How-to Guides · 8 min · 2026-07-18
Ten Ways to Read Reversed Cards in Tarot
Reversed cards often perplex tarot learners. Yet they can become the key to understanding a question—if you know how to read them. This guide explores ten methods for interpreting reversals: from suppressed energy to unexpected timing shifts.
Why Reversed Cards Feel So Difficult
Many tarot students have found themselves here: the moment a reversed card appears, they freeze. Beginners especially tend to feel lost, even tempted to skip reversals entirely from their readings.
Yet some traditional tarot teachers hold that upright cards already contain the meaning of their reversals. They choose not to use reversals at all, relying instead on the full information present in each upright card. This approach is entirely valid—new students can absolutely begin with upright cards alone, building a complete grasp of each card's meaning before introducing reversals.
When a Reversed Card Becomes the Key
Here's what's remarkable: in a spread, if only one reversed card appears among many upright ones, it becomes the focal point of the entire reading. The answer you're seeking may lie precisely there.
Mary K. Greer, author of The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals, observed that: - Reversed often signals suppressed energy, potential, or a warning flag - Upright shows energy already manifest, already visible
These two directions don't transform a card into something entirely different. Rather, they reveal two expressions of the same power—expanding how we read and letting us see both faces of one card's energy.
Ten Methods for Reading Reversals
1. Suppressed Energy
A reversal shows what the querent refuses to face or won't acknowledge. Often, this is the key to solving the problem.
Example: Strength reversed might reveal an unwillingness to reclaim personal power. Temperance reversed could show a refusal to return to balance.
2. Weakened Meaning
Reversals can soften the strength of an upright meaning, lowering its intensity.
Example: Six of Wands reversed still reaches the goal, but with diminished momentum. Seven of Pentacles reversed might suggest a harvest that doesn't meet expectations.
3. Intensified Meaning
In some cases, a reversal actually strengthens a card's meaning—especially when cards of the same element or nature appear together.
Example: The Fool reversed amplifies energetic instability. Paired with other reversed earth cards or multiple air cards, the sense of untethered direction becomes more emphatic.
4. Excess
When a state has grown beyond healthy limits, a reversal can warn of it.
Example: The Emperor (Wands) reversed might show leadership or the desire for control being abused.
5. Lack or Absence
A reversal can point to missing energy or a depleted state—creating obstacles and unease.
Example: King of Cups reversed might indicate lost faith in love or healing ability. Queen of Swords reversed could show a lack of clarity and mental stillness.
6. Delay or Unexpected Timing
Reversals often connect to time: - Where an upright suggests smooth progress, a reversal often signals postponement or slowdown - When multiple reversals cluster around one issue, delay becomes unmistakable - If a reversal lands in a "Root Cause" or "Past" position, it might reveal suppressed energy suddenly erupting or an event arriving earlier than expected
7. Misuse or Abuse
Sometimes a reversal shows that a card's power is being misapplied.
Example: The Emperor reversed = abuse of authority; Six of Pentacles reversed = waste; Seven of Cups reversed = greed.
8. Complete Reversal (Use With Care)
This is the simplest approach: flip every upright meaning into its opposite. However, proceed with caution—it can feel too absolute.
Example: Justice reversed = injustice, profound unfairness.
9. Reading Through Imagery
Use visual imagination to observe what shifts when a card is turned upside down. What changes in the picture itself?
Example: Eight of Swords reversed—the swords lodged in earth now fall away, releasing the figure from self-imprisonment.
10. Return to the Card Before It (A Favored Method)
This is the approach used most often in practice: when you encounter a reversal, redirect attention to the card that precedes it. It may hold the crucial answer.
Example: Three of Swords reversed appears → Look back to Two of Swords (often: broken communication, prolonged cold conflict). The difficulty may lie in a refusal to reconnect, leading to emotional rupture.
Reversals Have No Fixed Formula
What makes reversals beautiful is this: they have no absolute answer or rigid formula. They're flexible and invite creative interpretation.
You don't have to learn reversals—but if more and more of your decks show reversed imagery, why not explore it? Beginners can start by trying different possibilities for the same reversed card, gradually building intuition rather than memorizing rules.
The best way to learn reversals is through practice, not rote study.
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Source: zhihu.com — 10 Ways to Read Reversed Cards in Tarot