Do you use reversals?

Pollux: Ok, you twisted my arm...

I chose "No, never" because I believe 'tis not necessary to have actual reversed cards to read them that way. All cards contain the full spectrum of possible meanings. Where a card "hits" within that range depends upon the moment; the intution. Also on its position & its relationship to the surrounding cards.

Since I do not look for reversals, I shuffle upright cards when reading for self or someone else; however, since the occasional reversal can appear, I take note of its occurrence. I do read reversed cards thrown by others so I may read them as such or may not--a reversed card need not always carry a "negative"--again depending on the moment, etc.

tarotlady said:

I like this idea of "testing" the use of reversals for yourself, zorya. How did you do it: did you do the same reading twice, one with and one without reversals? Or would you simply do one reading with reversals and the next without?

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hi tarotlady,
i did one reading with reversals, and the next reading without, then with, then without, and so on. if you try it, be sure to keep a journal and let me know how it goes for you.

zorya said:

hi tarotlady,
i did one reading with reversals, and the next reading without, then with, then without, and so on. if you try it, be sure to keep a journal and let me know how it goes for you.

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zorya, many years ago I did essentially the same thing and came to the same conclusion as you did, upright only reads more accurately, for me.
My test ran approx. 3 months with 50 readings each way.

I place all my cards in order before I shuffle in oder not to get any reversals, but if by coincidence i get some then i will read them as such.

To reverse or not

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

I posted a question about reversals to the general forum (thanks for the link)
I 've concluded the TEST is the way to go here.
I'll do the journal thing (it makes good sense to keep a record)
and let you know how I go

I haven't done the journalling thing you guys describe, though I think that might be a good idea too! What I did do was I gave the reversals a shot, and I wasn't comfortable with it at all. I never even checked for accuracy, I found I ended up doing less and less readings because I just didn't enjoy it as much anymore. Doing a reading with loads of reversed cards that seem to tell you nothing is not the greatest thing you can do for your confidence.

So that made me ditch the reversals altogether, perhaps when I've been doing readings for 25 years or so, then I might try it again (and do the journal-test!), but for now I just voted No, never!

Jenny

I started to learn reversal very shortly after taking up tarot. I believe this is a personal choice. I base on two things to decide if I use reversal or not, one is the deck and the second is my feeling. I only use reversal for my Robin Wood. Sometimes, when I want to do a reading and if my feeling tells me not to, then I will just use upright.

Carol

Reversals

Do I use reversals? The short answer is, yes. But it isn’t the way most people use reversals. I don’t shuffle to get them, but sometimes they happen anyway. For me, a card doesn’t have to actually be upside down for me to read it as a reversal. When I learned tarot, I learned that each card had a seed or core energy. For example, the Empress card has a seed energy of “mother or female”. The meaning of the Empress card is a combination of all the ways this seed energy can manifest. The manifest energy is like a sphere, or spectrum of energy around the card. Birth, rebirth, fertility, sensuality, etc. are all a part of the spectrum on what would probably be called the “good” side of the sphere. But the sphere isn’t complete without the other “darker” side. The Empress can be controlling and manipulative. She can over-indulge and be self-centered and too caught up in sensuality to pay attention to the need for rules and structure (which is the Emperor’s strong points). Anyway, by learning all the different way the “mother/female” energy can manifest, it makes it easier to understand how to read “good cards in bad position” or to understand how to read a card when it just doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the throw. If it doesn’t fit, it is probably a “reversed” meaning even if the card is right side up.

I use them, but in the Gail Fairfield way.

Reversed is inwardly (negative) directed, instead of outwardly (positive) directed. These may be events that are perceived by the querent, more than they are apparent in the real world. It may also be how the querent feels about the issue.

Re: Reversals

raeanne said:

For me, a card doesn’t have to actually be upside down for me to read it as a reversal.

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Hm... That's how I read too, only I call that NOT using reversals...!Funny how we see things differently even when we do things alike!

Anyway, for me too the cards have two sides, "thesis" and "antithesis" I suppose, for the the general idea of the card to be complete, and I read this from the cards themselves, not from whether they are upside down or not, but from the spread as a whole related to the setting of the reading as such... The whole lot of it!

Jenny