Reversal as Imbalance
AUTHOR’S NOTE: There are numerous ways to decipher the significance of reversed cards in a tarot reading. Here is one that will perhaps have more universal applicability than some of the others I’ve explored.
Tarot expert Paul Fenton-Smith has a unique take on reversed cards. His premise is that when a card appears upside-down in a spread, this means that the querent has failed to master some aspect of the upright expression of the previous card in the sequence (even if that card doesn’t appear in the current layout) and must in effect “go back to school” before further growth is possible; reversal hauls in the welcome mat and bars the door to the next chapter in the saga. So, for example, the blocked energy of the reversed 10 of Swords will “rebound” back into the upright 9 of Swords in order to puzzle out what is left to be done to move beyond the impasse and soldier on (small consolation there, eh?) I’ve elaborated on his model by noting that, for a time, the seeker has one foot in both environments and is in a vulnerable state of imbalance, betwixt-and-between so to speak. (I consider this to be a philosophical dilemma and not necessarily an experiential one since having to do the latter too often would invite madness.)
It can be assumed that any upright card has a clear line of sight to the next card in the series and is predisposed to develop in that direction, but in Fenton-Smith’s view reversal can drag it back into the past, thwarting progress. My personal opinion is that, although its effect is no less unsettling, it will most often catch the querent flatfooted in the present, usually looking the other way; I like the term “blindsided.” Disruptive imbalance is one consequence of reversal that I hadn’t covered in my thorough compilation of reversed-card meanings so I decided to correct that deficiency. In general I’ve approached reversal as showing the alternate ways in which a card’s energy can be delivered and received (e.g. veiled, confused, oblique, repressed, subconscious, subdued), but I’ve been interested only in the immediacy of the experience and haven’t looked closely at any abiding psychological or physical consequences of its influence. In most cases, how it’s all going to shake out in the long run emerges during the course of the entire reading, and any reversed cards are usually just a fraction of the picture.
Some cards are destabilizing by nature even when upright, and it wasn’t uncommon for classical writers to propose that reversal in some way neutralizes that condition, making it less onerous. I don’t subscribe to that notion, instead believing that reversal merely complicates the situation without materially altering the outcome. A card’s energy “is what it is,” and the slight shift in its complexion imposed by reversal won’t keep it from pursuing its appointed course, although it may bring a fresh perspective to the matter that is germane to the reading. (I once characterized any reversed card as “having a Hanged-Man moment.”) But it’s reasonable to suppose that reversal of a card will upset the state of equilibrium implied by its upright expression, even if that equilibrium is tenuous to begin with. We might say that “all bets are off” in trying to predict with any degree of accuracy exactly how the implications of reversal will unfold under the circumstances since there are so many subtle avenues by which it can manifest. Forecasting a temporary loss of stability involving the affairs of the card in question is one way to generalize its impact with relative confidence.
Here is a very simple example that I pulled randomly last night. Someone of my acquaintance is undergoing an episode of unstable health and had to be admitted to a hospital yesterday. I performed a three-card “Present/Near Future/Final Outcome” reading to examine the situation.
The 2 of Pentacles in the “Present” position is an unstable card even when upright, and its reversal further exaggerates that imbalance; as an Earth card it may have something to do with inadvertent exposure to contamination. This is clearly not a crisis that would have responded to self-treatment. The High Priestess (not coincidentally, the individual is at a “woman’s hospital”) indicates that she will ideally be purged of the ailment in short order, although the exact cause may not immediately come to light. The initial treatment involves intravenous therapy, consistent with the watery “lunar” nature of the High Priestess. The Magician at the end suggests that the surgeon who has worked with her for nearly two years now will be on top of the case. She appears to be in good hands.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on April 2, 2024.
