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
Lenormand Opinion
The Literalist
I've recently been involved in a debate about the necessity - or even the desirability - of large spreads. In tarot, I seldom use spreads smaller than five cards, and seven to ten cards is closer to my ideal (the Celtic Cross has been my mainstay for decades). In Lenormand, I prefer the Grand Tableau over … Continue reading The Literalist
Grand Tableau a la Carte
The conventional wisdom among Lenormand mentors who coach beginners in the art of reading is that, after learning the card meanings and memorizing their numbered positions in the 36-card series, neophytes should start their practice with three-card lines, move on to five and seven card draws, then to the nine-card square, and finally to the Grand Tableau, … Continue reading Grand Tableau a la Carte
Personalizing the Grand Tableau Houses
There is a technique in Lenromand reading - I believe it's a modern innovation but I could be wrong - known as "movable houses" (one wag has called them "mobile homes) which extends the house system native to the Grand Tableau to smaller spreads. Rather than having a fixed series of houses running from the Rider to … Continue reading Personalizing the Grand Tableau Houses
When “Bad Is Bad”
Although I'm a newly-minted traditionalist in the Lenormand system of divination, having been involved only since 2012, it strikes me that the tradition has been undergoing a gradual degenerative decline (or maybe an insidious "dilution" is a more apt word for it) that probably isn't entirely reversible. Converts from the more fluid/squishy realm of tarot wander in and set about rearranging … Continue reading When “Bad Is Bad”