It’s one of the biggest questions asked by all of us when we’re just starting to read tarot cards. Should you read with reversals or not? And if you do read with reversals, what do the reversed cards mean? Are reversals the negative meaning? What if the card is already a difficult energy card… does that make the reversal positive? Do we even need reversals at all?

Tarot readers, and spiritual readers of any kind, wield a lot of power when conducting a reading. It’s a responsibility I have always taken very seriously, but a recent experience on the other side of the table, so to speak, has given me further insight into just how much power a reader holds, and I have been even further humbled by the fact that people continue to choose me to hold that space for them, in many cases repeatedly…

When learning tarot, it can feel like all tarot readers, teachers and mentors are telling you to put down your tarot guidebook and reading materials, that there are no right or wrong interpretations, and that the best way to learn tarot is to, quite simply, read tarot.

And I do agree with this sentiment.

There is no one ‘right’ way to read tarot. Your best readings won’t be done reciting meanings you’ve memorised from a textbook, and you’ll learn your most valuable lessons about the tarot in pulling cards and reading them.

But this can be a confusing message to receive as a tarot newbie.

I mean, if you’re supposed to be ripping up the metaphorical tarot rulebook and putting down your study tools, is there really any point in studying the tarot at all?