Reversed Aces As “Scattered Focus”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: As I learned them, the Aces exhibit an undivided “singularity of purpose” that embodies the purest and most spiritual expression of the elemental energy associated with their suit. There is no whiff of mundane degradation about them; elementally, they are “as good as it gets” and in a reading they suggest tremendous untapped potential. However, reversal can complicate the picture. In a decision-making situation, an upright Ace might represent insufficient information or incentive to make a move, while reversal can indicate uncertainty over whether there are no good choices or too many, thus impeding prompt action.
I recently came across the definition that 18th-Century French cartomancer Etteilla gave to the Ace of Swords reversed: “multiplicity.” I believe he was alluding to the eventuality of “having multiple children” but it struck me that any Ace when reversed might be deflected from its upright “singularity” and repurposed over a range of possible scenarios. From another angle, if we assume that the Aces must be “triggered” by some stimulus in the querent’s life in order to release their potential, we might say that reversal causes the trigger mechanism to jam, which results in a “misfire.” In such cases, what looked like a clean “shot-on-goal” becomes a scattershot proposition that loses the bead on its target.
Because the energy of an Ace is not yet manifest, the likely impact of its reversal becomes an academic question. However, given the fact that appearance of the Ace in a reading means its energy is “on-tap,” scattering its focus via the “redirection” induced by reversal (one of my standard keywords) can yield some difficulty in getting a handle on it. One of my favorite analogies for reading reversed cards is “turning over rocks to see what crawls out from underneath,” and with the Aces this would seem to be the only available option because they aren’t insistent about making their presence known in ways that invite engagement.
Even when they’re upright the Aces aren’t very penetrating in terms of direct consequences, and distributing their influence across a broader front can further dilute their potency. If we want access to their latent, single-pointed energy, we will have to coax it out or wait until it percolates to the surface on its own. The Aces promise a “waiting game” while circumstances ripens. I’m reminded of the old Paul Masson Mountain Winery slogan delivered in TV commercials by Orson Welles: “. . . no wine before its time.”
In practical reading terms we could say that the Ace of Wands reversed signifies embracing ill-defined plans that don’t quite line up with available opportunities; the Ace of Cups reversed could mean a welter of raw emotions that may degenerate into unrealistic hopes and fears if not held in check; the Ace of Swords reversed suggests harboring impractical visions that can’t find traction in the “real world” and thus are likely to be stillborn; and the Ace of Pentacles reversed implies an excess of paralyzing minutiae that can “gum up the works,” generating a sense of being stuck in neutral. In all cases I would propose that reversal creates the risk rather than the reality of multifaceted challenges because the status of the Aces is still “up in the air.” Recognizing that the focus is dispersed and the forecast unclear is the best way to proceed, perhaps by reserving judgment until further details emerge.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on April 16, 2024.
