During my intermittent involvement with the Tarot de Marseille (I'm still waiting for that "one book to rule them all"), I've come across the opinion that Batons and Swords are the "hard" suits, while Cups and Coins are "soft." There is some logic to this: both wooden batons (also called staves) and edged metal blades … Continue reading Hard and Soft, Red and Black
Lenormand
RWS, TdM and Lenormand Binning
I have now added searchable categories for my Waite-Smith, Tarot de Marseille and Lenormand-related posts and am beginning to populate them. These posts aren't as easy to chase down as the Thoth group because they are often tied to broader commentary, so it will take me some time to capture them. As before, use the … Continue reading RWS, TdM and Lenormand Binning
Crunch Time
This is the first Grand Tableau I've done in a while. We are coming down to the wire on our planned relocation to be closer to our granddaughter, and I wanted a general indication of how the situation will play out in the next three months. As Significators, I focused on the Gentleman, the Lady, … Continue reading Crunch Time
Cartomantic Consumerism: One Deck Too Far
A question came up on one of the tarot forums late last year that stopped me in my tracks, and after thinking carefully about it I haven't bought a new deck of any kind since (although I still lust for quite a few). "How many decks are too many?" My flippant answer at the time … Continue reading Cartomantic Consumerism: One Deck Too Far
The Funnel, the Hourglass and the Megaphone
As a visual artist of the graphic persuasion, I'm constantly looking for patterns in card layouts. The Lenormand Grand Tableau is particularly ripe for this pursuit. I've already posted about "ripples on the pond" (concentric circles of cards surrounding the various topic cards that overlap, either reinforcing or cancelling one another); "knighting arrays" (block patterns … Continue reading The Funnel, the Hourglass and the Megaphone
Lenormand Ramblings
I realized yesterday that I've been remiss in not venturing into anything other than tarot lately, so this will bring me up to date at least on the subject of Lenormand cartomancy. I'm writing mainly for those tarot enthusiasts who have yet to explore its alternate reality but are intrigued by a new challenge. A … Continue reading Lenormand Ramblings
Example #2: Lenormand Deck “Attitude Check”
Ciro Marchetti's Gilded Reverie Lenormand has been my go-to deck since I first started studying that system of divination in 2013, but I've been less enamored of it lately. So I decided that I would bring it to my Lenormand "attitude check" spread to see what that might tell me. The Significator once again turned … Continue reading Example #2: Lenormand Deck “Attitude Check”
Example Reading: New Lenormand Deck “Attitude Check”
The Golden Lenormand Oracle is my newest Lenormand deck, so I thought I would run it through my new "attitude check" spread. This deck has caught some flack from traditionalists (even though it's just a dressed-up Blue Owl) because of its gold-foil "bling" and its much-larger-than-average size. I've read with it a bit and the … Continue reading Example Reading: New Lenormand Deck “Attitude Check”
New Lenormand Deck “Attitude Check”
Because most Lenormand decks are matter-of-fact and don't differ much from their peers in terms of imagery or interpretation, it has always seemed to me that trying to conduct the kind of "new deck interview" that many people do with tarot decks is an exercise in futility. The cards don't respond well to the kind … Continue reading New Lenormand Deck “Attitude Check”
Knighting “On the Diagonal”
While working up my previous post on using intersection with cards in a Lenormand Grand Tableau that have a diagonal rather than right-angle relationship with one another, I touched on the subject of approaching knighting from an oblique perspective instead of the usual squared-off "chess-move" pattern. Here is a visual comparison of the two. Diagonal … Continue reading Knighting “On the Diagonal”