Reversed tarot cards: should you read them?

A reversed card is a tarot card that lands upside down. Some readers give these cards a special meaning, some read them exactly like upright cards, and some never let them happen at all. All of these are fine. This guide explains what reversals are, five ways to read them, where the habit came from and how to decide whether you want to use them.

What a reversed card is

When you lay out a spread, most cards will face you the right way up. If a card lands with its picture upside down relative to you, it is reversed. That is all a reversal is: a card in a different direction.

Whether a reversal means anything depends on you. Before you shuffle, decide whether you read reversals. If you do, decide how. Then stay consistent for the whole reading. Clarity beats superstition.

Reversed does not mean bad

Many beginners think a reversed card is a warning. It is not. A reversed card usually shows the same theme as the upright card in a different state, often quieter, inward or blocked.

Hard cards can even soften when reversed. A reversed Ten of Swords can mean the worst is over and recovery has started. A reversed Tower can mean a change you saw coming and handled. Read the card, not the direction alone.

Five ways to read a reversed card

Here are the most common methods. Pick one and use it for a while before you try another.

1. Blocked energy. The card’s theme is there but stuck. A reversed Eight of Wands can be news or progress that is delayed.
2. Turned inward. The theme is happening inside you rather than around you. A reversed Three of Cups can be a celebration you keep to yourself, or a need for quieter company.
3. Too much or too little. The card’s quality is overdone or missing. A reversed Queen of Wands can be confidence tipped into bossiness, or confidence that has gone quiet.
4. Advice to pause. The card asks you to slow down and look again before acting.
5. A quieter volume. The upright meaning is still true, only softer or weaker. This is the gentlest method and a good one to start with.

Every card page on this site has a reversed meaning that you can use with any of these methods.

A worked example

Here is what reading a reversal can look like in a simple three-card spread for past, present and future.

Say your question is “How is my new project going?” You draw the Three of Wands, the Eight of Wands reversed and the Six of Wands. Upright, the Three of Wands shows someone watching ships sail out: a plan launched. The Six of Wands shows a rider crowned with a wreath: recognition. Both are good signs.

The reversed Eight of Wands is in the present. Upright, it means speed and news arriving quickly. With the blocked energy method, the reversal says that things are moving slower than you hoped. With the advice to pause method, it says do not rush the next step. Either way, it fits the story: a good start, a slow middle and a likely good outcome. Your sentence might be: “Be patient this week and keep going.”

Notice how the reversal did not turn the reading bad. It added a useful detail about timing.

How to shuffle for reversals

If you decide to read reversals, you need a way for some cards to land upside down.

• Turn part of the deck. Split the deck in two, turn one half around and shuffle the halves together.
• Wash the cards. Spread the cards face down on a table and swirl them around with both hands, then gather them into a pile.
• Cut and turn. After shuffling, cut the deck and turn one of the piles around before you put it back together.

If you do not read reversals, simply turn any upside down card the right way up as you lay it down. Say to yourself that you are reading upright only, so you do not wonder about it later.

Where reversals come from

Historical Tarot began as a card game in 15th century Italy, and in a game the direction of a card does not matter. Card players had no reason to give an upside down card a different meaning.

Later tradition Reversed meanings appear with the first fortune-telling decks. In late 18th century Paris, the card reader Etteilla designed decks with one keyword at the top and another at the bottom of each card, so the meaning changed when the card was turned. Fortune-telling guides of the 19th century followed this habit.

Later tradition In 1910 A. E. Waite gave a reversed meaning for every card in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. Many of his reversed meanings for the Minor Arcana come straight from those older fortune-telling lists, and some have little to do with the picture. That is one reason I read the picture first.

Modern Today reversals are a reading habit, not a rule. Some well-known teachers use them for every reading. Others never do and read the light and shadow of each card from the cards around it.

Should you read reversals?

Here is my honest advice for beginners: start without them. Learn the 78 upright meanings first, with their light and shadow sides. Each card already has both, so you lose nothing by waiting.

You might like reversals if:

• you want an extra layer of detail in short readings, such as one or three cards
• you enjoy a clear system and like to know exactly what each position and direction means
• you have learned the upright cards and want a new challenge

You might skip reversals if:

• you are still learning the deck
• you find that reversed cards make you anxious
• you read mostly large spreads, where the other cards already show what is blocked

There is no wrong choice. What matters is that you decide before you shuffle.

A reversal exercise

Take ten cards you know well. Lay each one upright and say its meaning out loud. Then turn it upside down and try the five methods above, one by one. Which method gives you the most useful sentence? That is probably the one to start with.

Common questions

Are reversed tarot cards bad?

No. A reversed card is not a bad omen. It usually shows the same theme turned inward, blocked, delayed or quieter than the upright card.

Should beginners read reversals?

You do not have to. Many experienced readers never use them. Learning the 78 upright meanings first is a good plan, and you can add reversals later.

Do reversals work with yes or no questions?

Some readers count a reversed card as a weaker yes or a no. If you use this, decide it before you shuffle. Remember that yes or no readings are a modern habit and work best for small, everyday questions.

Keep learning

Reversals have their own lesson, Reversals: yes or no?, in my free Tarot for Beginners course. For the basics of a reading, see how to read tarot, and for the people cards, Tarot court cards without confusion. My book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot gives an upright and a reversed meaning, affirmation and tips for every card.

Sources

• A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910).
• Ronald Decker, Thierry Depaulis and Michael Dummett, A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot (London: Duckworth, 1996).
• Lauri Mukkala, The Novice’s Guide to Tarot.