It basically implies that you’re missing some of the energy of the card’s turned-right-side-up meaning when you draw a reversed tarot cardwhich can happen accidentally or on purpose if you flip the deck upside down and choosebecause you’ve lost some of the energy of that meaning. The queen of cups, for instance, denotes both excellent intuition and emotional security. Therefore, a reversed queen of cups could represent emotional insecurity and a blockage to intuition. (You might think about purchasing a tarot book or visiting a tarot website to confirm the precise significance of a reversed tarot card that you selected.)
You are free to select whether or not to interpret a card as a reversal. Maria Sofia Marmanides is a tarot reader.
According to astrologer and tarot reader Maria Sofia Marmanides, you are under no obligation to interpret reversed tarot cards when you are dealt them: “The choice of whether or not to interpret a card as a reversal is yours. You get to choose how you want to approach that trip because tarot is a very individualized discipline, and one of the things you can pick for yourself is whether or not you read reversals.” You’re learning various things depending on where in your tarot journey you are “Adds she. “In the beginning, it might be best to merely adhere to the upright meanings rather than the reversed ones. Why, if you don’t have to, would you want to increase the amount you need to learn?
In This Article...
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.
How are tarot cards facing?
There is no “correct” response, as there are numerous things in the Tarot. The best course of action is to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of all your options before choosing the one that feels most natural to you.
You have a choice here between dealing cards with yourself or the client facing you. This is crucial when using reversed Tarot cards since you need to be able to distinguish between the upright and the inverted cards. Therefore, be cautious to choose your strategy before you lay down the cards.
Dealing the Cards to Face You
It is simpler to read the cards if they are dealt face you. It happens frequently that an image will attract your attention and communicate a certain tale, which you can then share with your client. If the card is upright, the image will seem differently and might convey a different message than if it is inverted. Therefore, facing the cards allows you to witness the story as it is being told.
In addition, I think it’s crucial for you, the reader, to see the cards as they are being set out rather than your client because it is you who will be giving the cards their meaning. Similar like trying to read a book upside-down to a young child, it is possible, but it is more challenging!
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 can the shuffle of the tarot cards be reversed?
There are many various ways to shuffle the Tarot cards, despite the fact that it may appear to be very straightforward at first glance. Here are a few examples:
The most typical approach to shuffle a deck of cards is in this manner. Shuffle the cards in the main deck from one side to the other while holding the deck in one hand.
The deck should be divided into numerous piles, then the piles should be reassembled.
After placing the cards face-down on the table, spread them out into a large, jumbled pile with your hands. Bring the cards back together into a single pile after that.
Which approach is thus the best one? So, give them a try and decide which works best for you. Additionally, you might combine different approaches in your readings. As an illustration, I shuffle overhand, divide the deck into three piles, turn one pile 180 degrees, reassemble the piles, and shuffle once more.
You might be curious as to why I rotate a stack 180 degrees. That’s because I deal with reversed cards and prefer to shuffle them while turning them both upright and reversed.
What do tarot jumping cards represent?
I questioned whether I should add these cards to the list, but they are also the supplemental cards that enhance a query, a reading, or a spread. The card or cards that pop out of the deck during shuffling are referred to as “Jumpers.” Unsurprisingly, these cards frequently provide the solution to the query that has been circling in your head or in your mind’s conversation while you have been shuffling your cards.
My Take:
There are occasions when a lot of cards come out at once. I don’t even bother to look at such cards because I assume that the shuffle was flawed. However, I typically peek when one to three cards start to fall out. They essentially provide the response to the query that has been circling in my mind as I have been dealing the cards. Even if I finish up creating a complex spread to address the issue at hand, the main message will still be what these Jumper cards have already made clear.

