Should you use reversals?

[Brown Eyed Mystic]

So I'm stumped.

Should you use reversals in tarot?

Should you just interpret negative and positive aspects of an upright card depending on your intuition?

Or should you never bother about any ill-dignified cards because if tarot wants to warn you about something negative, it will bring up traditionally "negative" cards -- you know the ones right?

What do you think?

BEM

 

[Obsydian]

I tried using reversals once, it didn't work for me!
What I use is a mix of intuition and placement in a spread to find out if it's negative.
It's all a matter of what feels best to you!

 

[Barleywine]

If you do a search on "reversal" you will find umpteen previous threads asking the same question. Opinions are all over the map, so the best advice is to try them for a while and then decide whether they help with your interpretation or not. It comes down to a matter of personal choice.

 

[Brown Eyed Mystic]

Thanks guys. I've just started using them recently and find answers getting super-negative.

I mean the moment I get a reversal, I'm frozen. "Oh shucks, not again that darn reversal."

In short, they scare me.

Then again there's a question about how you interpret reversals -- there seem to be so many ways to do just that.

I'm personally leaning toward not using them but will try for a few more days.

BTW I'm curious about how you assign a card a negative position, Obsydian.

BEM

 

[ldiddy]

I'm too busy trying to learn non-reversed interpretations, but I also appreciate the thread. So far I've just tried to keep my decks in the "upright" position or turn the cards. Hopefully that's ok...

 

[3ill.yazi]

I'll be 100 years old, and I will still not understand this.

Do we excise scary words out of the dictionary? Why would we limit ourselves from the truth for fear of the unpleasant.

I urge you to read Mary Greer's book on reversals.

There are reversed cards that are positive in tone. Reversals aren't automatically negative. They are a block or imbalance of the spirit of the upright card.

That said, I don't use them for some of my TdM cards because, well, they are the same looking upside down.

 

[Barleywine]

Just don't treat them as black-and-white opposites to the upright meanings, but more as nuances like delay, blockage, deflection or misapplication of the normal energy of the card. Still negative but no longer a show-stopper, rather more like something that can be worked through or around with patience and determination. By the same token, I also don't use the keyword meanings that make the negative qualities of an upright card magically disappear and become much better. Again, its modulation, not circumvention.

 

[rwcarter]

Should you use reversals in tarot?

Should >> I << use reversals in tarot? No. I don't like looking at upside down cards. Should >> you << use reversals in tarot? No one can answer that question for you but you. Should >> one << use reversals in tarot (which is what you should've asked)? It's up to the individual to decide for themselves.

Should you just interpret negative and positive aspects of an upright card depending on your intuition?

Intuition is but one factor that I use to help me decide whether or not to apply a more reversed meaning to an upright card.

Or should you never bother about any ill-dignified cards because if tarot wants to warn you about something negative, it will bring up traditionally "negative" cards -- you know the ones right?

By whose tradition? And which cards? I can, and have (many, many times), shown positive interpretations for cards that some see as negative and negative interpretations for cards that some see as positive. And being dignified/ill-dignified is something completely different from being reversed.

Rodney

 

[Shade]

I'm opposed to the word "should" in most of its forms.

I would say that if in your regular readings the reversed cards made the spreads more negative than what you experienced in life in regards to the topic then stop using them.

 

[Obsydian]

BTW I'm curious about how you assign a card a negative position, Obsydian.

BEM

This is just a silly example, but say the spread has a position that is something like "negative influences." Sometimes in that case I'll feel that the card is representing negative card traits much like (some) reversals.

(I say some, because some can be positive)