Reversed Cards Are Your Friends!

Dusty White here with Cathy, and we're on a mission today. Just like I'm the world's first vegetable rights activist (remember kids: (and tell your mom!) "Love your veggies! Don't eat them!"), Cathy and I are the world's first reversals rights activists. Reversed cards are your friends, and here's why. What We're Covering: Reversals Double Your Visual Cues: You're literally getting twice the information for free. Every card has a higher and lower energy, and when you use reversals, the deck just tells you which one it is. You don't have to guess. Reversals Make Readings More Efficient: Here's the thing: if you're not using reversals, you have to decide for every single card whether it's representing the upright or reversed energy—higher versus lower meaning. That's an extra interpretive step you're doing in your head. With reversals, you skip that step entirely. The card does the work for you. If you're reading a Celtic Cross, that's 10 steps you don't have to take. You can spend that energy feeling into the spread instead. Reversals Reduce Reader Bias: This is huge. I've read for tens of thousands of people, and I'll admit—sometimes I've twisted an interpretation because I emotionally didn't want something bad to happen to my client. Reversals act like a safeguard against that. It's like scientific processes that guard against subjective bias. The deck makes the upright/reversed decision for you through divine "randomization," not through your wishful thinking. Real Example - The Magician Reversed: Cathy did a reading for a guy making a big move—new city, new job, everything. All the cards looked great. He was prepared, his mindset was clear, everything was lined up perfectly. Then the outcome card: Magician reversed. If she hadn't been using reversals, she might have read that as "You're making this happen! Everything's great!" But reversed? Something out of his control was going to derail him. Using reversals prevented wishful reinterpretation and prompted deeper investigation with clarifying cards. Some Cards Get Better Reversed: Three of Swords? I'd much rather see that reversed. All those swords fall out—"I haven't got time for the pain." Ten of Swords? Same thing. Reversed can mean the worst is over, you're recovering, you're getting past it. The Devil, the Tower—these cards can soften when reversed, indicating you dodged a bullet or the intensity is lessening. But Also: Some Cards Need to Be Negative: Life sucks sometimes. Most people come to us because something's wrong. We can't just have unicorns and rainbows. Cards have to reflect real life. And when a reversal flags a problem—especially in an outcome position—that's when you dig deeper with clarifying cards. That's the mark of a professional: you don't just do three cards and call it done. You investigate. Practice Exercise: Pull the Four of Wands. Upright: celebration, connection, community, house party. Reversed: disrupted connections, cancelled celebrations, feeling separated. Pull the Ten of Wands. Upright: burden, grind culture, hustle mindset. Reversed: dropping the load, rejecting that whole "sacrifice everything for work" mentality. Creative Interpretation: Here's a cheat sheet: if you come up with a meaning that makes perfect sense and nobody's done it before, look through your deck and ask, "Does some other card already answer that question?" If not, you're onto something. The Ten of Swords giving the benediction gesture? That could be forgiveness. Reversed? "I want him dead, I want his family dead"—no forgiveness whatsoever. The point is to allow outside associations to connect with your cards. Look at a card and say, "This makes me think of . . . " and just have fun with it. Using reversals isn't about cutting corners—it's about letting the universe make decisions instead of you. It's about getting clearer, richer, more honest readings. Worth the time to learn. Thanks for being here. We'll be back with more soon. Books mentioned in this podcast: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot—EVER!! The Easiest Way to Learn Astrology—EVER!! Advanced Tarot Secrets Website: AcademyofDivination.com

