Guide
Reversed tarot cards: what they really mean
Published September 15, 2026 · TarotCards24
A reversed card is not simply the "opposite" of its upright meaning — that's the most common misconception, and it makes reversals feel scarier than they need to be. In practice, most readers use reversed to mean one of a few things:
- Blocked — the card's energy is present but stuck, not flowing freely.
- Delayed — what the card describes is coming, just not yet.
- Internalised — the energy is happening inside you rather than showing up externally.
Every card meaning on this site includes a reversed interpretation built on the "blocked or internalised" approach — consistently, across all 78 cards. The specific approach you pick matters less than staying consistent with it across a whole reading; switching definitions mid-reading is what actually makes reversed cards feel confusing.
And it's completely fine to skip reversals altogether. Plenty of readers — beginners and experienced alike — read every card upright, all the time. It's a real, standard approach, not a workaround.
Frequently asked
Does a reversed tarot card always mean something bad?
No. Reversed usually means blocked, delayed, or internalised — not automatically negative. A reversed Star, for instance, is fading hope, not disaster.
Is it okay to only read upright cards?
Yes — many beginners (and some experienced readers) skip reversals entirely and read every card upright. It halves the number of meanings to learn and is a completely legitimate approach, not a shortcut you'll need to unlearn later.
How likely is a card to come up reversed?
Roughly a coin flip on any given draw, assuming a shuffled deck with no bias — reversals aren't rare or special on their own, which is part of why treating every reversed card as automatically ominous doesn't hold up.
Do all tarot traditions use reversed meanings the same way?
No — how reversals work (or whether they're used at all) depends on the specific tradition or teacher's method, not a universal rule. Some Marseille reading methods explicitly skip reversals entirely.
Can a reversed card mean the opposite of its upright meaning?
It can, under some approaches, but that's only one of several common conventions — treating reversed strictly as "opposite" is actually less common among experienced readers than blocked, delayed, or internalized readings.
What's the difference between "blocked" and "internalized" as reversal meanings?
Blocked suggests the card's energy exists but can't flow freely — something is stuck. Internalized suggests the energy is happening inside you rather than showing up in the outside world. Both are valid, distinct readings of the same reversed card.
Should reversed meanings feel more negative than upright ones?
Not necessarily — a reversed card often points to delay, internal processing, or reduced intensity rather than a worse outcome. A reversed Star, for example, reads as fading hope, not disaster.
Can I switch between reading reversals and skipping them within the same reading?
It's best not to — picking one consistent rule for a given reading (or your practice generally) keeps interpretation reliable. Switching rules mid-reading is what actually makes reversed cards confusing, not the reversal itself.
Do reversed Minor Arcana and reversed Major Arcana work the same way?
Yes, structurally — the same blocked/delayed/internalized logic applies across both, though a reversed Major Arcana card (a bigger, archetypal theme) tends to carry more overall weight than a reversed Minor Arcana card.
Does this site's card library include reversed meanings for every card?
Yes — every one of the 78 card pages includes both an upright and a reversed meaning, written with the blocked-or-internalized approach applied consistently.