Excerpt
Tarot Card Reversals

Some people work with reversals and others don’t. I make sure that all cards are the right way up before I give them to a client to shuffle.

If cards then end up reversed, it is probably because that is what is meant to happen and there is an important message for the client.

If someone shuffles the cards by mixing them up on the table or doing some fancy card splitting, then there may be a lot of reversed cards and sometimes it can be difficult to know which way should be upright for the deck. Often that becomes a matter of intuition to notice which cards seem to be really relevant in the reversed position. Often with reversed cards, you can get a sense of something wanting to work, but there being something stuck that is stopping it from happening.

In many cases, a reversed card will indicate that the energy of the Upright card is blocked in some way.

Some of the cards have more specific meanings when reversed and sometimes the Reversed card can be LESS challenging than the Upright card.

Approach the Reversed cards in the same way as you would an Upright card. Look at the card and notice how the image is now different. What is now happening? Is there anything that is more striking in the Reversed position? Look at the colours, the shapes, the symbols and how things now relate to each other in the reversed position. Does something now stand out more than it did before? Is one part of the card more prominent than another?

Notice how the card makes you feel and any insights that spring to mind. You may get a completely different sense or feeling from the card. Look as well at the reversed card in relation to the other cards around it. Notice how it changes the picture with those cards as well.

When a reversed card is significant, it will have an effect on the other cards around it. Look at the whole spread and observe it as a complete picture.

Sometimes a reverse card can be a major warning or sometimes it can just be a little blip on the horizon that needs to be freed up for you or your client to move forward.

Make a note of it in your Tarot Journal.

Some people completely ignore reversed cards and treat them as if they were upright. Some readers make a point of having reversed cards in the deck. The challenge with this is that you don’t know whether the reversed card is meant to be there for you or whether it is someone else’s stuck energy or even the reader attempting to take you on his or her personal power trip.

Before reading, I tend to make sure that all the cards are in the upright position and all energies from previous readings are cleared away. In that way, if a reversed card comes up then I know it is significant and needs to be carefully looked at.

I tend to take them on a reading-by-reading basis. When a reversed card comes up, I look at in the context of everything else and let my intuition guide me about the significance and meaning of it in that particular context.