If you have followed steps one and two in the last post then you have looked at the general appearance of the tableau. Now, you are ready to start looking closer at the card formation.
Black = Acorns; Green = Leaves; Red = Hearts; Yellow = Bells. K = Kings. O = Overs Knaves. U = Under Knaves. D = Twos.
Multiples are read in the tableau. However, a multiple only occurs in vertical columns not horizontals. In our example, we have one: in the sixth vertical column there are two Overs: a friendship (normally with a woman). This fits with the cut, too.
Look for clusters of courts, too. A King and Over Knave (Queen) of the same suit falling side by side is a couple; falling in a vertical formation, parent and child i.e. Over Knave above the King mother and son.
If just one card falls between the King and Over of the same suit, that card describes something to happen to that couple.
A King, Over/Queen, Under Knave together of any suit means a family. Several court cards together of any rank i.e. two Overs + Under mean a gathering. If they are touched by the 2 of Leaves and 8 of Acorns or, in Bésigue, the Ace of Spades + 8 Spades it’s a funeral.
Step Four:
The first cards that gain your attention will be the cards immediately touching the significator (the card that represents yourself or the querent). Depending on where this card has fallen you can anything from three to eight cards.
These cards should be read in combination with each other, but their positions have certain significance.
If you look at the little man below you can see some of the old theories about orientation are applied.
a) Man looks to his feet where he stands now. The card below the querent’s significator stands for the present or future so close it within a week away.
b) Man looks to the heavens for tomorrow. The card above the querent’s significator stands for the future, normally a month or further away.
c) What is left is sinister. The card to the left describes tribulations or matters requiring some attention.
d) What is right is dexter. The card to the right describes aid or “high” (dexter) hopes.
The cards diagonally touching the significator are blends of the four orientations above. As such, the card diagonally lower left will describe how problems are manifesting now or very soon will i.e. if the Under Knave of Leaveswas to the left, the King of Acornswas below and the Two of Leaves diagonally lower left it could you have had an upsetting message (Under) of an official nature (Two) from a boss or even court summons (King).
In practise, if one of the touching cards happens to be a King, an Over, or an Under Knave, it’s normally worth looking at the card touching it on the other side, too.
So in our example, shown below, the Over Knave of Hearts(female querent) is touched (clockwise) by the 9, 8 and King of Acorns (+ 9 of Hearts), the 7 of Leaves and 10 of Acorns.
Acorns are the malefic suit and deals in sickness, betrayals and financial hardship. Here the querent has or soon will be threatened (10 of Acorns + 7 of Leaves = a threat) possibly by writing (10) and hopes that an older man (King) might help her (King + 9 of Hearts). The situation will cause a lot of upset (9 + 8), even involving an altercation, which she hopes will be written off as a storm in tea-cup (8). As the 2 of Leaves (high building) is below the 10 I’d be tempted to read this as a legal situation.
Step Five:
Now, we need to count from the querent’s card. A count tells us more about the cards touching the querent, how they end. Counting can be done in various numbers: five and seven are quite popular, but I prefer to do a count of nine and then every thirteenth card.
Now, if a card can be counted to from the significator it means that that will have a more direct bearing (and often occur sooner) on the future than those cards that are not reached by the count.
The subsequent cards (which here will be the thirteenth cards) are read in a string together.
In our example, the ninth card is the 10 of Acorns and the thirteenth cards are shown below this in the graphic above.
The 10 of Acorns shows an unpleasant letter. It will be official or legal (2 of Leaves) concerning money (8 of Bells) and require careful action (7 of Leaves).
Looking at the thirteenth cards collectively, they describe the inevitable (8 of Hearts) loss (9 of Acorns) of either the client’s housing benefit (Under Knave of Bells + 2 of Leaves = benefit, pension + 2 of Hearts = housing benefit) or social housing (2 of Hearts).
I am now unavailable for readings. I’m about to go away and have a full list, so I cannot fit anyone in. Sorry. I will however be back from 11 December, when the 2014 readings on go sale too.
I am going to be in London on 14th and 15thDecember (Saturday and Sunday). I will make an announcement shortly, regarding bookings, once I know how many free-slots I have.
