To Reverse or Not to Reverse, That Is The Question

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?

Every tarot reader you come across will have a different opinion on reversed cards. Some people omit reversals entirely, keeping all the cards upright, and should a card happen to be laid in the reverse, for whatever reason, they just pop that card back upright and get on with their reading, as if it never even happened. Some people LOVE reversals, flipping their cards about, shuffling them every which way, to ensure they are as jumbled as could possibly be, before pulling cards. There are, of course, a variety of approaches to interpreting a reversed card when it appears.

Some, like me, fall somewhere in between. As we each find our footing with the tarot, develop our own relationship with the cards and style of reading, we each form our own opinion about reversed cards. This post will, naturally, offer insight into my own approach to reading reversals, but as with most things when it comes to the tarot, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do it, there is simply the right approach for you.

Avoiding Overwhelm

78 cards, each with their own complex, nuanced and individual meaning, is a lot to learn. Adding reversed meanings into this, we have a whopping 156 different meanings that can present themselves. When we factor in various combinations, spreads and tailoring the meaning to the question, not to mention astrology and numerology connections, it’s no wonder we can find reversals so overwhelming.

Here’s the thing, when we’re overwhelmed, we’re not going to do our best work in readings. Overwhelm is taking us out of our intuition, and putting us firmly in our rational brain, or rather, in this context, our irrational one. So, if reversals feel overwhelming to you at present, try eliminating them from your reading. Reading upright-only for a while will enable you to boost your confidence reading the tarot, making connections between the cards and the images, and most importantly, will deepen your understanding of the upright meanings of the cards.

The more you know about the upright meaning, the more easily you will be able to come to an understanding on what reversed interpretations feel right to you. There is not just one way to interpret a reversed card (something for another post perhaps - let me know if you want me to do this one!) and so we have to come to our own decision on what a reversal is trying to tell us in a reading.

My Approach

Personally, I shuffle my entire deck upright, i.e. there are no reversed cards. However, if any cards appear reversed in a reading, for whatever reason, perhaps the card jumped out of the pack and flipped itself upside down for example, then I will read the card as a reversal, and I will pay particularly close attention to that card and its meaning.

Trust me when I say, cards jump out reversed more than you would think. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know what I mean, as reversed cards frequently make their way into pick a cards and collective readings!

How It Began

When I first started reading tarot, like most beginners, I stuck to reading upright cards. As my relationship with the cards grew, I recognised the complexity, the light and shadow, that the 78 cards contained. One of the things I particularly love about the tarot is how comprehensive it is, in terms of the way it reflects back our human experience. This meant that, for a long time, reversals felt unnecessary to me. My readings felt no less complete, no less nuanced, from not incorporating reversed cards into them. I was providing insight for myself, for friends and family, for friends of friends, for strangers, and I was quite content with the way I was reading. I still had so much to learn about the tarot, and I wanted to learn more and more about the tarot, but reversals were not high on my priority list.

The Problem

There was just one little problem. Whenever I did a reading for my partner, at least one of the cards would be reversed. Perhaps the card jumped out the pack and, in so doing, flipped itself over. Perhaps I picked up the deck upside down, and so the first card came out in the reverse. Maybe there just so happened to be one or two reversed cards in the pack from a prior reading, where I’d hastily stuffed the cards back in the wrong way around. The potential explanations were aplenty. Sure, this happened on rare occasion when reading for myself or others, but the consistency with which this happened, and I mean it was every single time I read for my partner, made me take note.

Those reversed cards, where they trying to tell me something?

It All Changed With a Shuffle

Something we can see in the wisdom of The Fool’s Journey is that, if the universe is trying to tell you something, and you ignore it, the message will gradually get louder and louder and louder, until you can’t ignore it any longer (*cue, Tower moment*). So, naturally, where I had not developed an approach to reversed cards yet, the universe had to get my attention.

On this particular occasion, I was playing about with a new deck. I usually shuffle and pull cards on behalf of the querent, but on this particular occasion, I don’t know why, but I asked my partner to give the deck a shuffle before pulling him some cards.

He chose to riffle shuffle them, which involves cutting the deck in half. This is important, and you’ll understand why in a moment.

Once he was satisfied that he had shuffled them sufficiently, I proceeded to pull his spread of cards.

Almost every card I pulled out for him in that reading was reversed.

“You flipped half the cards over when you cut the deck!” I immediately assumed. I still proceeded to do the reading, to the best of my ability. I had some idea what reversals could mean in a reading, but at this point I really had not researched or practiced it with any depth, and so interpreting a mostly-reversed spread of cards was a real challenge.

After concluding the reading, I grabbed the deck, intending to sort through the remaining cards and ‘right side up’ all the reversed cards that were in the deck.

However, as I flipped through, there were no reversed cards left in that deck.

Not a single one.

To this day, I still do not know how those particular cards, and there were many, ended up reversed.

But following that moment, I came to a place in my practice that, if a card appears reversed… it’s reversed. And not only has it shown up reversed, it has literally flipped itself over in order to appear in that form.

For this reason, I do not like to intentionally reverse any cards in my deck, because when a card does show up reversed in my readings, for me, it carries more weight, and demands attention.

To be clear, I’m not reinventing the wheel here. There are certainly other readers who have this same approach to reversals, but I hope giving you some insight into how I came to this conclusion is helpful to your own tarot journey, in enabling you to find your own approach to reversed cards. Paying attention to the way in which reversals are showing up for you, can help you better understand what they are trying to demonstrate to you in general, when they appear.

Dipping Your Toe in The Water

If you’ve been upright-only for a while, you’re feeling the pull to expand your practice, or perhaps you feel like your readings could have more depth and/or nuance, you can actually use the approach I’ve outlined above as a way to dip your toe in the water, when it comes to reversals.

Before a reading, set a clear intention that you will read a card as reversed, if it appears in the reading as reversed. To avoid confusion, it would be advisable to also set an intention of what a reversal means when it appears in a reading.

In doing this, your frequency of dealing with reversed cards is more likely to be lower, and when you do, it is more likely that you will be contending with one or two, not a mostly reversed spread (although, as you can see from my example, it’s not like it can’t happen!)

This can feel less intimidating than flipping half your deck, and therefore allows you to get to grips with the technique of reading reversals, without putting you into a place of overwhelm.

Likewise, if you read tarot without reversals, if they don’t feel necessary to your practice, and if you’re getting the desired depth out of your readings, that’s okay too! As is the case with most things when it comes to tarot, if you’re doing it because you feel like it’s what you’re ‘supposed’ to do, but it feels wrong to you, and if it is having a negative impact on your readings, your tarot readings very quickly become the opposite of an intuitive practice.

Do what feels right to you because, “To reverse or not to reverse?” That is a question only you can answer.

N x

Let me know your approach to reversals down in the comments below! Perhaps you’re still figuring it out? If you’d like me to expand on the topic of reversals, drop a comment! I’d love to hear from you. Did you know I also offer tarot mentoring sessions? These virtual 1-1 appointments can be tailored to suit your goals and needs, whether you are a complete beginner and have no idea where to start, you have specific pain points or cards that you struggle with, or if you are looking to refine your reading skills and deepen your understanding of the cards. To find out more and book a FREE 20 min consultation to discuss your requirements and establish whether this would be a good fit for you, click here.