Reversals - Do you use them? Why or Why not?

werewolfmoon

I don't read them as a rule, I feel that the cards have enough meanings upright, reversals just confuse the issue. Saying that though, every so often my cards do come out as reversed even though they were shuffled and all upright. I take that as the card is telling me something and I should take notice.
 

WolfSwan

I don't use reversals. I'm fairly new to reading, and I've learned with the Gilded Tarot deck which also doesn't have reversal meanings. I don't think they are necessary. All my cards are upright in my deck. It's rare that a reversal will come out. However, on the very rare, odd occasion there is a reversed card in my deck, I intuitively decide whether or not to read it reversed. As you say, I think most the combinations give enough information.
 

pandap

I use reversals, and have done since starting to learn the Tarot. I personally find reversals make the reading a lot easier to understand, and they give more meaning.

When I'm a bit more advanced and feel that I'm ready, I'll take a stab at learning to read upright with ill dignified meanings (or whatever it is), but for the time being, I'm happy with what I'm doing and the results I'm getting, and I don't want to take on more than I can chew.

I'm currently reading and working through Mary Greer's book of reversals, which is extremely good - not for the meanings (which I haven't gotten to yet) but her explanation of how reversals can work in readings.

But when all is said and done, it's just personal preference, whatever you feel comfortable with, and what works best and most accurately for you. :)
 

katey

I use them and I use the Thoth deck. But to get a reversal isn't that common for me anyway. I don't have a different meaning for the card Rx versus upright. They mean the same thing but the rx or upright position shows the status of that energy in the querent life. Either stable, or unstable. I don't purposefully cut the deck and reverse some of them though. I only get a Rx card if it occurs through normal shuffling which is why they are rare. But when they are there, they tend to be significant.


I use a similar approach. I don't shuffle in reversals, but if for some reason one pops up I will pay attention to it.
 

Sulis

I don't shuffle so that any of the cards are dealt upside down as I find that a card the wrong way up in the middle of a reading just throws me off..
Just because all of the cards are the right way up though doesn't mean that I don't 'read reversals'..

I think that each card represents a core energy or a theme and within that there is a whole spectrum of meanings from positive to negative.. Obviously some cards lean more one way than the other but they all have a huge range of meanings..

I determine which way a card should be read by the context, the question and positional meanings of the spread I'm using if I'm using one and a very important factor is the way the card fits into the story that the other cards are telling.
 

Etene

So dear readers ... do YOU use reversals? Why? or why not?
And if you do use reversals ... HOW?
When I began, being completely unfamiliar with the images and wanting not to miss anything, I used no reversals (shuffling in a way that maintained alignment) in the deck and studied both upright and reversed meaning before deciding which "felt right". Also, I used reading and participating in Your Readings as my classroom, and often those offerings are no-reversal no-positions no-idea-what-went-wrong ;), so there was good opportunity to figure out how to figure out how to read.

Now that I have some experience and familiarity, I shuffle in a way that reverses constantly and I give preference to the indicated orientation's meaning, although I still consider both. If a position demands a positive or negative message and the card's orientation conflicts, my first thought is to take the "correct" alignment but regard it as diminished or impeded, as is the simplest "meaning" given to the effect of a card being reversed.
Do you memorize the classical meanings? or do you have your own system?
As a resource, I'm creating my own LWB that summarizes what I've learned from Waite, Huson's Etteilla, some patterns I've noticed on my own, a few online resources, a used book I found locally, and anecdotes about particular cards that I've picked up here and elsewhere into a few succinct sentences that describe the essence of each card. I can't say it's comprehensive or that my re-interpreting the traditional interpretations is wholly accurate, but I've found that it's much faster than trying to search a half-dozen separate references.
Yes Dusty White is very much to the point of having to read reversals. Personally I don't like his style (or even him really), so I didn't put much stock in what he was saying.
His years of experience in the trade is respectable, but having heard nearly all of his podcasts, I can't say that I've gotten much from them. His application of marketing strategies comes through louder and more clearly than his tarot lessons. I did consider getting ATS for a moment so his marketing strategy has some strength, but after I read the negative Amazon reviews (and heard him disparage one negative reviewer in his podcast) I drew a spread on buying the book and, the cards largely confirming my expectation, chose not to. For $20, I can get another deck and not paste it on the wall. :D

I agree with the usefulness of expanding the Tarot vocabulary to 156, because the nuance allows one card to speak for itself what would require a clarification card that, itself, colors the meaning differently.

For example, let's say you draw for a news story about a search for a person gone missing in the woods, and in a moment of blunt honesty your deck gives Death in a position for the missing person's condition. Orientation could suggest that upright, the body will soon be found by the search party, but reversed, that it will be long decayed if ever recovered at all. Of 77 alternatives, which cards can communicate this? Moon and Ten Swords would bode ill for recovery of the body, but what if it's clarified by Six Coins? Could it mean that somebody will find the lost fellow's shoes and donate them to charity? I'd say it's a quick recovery but that's quite a reduction of the card, and we know how badly Tarot suffers when reduced to a yes-no situation.

Most dramatic, and a particular influence urging me to accept reversals in my study, are cards that are completely upset when destabilized by reversal. Justice is so (for lack of a better expression) finely balanced a concept that being a little off for reversal may have a dramatic consequence, and judging a spread with "this card is either a sign of equity or inequity" is far more difficult than something like, revisiting Death, "this card indicates that the affair is either over right now or will be quite soon."
 

PAMUYA

When and if a reversed card shows up, I will give the card special attention and/or read them reversed if my intuition tugs me in that direction. I have no hard fast rules. Over the years, thousands of readings, the meanings of the cards have evolved for me, my own meanings for cards and card combinations. Numbers have meanings, and suits have meanings, that will start me in a certain direction, the illustrations may catch my eye, colors, symbols, all have an affect on how I read a card. Meanings are not written in stone for me. If I draw a blank, no help from my intuition, I will revert back to general meanings of the cards as my safety net.

We all have our own way of relating to the cards. There is no right or wrong way. Do what best works for you.
 

tarot_quest

I really like what Etene said!

I truly understand that some people don't feel comfortable with reversals since they can be confusing.

However, if you feel like trying, don't get discourage! Yes it is difficult first (and still is sometimes) but I compare it to starting something challenging like learning guitar or any other instruments: you struggle first and sometimes want to stop, but if you stick to it, you might gain a lot more and expand your tarot skills.

Personally, reversals add so much dept to my readings. They are adding more nuances to a reading.

Do I understand reversals every single times? Of course not, but most of the time yes. And when I don't, I just accept it.

I feel like reversals are adding more vocabulary when you try to ''discuss'' with Tarot :)
 

gregory

I don't find that at all actually - with one exception. I DO use Zach Wong's Revelations deck - and with that - well you kind of have to; it would feel disrespectful not to. BUT - interestingly - if you try looking in books for reversed info - they DON'T seem to match these cards at all :D Their meanings stand alone.
 

Thoughtful

I think that each card represents a core energy or a theme and within that there is a whole spectrum of meanings from positive to negative.. Obviously some cards lean more one way than the other but they all have a huge range of meanings

l agree with Sulis here. l have never used reversals and like other posters have mentioned here, if a card does appear inadvertently reversed l would only give it my attention in the same way as l would if a card suddenly flipped out whilst shuffling. Whether l use it depends on the reading as a whole.
During a reading a sense or feeling comes in by looking at the cards and seeing whether any individual card erred on the positive or negative, this would depend on the proximity of other cards. So no real need for using reversals, besides l have a tidy mind and like my cards standing upright not upside down and all over the place :joke: