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?
Views: 115
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Wyatt Hall on -
hello there,
Im new here and all i but i thought i would throw my two cents into the ring.
I personally never use tarot reversals because i was taught that the cards are gonna say what they are going to say weather reversed or not. But i do know a few people who do use them.
The people that i know that do use them basically just reverse the meanings. LIke for a example the ace of cups which normally means your cup overflows with goodness. When reveresed it would mean an empty cup a feeling of being empty inside so to speak or how ever you would fit it with the particular question.
But its entirely up to you how you would interpret it based on the meanings that come withthe book.
-
Permalink Reply by Alorer Stefanos (The Gecko) on -
I don't use Tarot, so this may not apply. Anyway, I never use the booklet. Never. It only confuses me and the readings are all nonsensical. I use only my own intuition and interpretations. Generally, in the deck I use, the inverse cards usually mean either the opposite or a diminished version of the original version. E.g. if a card associated with relationships is inversed, it means either a break-up or a failed attempt to create a relationship or even lots of obstacles and difficulties in one/making one. It really depends on the rest of the cards and how they connect.
So, for me, inversed cards are very important because they might completely change the reading.
-
Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on
-
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.
-
Permalink Reply by Elise on -
Mmh. I wonder if it would be better for you if you just stuck with a "traditional" deck until you master (at least to your satisfaction) the core concepts, and only then move on to not-so-traditional decks?
Alternately, you could use what I learned as "intuitive" reading," where you'll read the card in front of you, its image, and what it calls to you, disregarding the traditional meaning if you have to. Some decks are actually meant to be read that way.
By the way, you do realize that you *are* reading the ten of bows properly, right? And the upside down wolf, too? ;)
Personally, I use two decks - the Robin Wood, which I never use reversals with; and the Deviant Moon, for which I do use reversals. Why? Because that's what I "get" from the decks' patterns.
So, if you feel you should use reversals, then by all means do so. Reading tarot involves listening to your intuition - so listen to it; you're on the right track. :)
-
Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on
-
Hahaha it's funny that you mention a traditional deck because that's what I thought I was getting when I bought it. I went to the shop and explained to the owner what I was looking for, told them I needed a deck that was pretty point blank regarding interpretations and the woman swore up and down this was the perfect deck for me. Then I open it up and it's a whole new ball game :D
I usually just look at a reversed card as the "opposite" meaning in most cases, but I also can see it as past behaviors. By this I mean the reversed aspect could have been how the querrent usually goes about things, or how they have understood situations to work, and now it is time to move forward and see things a new way...does that make sense?
-
Permalink Reply by Elise on
-
It completely makes sense! ;)
What I meant by traditional is the Rider-Waite (or Waite-Smith), or one of its clones.
Do you know this site? http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
This is THE site to go on to look at decks and see if the imagery appeals to you, and it helps you in choosing your "perfect deck", as the lady put it. :)
Mosby (Witchlet) said:
Hahaha it's funny that you mention a traditional deck because that's what I thought I was getting when I bought it. I went to the shop and explained to the owner what I was looking for, told them I needed a deck that was pretty point blank regarding interpretations and the woman swore up and down this was the perfect deck for me. Then I open it up and it's a whole new ball game :D
I usually just look at a reversed card as the "opposite" meaning in most cases, but I also can see it as past behaviors. By this I mean the reversed aspect could have been how the querrent usually goes about things, or how they have understood situations to work, and now it is time to move forward and see things a new way...does that make sense?
-
Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on
-
Aww man I lived on that site when I got my first deck lol. My first deck is the Feng Shui deck and while it is beautiful, it is the most confusing thing ever. There are tri-grams and reversed aspects as well as cards that can be paired together to influence one another hahaha and although I never seemed to get anything clear for myself, I called always get a great reading for someone else and I mean hitting the nail right on the head for them!
I've seen the Rider-Waite deck a lot actually, I just never really dug it that much. The images are nice, they just never stood out to me. This Wildwood deck on the other hand, it's amazing, it's so earthy...I love it. I can't stop touching it, I sleep with it in my bed hahaha.
