Understanding the Tarot

What is a reversal?

What beautiful things in your life are just a half-turn from manifestation?

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Pulling a reversed tarot card can often fill a new readerwith a sense of dread.

In fact, this still happens to me when I'm feeling insecure or ungrounded. Even when the meaning of the reversal isn't overtly negative, a flipped card can introduce a sense of uncertainty into the reading. How much more so when an entire spread is reversed -- maybe I've pulled a past, present, and future with all cards upside-down, staring back at me from their inverted positions like a heavy burden about to fall on my shoulders.

I know I'm not the only one that experiences this sense of disruption around reversals, and I find that this feeling is compounded by the way many sources approach a reversal. It's easy to reach the conclusion that if a card is positive when pulled upright, then it's straightforwardly negative when inverted. And for new readers, confidence in the strength of the reading can also be undermined when reversals are treated as inherently more mysterious or foreboding than upright cards.

Here's the thing about the tarot, though: it's not straightforward, and it's not meant to be. The tarot is grounded in image, in symbol, and in archetypes. No card carries just one meaning. This is what creates the beautiful alchemy that happens in the space between the cards and the reader. So when you see a reversal and feel that little pit of dread in your stomach, remember -- a reversal is an opportunity. It's a chance to see a familiar card in a wholly different way, to turn a situation on its head, a moment to contemplate what beautiful things in your life are only a half-turn away from manifestation?

Consider the Hanged Man, who appears very near the center of the major arcana:

The image of the card above is upright, yet it appears reversed. Reversed, the card appears upright. Upright, it asks us to slow down, accept a situation in which we cannot immediately move forward, and trust our intuition and the strength of our bodies and minds.

And what does the Hanged Man tell us when it is reversed? Reversed, it also asks us to slow down, accept a situation in which we cannot immediately move forward, and to trust the intuition and the strength of our bodies and minds.

Of course, that's an oversimplification of the constellation of meanings connected to the Hanged Man. But I think this card, so concerned with being upside down and changes in perspective, can help inform our readings of reversals. We can move beyond "If right-side up = good, then upside-down = bad" to a curious exploration of what a reversal might mean for us and our situations. We can ask questions like:

"What might it mean in my life if Judgment were turned upside down? How would it change my way of viewing myself and others?"

"Queen of Wands represents many qualities I own and aspire to. What is the flip side/the challenge/the inverse of the qualities I keep striving for, and how might that influence the way I view myself?"

"If the Six of Pentacles represents traditional ideas about charity and giving, what would it be like to turn those notions on their head?"

Here's another view related to inversion and reversal in the Tarot. Take a look at these two familiar cards:

The Lovers is often viewed as one of the most positive cards in the tarot, and The Devil as one of the most negative. Yet their imagery and symbols are so similar. The Devil appears almost like a photographic negative of The Lovers.

For me, the mirroring present in these two cards calls up the phrase, "As above, so below." Light and dark are not oppositional, but are part of a balance that is present and essential throughout the tarot. The ideal self, the earthly self, and the shadow self are all interconnected. The realm of aspiration and the realm of fear are unified. And so, when we read reversals in the tarot, we might take a moment to whisper to ourselves:

"As above, so below."

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So, with all of this in mind, here are some of the many ways you can approach a reversal in a reading:

Am I in a waiting period? And here we are, back at the Hanged Man. Any time we see a reversal in a reading, one possible interpretation is that the energy of the card is coming to us, but it hasn't arrived yet. Sometimes this means we need to take action or make change before the upright meaning of the card can blossom. At other times, this kind of reversal simply demands patience.

Is there an obstacle in the way? Similar to a "waiting period," a reversal may also symbolize an obstacle. This is especially true with action-oriented cards like the Three of Wands or the Chariot. The reader can ask, what is blocking the flow of energy right now, and are there actions I can take to remove the block?

Do I need to revolutionize my understanding? When I do longer readings like the Celtic Cross, I often find that at least one of the later cards presents me with a riddle. A card appears inverted that seems to make more sense upright, or a challenge card appears where I would have expected a rest card, and so on. When this happens, I often find the deck is calling me to think differently about how I've been approaching a situation. If a reader who is honest to a fault pulls the Seven of Swords, the cards might be raising a need for boundary setting in communication rather than calling out dishonesty. If a hard worker pulls the reversed Seven of Pentacles, it may bear an encouragement to seek rest rather than a warning against procrastination.

Do I need to turn inward? Sometimes, a reversal in the tarot means that the message of the card must be applied internally rather than externally. In the case of a very positive card, it may send the message that we should take the traits we often give to others and give them to ourselves. This message comes up for me in relation to the Queen of Pentacles more than any other card. When she appears to me reversed, sure, she could represent materialism and unreliability. But very often, this card is calling on me to take those beautiful queenly gifts -- dependability, practicality, generosity -- and give them to myself.

Is the wind changing? Sometimes, a reversal simply indicates a change of direction. This is especially applicable to cards that emphasize energy or the relationship between past and present, or of course in cards that represent the role of fate in our lives. When we see the Wheel of Fortune reversed, this kind of interpretation will often apply -- the wheel has been turning in one direction, and now it's turning the opposite way! But we could read a reversed Chariot card similarly -- this pull might mean we need to slow down, or it might mean that the balance of power has changed between the competing sphinxes that pull our chariot. A reversal of Temperance might be a warning against intemperance, or it might be a signal that a period of restraint is reaching its end.

Interpreting reversals is a tarot skill that takes plenty of time to develop, so be patient with yourself as you learn more and get comfortable with the cards and their meanings. But in the meantime, use the above list and your other favorite resources to guide you toward meanings that resonate with you and your circumstances. Remember always that the cards are our friends. They're not here to lay burdens on us. They're helpers in our own journey to uncover insight and live more grounded, attuned, and powerful lives.