Reversed Tarot Cards: Should You Reverse the Meaning?

You turn over a card and it comes out upside down. Should you read the opposite of its usual meaning? The question has divided readers for a very long time, and each one defends their position with conviction.

The honest answer: both schools work. What does not work is switching from one to the other depending on what suits you, or discovering in the middle of a spread that you had not decided.

The three possible approaches

Ignoring reversals

You turn all the cards the same way before shuffling, and you only work with the upright orientation. It is the traditional position in a good part of Marseille tarot reading, where meaning is considered to be shaped by the surrounding cards rather than by their orientation.

Who it suits: beginners, without hesitation. With seventy eight cards to get to know, doubling the number of meanings is the best way to retain nothing.

Reversing the meaning

The reversed card says the opposite of the upright card. The Star becomes discouragement, the Sun becomes misunderstanding.

The problem: this reading quickly produces overwhelming spreads. Statistically, about half the cards come out reversed, and a five card spread soon turns into a disaster report. It also forces misreadings: what exactly is the opposite of the Wheel of Fortune?

Nuancing rather than reversing

The most widely used approach today, and the most defensible. The reversed card keeps its meaning but changes in intensity or direction. Three possible readings:

• The energy is blocked: the quality of the card exists but does not flow.
• The energy is turned inward: it acts within you rather than in the outside world.
• The energy is excessive: the quality becomes a flaw through excess.

The reversed Chariot does not announce failure: it describes momentum that is being held back, or progress so fast that it goes off in every direction.

How to choose your side

Ask yourself two questions.

How long have you been practicing? Less than six months, do not use reversals. First establish the basic meanings, suit by suit and number by number for the minors, before adding another layer.

What kind of spread do you do? In a short structure, a reversal weighs very heavily and throws the whole thing off balance. In a larger structure, it brings useful nuances.

The rule that really matters: consistency

Whichever option you choose, write it down in your journal and stick to it for several months. Changing approaches from one spread to the next is like changing the rules in the middle of a game, and you will never know whether a reading was accurate.

This demand for consistency also applies to how often you draw. Deciding in advance what to do when you want to ask the cards again about the same subject is the same discipline: you set the framework with a cool head, not at the moment the answer displeases you.

The case of the cards reputed to be difficult

A question often comes up: is a dreaded card less worrying when it comes out reversed?

Not really, and the question itself betrays a misunderstanding. The big cards people dread are not punishments but descriptions of movement, upright or reversed. Looking to the reversal for a softening amounts to negotiating with the spread, which has never improved a reading.

Reversals as a tool for observing yourself

Here is the most interesting use, and the least mentioned. Note your immediate reaction when a card comes out reversed. Relief? Irritation? An urge to reshuffle?

That reaction tells you more than the card itself. It shows what you were hoping for, and therefore what you had not put into words. That is exactly the mechanism of a spread used as a mirror rather than as an announcement, where the way you receive the information matters as much as the information itself.

This habit of observation develops very well with a light daily practice. A single card a day, noted in three lines, is enough to spot your own interpretation biases within a few weeks, reversals included.

Two practical details

If you decide to work with reversals, shuffle in a way that makes them actually appear: shuffling in a stack never turns anything over. Spread the cards out on the table and mix them flat from time to time.

If you decide not to work with them, get into the habit of turning the cards upright when you put them away. Otherwise you will find some upside down in the middle of a spread and hesitate, which is the only truly problematic case.

The pendulum knows neither upright nor reversed, but it has its own traps, especially in love: our article on the questions to ask a free love pendulum helps you avoid them.

The Fool is a good example of a card whose reversed reading changes the nuance without reversing the meaning: its complete meaning in tarot, upright and reversed illustrates it well.

The reversed Hermit is another good example: stepping back becomes isolation, without the card changing its nature. See the meaning of the Hermit in tarot.

Phrasing the question correctly

A final remark. Much of the hesitation about reversals actually comes from a badly asked question at the start: too vague, it leaves interpretation wide open, and the card's orientation becomes the only landmark.

A phrasing that truly opens up the reading makes the question of reversals much less critical. And to place this technical point within the whole practice, the basics of the deck and its spreads remain the reference to keep at hand.

Finally, depending on the channel you favor for your readings, know that the handling of reversals can vary: a written exchange leaves more time for nuance than a phone conversation.