Dusty White here with Kerri for another quick tarot lesson. This time we're diving into the four twos in the Minor Arcana—and I'm talking about the pip cards, not the High Priestess. Here's the thing: most sources will tell you which element belongs to which suit. Wands are fire, cups are water, swords are air, pentacles are earth. Great. But they don't tell you what flavor of that element you're looking at. That's what we're doing today. What We're Covering: Moving Beyond Kindergarten-Level Tarot: Astrology isn't just for measuring people's personalities. It's a framework we can use to measure anything—including tarot cards. Each card has an inherent nature, and understanding whether it's mutable or fixed (not just what element it is) changes everything. Important Note: Twos (on the tarot) are inherently mutable or fixed nature, but a card can represent cardinal action because of the situation or environment. What we're looking at today is the inherent nature each card is pointing to through its imagery. Breaking Down the Four Twos: Pull out your four twos and follow along. Two of Wands (Mutable Fire - Sagittarius): This guy's elevated, looking out over the horizon with a globe in his hand. He's not taking action—he's planning, brainstorming, imagining possibilities. Look at all that variety in the background: mountains, water, village, bridge. Sagittarius energy is all about that far-range vision, that "what if?" quality. There's even playfulness here—like maybe he's going to drop that globe just to see what happens. Mutable fire isn't settled. It's exploratory. Two of Pentacles (Mutable Earth - Virgo): The whole thing looks unsettled, which is weird for earth, right? His body's at an angle like he's catching his balance. That infinity loop, the moving water in the background, maybe he's even standing on a boat—everything about this image screams constant adjustment. Question everything. That's Virgo. Mutable earth means you're balancing, weighing options, never quite stable. Even that ridiculous hat at an angle adds to the sense of "oh my God, what about this? But then what about this?" Two of Swords (Fixed Air - Aquarius): She's sitting on a stone bench. Arms crossed. Blindfolded. The water behind her is flat and calm. This is opinion. This is "I've made up my mind and I'm not changing it." Fixed air equals closed-minded—not in a bad way necessarily, just firm. She's blocking the ocean. You shall not pass. Very impersonal, very unemotional. The crescent moon shows there's no emotional bias here. It's just no. That's it. No. Two of Cups (Fixed Water - Scorpio, though it can read as Libra): Intense bonding. Look at how they're gazing at each other—it's almost voyeuristic to look at this card because it feels so private. She's wearing masculine garb, he's wearing something almost like a dress. They've opened up completely to each other. That caduceus symbol, the winged lion, the isolated house in the background surrounded by trees—this is sacred, ritualized, deeply intimate connection. Scorpio dream: your own home, lots of space, only your people. Forever. Now, here's the thing: because this is a cup card, it has to be water. But sometimes the imagery screams Libra (cardinal air) because of that partnership, exchange energy. Feel free to read it that way if the image supports it. The rules are there to help you, not trap you. The Big Takeaway: Look at the imagery first. Use astrology as a framework to deepen your understanding, but don't let it override what you see in the card. And yeah, swords don't always feel like air to me—they feel like death. But that's a different conversation. This is about helping you move past simple element memorization toward actually seeing what's in the cards. If you want to go deeper, grab a copy of The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot—Ever!! or The Easiest Way to Learn Astrology—Ever!! on Amazon. Come to our free Saturday workshops at www.academyofdivination.com. Send me your questions and I will answer them! The skills you develop from this work? They're priceless. Not just for professional readings (though yeah, clients are paying $200-$300 an hour), but for seeing through any situation in your own life. Thanks for being here. We'll be back with more soon. Books mentioned in this podcast: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot—EVER!! The Easiest Way to Learn Astrology—EVER!! Advanced Tarot Secrets Website: AcademyofDivination.com

Dusty White here with Kerri for a quick 14-minute dive into something that's going to change how you look at the Aces in your deck. Here's the thing: all four Aces are cardinal. Every single one. And that matters more than you might think. What We're Covering: Why Cardinal Energy Changes Everything: Cardinal energy is compressed, explosive, immediate—like a match flaring up or an auto accident. It all happens at once. The Aces aren't subtle. They kick the door down, do their thing, and that's it. Even when they look friendly and nurturing, they're still telling you what to do. Reading the Images, Not Memorizing Keywords: Look, astrology is the measure of all energy on earth. So we can actually understand what's happening in a card by looking at the quality (cardinal, fixed, or mutable), the polarity (masculine or feminine), and the element (fire, earth, air, water). The image tells you everything you need to know—you don't need to memorize a bunch of keywords from some book. Breaking Down the Four Aces: Ace of Wands (Cardinal Fire): That motivational coach energy—"Get out there and DO it!" Aggressive, invasive, passionate, physical. Ace of Pentacles (Cardinal Earth): "I provide for you. Stay here where you're safe and controlled." Nurturing but confining—Darth Vader saying "I am your father." Ace of Swords (Cardinal Air): Commanding, decisive, sometimes harsh. Luke Skywalker jumping into the abyss. Very "take this" energy. Ace of Cups (Cardinal Water): Emotionally overwhelming. The hand is offering, not commanding, but those emotions are still flooding over you. The Visual Cues: Notice how the masculine suits (Wands and Swords) show hands grasping, asserting—very in-your-face. The feminine suits (Pentacles and Cups) have supportive, cupping hands. But don't be fooled—they're all cardinal, so they're all forceful. Just one does it the hard way, the other does it the nice way, but you're doing it their way either way. This is part of a series where we're going to analyze each card based on what the image is actually showing us. If you've got questions, write me at [email protected], or come to the live Saturday class. Pull out your four Aces and let's look at what they're really saying. Books mentioned in this podcast: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot—EVER!! The Easiest Way to Learn Astrology—EVER!! Advanced Tarot Secrets Website: AcademyofDivination.com

