Reader · 14 min
Reversals in practice
Use your reversal method across a whole spread: method first, then position; reversals counted as a pattern; and the places where one reversed card changes the story.
In this lesson you will
- Read a reversed card with your method first, then in its position.
- Treat the number of reversed cards as a pattern of the spread.
- Recognize when a reversed card changes the story, and give it the most care.
You have chosen your method, blocked, and drawn three cards about money. The middle card has come up reversed. Now the method has to work inside a whole spread: with the position, with the other cards and with the story you are trying to tell.
Method first, then position
Read a reversed card in two steps, always in the same order. First apply your method to the card: Ten of Cups reversed, read as blocked, is contentment at home held back. Then put that into its position. As the Situation it describes tension at home now; as the Obstacle it names that tension as what stands in the way.
As the Advice, the same card asks you to look at what keeps contentment from flowing at home. The position never changes because a card is reversed. An Advice card reversed is still advice: it suggests something to do, now read through your method.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- One method across the spread
- Counting reversals
- When a reversal changes the story
- Your turn
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.