This one is a hard for me.

I don’t use reversed cards and I never have consistently. I read using spreads. I often make them as I go along and I include positions for challenges, obstacles or weakness . I tend to interpret the cards in those positions as many would read a reversed card. Yet sometimes I still wonder if I am missing something by not using reversals.

I am a bit of a book worm and so I am always reading. Since I love Tarot is no surprise that many of those books relate to Tarot.

Often I find myself loving the interpretation of some reversed cards and that makes me wonder again if I made the right choice.

I am well familiar with the many views on reversed cards.

Some readers look at them as opposite of the upright meaning.

Others see them as the extreme of the energy expressed.

Nurturing when taken too far, as an example, can become smothering.

Another way to interpret reversed cards is as energy about to enter the situation or leaving it.

Either way the energy of that card is not as strong as when upright. I like this way of thinking, but I think it could be problematic when used it reading for others. I guess you could look at the elements to help you decide if that energy is growing or weakening. It sounds a bit complicated to me, particularly for those who may not be familiar with the elements and how they interact.

Last but not least, there are those who see reversed cards just as a scream for attention, look at me, kind of idea.

Therefore such reader would look at the reversed card carefully or first. He or she would give that card more attention.

I don’t know. I think there are pro and cons to read with reversed as well as to reading without them.

One of the reason I have never really taken to reversals is because I was never sure on how to mix them. Do you take the deck, cut it in half and turn one pile upside down? Would that be too much?

How do you decide? I know that some people suggest to spread the deck around and then move the cards all over the place like you were playing with sand. Personally I am not fussy on it, but it may work for you.

To sum it up. I read cards in the upright position. My meaning for them can change depending on where they are in the spread. I will interpret a card that is in a challenge or negative position as weak, or as an extreme of the energy it represents. As an example the Queen of swords , which I usually see as someone smart, brave, decisive and communicating clearly and directly, may become someone who can come out too critical and whose message can leave people hurt. Even when reading cards in regular positions, therefore as upright, I look at the full spectrum of their energies , from light to dark. I come up with my interpretation considering the overall energies present in the reading. Lots of Wands cards will make my interpretation for them strong and bold, much more let’s say than if a wand card was surrounded by many cups.

What about you?

Do you use reversed cards?

Why? What is your approach? What has been your experience with them?

I would love to hear what you think.

For a more recent post on reversals click here Experimenting with Tarot reversals