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?
Lenormand Opinion
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
“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
The Lenormand Moon: Work, Inspiration or Feelings?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Apart from the Sun, about which there is little disagreement, the Moon is the only traditional symbol that is common to astrology, tarot and Lenormand. In his book, Lenormand, Thirty-Six Cards, Andy Boroveshengra gives a couple of different meanings for the Moon card: reputation/honors and work or job, with recognition often arising from … Continue reading The Lenormand Moon: Work, Inspiration or Feelings?
“Hot” Cards
Many of my ideas about Lenormand reading spring from my numerous fertile conversations on the Aeclectic Tarot forum with authors Andy Boroveshengra and Mary K. Greer before they both moved on - and then we all did. This one is no exception. I've written on this subject before (links below) but I wanted to sharpen … Continue reading “Hot” Cards
The Old Style Lenormand “Attitude Check”
I recently acquired the Old Style Lenormand Fortune Telling Cards and ran the deck through my "New Lenormand Deck Attitude Check." This is my Lenormand version of a "deck interview" reading, in which I let the cards tell me their intentions. I'm usually not one to ascribe unique "personality" to decks since I think what … Continue reading The Old Style Lenormand “Attitude Check”
“I Yam What I Yam . . .”
". . . and dat's all what I yam!" (In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor Man.) I came across a neat bit of wisdom on Andy Boroveshengra's blog Fortuna's Picturebook that I'm going to borrow for the theme of this post: "Cards are never something else before they are themselves." https://abcartomancy.blogspot.com/2019/07/shall-i-compare-thee.html Andy was … Continue reading “I Yam What I Yam . . .”
When Enough May Still Be Too Much
About half the time, I'm struck by a clever title for a new post and then have to go hunting for a topic to wrap it around. You can probably spot them with little difficulty, although you may have to think about a few. Here I want to talk about the trend of modern writers … Continue reading When Enough May Still Be Too Much
Turn of the Tide
It's probably obvious that I really love the tarot. It's been a faithful companion on my life's journey since I first discovered it around 1970; it brings out my contemplative side in the same way that philosophy does, thanks mainly to the writing of Aleister Crowley, whom I admire as a thinker and scholar if … Continue reading Turn of the Tide
Lenormand Crossovers: Breaking the Chain
For the tarot enthusiast aspiring to master Lenormand reading, there are several cards common to both systems that stubbornly resist shedding their tarot trappings during the transition. Interestingly, they all appear in sequence in the tarot: the Tower (XVI), the Star (XVII), the Moon (XVIII) and the Sun. (XIX). Since their Lenormand counterparts, at least by title, … Continue reading Lenormand Crossovers: Breaking the Chain
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 