A Little of Lenormand...
The Lenormand deck is a pack of 36 cards named after Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand who was a French professional fortune-teller of considerable fame during the Napoleonic era.
Reading Lenormand cards is relatively simple but also can be very complex.
There are many techniques of reading for this specific deck. All of them very accurate and precise.
Personally, I like the Grand Tableau 8X4+4 and that is what I am going to show in this little essay.
I like this spread because I see it as a “Tree of Life of the Moment”. For the four base cards I see the trunk and for the four upper rows the top of the tree. I have been having a lot of assertiveness with my clients using this technique along the years. Sometimes the main problem is in the base of the existence; maybe in the figure of the mother or the father. And using this technique the problem can be easily located if I see inverted Moon or inverted Sun in one of these four base cards. Also over here if it happens to appear fish or house inverted it makes clear that the client had money and security issues in the beginning of his life.
The Grand Tableau is very deep; one immersed investigation using the Grand Tableau might take even two hours or more. The development of this technique might take a life time because what I believe is in a continuous study and learning. The "Lenormand Walkway" is an endless path to be traveled forever. And every day a new insightful flower might be blooming on the road.
Example of Reading and interpretation from one card point of view.
CARD 3: THE SHIP
"Your fourth card, which is the ten of spades, indicates the loss of your hopes;
but the fruits and flowers of the saxifrage which are on the same card
suggest that the disappointment was but momentary,
and that a happy conclusion— probably a marriage—
succeeded fears which amounted even to loss of hope."
Mademoiselle Lenormand to the future Empress Josephine in:
“The Whites and the Blues” by Alexandre Dumas
The Ship is a card of passage in the first instance. It symbolizes liberty, movement, travel, trades, foreign lands and all kind of journeys. As it has to do with a passage, it also suggests heritage. The Ship is associated with the 10 of Spades which represents a conclusion of a situation from the intellectual point of view. To conclude something and cross into another direction (even if it is a better one) is always difficult because the nature of the Human Being is to keep things as they are. Life is volatile, and to preserve things as they are is the way Man manages to survive. As Friedrich Schiller said: "Only the nature is loyal for it rests firmly on its eternal anchors, while on the protracted waves of life, everything else floats unstable."
Many connections can be made with the Ship card and keeping these possibilities in mind it will enhance the assertiveness of the readings.
Connections in Transportation: Boats, Ships, Hot Air Balloons, Paragliders, Horses, Bikes, Motorcycles, Cars, Trains, Subways, Airplanes, Rockets, Flying Saucers.
Body Connections: Emotions; Watery Parts; Circulation; Blood; Veins; Fluids; Saliva; Physiological Parts; Sweats; Urinary Tract; Liver; Gallbladder.
Mythic, Starry and Spiritual Connections: God Poseidon; Charon’s Boat (Charon was the ferryman of Hades in the Greek Mythology); Argo (Jason’s Ship used to conquer the Golden Fleece); Edip and the Myth of Eternal Return; Auriga Constellation (The Charioteer); 9th House in Astrology (House of Studies, Travels, Abroad Experiences); Merkaba (The Spiritual Chariot that revolves the Spirit).
Connections in Literature: Odyssey by Homer; Aeneid by Virgil; Ulisses by James Joyce; The Tempest by William Shakespeare; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne; The Ship by C. S. Forester; Moby-Dick by Herman Melville; We, the Drowned by Carster Jensen; Cinderella by Charles Perrault (who uses a Chariot to make a passage); Captain Hook's pirate ship in Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
In theory, Lenormand cards must be read upright and one card can be read alone; but I believe their position in the Tableau and their connection with other cards are the secrets that will give us the best clue. The language Lenormand speaks best, for sure is the Grand Tableau. Lenormand cards complete each other and they need each other to help us to tell the best about the client’s story. Personally, I read upright and reversed cards. They work amazing and what the rules serve for if not to be broken?
Lenormand reading is about telling a story, about deconstruction of images. One piece of one card can be mended to another piece of another card and a whole new world can be created. Lenormand cards chat so well among each other that the possibilities are unlimited. One literal example about this is when Caitlín Matthews suggests in her book “The Complete Lenormand Oracle” that Ship plus Birds equals an airplane and Ship plus Ring equals a bike. I would add Ship plus Stork equals a paraglider, Ship plus Snake equals a train and in a metaphorical approach Ship plus Ring equal the Myth of Eternal Return and Ship plus Star equals a spiritual journey. All we need to do is to observe the shapes of the universe and our limits will be boundless.
And what about Ship reversed? This is related to sinking and drowning in a literal or a metaphorical way. But if it happens to appear the Tree in the position just under the reversed Ship this will give ground to the situation. If the Tree is reversed just above the sinking Ship the person might be suffering from emotional diseases. Then we just have to check how the Heart card is behaving. But if Mice is close to this, the disease might be more serious and also in the physical level. On the other hand if the Tree is upright, the person or the sinking situation will probably have a lot of support to make the passage. When Ship is reversed is interesting to observe how the Coffin in behaving in the Tableau to determine the severity of the sinking. Sometimes the Ship appears blocked by a card (blocking position is the immediate card on the right). And sometimes Ship will have open way ahead. Mountain, Tower, Mice, Anchor, Clouds and Scythe can be blocking cards for the Ship. Open roads can be Bouquet, Paths, Clover, Sun, Star, Key and Fish considering that Bouquet might mean heritage as well. Occasionally Ship might come entrapped among two blocking cards. Here the passage will not happen.
And what about the behavior of the Ship when it is related to Woman and Man cards? If the Ship is in between Woman and Man cards in diagonal, horizontal or vertical position might be a trip on the way, one or the other might be coming for a meeting from a foreign country. Of course this good side of the thing will depend on the other near cards. If the near cards are good, the couple might enjoy a happy travel together. If the near cards are bad the Ship might mean a separation.
