What Is The Difference Between Upright And Reversed Tarot Cards

Discover the significance of any reversed Tarot card RIGHT NOW.

Increased or decreased energy

Some tarot readers think that although the basic energy of the reversed card will either be stronger or weaker than the energy of the upright card. For instance, the Tarot card 3 of Swords might represent sadness if it is drawn straight. However, if you draw the Three of Swords backward, it could mean that you are either less grieved than before or that your extreme pain feels insurmountable. When using this method of reading reversals, it is up to the reader to ascertain the card’s true meaning, therefore you must trust your intuition and pay great attention to the cards around it.

Delays and blocked energy

Your Tarot card may be in reverse to merely warn you that there will be a barrier or hold-up before the upright meaning of the card is realized. The 10 of Cups, for instance, is a card of celebration when it is upright; it denotes joy, happiness, marriage, childbirth, and other occasions for celebration. In your spread, if this card appears reversed, it could indicate that you will still have these things, but you will have to wait for them. However, this should not be interpreted negatively; rather, it should be viewed as a lesson in patience or as a tool to assist you eliminate the obstruction.

Internal energy

Tarot cards that are upright typically depict individuals, forces, and circumstances that are happening all around you and having an impact on your life. However, a Tarot card’s meaning might change to one of internal influence when it is turned over. For instance, the Page of Cups standing upright may portend the arrival of a new individual or romantic engagement in your life. However, if the Page of Wands is reversed, it may indicate that you are experiencing fresh feelings and that these feelings are coming from yourself rather than from anybody or anything outside of you.

What do Tarot cards that are upright and reversed mean?

Here are four of my all-time favorite ways to read Tarot cards that have been reversed.

  • They present a fair viewpoint. Not exclusively “doom and gloom,” but yet not exclusively sweet.
  • They aid in the client’s empowerment.
  • They are easy to understand and include into your readings.

These are the exact same techniques I instruct my students in during my Tarot training classes as well as the ones I employ in my personal and professional Tarot readings.

Method #1: Internalized Energy

The Empress, for instance, is a manifestation of fertility, abundance, and maternal energy. When we come into contact with The Empress in our daily lives, we may sense her energy as caring for and nourishing people or as effectively launching a new endeavor.

A Tarot card that is upright denotes “externally displayed energy.” In other words, the energy of that Tarot card is felt in your connections with others, your interactions with events, and your exterior surroundings.

Reversed Tarot cards, on the other hand, are energy that has been manifested inside. Specifically, energy that is kept within us, is more personal or even clandestine.

The Upright Empress, for instance, might stand for caring for others, whereas The Reversed Empress might stand for caring for oneself.

Take the Tarot card’s upright meaning and add “self” or “private” to it to make the technique simpler.

There is no “good” or “bad” message being conveyed here, which is what I appreciate most about this style (unlike the traditional reversed card meanings which focus on the opposite of the upright card meaning). It’s merely the location of the energy’s sensation.

When a tarot card is pulled from the deck, what does that mean?

An old tarot proverb states that if something falls to the ground, it is at the door. Typically, we interpret this to mean that when a card is drawn from the deck, it signifies an impending event.

Do you reverse-read oracle cards?

Oracle cards that are turned over need not be interpreted as reversals. The reader’s choice in this matter is often their own. While reading reversals in tarot is common, only a few oracle decks are made specifically for this purpose. Reversals are frequently interpreted as a roadblock by those who read the cards.

How should I maintain my Tarot deck?

While rearranging the cards in the tarot deck is a good approach to purify and clear their energy, there are some circumstances in which you might wish to perform a more specialized ritual. If you’re just getting started with tarot, cleaning your deck can be an excellent place to start.

You might want to clean your tarot deck for a variety of reasons, including:

  • beginning with a fresh deck
  • readings for other people
  • You think you need to recharge.
  • Your card readings seem a touch “odd” or “disconnected”
  • Your deck hasn’t been used recently.
  • Your deck has been handled by others
  • You think you’ve been utilizing your deck a lot. A LOT, especially for books with strong emotional content

Why should you cleanse or clear your tarot deck?

Tarot deck cleansing helps keep the energy flowing between you and your deck. Consider it as a little spiritual hygiene to maintain a strong and clear connection. It’s not necessary, but if you have any of the aforementioned symptoms, try a few of the energetic cleansing techniques listed below and note which ones seem to work the best for you.

How often should you cleanse your tarot deck?

This is another way of stating USE YOUR INTUITION: there are no hard and fast laws. Don’t stress if you don’t believe it is necessary for your deck. Alternately, if you like to cleanse them once per week or once per month, that’s great. If it feels appropriate to you, you can even place your favorite crystal on the balcony each night.

If you frequently place crystals on your deck and store it on an altar while not in use, you might not feel the need to cleanse it frequently because this quick ritual will likely be sufficient to keep your deck feeling nice.

There are numerous ways to cleanse your cards, just as there are numerous reasons why you might desire to do so.

Different ways to cleanse your tarot deck

Use holy smoke. Light a dried rosemary, lavender, cedar, sage, or palo santo cleansing wand until it begins to smoke. Hold the smoke a safe distance below the deck while holding the burning herbs in one hand and the deck in the other so that the smoke drifts upward onto the cards. Turn the deck so that the smoke covers it from all angles. Next, safely put your deck to the ground and put out the fire.

On the deck, set a selenite stone (or a black tourmaline or a transparent quartz). It works well to leave it like way for an hour, but I prefer to leave it overnight.

Set them on display during a new moon. The New Moon is energy of a blank slate; you can purify the deck by setting it on a window sill on a new moon night. At this moment, you can also make a brand-new intention for your deck.

Place the cards in a salty dish. A strong and stabilizing cleaner is salt. My preferred choice for a thorough cleansing is this. Allow it to sit anywhere from one to eight hours in a dry area.

Unorderly shuffle. Spread the cards out on the ground, then shuffle them around like a child playing in dirt. This method’s freedom and randomization serve as an excellent reset.

the shuffle and sort. Set up the deck in rows of seven cards across, commencing with the Major Arcana numbers 0 to 22. (see photo above). Next, arrange the cards, Ace through King, one for each suit, as follows: Swords, Pentacles, Cups, and Wands. View the deck in this configuration, then mix everything up (like the chaotic!) and shuffle it thoroughly.

How should a tarot reading begin?

If you find this daunting, Howe advises you to take a deep breath and believe in your own initiative. “In order to see it less as “This holds all of these secret meanings that I have to do all this work to access” and more as “I know all the meanings; it’s just a matter of establishing the connections and being able to articulate them,” use language or knowledge that you already possess. She points out that the four elementsearth, water, fire, and airplay a significant role in the tarot, which is advantageous because the majority of people already have an understanding of the meanings of each element. ” If you do that, your viewpoint will be more personal, and you will be able to express yourself more freely.

Howe suggests the three-card draw and the Celtic Cross as the two fundamental spreads for beginning readers. In the former, three cards are chosen at random from the deck to symbolize the subject’s mind, body, and spirit, or past, present, and future. According to Howe, you could even up the stakes and use a six-card draw, with one card for each location.