I'm glad that it makes sense...I know that intuition is important in divination but sometimes we see what we want to see and I wanted a deck that wouldn't allow me to fool myself
-
Permalink Reply by Oakthorne on -
Artwork is nice, but you need the Tarot to be a cogent language of symbols, not just some pretty pictures. The Rider-Waite is expressly designed in order to communicate precise concepts through its language of symbols, not just within a single card, but throughout the deck. Everytime you see roses, that is love. Everytime you see water, those are emotions.
When teaching the Tarot, I ask my students to use the Rider-Waite, because I know that it's an occult tool first, and an artistic medium second. The same cannot be said for far, far too many other Tarot decks out there. Once you know the Tarot well, there's no reason not to branch out - by that time, you "speak" the language of the Trumps well enough to not necessarily need the symbols to be there every time, but at first, you do yourself a disservice.
I am also not a big believer in purely "instinctual" readings. Take the time to learn the Tarot's symbols. The Major Arcana tell the story of the Fool's Journey. Each of the other suits tells their own stories as well. Ascertain what those stories are. Combining this knowledge of each story with knowledge of the symbols in the deck as a whole, and you'll be able to interpret each and every card when it comes up. If you're not going to rely on the cards to actually communicate their message to you, but are just going to basically stare at them until your unconscious dredges up something purely intuitive, why bother with the cards? There are gazing mediums far better than a printed piece of card stock.
Reversals are important, too. Each card has something to say, yes. But if you only allow each card to communicate its right-side up message, then you've cut the messages it has to say in half. Reversals are pretty easy to learn, generally speaking: they mean either a blockage of the thing the card is talking about, or a manifestation of that card's topic with an opposite outcome that it normally discusses. You'll learn to interpret them based on their place in the spread you're using.
The Tower card is about total destruction and shattering of the normal order of things, but it's for the good. The Tower card reversed is either about the destruction of things for nothing more than destruction, or it means there is something that is blocking that transformative dissolution that really needs to happen.
Here's the deal: reading Tarot is about finding a balance. A liminal space between the knowledge you have of the card's symbolic language, and of what your intuition is telling you as each card comes up. In this twilight place between left and right brain, between conscious knowledge and subconscious understanding, is the true home of prophecy and spiritual insight.
Don't deny yourself a powerful tool for visionary work by being too lazy to put the study time into learning the Tarot (please note that this isn't directed at anyone in particular - it's just a general caution).
If you want a course of study for yourself, then do this:
1. Find the story of the Fool's Journey. Read about it. Put your Major Arcana in order, flip through them one at a time, and use them to tell yourself the story.
2. Create your own story - invent a Fool character, and describe his Journey, one card per paragraph. Keep it short and simple, but make sure that his experiences reflect what each of the Major Arcana is about.
3. Choose the Minor Arcana suit you like best. Write a paragraph for yourself about what that suit means.
4. Read through the meanings of each of the cards in that suit, starting with the Ace, and going through to the King. Keep notes.
5. Now, write a story about the progress through those ideas. One paragraph per card, again, and it should be a story about what that suit is about (love for cups, prosperity for pentacles, etc). Use the images in the cards to tell that story.
6. Repeat this for each of the other suits.
7. Each number in the Minor Arcana suits have to do with a concept. Aces are all beginnings, for example - the number tells what is happening, and the suit tells what area of someone's life it is happening in. Take each of the Aces, and determine how that card is communicating the beginning of each suit's theme in that card. Repeat this with each number and court card.
- Aces: Beginnings, and an upsurge in energy.
- 2: A balancing point, or the need for balance.
- 3: Growth and expansion
- 4: Stability or culmination
- 5: Conflict
- 6: Harmony
- 7: Inner work
- 8: A reimagining or renewal
- 9: Completion of a work
- 10: Outcome of a work, rewards or punishments as appropriate
- Page: Risk taking, looking for excitement
- Knight: Strong focus on the task
- Queen: Nurturing and empathy, being a caretaker; inner mastery
- King: Being in control of a thing; outer mastery
8. Make a list of the elements you find in each of the cards: roses, water, animals, symbols, etc. Find out what they mean. Figure out how the idea behind that symbol is relevant to each card; roses are about love, so figure out how love plays into the meaning of every card with roses in it.
Using a Rider-Waite deck, if you go through this process step-by-step at your own pace, you will be very well-equipped to begin reading without needing books, while still relying on what the card actually means. Combine this with your own intuitive sense, and get some experience doing some readings, and you'll be will on your way to genuine mastery of the style.
