YouTube - The Art of Lenormand Reading: The Context

"Lenormand Extraordinaire" Alexandre Musruck explains why context is everything in a reading, and how to apply context successfully.



Magnifique, Alexandre!

And this goes for all types cartomancy, not just Lenormand.

Repost - Andy Boroveshengra/néosfortune: The Final Word or The Heart's Spade

A lot of good pointers in this example! Be sure to read the notes as well.

The Final Word or The Heart's Spade

image source: Andy Boroveshengra, néosfortune

Andy is one of the best. He's published my favourite book on Lenormand, and his Tarot de Marseille book is coming out in October. 👍 

YouTube: How 'Nandora Tarot' uses her Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling cards

This is so cool!

A lot of people struggle to use Gypsy Witch cards because the deck combines elements of Lenormand plus additional symbols, a full set of playing cards, and Near and Far placement meanings (like the method found in the "Philippe LeNormand" instruction sheets that came with early Lennie decks). They don't know which way to jump first!

I love that Naomi has taken this "disadvantage" and created a magical method all her own.

Want to receive a spirit message through your cards?

Would you like to use your cards to receive a message from a deceased loved one or a particular spirit guide?

Assign them a significator, a card that will be their "place holder" in the deck. For example, for me, my mother always appears as the Queen of Diamonds* when using playing cards, and the Bouquet when using Lenormand.

Shuffle the deck and then thumb through it face up until you find their card. The card before (on top of) it reflects what they want to talk about or how they're feeling, and the two cards behind (below) it expand on the subject or form the message about the first card.

Need more information from them or want to ask a question? Reshuffle and repeat the process. Don't overdo it though. When you start getting jibberish is when you know you've worn them out. 😉

*Because in traditional German courts this Queen is holding a carnation, my mother's favourite flower.

Quick Insight Cross Spread

As promised, here is the Lenormand spread I created for my last open reading. I wanted a simple spread that would provide some general insight from the Ether without a specific question.

Shuffle and deal out cards 1 to 5 as shown. Try not to peek at the bottom or "shadow" card until you've read the spread. You don't want its energy to influence your interpretation of the spread.

Card 1 shows the focus or subject of the reading
2 and 3 describe the situation or issue surrounding card 1
4 and 5 suggest how to handle or make best use of the situation as described by cards 2-1-3

Once you've completed your reading, turn the deck over for a "message" from the bottom card. This could represent a comment, an outcome, advice or a warning... That's for your intuition to determine.

How you choose to read the "arms" of the cross is entirely up to you. For example, you could combine 2 and 3 into a single concept and apply that to 1, or treat the three cards as past-present-future, or see 2 as a known aspect and 3 as an unknown aspect of 1, etc. Again, let your intuition and your usual methods guide you.

Equally, you don't have to stick to the cross layout. You can place your cards in any pattern that makes logical sense to you.

Using my last open reading as an example -
The subject (1) was Birds: conversations and nervousness. Paths (2) + Dog (3) suggested choices concerning a friend. Together it appeared to be agitated discussions about or with a friend regarding choices. Whip (4) pointed to the possibility of things becoming heated. Tree (5) in the context of this reading made more sense as time than health, suggesting slowing things down, not rushing to make a decision or state an opinion, especially not in a "whip-y" aggressive way. Finally, the shadow (bottom) card speaks of eventual success as things come to light.

Drop me a comment if you have any questions.

Open Reading 9

The lovely Mr.Lunar recently achieved 100 subscribers on his fledgling YouTube channel and had a celebratory giveaway draw for a Cartamundi "Jeu Lenormand" deck.

I've wanted one of these for a long time but I put off getting one because
a) I have more than enough Lenormand decks and b) I felt the verses might be distracting. I decided in the end that if I were to get one it would be the indecipherable to me Dutch version.

Guess who won. ☺   
         

I am loving this deck! And I wanted to share an open reading using it. Lenormand works better with a few more cards than I usually use for ORs, so I've created what I'm calling my "Quick Insight Cross"*.

Stressful conversations about choices concerning a friend or between friends. Don't allow these discussions to escalate into arguments. Take a step back and give the situation some time to resolve itself. Don't aggravate the situation and all will be well.

*I'll be back soon with the details for those interested.

LenorMarch

Kelly, of The Truth in Story, has instigated a month of Lenormand study, based on YouTube but including an invitation to her private Facebook group for those interested in further study and discussion.

I like Kelly's take on Lenormand - her understanding of how the cards "work". She explains it very clearly in her Day 1 video.



If you're new to Lenormand, or even if you're not, I think you'll get a lot of benefit from Kelly's videos. I really wish I'd had her as a mentor when I was starting out.

My LenorMarch contributions will be here.

Have a Lennie 2016!

