Divination (particularly with the tarot) has been my chosen occult path for years, and the interpretation of reversed cards in a reading has been a perennial topic of discussion in the online community. Here is a recent take on it.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I recently described the reversed Fool in one of the “thematic” positions of a spread as signifying an atmosphere of rudderless drifting. In retrospect, I realize that this assumption of aimlessness can be applied to any reversed card when its projected development in the matter isn’t strictly in line with its “normal” evolution. This misalignment requires rechanneling the “upset” influence toward the goal, which doesn’t change except to expand by embracing a roundabout solution. In other words, reversed-card consequences aren’t anomalous but their trajectory can shift in subtle ways.
The symptom in many cases would be indecisive vacillation and the remedy involves corralling the energy by guiding it down a different path, redirecting its approach to the intended destination. One of the earliest definitions in my long-running saga of reversed-card deconstruction is that they “often serve as signposts pointing down less visible byways in a reading that may otherwise remain unexplored.” My opinion that reversal doesn’t alter the core meaning of a card’s upright expression, just changes its “angle of attack,” fits seamlessly into this premise.
I’ve now written at least two dozen essays on reversal but “aimlessness” has never made it into the header. In thinking about it, I can see where a reversed card’s progress might wander a bit rather than making a “bee-line” to an immediate conclusion, and that could in fact be the path of least resistance in realizing its potential. It reminds me of the Mountain in Lenormand reading; you may never be able to climb over it but you can always work your way around it to arrive at the other side. In short, it’s an impediment but not an interdiction since advancement is still possible, albeit more slowly. Perhaps a reversed card sidles like a crab in pursuing the upright objective, but it gets there eventually.
In baseball jargon, a team has several defensive tools at its disposal, all slightly different: a catchers mitt; a first-baseman’s mitt and a utility (fielder’s) mitt. Unless you’re a catcher dealing with a knuckle-ball pitcher (which a reversed card may very well emulate), there is no need for special measures. Physics define anything that can happen, so defense becomes a matter of positioning and anticipation, the same way we can make the most of tarot reversals and tarot readings in general.
I like to think that reversal introduces “wrinkles” into the flow of events and circumstances; instead of smooth sailing, the journey can become a little bumpy. There’s no reason to assume that everything we would expect of an uneventful voyage gets tossed out the window as tradition would have it, we just need to get a fix on which way the seas are running and tack into the wind if necessary. Recharting a line-of-travel to the next “safe haven” may demand a zig-zag course but it will get us there.
I’ve believed for a long time that reversal doesn’t really change anything material about a reading, it simply requires us to examine how the cards’ irregular input should be managed, and then decide what to do about it (if anything) in pragmatic terms. I don’t always find reversal to be cautionary, just advisory in showing an alternate passage with the usual “here be dragons” warnings bracketing the route. It may just be a “heads-up to keep your head down” until the perturbation passes. This makes good nautical sense; reef the sails and wait it out, fair weather will return by-and-by.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I recently described the reversed Fool in one of the “thematic” positions of a spread as signifying an atmosphere of rudderless drifting. In retrospect, I realize that this assumption of aimlessness can be applied to any reversed card when its projected development in the matter isn’t strictly in line with its “normal” evolution. This misalignment requires rechanneling the “upset” influence toward the goal, which doesn’t change except to expand by embracing a roundabout solution. In other words, reversed-card consequences aren’t anomalous but their trajectory can shift in subtle ways.
The symptom in many cases would be indecisive vacillation and the remedy involves corralling the energy by guiding it down a different path, redirecting its approach to the intended destination. One of the earliest definitions in my long-running saga of reversed-card deconstruction is that they “often serve as signposts pointing down less visible byways in a reading that may otherwise remain unexplored.” My opinion that reversal doesn’t alter the core meaning of a card’s upright expression, just changes its “angle of attack,” fits seamlessly into this premise.
I’ve now written at least two dozen essays on reversal but “aimlessness” has never made it into the header. In thinking about it, I can see where a reversed card’s progress might wander a bit rather than making a “bee-line” to an immediate conclusion, and that could in fact be the path of least resistance in realizing its potential. It reminds me of the Mountain in Lenormand reading; you may never be able to climb over it but you can always work your way around it to arrive at the other side. In short, it’s an impediment but not an interdiction since advancement is still possible, albeit more slowly. Perhaps a reversed card sidles like a crab in pursuing the upright objective, but it gets there eventually.
In baseball jargon, a team has several defensive tools at its disposal, all slightly different: a catchers mitt; a first-baseman’s mitt and a utility (fielder’s) mitt. Unless you’re a catcher dealing with a knuckle-ball pitcher (which a reversed card may very well emulate), there is no need for special measures. Physics define anything that can happen, so defense becomes a matter of positioning and anticipation, the same way we can make the most of tarot reversals and tarot readings in general.
I like to think that reversal introduces “wrinkles” into the flow of events and circumstances; instead of smooth sailing, the journey can become a little bumpy. There’s no reason to assume that everything we would expect of an uneventful voyage gets tossed out the window as tradition would have it, we just need to get a fix on which way the seas are running and tack into the wind if necessary. Recharting a line-of-travel to the next “safe haven” may demand a zig-zag course but it will get us there.
I’ve believed for a long time that reversal doesn’t really change anything material about a reading, it simply requires us to examine how the cards’ irregular input should be managed, and then decide what to do about it (if anything) in pragmatic terms. I don’t always find reversal to be cautionary, just advisory in showing an alternate passage with the usual “here be dragons” warnings bracketing the route. It may just be a “heads-up to keep your head down” until the perturbation passes. This makes good nautical sense; reef the sails and wait it out, fair weather will return by-and-by.