AUTHOR'S NOTE: In common slang, failing to have "both oars in the water" carries a meaning similar to "not playing with a full deck," but in tarot terms this nautical metaphor could imply rowing in circles, unable to find a direct route to one's destination. Here I'm applying it to the conundrum of reversed cards … Continue reading One Oar in the Water: Reversal as “Rowing in Circles”
tarot-reversals
Confronting Reversals: Do We Retreat or Advance?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really need a new tarot book. Right now I'm re-reading Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, which I believe has been revised, re-titled and republished since I bought it. This is not a bad experience, just a redundant one, but it has brought me face-to-face once again with his premise that encountering a reversed … Continue reading Confronting Reversals: Do We Retreat or Advance?
The “Scream of the Butterfly:” Squeezing the Bad from the Good
"Before I sinkInto the big sleepI want to hearI want to hearThe scream of the butterfly"- from "When the Music's Over" by Jim Morrison of The Doors AUTHOR'S NOTE: We can only guess whether Jim Morrison achieved his goal before he sank into his final "one-way" encounter with drugs, alcohol and heart failure (but given … Continue reading The “Scream of the Butterfly:” Squeezing the Bad from the Good
The Haunting: Residual Implications of Reversal
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a companion piece to my previous essay on reversed cards as indicators of introspection or introversion that explores another notion I picked up from Paul Fenton-Smith, who observed that the reversed 3 of Swords can imply being "haunted by past disappointments." Unlike the influence of an upright card, which will often … Continue reading The Haunting: Residual Implications of Reversal
Reversal as Introspection or Introversion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my rereading of Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, I frequently encounter his assumption that a reversed card points back to the previous upright card of the suit to suggest unfinished business relevant to its nature. Most recently, he described the reversed 5 of Cups as showing a need to go inward and retreat … Continue reading Reversal as Introspection or Introversion
Deja Vu, Take 2: Rear-View Mirrors of the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title of this essay refers to the fact that I already posted on the subject of "deja vu all over again" in the Lenormand category. Here the target of the famous Yogi Berra quip is the Minor Arcana series of the Waite-Smith (aka "RWS") tarot. (Note that although I much prefer the … Continue reading Deja Vu, Take 2: Rear-View Mirrors of the Minor Arcana
Reversed Fours: A Stumble and A “One-Point Landing”
AUTHORS NOTE: Having finished re-reading 54 Devils, Cory Hutcheson's playing-card divination book, and not yet possessed of a new tarot book, I picked up my interrupted reassessment of Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master Class (which I believe has now been renamed). In it he mentions that the 4 of Wands reversed can indicate a "lack of … Continue reading Reversed Fours: A Stumble and A “One-Point Landing”
Numerous Reversals as Trade-offs: Pyrrhic Victories and Strategic Retreats
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Encountering numerous reversed cards in a brief tarot reading can present a challenge that is difficult to resolve. In an otherwise favorable forecast they can mean willingly giving up just a little more than you get to achieve your goal (the "Pyrrhic victory"), while in a less fortunate augury the implication is that … Continue reading Numerous Reversals as Trade-offs: Pyrrhic Victories and Strategic Retreats
The Roads Not Taken (There Can Be Only One)
AUTHORS NOTE: In his famous poem, Robert Frost had two roads to choose from. Here I'm proposing four and using reversals to decide which ones should not be taken in favor of a more promising upright signpost pointing the way. Select a deck that has non-reversible card backs so you can discern orientation without turning … Continue reading The Roads Not Taken (There Can Be Only One)
Leveraging Reversals
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the past few weeks I've offered a handful of spreads that include a fixed series of reversed cards in contradistinction to an equal number of upright cards. The idea is to identify an alternate path to the same objective that is less obvious in nature, symbolic of a detour into an unfamiliar … Continue reading Leveraging Reversals
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 