AUTHOR’S NOTE: I was recently interpreting the reversed 9 of Wands in a reading, noting that the card when upright is about preserving one’s integrity, but that its reversal implies an “erosion of stability” in that regard. This started me thinking about another broad-brush approach to the application of reversal.

I’ve often thought that a reversed card experiences an indirect or oblique “mode of delivery,” but in pondering this I’ve come to the conclusion that it could also impose a “destabilizing” influence on the energy involved, not necessarily weakening it but making it more unruly. The implication is that its reversed expression must be “tamed” in order to get the most out of it..

I no longer believe that reversal significantly alters the core meaning of a card; it is still “what it is” regardless of orientation. But there are cases where reversal can blur the lines when it comes to getting a firm grip on the impact. I’ve written previous essays on the numerous ways in which reversed meanings can be “slippery” to apply with confidence, but I hadn’t considered that they might be unbalanced to the point of disruption. I’ve mentioned in the past that a reversed card could be “having a Hanged-Man moment” due to its altered perspective but here I’m proposing that, if the imbalance becomes exaggerated, it might progress into a “Tower moment.”

The modern tendency is to downplay the disruptive potential of reversal, and I tend to agree with that opinion, seeing it more as bringing about subtle shifts in the presentation of the upright principle. But there is always the off-chance that it will “overturn the apple-cart” when all we’re expecting is a mild and easily channeled redeployment of force. This is a notion worth adding to our interpretive vocabulary, particularly with cards that are more volatile in temperament. We might see them as excessively “touchy” and prone to being thrown into disarray by reversal, like tossing a wrench into the gears or, as the British say, dropping a “spanner in the works,” bringing smooth operation to a grinding halt. At the very least it could cause us to rethink our strategy for dealing with the card.