-
Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on
-
I didn't just pass on the Rider-Waite deck because of the whether or not the images were pretty. When I was looking for a deck I took each one out of the case and held it in my hands and then I looked through the cards and waited for a response to trigger. Oakthorne, you're very right about the story that major arcana tell and the Wildwood tarot deck to me tells it very nicely combining the wheel of the year with the progression of each card. Each card is connected to a season and a level of consciousness and I find that with this deck the major arcana is very concise.
You mentioned the Tower card, this deck doesn't have a Tower card instead it combined the concepts of the Tower card and the Hanged Man and created the Blasted Oak. When you see the card, there is no doubt about what it means, basically everything you thought you knew, the foundation that you thought you had built for yourself is about to be blown away because it wasn't strong. You had built yourself up on something "false" and now you are going to come crashing back down to Earth where you can start again. The reversal would then mean you continue to hang there with a sense of security that is not real by either being in denial or by a complete inability to see the truth.
What I was curious about would be whether or not a reversed card would literally just mean reverse the meaning or if it takes on a entirely new concept. Some people out there are saying that it does, while others are saying that it doesn't matter at all the message of the card is just that and the direction the card is in doesn't matter.
I like your exercise about writing the story for the suit you like although I don't really favor one suit over the other but I am most definitely going to try number 7 on your list. I think that would help me a lot with the reversed court cards in this deck when they appear in spreads and I did number four as soon as I took it out the pack lol. I made a tarot journal a while back when I was talking with Arimesis on the subject.
-
Permalink Reply by Michiko on -
Love this thread-- I'm learning about the Tarot as well.
When I first heard of reversals I really didn't feel like they were too important, just a factor of shuffiling the cards. I heard that reversals weren't prominent or necessary for the reader to use, only if they wanted. However I haven't really worked with the tarot enough to officially decide. Now I'm feeling that maybe I should read more into the flipped cards...see how they feel in the reading as a whole.
Also, I agree with Oakthorne on the fact that it's important to start the basics with the Rider-waite decks (or atleast ones with rider-waite inspired imagery).
For me I wanted to start of with the basic Rider-Waite just so I could become familiar with the concepts, the meanings, before I delved into learning the different meanings other cards brought to the tarot table. Like the Blasted Oak you mentioned Mosby, (btw, the Wildwood is awesome) being the fusion of the Tower & The Hanged man-- I can tell just by looking at the card what that it's talking generally about destruction. But since the hanged man is involved it could also mean sacrificing something for this necessary destruction to take place, If I didn't know what the hanged man meant-- I would have completley missed that info in the card.
Just me sentiments anyway...love this post! Yay for good topics <3
-
Permalink Reply by Mosby (Witchlet) on
-
You are definitely right about needing to understand the basics of the cards. I started using tarot four years ago and I was always curious about the reversals. Since I taught myself through reading and practice I had no idea that there were levels to decks lol. I just got the deck as a gift, read the book it came with and then did some research online. I practiced for about three months before I even did a full spread for myself. Like I said before this deck actually has defined reversed concepts that differ slightly from just the opposite meaning of the card when it's in the "core" position. I thought all decks were like that until last year when I started talking to people about it and looking at others out there.
It took me a year to find another deck I like and you're right, the Wildwood is awesome. I can't wait to master it.
Michiko said:Also, I agree with Oakthorne on the fact that it's important to start the basics with the Rider-waite decks (or atleast ones with rider-waite inspired imagery).
For me I wanted to start of with the basic Rider-Waite just so I could become familiar with the concepts, the meanings, before I delved into learning the different meanings other cards brought to the tarot table. Like the Blasted Oak you mentioned Mosby, (btw, the Wildwood is awesome) being the fusion of the Tower & The Hanged man-- I can tell just by looking at the card what that it's talking generally about destruction. But since the hanged man is involved it could also mean sacrificing something for this necessary destruction to take place, If I didn't know what the hanged man meant-- I would have completley missed that info in the card.
Just me sentiments anyway...love this post! Yay for good topics <3
-
Permalink Reply by Katarina Ana ( panther woman) on -
Great about finding your new deck!How was the store???I find reversals in cards somewhat irritateing so I rarely use them.
