The Lenormand Five-Card Cross: A Case of Event Horizons and Broadside Collisions

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was recently involved in a discussion regarding the temporal nature of the horizontal, left-to-right line in a Lenormand reading and the fact that it doesn't automatically reflect a "Past/Present/Future" scenario. This dialogue occurred within a broader examination of the five-card cross layout, which I will explore further here. In most cases, I … Continue reading The Lenormand Five-Card Cross: A Case of Event Horizons and Broadside Collisions

Economies of Scale: A Lenormand Conundrum

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For my purpose here I've tweaked the business-management definition of economy of scale to read: "a proportionate saving in effort gained by an increased level of organization." The idea is that - up to a point - the broader the range of facts presented for analysis, the more productive it is to identify … Continue reading Economies of Scale: A Lenormand Conundrum

Cards in Containment: A Lenormand Epiphany

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently commented online regarding a handful of Lenromand readings being offered for second opinions that sent me down this particular rabbit hole. In astrology there is the concept of "planets in containment," which examines the significance of a planet that sits between the zodiacal locations of two other planets without regard for … Continue reading Cards in Containment: A Lenormand Epiphany

“Tarotizing, Psychologizing and Extemporizing” – The Bane of Lenormand

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been busily engaged in the online Lenormand community, and three of my main concerns about the modern approach to reading the Lenormand cards are in full view. "Tarotization" (my own word for it) is the tendency for Lenormand neophytes arriving from the tarot majority to bring all of their interpretive baggage with … Continue reading “Tarotizing, Psychologizing and Extemporizing” – The Bane of Lenormand

Lenormand Logistics: Which Spread is Best?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I browse the Lenormand Facebook pages, sub-reddits and blogs, I inevitably encounter the three-card line as the "go-to" spread for just about any topic, even when there are better (or at least more comprehensive) options. Here I will examine the various traditional spreads in use today, but first I want to anonymously … Continue reading Lenormand Logistics: Which Spread is Best?

The Lenormand “Phrase:” Deconstructing the Three-Card Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post is a condensation of a couple of my previous essays on the subject of the Lenormand "line" spread of varying lengths. If the five-card or seven-card line presents a whole sentence with subject, verb, object and qualifiers (adjectives and adverbs), and the nine-card, 3x3 array furnishes an entire paragraph, the three-card … Continue reading The Lenormand “Phrase:” Deconstructing the Three-Card Reading

Pythagorean Number Theory and Lenormand

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I'm normally a literalist in my reading of the Lenormand cards, this is the sort of thing that excites my imagination. Here I'm playing around with Pythagorean number theory as it might be applied to Lenormand. They are both traditional systems of thought that seem to be entirely compatible. The single-digit 1-to-9 … Continue reading Pythagorean Number Theory and Lenormand

“Chunky, Not Creamy” – A Lenormand Working Model

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I've been focusing mostly on tarot writing in recent months, my true love in cartomantic divination has become the 36-card Lenormand Grand Tableau. I think of it as the "Swiss-Army-knife" of cartomancy, a multi-tool that is able to cover a wide range of topics in a single pull. But when it is … Continue reading “Chunky, Not Creamy” – A Lenormand Working Model