As I said in the beginning, cards chat among each other and all we need to do is to get used to the Lenormand language. And the best way to get used is to practice, because only practice leads to perfection.
CASE OF STUDY FOR THE SHIP USING THE GRAND TABLEAU 8X4+4
Now let’s see how the Ship behaves in the Grand Tableau. For the Grand Tableau reading one more thing that must be considered is the Domicile Houses of the cards. The domicile houses are the original positions following their number sequence. Each house of the Grand Tableau will carry the energy of the domiciled card – and over here we can scoop even more information of our client and the situation. Below, there is a chart of the Grand Tableau 8X4+4 showing the domicile houses:
Domicile Houses of the Cards
Rider / Clover / Ship / House / Tree / Clouds / Snake / Coffin
Flowers / Scythe / Whips / Birds / Child / Fox / Bear / Stars
Stork / Dog / Tower / Park / Mountain / Paths / Mice / Heart
Ring / Book / Letter / Man / Woman / Lilies / Sun / Moon
Key / Fishes / Anchor / Cross
Now let’s see somebody’s chart working in the Grand Tableau.
Below, the Grand Tableau 8X4+4 shows one of my clients chart:
Client Cards Positions
Stork Inverted/ Lilies Upright / Mice Upright / Rider Upright / Moon Upright / Coffin Reversed / Fox Upright / Cloves Upright
House Reversed/ Letter Reversed / Roads Upright /Sun Upright / Tree Reversed / Bouquet Upright / Park Upright / Ship Upright
Man Upright/ Snake Upright / Dog Upright / Heart Upright / Birds Upright / Bear Upright / Mountain Upright / Whips Reversed
Scyhte Upright/ Tower Reversed / Woman Upright / Ring Upright / Anchor Upright / Child Reversed /Star Upright
Fish Upright/ Book Reversed / Cross Reversed / Key Upright
Let’s observe… SHIP (along with the Cloves, Whips and Star) is in the last vertical row of the top of the tree. I consider these four last cards as progressive future. In this case a good one as the Whips card is reversed and its energy is not so strong. Let’s notice the SHIP’s position is the sixteenth in the spread and immediately after, in the position seventeenth, is the Man (my client). Here I see that he – my client – has already passed the SHIP. The passage, the change has already happened. The domicile of the sixteenth position is the Stars card. So, I conclude that this change was smooth. Then I check the domicile of the SHIP which is the third position of the spread. Wow! Mice card upright is there! So this change or passage was something very bad with a fluid conclusion. What draws my attention next is the Tree (health) and Tower (work) reversed positions. Tree reversed is in the domicile of the Child (it doesn’t tell me too much now) and Tower reversed is in the position of the Book. Well, we all know Books always contain information… So here we are and I start thinking this SHIP passage in this spread might be related to work… Then another thing draws my attention. Upright Park card (social groups and friends) has an upright Mountain card right in its base. All is fine here but the Mountain in the base gives a compacted, even a little tough energy to the relations around him at the moment. Furthermore, if a few people are on the top of a very narrow peak of a mountain, this group might be moving with no security and maybe they are even afraid of falling… Then I give my shot: “I guess something not nice happened with your work colleagues. But now all is fine. SHIP has already taken the problem away. Now energy is compressed, a little dull to step on it, but things are ok. Nothing is blocked now.” And he confirms: “There was a big gossip in my work, people fought. Now everybody is calm again but a little tension is floating in the air.” Then I look at my client again. The immediate card after him, in the position eighteenth, is the Snake. Of course my client is now very afraid of betrayals and is walking with his eyes wide open. And his reversed Tree also explained. Besides he is not sick, there is a lack of energy there and he feels exhausted. He confirms again and I smile.
A LITTLE MAGICK…
God gave us minds to think just and charitable
and honorable thoughts, it should be and is
our privilege, as well as our duty.
Mark Twain in "Joan of Arc"
Words are powerful. What we believe is basically what we get. When God said “FIAT LUX” light was born. Born from the words! Say, think and believe only in good things and this will attract good things to our lives. And for those who remember "OPEN SESAME" was a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in One Thousand and One Nights for it opened the mouth of a cave in which forty thieves have hidden a treasure. So, “FIAT LUX” and "OPEN SESAME" are nothing but big metaphors of the power of the words! In a reading when I see a few main cards inverted I tell my client: “Let’s change the energy of this card right now.” And I put a few cards upright. I always tell my clients. “Nothing is written in stone, we are building our future every minute. Determine to the universe that you will have the best and you will.” And just moving a few cards upright I can see my clients already feeling a little better. I remind them about their sensitive points and how they must – every day – keep a positive attitude to release what was blocked. (I teach them to always say that in the past. It was. It is not anymore!) So, to offer a reading is a little more than just lie down the cards. It’s also about support. It is also about care. It is also about love.
FURTHER READING:
Matthews, Caitlín. The Complete Lenormand Oracle Book. Destiny Books 2014
George, Rana. The Essential Lenormand: Your Guide to Precise & Practical Fortunetelling. Llewellyn 2014
Fiechter, Regula Elizabeth. Mystical Lenormand Book. Urania 2013
Louis, Anthony. Lenormand Symbols: Exploring the Origins of the Images on the Cards. 2014
Steinbach, Sylvie . The Secrets of the Lenormand, 2007.
Boroveshengra, Andy. Lenormand Thirty Six Cards: An Introduction to the Petit Lenormand. CreateSpace 2015
Katz, Marcus & Goodwin, Tali. Easy Lenormand: Quick Answers to Everyday Questions. Llewellyn 2015