SUMMARY: Let it be said that nothing is certain in life except death, taxes and more essays from me on the subject of reversed cards in tarot reading. Here is another composite post based on the new “shared theme” model that I debuted recently, this time taking a more general look at reversals.

The “Bubble of Avoidance” – Why Hide from Reversals?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: In astrology there is “retrogradation” of the planets, in which they appear to move backward in the heavens due to orbital angularity; in a horoscope this is usually read as making the planetary energy less apparent in action. The phenomenon of reversal in tarot reading has much the same effect of reducing transparency. In both cases, a metaphorical membrane of ambiguity is placed between the seeker and the sought-after knowledge, making interpretation more challenging but also potentially more subtle, more profound and more rewarding.

Whenever I see a driver doing something stupid on the highway, my first thought isn’t that they are being willfully idiotic, but that they are in “their own little bubble” and are oblivious to anything going on around them. Their situational awareness has shrunken to the point that it doesn’t extend past what is happening right in front of their nose.

One connotation of a reversed tarot card is that its overt influence is internalized and we can become desensitized to its more objective impact as we dwell on its subjective implications. There can be an anxious fixation on the presumption of negativity when no such threat to our well-being is likely to exist and all that may happen is an indirect or oblique delivery of less-obvious variations on the upright theme. In the worst cases it can seem insidious, but in most instances it will merely be cryptic until puzzled out.

We may try to distance ourselves from the disturbing notion that we might be “blindsided” by the unexpected intrusion of hidden complications. There is a temptation to keep them at arm’s length and insulate ourselves from their consequences by banishing any mention of reversed meanings from our vocabulary, in effect creating a defensive “bubble” around our insecurities that prevents the Universe from communicating its more nuanced insinuations. Some readers experience an inverted image as unsettling, but I believe this aversion should be tamed in the interest of full disclosure.

We make all kinds of rational excuses for why reversal is irrelevant when all we are really doing is negating its potential. I see no valid reason to wear that mental straitjacket and will enlist every tool in my interpretive toolbox as I tune in to the message. If visual imagery can offer symbolic revelation, anything that alters our perception of its import should be considered worthy of investigation, particularly if one is in the habit of free-associating from the pictures on the cards.

In that sense, I see reversals as useful shortcuts that can cover the same obscure territory as a meticulous dissection of the upright mode of expression, but much more quickly. I prefer not to have to parse every last detail to get there; I simply don’t want to work that hard. Besides, I like the mental gymnastics involved; they highlight the difference between turning energetic tarot somersaults and doing repetitious push-ups.

The “Insidious Implications” of Reversal

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Once again my tarot writing has brought me back to the true nature of reversed cards in a tarot reading. In the preceding essay I wrote that they can “seem insidious but are merely cryptic until puzzled out.”

It’s a truism that people often fear what they don’t understand, and upside-down images can be fraught with ambiguity that seems ominous. Do they show failure or inability to “rise to the occasion” in the matter at hand? They could, but I’m inclined to see the influence more as trying to get a handle on what is at stake before even attempting to respond. It’s the “take a deep breath and two steps back” advice that I typically offer when a card turns up reversed since there is usually nothing to be gained by acting prematurely.

Modern thinking at its most refined has moved far beyond the antiquated assumption that a reversed card depicts the exact opposite of its upright meaning. In the old model, a “bad” card became better while a “good” one became worse. This is largely nonsense that has been superseded by the “it is what it is” paradigm in which orientation means little beyond possibly reflecting a condition that may be overlooked in the development of events (the risk of being “blindsided by circumstances”).

This gives rise to the “look both ways and behind you” recommendation before acting on the testimony given by a reversed card. As I understand it, this caveat is just another piece of the “forewarned is forearmed” paradigm, which is what tarot-reading is all about in the first place. I can’t see it as any more threatening than many of the other implications we might derive from the cards when upright, it is perhaps just a bit more oblique in its presentation and therefore something we should “take under advisement.” Definitely nothing to get rattled about unless we let our imagination run away with us.

