AUTHOR'S NOTE: As part of the analysis for a recent Lenormand Grand Tableau, I examined an instance of dual "mirroring on the diagonal" between the Significator card (SC) at the very top of the spread and two other cards at the extreme bottom. I immediately noticed that this arrangement inscribed a triangle with the Significator … Continue reading The Cone of Opportunity: A Lenormand Twist
Grand Tableau
Lunar Month Look-Ahead for November – December, 2023: A “Double Feature”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For my New Moon forecast this month I'm doing both my normal monthly reading with the tarot and a Lenormand Grand Tableau overview to get a different perspective on the next four weeks. (I need more practice with the GT.) The eight lunar sub-phases for the period are as follows; each span is … Continue reading Lunar Month Look-Ahead for November – December, 2023: A “Double Feature”
The Lenormand “GT Mandala”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although this post is somewhat redundant to my "GT Architecture" presentation and has become divorced from it by intervening topics as well as decoupled in time, it's worth seeing all of the features combined in a single graphic.The array of cards surrounding the Significator Card (SC) in a Lenormand Grand Tableau is sometimes … Continue reading The Lenormand “GT Mandala”
The “Closer”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my recent essay on the "trickle-down" progress of a Lenormand Grand Tableau reading I mentioned that the card at the extreme lower right of the layout has the potential to "bring the querent the greatest satisfaction since it is a 'known quantity' that is under complete control." The assumption is that cards … Continue reading The “Closer”
The “Trickle-Down” Theory of Tableau Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Any tableau-style layout in the Lenormand system of divination (that is, one with a vertical as well as a horizontal axis) entails consideration of the direction of flow. Because of the way the original Game of Hope play proceeded (from the Rider at the top left to the Cross at the bottom right), … Continue reading The “Trickle-Down” Theory of Tableau Reading
The Monthly Grand Tableau: A Structured Approach
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always viewed the Lenormand Grand Tableau as a "long-range, big-picture" spread that can address any and all questions in a single pass over a 6-12 month period, but in online discussions I see that many people use it for shorter-duration readings of a more focused nature. I already do a monthly New … Continue reading The Monthly Grand Tableau: A Structured Approach
Lenormand “Clutter Cards” – An Unpopular Opinion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: No, that isn't a typo. There is an assumption in Lenormand circles that nearly all of the life-area or "theme" cards are joined by other cards of a trivially congruent nature - together called "clusters" - that reinforce the message, and that all of these cards should be considered as part of the … Continue reading Lenormand “Clutter Cards” – An Unpopular Opinion
The “Gestalt Overview” in Cartomancy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In developing this essay I borrowed from the way I've always read tarot since, at least in this one instance, the visual integration of both tarot cards and Lenormand cards in large layouts is almost identical, although Lenormand exhibits more formal structure in terms of what I call "sub-routines" or "protocols." Unlike the … Continue reading The “Gestalt Overview” in Cartomancy
The Marginalized Significator: Five Solutions
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A unique challenge occasionally arises when throwing a Lenormand Grand Tableau in which the Significator Card (SC) lands in the far-right column of the layout with no cards to its immediate right. This results in an irregular matrix of surrounding cards that sheds a few of the interpretive angles typically present with a … Continue reading The Marginalized Significator: Five Solutions
Architecture of the Grand Tableau
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It goes without saying that interpreting the Lenormand Grand Tableau is an "iterative" process in which the 36-card layout is reduced to manageable proportions via a variety of interconnected techniques focused around a central card that represents either the querent or the theme of the reading: the internal 9-card "box" in all of … Continue reading Architecture of the Grand Tableau