our hand and straighten it. In other words, the factor or influence represented by the card is already present in the querent’s life. There is no need to bring in new elements. Instead, the querent can try to turn around the existing elements so that they work in the querent’s favor.

Any inverse card can thus indicate a point where the querent can improve their situation with resources that they already have available. This makes inverse cards especially meaningful. During the reading I usually straighten up in verse cards one by one in order to understand what changes the querent can make in their life and how things will look if they do so."

In other words, the upright meaning is retained as a resource that the querent ALREADY posses and is either not using, or is not aware of yet. Or the upright card meaning represent a resource that the querent can acquire to advance their situation in a positive and beneficial way.

I don't bother with reversals, basically because I read intuitively. I think that reading reversals makes more sense if one reads using "traditional" meanings that have been commonly ascribed to the cards - although I still probably wouldn't bother with them if I read that way. I also dislike seeing cards upside down in a layout, so I shuffle in such a way so they don't happen.