The other side of the cards

When doing Tarot readings, it is common to deal a “good” card into a problematic spread position (i.e., “Your challenges” or “What is blocking you” etc.), and vice versa.  Similarly, the card may be reversed or ill-dignified (if you use reversals or elemental dignities).  This can present a challenge, but as I tell my Tarot students, there are no good cards or bad cards; they all have a range of meaning.  Of course, it is true that there are cards that people typically think of as “bad” (Death, Tower, Three of Swords, Five of Cups, etc.) and others that are typically considered to be “good” (The Sun, Ace of Pentacles, Four of Wands, etc.)

It is instructive, however, to consider the “other side” of those cards since you don’t really know a card unless you know it from both sides. So how can you see the good side of “bad” cards and the bad side of “good” cards?  I discussed this in a blog post a few years ago, and I’ve written a few posts that talk about the other side of some of the cards (the Five of Swords and Seven of Cups, for example.)  These posts have proved to be popular, so I’ve decided to do more of them.  Keep your eye on this blog for them.  (You can also find them listed here: https://jamesricklef.wordpress.com/category/card-meanings/other-side-of-cards/)