Understanding Tarot Reversals: What Reversed Cards Really Mean

Reversals are one of the most misunderstood aspects of tarot reading. When a card appears upside-down in your spread, it doesn't simply mean "the opposite" of the upright meaning. Understanding reversals adds an entire dimension of nuance to your readings.

What a Reversal Actually Means

Think of reversals as variations on a theme rather than opposites. A reversed card can indicate any of the following:

• Blocked energy: The quality the card represents is present but unable to express itself fully.
• Internal expression: The card's energy is turned inward — affecting your inner world rather than your external circumstances.
• Shadow expression: The card's energy is manifesting in an unhealthy or unconscious way.
• Delayed manifestation: What the card promises is coming, but not yet arrived.
• Excess or deficiency: Too much or too little of the card's core quality.

Examples in Practice

The Zero Point (The Fool) reversed: Upright, this card represents limitless potential and the courage to leap into the unknown. Reversed, it suggests paralysis before the void — you have the potential but fear prevents you from taking the first step. It's not the absence of potential; it's potential frozen.

Lord of Entropy (The Emperor) reversed: Upright, this card brings structure, discipline, and ordered systems. Reversed, that same structure becomes tyranny — rigid systems that stifle growth. The energy is the same (authority and order), but expressed in its shadow form.

Should You Use Reversals?

Reversals are optional in tarot practice. Many experienced readers choose not to use them, relying instead on card position and surrounding cards for nuance. Others consider reversals essential. Neither approach is wrong.

If you're a beginner, start reading without reversals. Once you're comfortable with upright meanings, introduce reversals gradually. In Chaos Tarot, you can toggle reversals on or off for any reading.

Merkstave: Rune Reversals

In Elder Futhark rune reading, reversals are called merkstave (literally "dark stave"). Not all runes can be reversed — symmetrical runes like Isa (ᛁ), Gebo (ᚷ), and Dagaz (ᛞ) look the same in any orientation and therefore cannot appear merkstave.

Merkstave meanings tend to be more severe than tarot reversals. A reversed Fehu (ᚠ) shifts from wealth and abundance to waste and financial hemorrhage. The Nordic tradition pulls fewer punches.