Do you use reversals? Why? Why not?

JDusk

I always use reversals, and I feel they often add a very important element in a spread, especially with Major Arcana. Sometimes a reversed card feels like a red flag, drawing my attention to something that's not quite as it should be. Other times it has a very distinctive meaning that I feel says something that an upright card wouldn't.

However, I've only been practicing a couple years, so I'm curious if my opinion of this will change with time. I can't even remember the last time I used all upright, so I might have to give it another try sometime soon.
 

barefootlife

I don't use them because I feel like the placement in the spread and in conjunction with other cards is enough to indicate what aspect of the card is in play. I read spreads like stories, so generally one meaning makes more sense than the rest. But to each their own, really.
 

bubblyNightmare

I do! If a card does not keep itself upright no matter how good you are at shuffling, I think there's a reason for it. Most of my readings for others do not have any reversed cards, but if my readings don't have at least two reversed it feels wrong. I don't know why though
 

PentQueen

I used them for a little bit when I started but I felt like they hindered my intuition, as I was immediately labelling them as negative or blocked cards. I feel much clearer not using them, and I generally focus more on my intuition than the story in the cards anyway!
 

Valeria

Grizabella said:
I sometimes use them, depending on whether it seems the right thing to do for a particular reading. When I do, though, I go back through the deck when the reading is finished and put the cards all upright again and then deal them into four piles to make sure they're well-randomized. I don't like thinking I might have picked the deck up wrong way to., And I only reverse something like a third of the cards when I do use reversals.
Click to expand...

I use a similar technique to add in reversals. I divide the deck in 3 and then flip the middle part upside-down. The number of cards in this middle part varies from reading to reading. My deck decides if the question needs more reversals or less.
 

Valeria

bubblyNightmare said:
I do! If a card does not keep itself upright no matter how good you are at shuffling, I think there's a reason for it. Most of my readings for others do not have any reversed cards, but if my readings don't have at least two reversed it feels wrong. I don't know why though
Click to expand...

I have had this weird thing happen to me too. The cards just keep trying to flip over. But I have also noticed that when my personal readings have reversed cards in them, they try to draw my attention to whatever I am avoiding in real life. But once I fix the problem, or accept the flaw in myself, the cards go back to their usual upright stance.
 

Valeria

PentQueen said:
I used them for a little bit when I started but I felt like they hindered my intuition, as I was immediately labelling them as negative or blocked cards. I feel much clearer not using them, and I generally focus more on my intuition than the story in the cards anyway!
Click to expand...

I had the same problem too in the beginning. Then I worked on removing the negative bias from my head. That's when things cleared up. You should probably try Mary K. Greer's book of reversals. She is excellent.
 

nisaba

Valeria said:
Sounds very interesting. Which tarot deck do you use? I think it's a distinctly yang deck if it doesn't like reversals.
Click to expand...

<grin> I use about a hundred and seventy different decks.
 

bubblyNightmare

Valeria said:
I have had this weird thing happen to me too. The cards just keep trying to flip over. But I have also noticed that when my personal readings have reversed cards in them, they try to draw my attention to whatever I am avoiding in real life. But once I fix the problem, or accept the flaw in myself, the cards go back to their usual upright stance.
Click to expand...

HAH. Guess I'll be staying with my cards reversed for a few years yet
 

lyricsoul

For the first year when I started reading I did reversals. Every time I read I would get half or more of my readings reversed and of course all negative meanings. It was overwhelming for newbie me so one day I decided no more reversals and after that first year I don't use them anymore. My cards can tell me what I need to know without them. It feels wrong somehow to me now but I like that I learned with them when I first started. It's nice to know that I'm not alone and other people don't use reversals either :D
 
Year spread: could it change through time...? Dud readings?