Reversals,
Significators,
and Clarifiers
As you continue learning about tarot, whether you read other books, join online forums, or take classes, you will hear words such as reversals, significators, and clarifiers. Even though some may argue that these are more intermediate ideas, I can’t send you out into the world of tarot without telling you about these concepts.
Reversals
Reversals (or reversed cards) were briefly mentioned in the last chapter, with the Major Arcana keywords. They are cards that show up upside down in a spread. See the example on the next page.
Not all readers use reversed cards. Those who do say that they add nuance and detail to their readings. Readers who do not say that they get all their nuance from surrounding cards. The best advice for new readers is to try it both ways and see what works for you. However, you know me … make sure you have clarity about your technique.
In older tarot systems, meanings for both upright and reversed cards were always provided. The curious thing about this is that so many times the reversed meaning seemed to have nothing to do with the image or even the upright meaning. Readers were required to memorize these meanings because they had no real connection to the card. Because I don’t think that this disconnected approach is meaningful, I do not include rote reversed meanings in this book.
Right side up card and reversed card
Modern readers using reversals today tend to use a system instead of arbitrary interpretations. The system applies to the upright meaning and alters its meaning. Below are some examples of systems that you can experiment with. Only use one of these approaches at a time or you’ll be hopelessly confused!
• All reversed cards mean the opposite of their upright meaning.
• All reversed cards indicate that the energy of that card is blocked, repressed, or denied.
• All reversed cards are read as an inner or unconscious experience.
• All reversed cards are the negative extreme of the upright meaning.
• Reversed cards mean the same as their upright meaning but are trying really hard to get your attention.
If you like seeing things from a different point of view and want to learn more about reversals, the best book you can find is Mary K. Greer’s The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals.
You might be wondering “how do the cards even get reversed?” It’s not that hard! Even for someone like me, who does not use reversals and who tries to shuffle carefully so that none occur, reversals just happen. If you really want to incorporate reversed cards, it’s easy. Simply cut your deck, flip one of the sections, and shuffle. Some people only shuffle in about one-third of the cards, but don’t worry about being precise because as you continue to shuffle, the ratio is going to do its own thing.
Significators
Writing about significators is always a struggle for me because it really is an antiquated practice that hardly any modern readers use anymore. However, it is a mistake to throw the baby out with the bathwater. For example, with reversals, the arbitrary meanings used in the past didn’t make sense to modern readers, so they changed the approach. I think we can do the same with significators, but I fear I’m in the minority with this idea. I’ll just share my ideas and you can decide for yourself.
A significator is simply a card that represents the querent (do you remember your tarot jargon?). The earliest example of this required using the Magician for a male querent and the High Priestess for a female. Well, no tarot reader these days wants to take such important cards out of the deck, so this practice fell to the wayside a long time ago.
Later practices used the Court cards. There were various methods to pick from. Some focused on astrological signs, so the fire signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) would be one of the Wands court cards, the specific card being determined by age and gender. This is not necessarily the worst idea; however, many people realize that individuals are more complex than just their sun sign. This method doesn’t allow for the complexity of human nature. Other methods were based strictly on skin, hair, and eye color (coupled with age and gender). In our increasingly diverse world, this option proved ineffective. Also, there were questions such as “do you use their natural color? What if they dye their hair or wear colored contacts?” “What if they are grey or bald?” Let’s not forget that skin, hair, and eye color don’t even tell us anything about a person’s character.
The most recent incarnation of Court card significators is basing the choice on what the person is like. Are they practical? Pick a Pentacles card. If they are outgoing, pick a Wands. Use age and gender to determine which specific card. While this practice takes in what the person thinks about themselves, it does not necessarily reflect the whole of that person. They may, in general, be practical. But what if the question is about love and in that area they are not practical at all? What if they are older (indicating a Queen or a King) but are just starting a new career and feel more like a Page?
As you can see, I have a hard time getting behind a one-card-fits-all technique. So selecting a card to be a person’s significator for a particular reading can be a complicated and time-consuming task. After you’ve chosen the card, what do you do with it? The original intent was to set the card aside to “witness” the reading. I’m not really sure what that even means. Later, it was said to be a focal point, even though it was never really looked at and the cards in the actual spread were more of the focal point. Some spreads do have a position labeled “significator,” so at least it was part of the spread.