Short small spreads are all the rage these days. While longer, more in-depth spreads are where you build your reputation, change lives, and help serious (repeat) clients solve real-world problems, no one has time for those now! Everyone wants to give short readings, even though you get your biggest tips from expertly executed in-depth sessions that produce real results. SHORT READINGS ARE MORE FUN! (for the reader) So how do we make any money from this? Even more important, how can we give our clients real value in 5 to 15 minutes? After all, we can't compress time (well . . . can we? Come to school to find out how, but for the sake of this free lesson . . .) HOW DO WE make a 5–15 minute reading stand out in someone's mind? That's what today's lesson is all about. We go DEEP into what makes short and long readings work. This session isn't a simple "do this to make people like you" lesson. We want you to understand this instinctively so that ALL of your readings from now on are twice as good as they were before today. Long, short (but especially short) readings — all of these will be better. Too much to say here, but definitely take notes! Also, ask questions. That's what we are here for! Thanks for being here.

The eight of wands is easily one of the more confusing cards in the tarot. The visuals are simplistic: eight sticks are seemingly floating in air, and in the background is a small river and a house. The lack of people or determinable action gives this card something of a generic feel,, and as a result forces too many tarot readers to memorize keywords or key phrases in an attempt to make sense of this when this card comes up in a reading. But it is the simplicity and synchronicity of this image that reveals much of its true meaning. This is what we discuss in today's tarot card meaning lesson. notice how each stick is perfectly parallel with each other, and they are all approximately the same distance from the edge of the card. Given the nature of the rest of the sticks in the tarot we can assume (and correctly so) that all of these sticks are of the same or similar length. The variation in their horizontal location implies these were all launched (thrown or catapulted) at roughly the same time, given a slight allowance for human error and strength (force of throw). This implies both a human element, but also organization, teamwork, and a controlling factor such as a leader. Come join us in our examination of this card and learn why I can mean in any number of instances. All of this and more is available at easytarotlessons.com

The seven of wands shows us a young man standing on a hill that ends in a cliff, and what seem to be stick-wielding assailants are coming at him. He doesn't have anywhere to go, as he has been backed into a corner. His only choice now is to stand and fight. The 7 of Wands shows us when we are forced into a position, or forced to make a choice. We are under pressure, or we are put upon by others. This is a card of open conflict, but there is not a fight yet — just the threat of implied violence. All too often the threat of implied violence is enough to make most people behave or acquiesce to our demands. But in this case, this young man has chosen to stand and fight. He doesn't look prepared. He is wearing mismatching shoes. No one knows if this was one of the many accidents pam made in drawing the art — as she said her self that she was underpaid and rushed to completion. But to be fair, Art only wanted the "major" Arcana scene-illustrated, so in some ways she just went over budget — but the fact that she did changed history, and it is too bad how her story played out. But back to this guy . . . in the 7 of Wands we see implied conflict. We are experiencing peer pressure, whether it is an open mob or conversion therapy. We are being hunted, punished, or shamed for not going along with the "group think." We may have earned this ire (we insulted someone, or we we a menace to society), or this could be any one of the countless cases of being wrongly accused of an action or belief we never took part in. The seven of Wands doesn't tell us "why" or "what" — it only shows us the consequences of previous actions or general unpopularity. To fully understand this card in a spread we need to know the context in which we are reading. We need to have a question this card answers, or we need other cards that *do* state what happened, and how we go to this place. Lastly, if this card is the very last card and indicates the final outcome, it implies that someone is getting their comeuppance (whether that is deserved or not), but without another card that shows "how that Tuens out," it leaves us to believe that justice served is enough information, and that we should ask no more.

