Jul 7 - Tarot Myth #11 Reversals are mandatory/always negative

🧭 The Myth

“You must read reversals.” “If you don’t, you’re not doing it properly.” “Reversed cards mean something bad.” “They’re warnings, blocks, or failures.”

🕵️‍♀️ Where It Came From

• Book-based rigidity: Many guidebooks treat reversals as essential, with fixed meanings.

• Binary thinking: Upright = good, reversed = bad.

• Fear of nuance: Reversals can feel messy, ambiguous, or emotionally intense - so they get labeled “negative.”

💡 The Reality

Reversals are optional. You can use them. You can ignore them. You can read them as delays, internal shifts, softened energies, or alternate perspectives.

And no - they’re not always negative. A reversed Devil might mean liberation. A reversed Tower might mean the worst is over. A reversed Ten of Swords might mean you’re finally healing.

Tarot isn’t binary. It’s layered.

🧰 Ritual Reframe

• If reversals feel helpful, use them.

• If they feel overwhelming, skip them.

• You can explore nuance without flipping cards upside-down.

• You can also flip meanings intuitively, even if the card’s upright.

There’s no reversal police. Just emotional logic.

🧠 Reader Prompts

• Do you use reversals? Why or why not?

• What’s the most surprising reversed card you’ve ever pulled?

• How do you approach ambiguity in your readings?

✨ Final Thought

Reversals aren’t mandatory. They aren’t always negative. They’re just one more way tarot invites you to see things differently.

Whether you read upright only, reversed always, or intuitively mix both - you’re doing it right.

Jul 6 - Tarot Characters: Seven of Wands (Pop Culture)

🃏 The Seven of Wands is about defiance, strength and the courage to stand up for what's right. It's the protest card, the card of openly fighting back. Here are three characters who capture different sides of this card:

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Enjolras (Les Miserables)

Enjolras famously loves nothing but his ideal of a better country. He stands firm in his beliefs, ultimately giving up his life for them. This is the Seven of Wands as a wall; challenged, pressed, and still holding the ground.

7 of Wands Vibes:

Unshakeable conviction

• Holds his ground no matter the cost
• Inspires others to stand with him

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Across the series, Hermione is often mocked and made fun of for her beliefs, whether it's SPEW or following the rules when breaking them would be easier. She's maybe sometimes a bit too strident for her own good, but she holds on to her beliefs and follows Harry loyally.

7 of Wands Vibes:

Champions causes nobody else cares about

Won't back down from an unpopular opinion

Believes doing the right thing matters more than fitting in

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Spiderman

The loudest voices in the city constantly want Spiderman gone. No matter how much good he does, they will never accept him - though they're quick to blame him when something goes wrong. Peter metaphorically rolls his sleeves and keeps showing up anyway to protect a city that hates him.

7 of Wands Vibes:

• Keeps fighting even when nobody appreciates it
• Refuses to let criticism change his values
• Always gets back up

Who's your favourite pop culture 7 of Wands? Let us know in the comments!

Jul 5 - 🪧 The Rally Cry Spread

🧭 Layout

Three cards. No reversals. No chill.

1. What am I fighting for? Your cause, your emotional truth, your rallying cry. (Examples: Justice, The Star, 8 of Wands)

2. What’s blocking me? The resistance, fear, or system that slows your march. (Examples: The Devil, Five of Pentacles, Four of Cups)

3. What fuels my hope? The emotional battery pack. What keeps you showing up. (Examples: Temperance, The Fool, Queen of Cups)

Journal your cards as protest signs. What would they say? Would they whisper, shout, or hand out snacks?

Jul 4 - Tarot as Protest Signs

What if each tarot card marched with a handmade sign? What would it demand, declare, or disrupt? Which cards would soothe, which would rage? Who’d be swinging their signs at other people? (Please don’t swing your signs at other people.)

🧭 Featured Cards and Their Signs

• 8 of Wands: “Now Means Now!” The rallying cry of momentum, urgency, and rapid change. No delays, no detours - just direct action.

• Justice: “Fairness Isn’t Optional” A demand for accountability, balance, and truth. She carries scales and a megaphone.

• Five of Pentacles: “No One Left Outside” A protest against exclusion, poverty, and emotional abandonment. This card marches for warmth and dignity.

• The Tower: “Let It Fall” A radical call to dismantle broken systems. Not chaos for chaos’s sake - but transformation through collapse.

• The Star: “We Still Believe” A quiet but powerful sign of hope, healing, and emotional resilience. She’s the one handing out water bottles and hugs.

• Seven of Wands: “I’m Still Standing” The lone protester holding the line. Defiant, exhausted, and absolutely not backing down.

• The Devil: “Break the Chains” A call to name addictions, toxic systems, and emotional entrapment. This card doesn’t flinch from shadow work.

• Temperance: “Balance Is Revolutionary” A reminder that healing, integration, and emotional nuance are acts of resistance too.

• The Hermit: “I’d Rather Be In Bed” The protester who showed up, hood up, thermos in hand, and left early to journal. Not disengaged - just choosing solitude as resistance. Emotional clarity through quiet.

Not every protest sign is loud. Some whisper. Some nap. Some hand out snacks. What would your favourite card say? Let us know in the comments - we'll march together.

