How do you use Reversals Please?

*morwenna*

I have just discovered the tarot and I am interested in using reversals. I initially didn't want to until mysteriously a few cards ended up reversed in my readings and proved extremely accurate in relation to the situation.
My main question is how do you use reversals, I have heard that you can reverse half the deck however I have found readings to be too negative when I do this. Is there another method of reversing the cards or should I just let them reverse themselves like they did to begin with?
 

The crowned one

I just shuffle the deck and if reversed cards come up in the spread I decide right then if they should be read as reversals or not but I am not too keen on reversals yet. Still researching them. I do use well and ill dignified as that appeals to me. I recall in the book section a certain book being recommended fairly regularly on reversals... Mary Greer I think.

EDIT I should add I feel the cards are complete in themselves all energies are there, but reversed, when I do use then usually means potential or suppressed energies, it would take a couple ill dignified to make it a true negative out of a pip for me.
 

raeanne

Hi Morwenna,
For me each card is a complete circle of meaning whether or not you actually “use” reversals. Every card in the deck can manifest itself in our lives so that it helps our spiritual growth or in a way that hinders our spiritual growth. Even the so called “good” cards can have a negative influence. Take Strength for example. Usually this is a good thing. But if you think about it, what happens if you take Strength to its extremes? You might end up with a bully or someone who is unable to compromise. So, the whole meaning of the Strength card is available to you even if you don’t actually shuffle the cards so that you really get some of the cards reversed. If you don’t shuffle the deck in a way that the cards actually get reversed you have to figure out if the card is suppose to be interpreted in a positive way or not. If you shuffle the deck so that you actually get some cards reversed, then you have help in knowing how to interpret the card. This is just my way of doing things and I’m sure others have a different way of doing things.
 

wytchwood

See, this is something I have often wondered. How do you 'make sure' or even accidentally get reversed cards in the deck? I can't see how they get turned the wrong way unless you do it on purpose! lol I use the dignities system as opposed to reversals, but I have always wondered this.

Zoe
 

frelkins

of course i'm not a reader, but it seems to me tarot is about relationships, overlooked or even hidden relationships. this is why the elements make more sense to my small understanding of the symbols than reversals. because the element effects depend on the relationships to all the cards around, and also to the questioner.
 

Heloise

Hi

I don't see the necessity of using reversals -every card has a positive and negative meaning. Look at the surrounding cards and use your intuition. If a card is reversed however and you do read them I believe the popular ways are opposite meaning, extreme meanings, opposite meanings, blocked energy or something you need to pay attention to. If you mean how do you get them to appear - that is my point you can't get them to appear randomly - you have to cut the deck so deciding how many reversals you want!
 

Apocalipstick

If you're interested in the mechanics of getting reversed cards, one method is to cut the deck into three or four piles (depending on how bold you feel, I guess), reverse one, then shuffle and deal normally.

You can also randomly reverse cards in the course of shuffling. You'll end up with fewer reversals this way, but they might be considered that much more important.

Anoter method, though a more time-consuming one, is to fan out the deck and reverse cards until you feel you have enough reversals. I've only seen one person do this before, truth be told, and it didn't seem like too effective a way of doing it.

Experiment until you find a method that suits you.

Working with reversals can be rewarding - it'll ask that you stetch your interpretitive skills. However, reversals are not necessary for a reading to have maximum impact.

As it's been stated, each card can be both positive and negative, depending on context.

Reversals only provide additional visual drama, IMO.
 

*morwenna*

Re: Apocolipstick

"If you're interested in the mechanics of getting reversed cards, one method is to cut the deck into three or four piles (depending on how bold you feel, I guess), reverse one, then shuffle and deal normally. "

I like that idea, I will give it a go. That is a good way to lessen the reversals otherwise there just seems to be too much negativity in the readings.
Thankyou all!
 

Pook

For the most part, I tend to shuffle in a way where reversals dont really happen. But sometimes when I am absentmindedly shuffling and not particularly paying attention to the shuffling, more to the question that I'm forming in my head,since I generally form the question and state it while I shuffle...that way the focus is on the things I am concerned with and I've thought on the things I'm not particularly concerned with as well during the shuffling process. And sometimes, I accidently flip a pile while Im shuffling, or drop a couple and put them back in the wrong way, and in the read, they come out reversed. Thats the only way I really use them. But when I put them back in at the end of the read, I make sure to put them back right-side up.
 

raeanne

Hi all,
When you divide the deck for a shuffle, simply reverse one stack. That will reverse half of the deck. However, if you do this for all the shuffles, some of the cards that got reversed the first time will get turned back around the second time, or the third time, etc. After a few shuffles your deck will be very randomly mixed with some upright and some reversed cards. Or you could reverse one stack every third shuffle or some other pattern that you feel comfortable with. The point is that the cards have the probability of getting turned one way and then the other so you don't know which way it is until you lay it out in the spread.