Reversal As “Yielding the Initiative”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I just came across the idea that, when reversed in a reading, a court card can signify a “yielding” or submissive attitude. (I once wrote an essay titled “Reversed Court Cards: Perverse or Preoccupied?” but it’s not entirely relevant here.) In my exhaustive compendium of reversed meanings for the cards, I included “yielding” in the following general population:

“Passive,” casual, informal, indifferent; noncommittal; unenthusiastic; incurious; yielding; accepting; benign; slow-and-steady; subdued; monotonous; uninspiring; aimless; a necessary sacrifice; giving up; letting go; “going with the flow.” (See the link below for more.)

The idea is one of “throwing in the towel” and quitting the field of battle (a metaphor from the world of boxing). While not all reversed cards will suggest such drastic measures, they do offer the incentive to edge away from direct confrontation with a card’s inherent (upright) nature. There could be a good reason for doing so, but too often it will just be a reflex action brought on by the traditional view of reversal as negative.

In my own work I’ve evolved well past that mode of interpretation in favor of a more nuanced approach. When it comes to “yielding,” I prefer to cast it in terms of “prudent compromise,” rather than the onus of ceding one’s sovereignty. This won’t always (or even often) involve negotiating with another person, but could instead encourage monitoring the direction in which the “winds of circumstance” are blowing and taking a guarded stance in the matter at hand, one that promotes “going with the flow” (at least for the time being) rather than trying to fight one’s way upstream.

It’s not so much capitulating as it as jockeying for position in the larger scheme of things, not the conciliatory posture of appeasement in the present and immediate future but the more sophisticated option of dealing from a position of strength held in reserve. Rather than promptly caving in to apparent adversity, I suggest we wisely and patiently “string it along” until an opportunity to head it off presents itself.

Reversal As “Turtling” – Reluctant Revelations

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I won’t go into the scatological inferences of the word “turtling;” there are several oddball definitions for it, and you can look up this one in an “urban dictionary” if so inclined. Here I’m thinking of the reaction of a turtle when threatened, in which it pulls its tender bits back into its shell so an enemy can’t latch onto them, and extends them again only when the perceived threat is over. (Of course, it doesn’t stop large birds of prey from dropping them on rocks to crack the shell, but that’s a different fable.)

I was just reading about the reversed Hermit in Benebell Wen’s Holistic Tarot, and her opinion has reinforced my own belief that reversal of this card suggests retreating into subjective navel-gazing and being disinclined to bring useful insights to the surface (just the opposite of the reversed Hanged Man). It portrays an inner odyssey with little or no connection to outer reality, leaving the seeker in an insular state of disengagement.

In a more constructive sense, reversal of any card can advise taking a half-step back from immediate interaction with its upright energy and deciding whether to meet it head-on or attempt an “end run” on the impending influence. In the past I’ve defined reversal as “denial” in one of my numerous essays on the subject, but here I’m proposing that it’s more about “due diligence.” It offers a brief “time-out” where we can assess our options and pick the one that seems most prudent. As I often say, a reversed card’s meaning doesn’t change significantly, only how we process it.

This is not wrestling with delay or blockage as is often assumed, it is unwillingness to submit to a “knee-jerk reaction” when it’s not clear what the consequences will be. Reversal clouds the perspective just enough to introduce uncertainty, prompting us to “ambush it” before it sneaks up on us. I find reversal to be tremendously motivating because it encourages me to take an entirely different tack than I usually bring to mundane problem-solving. It requires patience and persistence to let things progress under their own power without trying to force the issue, and then apply intervention at just the right instant.

We can joke around with the old Paul Masson slogan and say “No whine before its time. We will have ample opportunity to bitch about the implications of reversed cards in a reading when we’re trying to puzzle them out.” Personally, I’m a fan of reversals and almost always allow them when I shuffle because they broaden my point of view and cast situations in a different light. As I said in my very first essay on the significance of reversal back in 2017 (linked below), they will “often serve as signposts pointing down less visible byways in a reading that may otherwise remain unexplored.”

The Significance of Reversed Cards