If you are using a spread that calls for a significator or if you want to try using one, decide how you want to select it. A common way that modern readers sometimes use is to “let the deck pick.” That means you shuffle your deck as usual and then just deal the significator off the top of the deck (or however you normally draw your cards) rather than going through the deck and selecting one. Another way is to think about how you feel about yourself in the situation (or how your querent feels about him- or herself) and pick a card (either a Court card or from the full deck) that represents that feeling. Then you can integrate that card into your reading. The significator card should represent your energy in that specific situation. The other cards in the reading (or at least some of the other cards) will describe the situation. Consider how the energy of your significator feels about and reacts to the energy of the situation. For example, a Page of Pentacles would feel supported and safe in the same situation that makes a Knight of Swords feel stifled and claustrophobic. Using significators in this way, to me, seems to make a lot of good sense.
Clarifiers
A clarifier or clarifying card is a card drawn to “clarify” a confusing card. What this really means is that the reader is having trouble weaving the card into the reading. In theory, this seems like a great idea. However, I’m not a huge fan of clarifiers because they can encourage a few bad habits. First, it makes readers lazy. Often, a reader pulls clarifiers because he or she either doesn’t fully understand the card or can’t figure out how to apply it to the specific position or situation. To counter that tendency and to overcome the actual issue, I suggest sitting with the card until you figure it out. In CHAPTER 8 there are some activities to do with cards that confuse or frustrate you. When you get a card in a reading that befuddles you, before drawing a clarifier, try one or more of these activities. It is better to learn more about the card rather than rely on a crutch. The second bad habit that pulling clarifiers feeds into is the desire to make a reading say what you want it to say. For example, in a reading about whether a relationship will end and the Ten of Swords comes up, it probably means that the relationship will end. However, if you want (or know your querent wants) a different answer, it would be tempting to pull a clarifier and hope that you can spin it.
Even though I am not a fan of clarifiers, I still want you to try using them. When you do, pay attention to the situation. Is it when you don’t understand the card fully or when you want a different outcome than the obvious one? If not, it is very possible that you are a person who can incorporate this technique in a way that enhances your readings and that’s great! Tarot reading is very personal and not all of us will do everything the same way. As long as you are conscious of what you are doing and why, embrace your personal reading style.
Playtime
Now we get to have some fun experimenting with reversals and significators.
Reversals
Let’s start with reversals. You’ll do several readings using the techniques listed below. Shuffle your deck so that it has reversed cards in it.
Pick a question. For these activities, I like the idea of reading for a character in a book you are currently reading or for a TV show you watch each week. That way, when you finish the book or next watch the show, you can compare the readings to what happened. If one method were more reflective of what actually happened, that would be one way to know that method is right for you.
Lay out three cards in a horizontal row and read them as Past, Present, and Future. If you don’t get any reversals, keep laying cards until at least one of three is reversed.
Now for the first reading, note which card or cards were reversed and turn them upright for a moment. Do the reading as if they are all upright. Don’t forget to record your readings in your notebook. You’ll want to refer to them later. Then return the reversed cards back to their reversed state and do five more readings, interpreting the reversed cards in the following ways:
1. The reversed cards mean the opposite of the meaning you used for the upright reading.
2. The reversed cards indicate that the energy of that card is blocked, repressed, or denied.
3. The reversed cards represent an inner or unconscious experience.
4. The reversed cards are the negative extreme of the upright meaning.
5. The reversed cards mean the same as their upright meaning but have increased importance.
Significators
We’ll use the same spread as we did in the previous chapter. You won’t be asking a question, though. Instead, as you are going through your deck and making your cards all upright again, pull out your Court cards. Shuffle the rest of the deck and lay them out as below … except leave the position of card 1 empty.
Take your Court card pile and pick one card (randomly or select one that you are interested in) and place it in the card 1 position. Instead of trying to interpret the cards as a reading, look at the energy of the cards (using both your intuitive and analytical skills). How does that card feel in the situation? Then take that card out and put another one in its place. How does that change the feel of the reading? This is a great activity because it helps you practice reading cards in relation to each other and also recognizing that what might be a great situation for one person may be another person’s dread.
1: Significator.
2: The challenge in this situation.
3: The energy from the past that is affecting the present.
4: The energy in the future that can be put to use.
5: The root of the situation.
6: Your best hopes or goal in this situation.