ALTERING THE REALITY OF REVERSED CARDS

‘Tis time to talk about reversals.

Some readers swear by them. Some ignore them entirely. Some of us just accidentally dropped our deck on the floor and were far too lazy to put every single card back right-side up.

Regardless of how you feel about them, reversed cards are a reality of the practice. But like everything else in tarot, how you actually use them is entirely up for interpretation.

The Blockage Trap

I avoided reversals for a long time. My tarot training was entirely random, and learning the foundational 78 cards was hard enough. But because my ego constantly craves the ability to say I know absolutely everything (I really, really don’t), I eventually put in the work.

I went through the standard stages of learning upside-down cards. Stage one was basic: "Oh, it just means the exact opposite." Stage two was the slightly more pretentious phase: "It represents internalized energy or a blockage preventing forward momentum."

The problem with both of those interpretations is that they can quickly turn the deck into a fatalistic weapon.

The Monday Morning Buzzkill

Case in point. I recently threw a phenomenal three-card spread for the week: the Two of Wands, The Chariot, and the Four of Wands.

It was a flawless narrative. I was moving from planning, straight into a rush of forward momentum, right until I arrived at a tangible outcome. I was going to find a new creative home and build a solid foundation. Great spread.

Then I pulled a single daily card to set the mood for Monday morning.

Six of Wands, reversed.

It was a classic case of what the actual fuck?! The upright Six of Wands is the victory lap. Reversed, it meant I was going to speed forward into a wall where nobody gave two shits about my work. Or, maybe it meant I was going to completely sabotage myself with imposter syndrome and refuse to accept the praise I actually deserved.

I could have easily spiraled. I could have obsessed over that depressing interpretation and manifested a miserable Monday by walking into the office with a dour attitude.

Manually Turning the Corner

Instead, I looked at the card propped up on my altar and did something incredibly simple.

I physically turned it around.

I went from anticipating a lack of recognition to deciding I was going to be celebrated. Did I change the "official" meaning of the card? Sort of. But I stopped looking at the card as a fortune teller predicting my inevitable doom, and started using it as a tool to overcome my own lousy attitude.

In turning the card, I turned my perspective around. I went into that Monday ready and willing to fight for the recognition I deserved. And you know what? I got it.

The Tool in Your Hands

That is the entire point of tarot. It is a means to take a world that has gone completely upside down and manually flip it the right way. It is a practical tool, and you can use it however you damn well please.

If you are staring at a reversed card portending doom, destruction, or a complete lack of validation, pick it up and flip it around. Change your perspective of the situation and use it as a physical reminder that you are the one who actually holds the power in your life.

Or, to strip away the self-help nonsense and be brutally honest: if you do not like something, change it rather than being a whiny bitch about it.