How to introduce reversed cards to your Tarot readings

There are a number of ways you can introduce reversed cards to your Tarot deck. Firstly, split the deck in two and turn one pile 180 degrees (that is, upside-down with the card still facing downwards) and then shuffle. Continue doing this until you are satisfied the cards are well reversed. Introduce it into your typical shuffling ‘routine’ for each reading to ensure that different cards are reversed for different readings. The client themselves can also cut the pack and decide which half gets turned upside-down.

Alternatively, you can place your cards in a messy heap and shuffle them around until some are upside-down. Gather them up again to form a neat pack.

If you want to take a more passive approach, you can allow your cards to naturally reverse themselves. For example, a card may fall out and you place it back without checking it is the right way up, or the client may accidentally place the cards back upside-down. However, it will take a longer time for your cards to reversed themselves, and the same cards may stay reversed for a long time.

So now you have reversed cards in your Tarot deck, you need to be very mindful of how you handle your deck and how you lay out the cards.

Handling the reversed deck. If your client handles the Tarot deck during the shuffling phase, be consciously aware of how you hold the cards when your client gives them back to you. Do you purposefully turn the deck around 180 degrees, or keep it in the same direction? This will affect which cards are upright and which are reversed. Obviously, if you are reading for yourself or your client is not physically with you, how you handle the deck is not as important.

Laying out the cards. When laying out the cards, there are two aspects you need to keep in mind – how you turn over the cards and in which direction you place the cards. There are two options for turning over the cards – right to left (thus retaining the orientation of the card), or top to bottom (thus flipping the orientation of the card). There are also two options for placing the cards – facing you (a reversed card will appear reversed to you) or facing the client (a reversed card will appear upright to you). Again, if you are reading for yourself or a ‘virtual’ client, the way in which the cards face is irrelevant.

Personally, when I read Tarot online for my clients, I shuffle the deck, cut it into three and turn one pile 180 degrees. I then shuffle again and lay out the cards to face me, turning the cards over top to bottom. When I read for clients face-to-face, I have the clients shuffle and turn the deck. I accept the deck back as it is (i.e. I do not turn it around), and then lay out the cards to face me, similar to an online reading.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter which method you choose. What is important is that you are consistent in your method (i.e. you do the same thing every time) and you feel comfortable with how you use the cards (i.e. it does not feel completely awkward and cumbersome as you maneouveur the cards).

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 10:28 am and is filed under Learning the Tarot - Tarot Basics, Reversed Tarot Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.