So I had an interesting thing happen during yesterday’s reading - my Ten of Cups came out completely sideways, like it was taking a nap on my table. I sat there for a good minute just staring at it. Obviously, I’ve had reversed cards before, but nothing that has come out at a complete 90 degrees to the rest of the spread before.
What does a sideways card mean or do I just correct it?
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I love it when people pay attention to the details like this. You and I should be friends.
So there’s basically no traditional guidance on this. Waite never wrote about it, neither did any of the old school readers. It’s a modern phenomenon that emerged organically as people began reading more. I LOVE THIS. It doesn’t matter how old the Tarot gets because it still manages to evolve.
Most readers I know fall into camps. Some treat sideways as blocked or stalled energy - like your Ten of Cups family harmony is there but stuck somehow. Others just turn it upright or reversed and keep going. A bunch of us see it as energy that’s dormant or needs time to develop.
The easiest way to use it is to look at both the upright and reversed meaning of the card and let your intuition guide you. It’s not one or the other, it’s probably a possibility of both.
For Ten of Cups specifically? When mine goes sideways, I usually read it as happiness that’s partially there. Maybe some family members are good but not everyone’s on board yet. Or the emotional fulfillment exists, but something’s keeping it from fully manifesting.
Trust your gut on this one. The fact that you stopped and stared at it for a minute tells me it meant something to you in that moment.
I just correct them every time.
Been reading 15 years and sideways cards have never added anything useful to my readings. Turn it upright if the top is facing right, reversed if it’s facing left.
What deck were you using? And where did the Ten of Cups show up in your spread? Did it fall out while you were shuffling or jump out when you cut the deck? Were there other Water or Fire cards near it?
The Tarot doesn’t always just have a simple answer or a catch-all situation.
For me, I would read it as somewhere between the upright and reversed meaning. Usually, it would mean a moderate version of the card’s usual meaning. It could also be suggestion a potential situation that could go either way but I’d need more details before really making a guess.
Some people say sideways cards are stuck between meanings, not quite upright, not quite reversed. You could read it like that if you don’t mind things getting… complex.
There is a simpler way to do it.
If the top of the card is leaning one way, I just turn it that direction. Sometimes, during a reading, I’ll feel like a card needs adjusting, so I adjust it. There’ve been times when I’ve turned all the reversed cards upright because that’s what felt right for that particular reading.
Do whatever helps the cards make sense to you. This is the golden rule.
Try turning the card slightly each way and see what feels right. Sometimes our hands know what our minds overthink.
Or maybe it depends on what the card itself was. Like the Ten of Cups might be asking you to shift your perspective on happiness a bit.
When a card lands sideways, I treat it like the ‘crossing’ factor in a Celtic Cross - basically, what’s messing with the main energy of the spread.
I don’t try to fix it or turn it upright. With a Ten of Cups sideways, I’d ask myself what’s getting in the way of that harmony vibe, then pull another card to see which way things might go. I usually write it down and see what happens over the next few days.
When a card lands sideways like your Ten of Cups did, I usually look at which edge is pointing to the right. That’s how I figure out which way is up. So if the top of your card points right, it’s reversed. If the bottom edge points right, read it as upright.
I picked this up from reading about the Celtic Cross spread where cards get positioned in specific ways. It’s been helpful when those perfectly horizontal cards show up.
When the Ten of Cups lands sideways, I read it as a mix of upright and reversed meanings. It suggests a crossroads emotionally - things could lean toward harmony or slide into tension.
Sideways cards often show you’re on the fence about a key choice. Look at what you can do that might nudge things toward a calmer family vibe instead of more conflict. If nothing shifts, it can go either way.
When a card lands at 90 degrees, I usually take it as a sign to slow down a bit. Or you need to look at it from a different angle. It could be that very literal meaning.
I’d leave it sideways for a minute and think about what feels off about the upright meaning but I wouldn’t go so far as looking at the reversed meaning either because it’s probably not helpful to the situation.
I pick it up and drop it from a bit higher to see if it lands clearly upright or reversed. You need to let it fall with some force, or it just lands the same way. Keep it simple and let the cards stick to their meanings rather than making it even more complex.
If the cards want to tell you more, pull another card next to it and get context that way.
Had a thought about this, you should figure out what sideways cards mean before you start shuffling. Maybe they show timing or changes, or maybe you just read them as upright unless they’re surrounded by difficult cards.
Say it out loud before you start so you stick to the same rules each time. Also make sure you’re reading on a flat surface without any wind, and shuffle the same way each time. A bent deck can make cards look sideways when they’re not supposed to be.
Sideways cards feel like a pause or a doorway card, especially if you are using a deck that does not have a specific card for this.
I would ignore the actual meaning of the card and see it as just that.
I really like this approach! The idea of leaving it sideways and sitting with the discomfort of ‘what feels off’.
Reminds me of how we sometimes get stuck in the memorized meanings of cards rather than letting them speak to us freshly in each reading. When a card literally shifts its position, it’s almost like it’s demanding we shift our perspective, too.
Sometimes the cards teach us as much through their unusual behavior as they do through their traditional meanings.
I’m curious what phase the moon was in when you did this reading? I’ve noticed that sideways cards during a waxing moon tend to show something building toward the full upright meaning, while sideways cards during a waning moon often signal energy that’s starting to slide away from the upright state.
With the Ten of Cups specifically, if you pulled this during a waxing phase, I’d read it as family harmony and emotional fulfillment that’s actively gathering momentum but hasn’t peaked yet. During a waning moon, it might suggest that peak happiness was there recently but something’s causing it to disperse or change form.
I really like this approach of treating it as interference. It gives the sideways position a specific job in the reading rather than just being… confusing. You don’t want to finish a spread and then start second guessing everything you just did.
When I get sideways cards and actually write down what happens afterward, they tend to show situations that genuinely were ‘in progress’ or had something blocking them. For the Ten of Cups specifically, I had one go sideways when a family gathering was planned, but someone’s work schedule kept changing - the happiness was there but couldn’t fully manifest yet.
Pulling that clarifier card to see which direction it might resolve is practical. Gives you something concrete to work with instead of just staring at it wondering.