The Six of Wands shows us a hero returning from some kind of victory — or this is celebrating his promotion or raise in status. No matter whether this is earned or if it is stolen valor, this card shows someone riding high in life. This is what it is like to be popular, in demand, and having people cheering you on. This can be a moment in time, like when you receive your diploma at the graduation ceremony for college, or the announcement that you are "employee of the month." But this can be an event, a circumstance, or an environment. That means that the 6 of Wands as a tarot card in a spread can represent something that is lasting or something that comes and is gone before you are ready for it to fade. The 6 of Wands doesn't tell us what you are popular or famous for, only that you are. Also, it does not tell us how long you are famous. For these answers you need to carefully examine the tarot spread you cast, and compare that to the question you asked. Also, this card shows how exposed you are. As unfair as it is, when you are riding in life, far above the common masses, you are like the United States President John F. Kennedy riding in a convertible in Dallas Texas in November of 1963. His head made an easy target for an assassin's bullet. And as horrific as that event was, it remains a stain on United States history. But this card shows the moment before it all happened, including that guy in the back of the parade who is not happy that someone else gets to ride on a house while he has to walk. This card is both a celebration of popularity and a warning not to trample on others. If you are the only person on a horse, it is your job not to step on people, not their job to move out of your way. There is not a lot of depth to this particular card, but its secrets can be teased out through careful observation and deep rumination. Come join our mystery school at easytarotlessons.com and learn ALL of the secrets of the tarot — not just the superficial ones we reveal to the public. This is a lifelong skill you will benefit from. And we are here to show you the hidden pathways. Tarot card Keywords for study: hero, victory celebration, parade, fanfare, high horse, leader, returning hero, being on display, praise, promotion, equestrian show, horses, dressage, virility, sexual prowess, machismo, boasting, narcissism, influence, popularity, social influencer, going viral

The 5 of Wands is a deceptively complex tarot card that deals with the intricacies of social hierarchies and how we all fit in with various groups, don't fit in with others, and what we can expect when we try to manage discordant affairs. While the base art is ridiculously simple, we can glean layers of information from this card by our understanding of sociology and comparing the positions and placements of each participant in this card. The five of Wands shows us a gang of boys on a slight rise, examining each other more than themselves, and seeking either acceptance or validation, but most of the boys do this by looking outward. Only one examines his own place in life rather than seeking the approval of — or a sense of superiority over the others in this group. In todays' session we explore all of this and more. Keywords to study: activity, enthusiasm, disorder, chaos, clown show, youth, youth sports, comparison, uncertainty, seeking acceptance, peer pressure, mob mentality, small groups, discordance, loud noises, inclusion.

This card has a split focus, and it shows us three layers of activity. In the first layer we see that we are looking at a stage. The only thing real are the four sticks and the garland that is tied between the outer two of those. While the outer two sticks create a frame, the inner two create a narrow gateway that allow one or two people to pass through at a time. This makes this a checkpoint or a border crossing, but this works on a metaphysical scale just as it would on the physical plane. This could just as easily represent the gateway between the human world of awareness and the faerie realm. The four sticks are the tangible part of reality in this card, and we can see that by the horizontal lines that mark the intersection of the stage and the painted curtain that serves as a backdrop for the play. In truth, the entire scene is an illusion. This is both a warning and a goal. The girls welcoming us in and the people dancing in the background — even the bridge — these are all illusory. These are goals to aspired to, but they also can show how people of wealth and taste lose their way once they have money and they turn their attentions and interests to self-pleasure instead of making their world a better place. This is the intermediate layer, but in the background we have the looming castle that serves as a representation for the nature of this walled garden. Unlike the Ace of Coins, which is a highly personal view of the walled garden, this image shows us the estate or state of affairs for what it is. This is an empire or a civilization. This could be a family or a company, a government, or a region. This card, taken as a whole, shows us a walled garden at peace and also prosperous. While we are being beckoned to enter, we must leave our baggage behind if we are to pass through the gates, as there is only so much room. Also, we must find a way through the veil that separates our tangible existence from the permanent lands of happiness. And the answers to this are hidden in the courses we teach at The Academy of Divination. Tarot card Keywords for study: parties, welcoming, house warming, celebrations, weddings, square, fixed energy, fortress, family, friends, activity, enthusiasm, generosity magnanimity, brand, branding, market dominance, reliability, inclusion, sunshine.