Yowza!
So many replies! I wasn't anticipating this many responses! Which is a good thing! I'm seeing a lot of discussion about the many different ways to interpret a reversal but what I'm mainly curious about is how much you believe a card appearing in reverse is intentional or pure chance. My shuffling method is pretty consistent and I've always trusted the process but I'm starting to question things.
To give another example of when a reversal felt random: I did a spread 2+ years ago asking what my then-boyfriend and I would end up doing for his 40th birthday. I pulled Chariot, 8 of swords, and 9 of Wands, all upright. When he was having trouble making a decision about what to do and it was getting down to the wire with me requesting time off from work or not, I did the spread again and got Lovers, 8 of Swords Rx, and 9 of Wands. Almost the exact same cards and in the exact same order, except 8 of Swords was curiously upended that time around. What ended up happening was we took a trip together (Chariot/Lovers) to San Francisco (8 of Swords = being in a big city surrounded by tall steel structures) and later drove to Napa Valley for wine tasting (9 of Wands = being out in the countryside surrounded by trees and grapevines). The pips were purely symbolic so the 8/S appearing in reverse the 2nd time around clearly had little to do with its role in the spread. So why was it? It may have just been the way I shuffled the deck.
Grizabella and Barleywine, what is your multi-pile deal? I've seen it referenced a few times but don't know what it is.