Revelations Tarot - reversals?

mysticdivination

Okay, so I cannot find the information I need through the search engine here, Tumblr, or any companion websites for this tarot set.

I have been studying tarot for a while, and I've read a lot about using reversals versus not using reversals. There are times where I feel the need to use them and other times I feel I can go 100 readings before needing them again.

Ever since I saw the Revelations Tarot, I was completely in love. Not only does it have reversed meanings, it has reversed sides for them. I couldn't not have been happier. However, when I try to do readings from this deck I feel as though 95% of the reading is reversed and I only occasionally get a card that's upright.

I don't know if this deck is trying to tell me that it doesn't like doing readings for other people, or if the deck is meant to be more reversed than not. I'm so confused and really could use some help!

Thanks in advance!
 

mysticdivination

Bump! Still sort of curious on this. Sadly, no one replied :(
 

zachlost

Reversals

I have read that some readers make sure the cards are all upright when they shuffle when they use the deck. Personally, I take half the deck and then split shuffle it - always doing a weave to make sure the reversed are evenly distributed.
 

Onyx

I have been using the deck for a while now. I got it back in 2006 and it is one of my go to decks.

To begin if you are looking for information on the deck there are a couple of resources. First go to Zach's website and just look at the images and the information there. Then take the time to look at the other amazing sets of art work that he has posted. All of it is amazing. www.zachwong.com/tarot/

Then Beyond Worlds tarot podcast did a great interview of Zach. Well worth a listen to get some insight to the creator.

Then awhile back the LivingTarot Meetup page had a great discussion led by Paul Nagy on the deck that broke down much of symbolism to the deck. I was just there but I could not find it. It was deep and dense reading that really broke down the elements of the deck.

Now my take on the deck . . . . .

There are a lot of different ideas in the Tarot world about reversals. They are all valid in their own way but I think that with this amazingly unique deck it doesn't quite work the same way.

This might get a bit long winded bear with me.

Reversals, when a card comes up in a reading other than the naturally intended way, normally upside down, has for decades been a struggle for some readers. I have said for years that this deck "taught" me how to do reversals. That is true but in a way it isn't.

The art on the deck creates a single image that is "always" upright. Think about that. The cards are not ever really reversed because you are always able to look and consider an upright or intended image. In a Rider-Waite-Smith deck, when you get a card upside down you are looking at it in a way that Pamela Coleman-Smith didn't paint it. This deck is different. Take a card, any card flip it any way you want and you see an image that the artist intended you to look at. Each vertical orientation is intentional.

These cards however they appear are never really ever reversed. They have just a combination of intended orientations. In a review of the deck one reviewer called it a "156 card tarot deck." In a real sense it is, each individual card pulls double duty. There are 156 upright images. Here in this deck we are able to grasp also the breathe of each of the cards meanings and considerations.

With every other deck when I am reading with reversals I consider how many of the cards come up reversed. Here I don't consider it. I have a method I use for shuffling this deck which I don't use with any other deck. (I take the deck lay it flat on a table then I start to spin the deck. I will do this a couple of times so that the cards all pinwheel. Some of them will have spun around a couple of times. Then I just gather them together. This causes them to be in random order of "upright" and "reversed".)

Therefore, I find that there is a freedom to this deck to know that there isn't a conformity to the rigid conflict between if a card is upright or if is different. Each card serves a purpose and gives you a meaning each and every way you place it. Now this deck has demanded a lot of attention and while not study but time to get acquainted. I have essentially created a set of keywords for both sides of each card. These have migrated beyond this deck and shape when I see reversed cards in other decks. With any deck there is just an amount of time that you need to invest in it and simply using it over and over again to get a sense of how it works. Journalling is one thing that seems to be a cheesy answer to how to learn to use a deck but this deck almost demands that you take it seriously.

In closing, this is one of my favorite decks because as I have used it I know that it has a singular voice. This is a cheeky deck that has a dry sense of humor. It reads well for others but will not tolerate my own navel-gazing readings. If I am not working for it it will make fun of me and after all these years together it knows just how to get under my skin.

Onyx.
 

Hemera

Thank you Onyx! I found your post very helpful.
I have always liked this deck but never used it much. I seem to recall that I had similar issues with it as mysticdivination. I couldnt´t really figure out what to think of all the "reversals" I kept getting.
I like the card images and the cheekiness and dry sense of humor that you mentioned. I also think the companion book for this deck is excellent.
I´ve never been able to trade it and I´m now beginning to think I need to take it out and start shuffling. :)
 

Onyx

I have been thinking about posting some of the work i have done with the deck here. I am just never sure that my own notes and study of a deck would be interesting to anyone else.


Still I do love the deck and would love to see it promotes to the Individual Deck section of the forum.


Still looking for the link to the LivingTarot feed on the deck.
 

Zumaria

The art on the deck creates a single image that is "always" upright. Think about that. The cards are not ever really reversed because you are always able to look and consider an upright or intended image. In a Rider-Waite-Smith deck, when you get a card upside down you are looking at it in a way that Pamela Coleman-Smith didn't paint it. This deck is different. Take a card, any card flip it any way you want and you see an image that the artist intended you to look at. Each vertical orientation is intentional.

This...blew my mind!

I too use the Revelations Tarot - I fell in love with it. I love the artwork, images and yes, it's attitude (always mocking me) and have also struggled with feeling like the cards seem to be more often than not, reversed. This has greatly helped me in feeling better about it! Wonderful info!
 

Onyx

Aw the is great! Thanks Zac