AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I first encountered the concepts of "counting round" and "mirroring" in the Lenormand Grand Tableau, I noticed a strong similarity between those 18th-Century cartomantic practices and the "counting-and-pairing" steps of the "Opening of the Key" (OotK) method for working with the tarot that was developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden … Continue reading A Mini-Lesson in Card Counting-and-Pairing
Lenormand Techniques
“Lenormand 101” in Brief
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Even with nearly twelve years of study and practice behind me, I'm still far less experienced with divination using the Lenormand cards than I am with tarot reading after five decades of involvement, so I haven't felt confident (or competent) in publishing a Lenormand e-book to accompany my five tarot volumes. The fact … Continue reading “Lenormand 101” in Brief
The “Targeted” Grand Tableau
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During the brief time I spent in the traditionalist enclave of the online Lenormmand community (it turned out that, even though I adhere closely to historical methods, my original ideas were still too "experimental" for them), I picked up a concept that I have yet to fully explore in my own work. I … Continue reading The “Targeted” Grand Tableau
“No Place Like Home” – Domestic Cards in Lenormand Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of posts discussing my experimental alignment of the 36 Lenormand cards with the 12 signs and 36 decanates of astrology. This time I'm examining the sign of Cancer and its "native" 4th House as it relates to the "home-and-family" cards of Lenormand. For this group I've … Continue reading “No Place Like Home” – Domestic Cards in Lenormand Reading
“Contact and Communication” Cards in Lenormand Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In early January, I completed an experimental effort to align the 36 Lenormand cards with the 12 signs/houses and 36 decanates of the astrological zodiac. This had no purpose other than to satisfy my curiosity about whether it could be done convincingly. Since it's been a while, I decided to link my earlier … Continue reading “Contact and Communication” Cards in Lenormand Reading
The “Mystical Month” and the “Practical Month” – A Two-Stage New Moon Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I prepared to do my monthly New Moon reading at the end of February, I decided to separate it into two complementary halves: a "mystical" path reflected in tarot cards and a "practical" trajectory defined by Lenormand cards. The tarot cards are intended to provide a subliminal or psychic impression of the … Continue reading The “Mystical Month” and the “Practical Month” – A Two-Stage New Moon Reading
An Unsentimental Look at the Lenormand Lilies
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm taking a stand against the non-traditional* view that the Lenormand Lilies is the "sex" card of the pack. In my opinion, this belief leans too heavily on a whimsical Freudian assumption that touts as its basis the reproductive organs of the lily blossom, a premise that relies more on "free-association" from … Continue reading An Unsentimental Look at the Lenormand Lilies
Lenormand: Wisdom In A Cup
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As Mary K. Greer has pointed out, the original source for many of the Lenormand card descriptions was not solely the German Game of Hope (although that added to the vocabulary), but rather the practice of "coffee-ground" divination that predated it, at first in the Middle East and later in Europe. Among the … Continue reading Lenormand: Wisdom In A Cup
Lenormand and Astrology: Strange Bedfellows?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I prefer to keep my Lenormand practice free of entanglement with other modes of divination: that means no mingling with tarot or astrology and no psychic conjecture based on free-association from the images. I'm more practical and literal than eclectic and improvisational in my interpretation, and my use of intuition in Lenormand reading … Continue reading Lenormand and Astrology: Strange Bedfellows?
Into the Mystic: The Triangular Grand Tableau
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Very little about the Lenormand system of divination can be called metaphysical or psychological, and as a nominal traditionalist I believe this is appropriate despite efforts by tarot transplants to hijack it with their intuitive and psychic sensibilities. But I've been re-reading the Lenormand Symbols e-book by Anthony Louis and decided to take … Continue reading Into the Mystic: The Triangular Grand Tableau
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 