AUTHOR'S NOTE: I often see consternation brewing among tarot neophytes over the fact that, although they want to "get serious" when it comes to divination with the cards, they are unsure how to proceed because they have no pressing questions to ask. Following is a summary of ways to offset that shortcoming through a "general … Continue reading General Life-Reading: A Convenient Fallback
Lenormand – General
Ruling Cards: An I Ching “Hand-off”*
*In US football, a "hand-off after the snap" means that the quarterback hands the ball immediately to one of the running backs behind the line of scrimmage, hopefully advancing it downfield on the play through the element of surprise. (I won't get into the even-trickier "double-reverse" here.) Humor me while I stretch the analogy a … Continue reading Ruling Cards: An I Ching “Hand-off”*
“Mystic Mercury” and the Lenormand Deck
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've made a conscious habit of avoiding all esoteric correspondences (astrology, occult number theory, etc) when using the Lenormand cards for divination. But I recently came across an interesting coincidence. On the Hermetic Tree of Life, the planet Mercury corresponds to the number 8 and its "mystic number" is 36, which is achieved … Continue reading “Mystic Mercury” and the Lenormand Deck
Hope-Based Questions: “Be Careful What You Wish For”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just read an old blog post by Bjorn Meuris that struck a chord with me. In his advice for asking a proper question of the Lenormand cards (or any cards for that matter) he said "Don't ask for what you do not hope for to be confirmed" by casting your question in … Continue reading Hope-Based Questions: “Be Careful What You Wish For”
A Lenormand Near/Far Impact Table
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I spent some time sifting through Andy Boroveshengra's book, Lenormand: Thirty-Six Cards, looking closely at the "near/far" guidance for assessing the effect of distance between certain cards and the main Significator (Man or Woman card). Then I compared my observations to the more limited instructions in the seminal Philippe Lenormand Sheet (PLS), seeking … Continue reading A Lenormand Near/Far Impact Table
Lenormand Techniques: Intention and Realization in the Topic Card
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a common practice when reading the Lenormand five-card cross and nine-card "box" by which the central "topic" card (aka Significator) is intentionally chosen to represent the subject of the reading. Some traditional readers don't use this approach and instead allow the Significator to fall randomly. I can see advantages to both … Continue reading Lenormand Techniques: Intention and Realization in the Topic Card
The Lenormand Tree: Rotten to the Core?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just came to the realization that the illustration of the Tree card in most Lenormand decks shows it to be mature and clearly in excellent health, while its usual interpretation is anything but hale-and-hearty. This discrepancy seems like a "red herring" that leads beginners to see it as a fortunate card when … Continue reading The Lenormand Tree: Rotten to the Core?
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”
“It Was A Dismal Day” – A Lenormand Work Song*
(*With apologies to Paul Simon for co-opting "It Was a Sunny Day.") This scrap of nonsense was lodged in my head, so I figured I had better flush it by writing something. (Sings in his best "Weird Al" Yankovic voice) It was a dismal day (Clouds)The boss-man poked me in the eye (Snake + Whip)And … Continue reading “It Was A Dismal Day” – A Lenormand Work Song*
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”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 