Inverse, Reversed...Does it Matter?

Ok so I've been Googling for days now and I've got more answers than I can muddle through.

What does it mean when a card in a tarot spread is upside down?

I've read that this naturally happens in your deck (and this is true) but does that mean the card has a new meaning? I just got a new deck and in the book the cards have no reversed aspects so I thought just use your common sense, but my old deck has reversed aspects that are clearly defined...at least defined in the book.

In a few online forums and blogs, it appeared that people were coming up with their own ways to interpret "flipped" cards. One person says it means you have the choice to either go back and fix something or forge ahead, "fail", and become enlightened by the experience. Another site implied that a reversed card meant that an aspect of the querrent was in need of "fixing". I could see that making sense for major arcana, but minor arcana as well?

I had a guy I hung out with who would just flip the card back around and ask me what I thought I saw in it....help me out here?

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Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on October 3, 2011 at 12:27pm

So when you see the reversal you just say 'to hell with it'? Hahaha it doesn't influence your spread at all?

That store is crazy, small and creepy hahaha but full of the strangest herbs ever

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Permalink Reply by Treazon on October 3, 2011 at 9:51pm

I can't give you and exact answer since I'm not familiar with the deck you are using; however, I also use reverse meanings in the examples you gave MY interpretation would be something like this: the ten of bow's (Responsibility) would either mean that the person either is showing a lack of responsibility or needs to be wary of someone in their life (new or old) that lacks responsibility or even that there is something in their life that requires more responsibility than they are currently prepared for...of course this is all dependent on the question that was asked and the rest of the cards in the spread...for the wolf my interpretation would be more along the lines of beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing or a need to become more in charge of their own life (take the lead so to speak) it could also mean that they need to be wary of their own judgement in some situation perhaps love or some other emotion is clouding their judgement making it untrustworthy. I hope this helps some

Mosby (Witchlet) said:

I agree Stef but where I get hung up on that is with the minor arcana. I know people say don't use the book, and yes it can sometimes muck up a reading like nobody's business, but I feel like you have to learn the core concepts applied to the card and you can only get those from the books.

For example, I just got the Wildwood Tarot Deck, and this deck doesn't have pentacles and wands, It has Arrows-Air, Bows-Fire, Stones-Earth, and Vessels-Water, also each minor arcana card is assigned a word, like the ten of bows is responsibility. Now if the card is reversed then that would mean what? You don't need anymore responsibility? I mean that's a smooth enough conclusion to reach but the court cards just have animals on the front, what am I supposed to get from an upside down wolf? You're not a good leader and you're not trustworthy?

Like Stef, I can't just ignore an inverse, I feel like I am missing something crucial when I do that.

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Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on October 3, 2011 at 10:46pm

Those interpretations make sense. They weren't in a particular spread, I was just giving some examples of the cards in the deck. I haven't done any spreads yet because I wanted a clear grasp on the concept of "undefined" reversals lol

Treazon said:

I can't give you and exact answer since I'm not familiar with the deck you are using; however, I also use reverse meanings in the examples you gave MY interpretation would be something like this: the ten of bow's (Responsibility) would either mean that the person either is showing a lack of responsibility or needs to be wary of someone in their life (new or old) that lacks responsibility or even that there is something in their life that requires more responsibility than they are currently prepared for...of course this is all dependent on the question that was asked and the rest of the cards in the spread...for the wolf my interpretation would be more along the lines of beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing or a need to become more in charge of their own life (take the lead so to speak) it could also mean that they need to be wary of their own judgement in some situation perhaps love or some other emotion is clouding their judgement making it untrustworthy. I hope this helps some

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Permalink Reply by Treazon on October 3, 2011 at 11:15pm

a lot of my interpretations on reverse cards is intuition but I do follow a basic pattern...1) a reverse card always means the opposite of the upright reading; for example, the Death card means the end of something (not always through death) which means when reversed it signify s the beginning of something. 2) a reverse card does not always mean that the question asker is the one with the problem it could mean that they need to be aware of a possible situation or be wary of a person in their life that resembles the reverse meaning my previous interpretation of your wolf card is a great example obviously it doesn't always mean they are weak or untrustworthy but maybe that they need to be wary of someone in their life that is. 3) all cards have a reverse there is always a good side of something and a bad side ignoring the reverse meanings is like ignoring any other kind of warning you can't be prepared for something if you don't listen to the warnings and pretending they aren't there doesn't change the fact that you were warned. I am NOT a professional and therefore I can't discount the possibility that I am wrong nor do I want to belittle someone that does not use reverse meanings this is all just how I read my cards and the guidelines I use to determine the reverse meanings in readings I do.

Mosby (Witchlet) said:

Those interpretations make sense. They weren't in a particular spread, I was just giving some examples of the cards in the deck. I haven't done any spreads yet because I wanted a clear grasp on the concept of "undefined" reversals lol

Treazon said:

I can't give you and exact answer since I'm not familiar with the deck you are using; however, I also use reverse meanings in the examples you gave MY interpretation would be something like this: the ten of bow's (Responsibility) would either mean that the person either is showing a lack of responsibility or needs to be wary of someone in their life (new or old) that lacks responsibility or even that there is something in their life that requires more responsibility than they are currently prepared for...of course this is all dependent on the question that was asked and the rest of the cards in the spread...for the wolf my interpretation would be more along the lines of beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing or a need to become more in charge of their own life (take the lead so to speak) it could also mean that they need to be wary of their own judgement in some situation perhaps love or some other emotion is clouding their judgement making it untrustworthy. I hope this helps some

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Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on October 3, 2011 at 11:20pm

Intuition always has it's role and each person is going to read the cards differently but I think I have gotten a pretty good idea of how to view the reversals. I prefer to use them so I am going to stick with that, you just have to have a clear understanding of the cards and what they mean