Jul 3 - Tarot Characters: The Emperor (Pop Culture)

🃏 The Emperor is a father figure, a leader, a protector. Sometimes he's fierce, sometimes he's kind. Always he's strong. Here are three characters who capture different sides of this card:

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Mau (Nation)

Mau never expected to matter. He believes he has no soul, and then finds himself the only person capable of holding his shattered world together.

When catastrophe leaves him stranded with strangers who need food, shelter, and direction, he becomes the one thing the island no longer has: structure. His mantra - “does not happen!” - is less denial than defiance, a refusal to let chaos define what comes next.

Emperor Vibes:

• Steps into responsibility because no one else can
• Builds order from ruins through sheer will
• Protects his people even at the cost of his own life

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Gomez (The Addams Family)

Gomez Addams rules his household with enthusiasm, devotion, and absolute certainty that his family is exactly as it should be. He doesn’t ask them to change, shrink, or apologise - he expects the world to adjust around them instead.

When outsiders challenge his family, Gomez doesn’t hesitate. Not from anger, but from delightfully confident conviction that his people are worth defending exactly as they are.

Emperor Vibes:

• Fiercely loyal and openly affectionate
• Protects through confidence rather than control
• Creates a home where individuality is non-negotiable

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Sam Vimes (Discworld)

Sam Vimes would be offended to be called an Emperor. Deeply, personally offended. Possibly enough to start paperwork.

He is allergic to power, distrustful of authority, and permanently aware of what it does to people. So he builds his own safeguards: rules, routines, and an internal Watchman who never looks away. Ironically, this makes him one of the most dependable leaders anyone could ask for.

Vimes will arrest kings, armies, or whoever is convenient if it prevents harm. He will escort prisoners safely regardless of guilt or innocence. And no matter what is happening in the world, he will still try to be home in time for tea - because if he isn’t, something has gone very wrong.

Emperor Vibes:

• Protects people because it is non-negotiable, not because it is pleasant
• Leads through principle rather than ambition
• Holds the line against corruption - even within himself

✨ So: who wears the Emperor best - the one who rises to it, the one who delights in it, or the one who spends his life trying not to become it?

Jul 2 - The Summer Curiosity Spread

Summer is a season of exploration. Of wandering thoughts, open skies, and unexpected sparks.

This spread invites you to follow your curiosity - emotionally, creatively, spiritually. It’s not about productivity. It’s about play. Let your deck point toward what wants to grow.

🃏 The Positions

1. What Sparks Your Curiosity? What’s calling for your attention or exploration this summer? What idea, emotion, or mystery wants to be followed?

2. Where to Explore? Which area of your life could benefit from curiosity or playfulness? Where might wonder lead to growth?

3. How to Stay Adventurous? What practical step can you take to lean into curiosity? How can you keep the spark alive?

🧠 Reader Prompts

• What kind of curiosity feels safe - and what feels brave?

• Where do you tend to shut down wonder, and why?

• What’s one playful experiment you could try this week?

Jul 1 - Renamed Cards: Pros and Cons

Renaming tarot cards can be liberating, confusing, empowering - or all three at once. Whether you’re working with a fandom deck, a trauma-informed reframe, or a poetic indie creation, renamed cards come with emotional and symbolic consequences.

Let’s explore the pros and cons - without judgement, just clarity.

✅ Pros of Renamed Cards

1. Emotional Accessibility Renaming can soften emotionally charged archetypes. “Shadow” might feel more inviting than “Devil.” “Awakening” might feel more expansive than “Judgment.”

2. Trauma-Informed Reading Renamed cards can reduce triggering language and offer gentler entry points for reflection. “Transformation” instead of “Death” can shift the tone from fear to evolution.

3. Cultural Sensitivity Renaming allows decks to honour diverse spiritual frameworks and avoid religious overtones. “The Mentor” may resonate more broadly than “The Hierophant.”

4. Creative Storytelling Renamed suits and majors can support themed decks - sci-fi, pop culture, elemental, or ensemble-based. They help the deck speak in its own dialect.

5. Reader Empowerment Renaming invites you to question tradition and build your own symbolic logic. It’s a reminder: tarot is a relationship, not a rule book.

❌ Cons of Renamed Cards

1. Confusion for Beginners Renamed cards can make learning harder, especially if you’re trying to cross-reference with traditional meanings or guidebooks.

2. Loss of Shared Language Renaming may disrupt the symbolic shorthand used across decks, books, and communities. “The Glow Cloud” might be brilliant - but not everyone knows what it means.

3. Emotional Disconnection Sometimes renaming softens a card so much it loses its edge. “The Tower” becomes “Upheaval” - but does it still carry the same emotional punch?

4. Translation Fatigue If every card needs decoding, it can slow down your readings or make journalling feel like homework.

5. Risk of Over-Sanitizing Renaming can sometimes strip archetypes of their complexity. Not every “negative” card needs a makeover - some are meant to challenge.

🧠 Reader Prompts

• Have you ever felt more connected to a renamed card?

• Have you ever felt lost or disconnected by one?

• What balance do you prefer - tradition, innovation, or a mix?

✨ Final Thought

Renamed cards aren’t better or worse. They’re different. They ask you to listen in a new way - and decide what language feels true to you.