My take on the reversals: [Majors][Minors][Courts]
[Ways] [Number]
[Personality] [Why] [PPF]
[UsePPF] [Warnings/Solutions]
As for everything else in Tarot 1st rule is:
- what ever makes you feel good, there is only one right way of
doing this and that is YOUR way -
There are several 100 decks out there, a lot of them are attended
to have reversed meanings and just as many do not.
There are loads of readers who just wont use reversals regardless
of what was intended from the artist.
Just as many readers do use reversed cards regardless of the artist who never
intended his/hers creation to be read as such.
There are many ways of reading the reversals:
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1)
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The
meaning is the same but shows that the energies are blocked
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2)
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The
meaning is the quite opposite from the upright
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3)
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They
are used to show significant positions hence a reversed in
"past" could show that the past still has a strong hold on
querent or is still a big issue for them.
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4)
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They
are used to show solutions, warnings.
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5)
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They
have a 3card spread worked in - all 78 reversed cards each hold a PPF
spread.
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6)
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Meanings
are the same, but the direction the characters are looking, pointing
etc. changes.
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7)
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Some decks has a
written explanation how to interpret the reversals in the LWB. (Little
white book that comes with the deck.)
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I use all of the above and sometimes all in one reading.
[Top]
How many reversed in one spread ?
I use these settings for an overlook at what the reversals means.
Just like you would if there were many majors, courts or a specific suit.
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0-50%
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this situation is familiar to querent and there for not the reason for
the cards to be reversed.
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50%
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this situation is fairly familiar to querent, but there might be some
issues that is not known.
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50-100%
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this situation is to some level unfamiliar to querent, or their life is
turned up side down.
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No need to get worried if the entire spread or a big part of it
is reversed, this just gives an overall view on how to read the cards.
On the other hand, if there is say only one reversed in the
spread, then you should pay attention to it - this could be telling where the
problem is. For example if it lies in "past" position, then it could
mean that the problem is living on the past or old issues that has not been
taken care of yet.
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Personalities:
Each court card and major represents a personality type. When
reading them reversed think of how that person would react when out of balance.
The outgoing and moving person usually shows high temper, raises
their voice in arguments - showing that they are not happy, letting the steam
out.
The more sensible and emotional person tends to seek with in,
getting all quiet not telling that they are hurt or angry, they tend to suffer
all for them self.
Males tends to seek with in, fades away, not talking about what
is going on -they get care-less and maybe even slobby. If you keep trying to
pump out info about their feelings they could explode with rage without any
visual reason.
Females tends to nag. And they keep nagging until someone listens
to them. They tend to be more outgoing with emotions especially round female
friends. Note this is the gate way to why any reversed "female" card
could be about gossip. They nag and talk about all the others to find someone in
a position worse than their own. They cry, get angry and if nothing happens
about it, they tend to fade away into a non-existence realm where they live to
survive.
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Why use Reversals ?
This exercise would properly work best if you use only the
minors, but if you want feel free to use the whole deck.
Shuffle and pull out a card, make it reversed.
Keep in mind what the card means when upright and then write down what the card
tells you when reversed.
Look at what you have been writing about this one and the choose
from the deck another card that gives you the same interpretation when upright.
Answer these questions:
What differences do you see ?
What similarities do you see ?
What does the reversed add to the upright you would not have thought of ?
I'm not trying to convert you to use reversals, on the
contrary - always remember 1st golden rule in tarot - follow your instincts.
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The PPF spread in each card:
All cards has a PPF spread in them hence this is the Waite-Smith
we are talking about. It requires that the deck you
are using follows the traditional 3sections.
Look at any reversed card, you can divide it in 3 sections:
A lower part (usually sky), a middle part ( usually the action in
the card), and the upper part (usually some kind of ground).
lower section = past
middle section = present
upper section = future
f.ex: 5 of swords reversed could be read like this:
"In the resent past there has been some heavy clouds hanging
over you. There has been some serious fighting going on, and you now stand as
the master of victory not knowing how to handle it. It did not give you the
satisfaction you thought it would. Maybe even feeling that you should go back
and plea for compromise, since this only made things worse than they was. If you
do not do anything about your current situation you may find your self standing
alone with all your gatherings, plans, good attentions and a hollow victory only
to see your friends turning their backs on you."
When using the reversed cards like this, it gives loads of
potentials to weaver a fluid reading.
[Top]
I use the PPF method when viewing an obstacle
as in:
What made the querent want to move from past to present, or what
forced him to ? (past/lower section/sky in obstacle card)
What is hindering him to move on in present (present/middle
section/action in obstacle card)
What should he look out for, pay attention to in the future
(future/upper section/ground in obstacle card)
This will get a fluid reading, also considering facts of life,
any obstacle we might face does not just hang in the past or whenever, obstacles
tend to come back from time to time, we have to discover them, name them, deal
with them, out rule them and live with them, it is a circle of live, not just a
number in a spread.
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This is also how I read solutions/warnings:
lower section: situation
middle section: what to do about it
upper section: outcome
lets take 5 of swords again:
"You find your self standing in a situation where you do not
have the overall outlook. Something did not turn out the way it was supposed to.
You have the means to make it clearer, to make the wrongs right again, in order
to do this, it may be important for you not to stand so hard on your believes
and disbelieves. Maybe it is time to stand of guard and listen to what others
have to tell you. If you choose to stand tall holding on to yours, you might end
up all alone with no one to share with."
Whether you read only uprights or both up- and reversed you can
get this from the cards - I feel it is easier to see what is going on in the
"spreads" hence cards when reversed. And either way this takes away
any limits you might have in mingling the cards crisscross in numbers instead of
reading them on line; 1-2-3-4 etc.
One last thing I use the reversals for is to answer me how to
read other cards in the spread. Many readers that are new to tarot often asks
"How do you know what the card means when there are so many different ways
to look at it ?"
Usually the first answer they get is "follow your
instincts", and that is the answer all right, no doubt about it.
If I do not know what direction to take in interpretation a card
(it does not matter if it lies upright or reversed), then I turn the card around
and study it. What am I missing ? I read the PPF in it, look for a solution or
warning and in that way I determine what the card is telling me.
[Top]
Happy
Reversal Journey :o)
Love Anja
