Bunning - Learning Tarot Reversals

First published in 2003 by

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

York Beach, ME

With offices at:

368 Congress Street

Boston, MA 02210

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2003 Joan Bunning

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

Illustrations from Universal Waite Tarot Deck reproduced by permission of U. S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright 1990 by U. S. Games Systems Inc. Universal Waite is a registered trademark of U. S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bunning, Joan.

Learning tarot reversals / Joan Bunning.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-57863-271-4

1. Tarot. I. Title.

BF1879.T2.B834 2003

133.32424--dc22

2003014719

Typeset in 11/14.5 Centaur

Printed in the United States

MV

10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials z39.481992 (r1997).

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To fools everywhere,

LEAGUE OF FOOLS

Why are you sitting in

a darkened room,

my friend?

To the window with you!

Spread wide those drapes.

Throw up that sash.

Lean way out and drink in

great draughts of light.

Better yet,

Climb out on the ledge

and raise high

your precious cup.

Shout to the sun,

Bottoms up!

Passersby will stare.

They will slap their thighs

at you, the silly drunk,

hanging by your heels.

But, be you still

a tippler of the air.

Join the league of fools

besotted by

the potent wine of joy.

JEB

I wish to thank Steve for his never-failing support and design of the figures in this book. Thanks also to David and Jonathan for keeping the household lively and fun while Mom toiled away at the computer. I would also like to thank the staff at Red Wheel/Weiser for their many contributions to this effort.

In addition, I wish to thank the tarot teachers, writers, and students who have shared their insights and experiences with me over the years. You've added tremendously to my understanding. Finally, I offer my heartfelt gratitude to those everywhere who have felt inspired to look within for their Inner Guides. You are making a difference in the world.

The tarot is a set of seventy-eight intriguing picture cards that symbolize universal forces. A tarot reading involves selecting certain cards at random after shuffling and cutting the deck. When you examine these cards, you see how certain forces are impacting your life in the moment. You gain insight into your experience and access to the wisdom of your Inner Guide.

I became fascinated with the tarot during the 1980s. I discovered the cards are a powerful tool for personal and spiritual growth. As I worked with my deck, I gradually felt drawn to write about my experiences, to capture what I was learning about the intuitive process. Later I arranged these writings into a course.

In October 1995, I created the Learning the Tarot website, www.learntarot.com, built around my lessons. Over time, my online experiment grew into a full-time project. I still maintain my site, but now my course also exists as the book Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners.

Learning the Tarot covers the features of the deck, card meanings, and interpretation techniques, including one lesson on reversed cards (cards that are upside-down in a reading). This introductory lesson just touches upon the subject, which really deserves a book of its own. Learning Tarot Reversals is that book.

My approach to reversed cards is based on an appreciation of energies and their cycles. In our world, change is the one constant. A reading shows us forces that are not fixed, but fluid and dynamic. The cards need to reflect this animated spirit if they are to mirror experience faithfully. In Learning Tarot Reversals, I describe how card orientation is the key to enhancing the energetic quality of a reading. You can enliven and deepen your tarot practice by adding this new dimension to it.

The format of Learning Tarot Reversals is the same as that of Learning the Tarot. Each book has lessons with accompanying exercises followed by a card section. The card section in Learning the Tarot covers upright meanings. The card section in this book gives a brief review of upright meanings and then covers reversed meanings in depth. Both use the same keywords. Together, the two books provide a complete reference for individual card meanings.

If you're new to the tarot, I recommend starting with Learning the Tarot or a similar beginner's book or class. If you get hooked on the tarot, as so many of us do, you'll be eager and ready to learn more. Learning Tarot Reversals will then be a natural next step in your studies. If you already have tarot experience, you should be able to understand and adapt the ideas in this book to your own methods.

The best approach to Learning Tarot Reversals is to read all the lessons straight through to get an overview of the concepts. Then go back to the beginning and study each lesson in more depth, working through the exercises provided. The exercises will give you a chance to put the ideas into practice. You don't have to do all of them before continuing, but they do build on each other to some extent, so it's best to do the exercises in order.

My responses to the exercises are given at the back of the book. I call these responses suggestions rather than answers because I want to emphasize that there is no right or wrong approach to the tarot. Every reader sees the cards from a unique perspective, but by comparing your view to mine, you'll deepen your grasp of the concepts.

To truly reflect reality, a reading must capture life's movement and change. In this book, I describe how you can enhance the dynamic quality of your readings by seeing your cards as energies. You'll discover how to translate a stationary set of images into a moving picture of time's flow. It's my hope that Learning Tarot Reversals will give you a new way to view your life experience and a more powerful tool for understanding it through the tarot.

Imagine a finished jigsaw puzzle. Looked at one way, it's a single object presenting a whole picture. Looked at another way, it's a collection of many objectsthe pieces of the puzzle. The puzzle is one and many at the same time.

Now, imagine the pieces moving and changing. The overall dimension of the puzzle stays the same, but the picture doesn't. It's recreated anew in every moment. Our universe is like this puzzle. It is a single entity, but made up of countless changing pieces. I call these pieces energies.

An energy is anything that can be named or identified. Energies enjoy a temporary existence in a certain form. They are born, live for a time, and die, all the while contributing to the eternal flowthe animating Spirit that sustains all energies.