Judy  x

Reading Houses within a GT

Many people like to read the Houses within a Grand Tableau (GT). I've tried it and I know the method has merit. But I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to reading a GT and I don't like to add Houses to my reading process. There's quite enough to do using traditional Lenormand methods without adding general cartomantic techniques to the mix.

This post by Madame Seaqueen, which explains Houses for those of you who may not have come across it before, employs a 6x6 GT layout however. I've seen this layout used before but not really considered it because, purist that I am, I like an 8x4+4 but... [light bulb goes on] I could use this layout for the times I think looking at the Houses would be the best way to tackle a reading. So now I can happily use Houses within a 6×6 without compromising my principles. ;)

So simple, so obvious in hindsight. But this is the sort of thing that highlights that you never stop learning your craft.

Reading for yourself

So, true to my word, at least this once - an "info-post". :)

Is it advisable to read Lenormand for yourself when "feeling very emotional or worried about something"? The asker had been told not to read Tarot under these circumstances, as the cards would just reflect their chaos and make things worse. Better to have someone else read for you.

My reply, which applies to Tarot, Lenormand, et al. -

If we can't read for ourselves when we're feeling emotional or worried about something, i.e. when we really NEED a reading :) what good is the ability? Yes, a reading by someone else would be great, but it's not always an option. In order to read effectively for others we have to be able to set our ego aside, focus on the process and read what the cards say without attachment. If, with much practice, we can achieve that for others, we can achieve it for ourselves. No way is it easy, but you have to find a way to let go.

That's it. No blinding insight, but it might be helpful to someone.

Judy says...

When I began this blog I said that "...this is where I'll be housing my growing list of cartomancy links and snippets of useful info." I haven't been very good at keeping up with that. I confess, most of my online cartomancy activity takes place on Facebook.

Sometimes someone there posts an interesting idea or question and I am compelled to share my wisdom. Ok, maybe not wisdom, LOL - but at least what I've been able to glean from other knowledgeable practitioners or what I've found to be true through my own practice. It struck me that, if I were a better blogger, those replies are the sort of thing I'd be posting here. So, that's what I think I'll do - repost some of those comments here.

For now, I'll share links to my favourite Facebook groups.

Fortune Telling with a Pack of Ordinary Playing Cards - all kinds of playing card meanings and methods are explored. I'm an admin in this group.

Cartomancy Study Group - an active group that focuses mainly on playing cards as well as other forms of cartomancy.

Lenormand and Cartomancy - a very relaxed and friendly group.

Give me a wave if you're there. :)

REPOST: Fennario's Weblog - OOPS! (some common mistakes)

Read and inwardly digest.

Fennario's Weblog 06 Feb 14 - OOPS! (some common mistakes)

I did it!

I trimmed my first deck.

Well, I had to. I mean, why put a heavy murky-green border around such a pretty picture?

Lenormand Oracle - Lo Scarabeo

The scenery opens up once the border is removed.

These cards were also a little big, but now I have a nice dainty deck to play with.

If this has inspired you to release some of your cards from their cages, see my previous post for a link to Donnaleigh de LaRose's video tutorial.

Welcome to my Special Interest blog

If you've found your way here from my main blog - So Far, So Good - thanks for coming. Do come in! I hope my interest in "fortune telling" doesn't put you off. Although if you've seen any of SFSG apart from the crochet stuff you'll already be aware of my penchant for weird.

And if you've just stumbled across this blog - Welcome! Nice to meet you.

I've been tinkering with Tarot since my early teens. Only after I confessed to my mother (with some trepidation) my interest, did she roll her eyes heavenward, sigh "Not you, too", and reveal that my grandmother read cards and coffee grounds.

We lived in Canada at the time and Oma was in Germany. In those days, international phone calls were rare/expensive and visits even more so. Sadly, as a result, I hardly knew my grandmother. But when she heard of my interest she sent me a Skat deck (32 cards - 7 to 10, J, Q, K, A) with her meanings written on the cards. In German.

Some years ago I had a go at translating the notes, but with only a German/English dictionary and her old-fashioned handwriting to contend with I wasn't terribly successful. Now, with excellent online translators, I've been able to type in her notes and get reasonably sensible results out.

This then whet my appetite for playing card reading as opposed to Tarot. Plus I had also inherited her Swedenborg cards, a Lenormand-like deck (Oma passed away in 1998). I'm translating that now, too. One thing lead to another and before I knew it I had acquired (my husband would say "Paid good money for!") another seven fortune telling decks of various types (and I'm not done yet; don't tell him).
Edit 27Apr16: Seven decks? Hahahahahaaaa, this post is SO old!

So the time has come to take the little Tarot section from my original blog and give it its own space to grow. I can't promise there will be much in the way of actual blogging here, certainly not on a regular basis. But this is where I'll be housing my growing list of cartomancy links and snippets of useful info. Perhaps you'll find something here of interest to you, too.

~~ Judy