10 Ways to Interpret Reversals in Tarot

Unless you are shuffling very carefully, there’s a chance you’ll end up with some cards that appear upside down, otherwise known as a reversal. While working with reversals is a choice within Tarot, they can be an invitation to consider an alternate aspect of the card’s upright meaning. Some readers love them. Others hate them. A lot of people simply feel too intimidated to try.

You don’t need reversals to get a rich reading, but they can bring another layer to your interaction with the archetypal energies of the cards. If you’re curious about reversals but feel stumped about what they might mean, consider these 10 methods of interpretation. Each is a different lens that might apply in a different context depending on a number of factors. Start with the upright meaning, then explore which lens connects most clearly with your question and the context.

1.        Opposite

The first and perhaps most obvious interpretive move is to simply invert the meaning of the card. Where an upright two of cups might mean falling in love with someone/something, reversed may mean falling out of love.

2.        Delayed

You might also see the upright card’s energy as delayed in some way. So where an upright World might indicate something reaching completion and wholeness, a reversed World might suggest the completion is put off a little longer.

3.        Blocked

A third approach is to the see the card’s energy as blocked. While an upright Four of Swords might suggest the need to rest and tend in between battles, reversed might indicate something is getting in the way of that.

4.        Resisted

A reversed card may also indicate that the energy of the card is being actively resisted, consciously or unconsciously, in a way that prevents resolution. The Ten of Swords upright often indicates a dead-end situation. Reversed might suggest you are refusing to see or respond to the reality of your situation.

5.        Too much

A reversal can also indicate too much of a card’s energy being present, thus an upright Sun might be a positive sign of new possibilities developing while a reversed Sun might warn that the energy has gotten manic and inflated.

6.        Too little

Conversely, you could consider whether too little of the card’s energy is currently present. In the case of a reversed Four of Pentacles, it might shift the card to mean that resources are flowing too freely and a staunching of that flow may be important.

7.        Pointing to you

In cards that can speak to interpersonal dynamics, reversals may indicate that the energy is originating in you rather than the other person. For instance, a reversed Seven of Swords might prompt self-examination of your own tendency towards deception and sneaking.

8.        The shadow of the upright

All cards have their strengths and weaknesses. At times, the inverted card may not point away from the upright meaning, but may add a slightly different context. For instance, the Hermit upright may speak to a time of retreat for introspection, whereas reversed may express an unchosen isolation such as those experienced through injury or illness.

9.        Unconscious

Sometimes a card showing up in a reversed position can indicate that its influence is primarily still unconscious and needs to be worked to bring into consciousness. An upright Eight of Swords, for instance, may suggest working with where you consciously know yourself to be ensnared, feeling your way towards disentangling yourself. Reversed may suggest you don’t understand that you are painting yourself into a corner and may need to work on bringing that more into your awareness.

10.   Unformed

Lastly, there are times when a card showing up inverted may indicate that it’s a process not yet started for you. So while the Ace of Swords may suggest that there’s a new idea ready for you to grab hold of, reversed may suggest you haven’t had the idea…yet. This last one is particularly hopeful because it points to the potential inherent in reversals.

What’s useful about practicing with reversals isn’t just the additional meanings they offer. It’s what they train you to do with all of Tarot. Every card, upright or reversed, carries layers of meaning and symbolism. When archetypes are flattened into memorized key words, they lose their life. The skill reversals develop is the ability to allow the card to be a vehicle for an active conversation with your own unconscious rather than a rote tool applied like a vending-machine fortune-reading.

Rachel Oblak, LCMHC is a Jungian analyst-in-training and licensed clinical mental health counselor in Williston, VT, writing about depth psychology, cult recovery, and Tarot. She is the creator of "More Than a Fool's Errand: Tarot's Gateway to the Soul," a self-paced digital course exploring the archetypal foundations of Tarot . Read more about her work and her practice →