Working with Reversals

Feb 12

For those who don’t know, a reversal is a term for a Tarot card that comes out upside down when we pull it! Despite having a reputation for being bad/negative omens, or a signal that energy is blocked, reversed cards actually offer brilliant and beautiful wisdom, providing gorgeous color, flavor, and specificity to anywhere they land in a reading.

Because each card is a pure, beautiful, soul centered essence, a reversal cannot be a warped version of that essence. A reversal is FULL of medicine, full of beauty. It is the equivalent of taking the rugged, wild path in the forest, versus the marked trail. You are going to arrive at the same place, but you will have a different journey. They help to flavor the card’s meaning, to offer something different and more complex than the original meaning of the card when right side up.

When we get The Fool reversed, it doesn’t mean don’t jump, or take the leap. It means that there may be a fear of looking foolish, or doubting our intuition when it comes to the leap. A reversal of The Fool is an invitation to sit beside our scared inner child, to listen to them, and to tune in with why we might be feeling scared. Then, and only then can we take that leap, hand in hand with our inner little one.

The presence of a reversal is such a gift.

They can represent a deeper journey into the medicine of whatever card we pull, allowing us to work through whatever fear is there. It can also be a signal that the heaviness of a card is lightening (this is true with The Devil, The Tower and most 5’s), a liberation from a long held cycle. Be willing to open the heart to your the reversals you pull. They are bringing nothing but goodness.