2013 is almost over, but what will 2014 bring for you! Will you find Mr. or Miss. Right? Will you get on your career? Is it going to financially lean year, or bountiful?
Get the lowdown on your year-ahead with one of my specialist 2014 readings:
26-card Tarot Reading:
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Based on the twelve mundane houses of astrology, this 26-card reading gives you a complete low-down on what you will be working with in all areas of life: work, money, family, and even luck, et cetera. This is the most comprehensive year-ahead reading, and the one I do for myself. £50.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Want to know what the main theme of the year is, or just want to focus one topic i.e. love or money, et cetera? This is concentrated on one topic but gives a lot of detail. £35.
[contact-form]
All readings are done by e-mail and sent in pdf. Prices are as above with £3 paypal surcharge (and all GTs are now £60). Due to holiday, invoices will not be sent until Monday 9th December, 2013, but can be requested before-hand and will be invoiced in order of request. You can also still book the normal readings here.
Please note this is a scheduled post and queries will not be answered before 9th December.
I have returned! General readings are on sale here as are the above special 2014 forecasts.
Unfortunately, some readings which were requested in November were sent to the “Feedback” spam folder, and I did not notice them, as WordPress doesn’t advise you or show anything in the comments. Therefore, if you have requested a reading before last week, and never heard off me, please get in touch and I will send the invoice.
If you are requesting a reading it’s best to use the WordPress, Blogspot or my e-mail account as these go to my business account on my BlackBerry. Using Facebook or Twitter DM relies on my logging onto those sites, which I don’t do every day.
Due to the amount of readings requested I am unlikely to be blogging this week or next. I have a full list, London, and then e-mail readings to fit in and as I am sure you can understand these need to be a priority.
E-mail readings are currently being sent to clients either the same day as payment or the next working day. However, due to demand, I am now advising people that readings can be done in 1-3 working days from payment.
Due to prior engagements, I am not able to read tomorrow. I’ll therefore send invoices out and readings will be carried out on the Wednesday or Thursday (GTs). I’ve contacted the appropriate people who have booked.
The majority of my bookings are done face-to-face and I currently have a full list. E-mail readings are booked and carried out around these readings but are still done with the same attention and time that I would take if you were present. I don’t like people to be kept waiting but when things are busy, as Christmas and New Year is, I do crave your patience. Thank you for your continued patronage.
For Christmas I like to do something for charity. This year, I’m going to be raising some money for Birmingham Dogs’ Home. They do wonderful work for finding dogs new homes, giving them a second chance at happiness.
You can donate at my page here or by texting 70070 stating BORO61 + £* (the amount). If you donate from now to 20:00 GMT on Monday, you can choose to also have a quick reading with me. Just leave a question, and I’ll answer it with either a tarot card, or three playing cards or petit-Lenormand (50-300 words).
Thank you for supporting the Dogs’ Home with me.
[contact-form]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Within the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of St. James there is passage which relates a story concerning the Theotokos and St. Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, where St. Joseph observes the Virgin crying, and then laughing, which perplexes him. So he asks:
“Mary, what is with you? First your face appears happy and then sad.”
And she said, “Joseph, it is because I see two people with my eyes, one crying and being afflicted, one rejoicing and being extremely happy.”XVII: 8-9 [Translation: Matthews, S]
Such is often the dichotomy of this time of year. For every household in full festive-spirit there is another struggling: either through bereavement, sickness, on deployment in the military, or for the financial difficulties that are all too common, and for some, the simple fact that they are all alone.
Personally, Christmas 2010 was a particularly difficult and painful time for me; each one since has its trials but, for the first time since 2010, I don’t have the sense of expectant-dread. As we grow older there is, for the majority, a mixture of happiness and sorrow at this time.
Design for Hidesheimer & Faulkner, Christmas 1894 cards. Beatrix Potter.
I know several of my readers and clients will find Christmas day itself difficult. Chances are you, too, know someone for whom this day will be trying for the reasons above, or others.
If you do, and you can, do think of giving that person a thought – a ‘phone-call, text, or a visit if you can, would be so appreciated. And I know you’re likely busy. But such a simple acts of munificence and charitableness – as I myself have experienced since starting this blog by many of you – are deeply cherished and appreciated.
So, all that remains is for me to say thank-you, for all your support and kindness throughout these last few years. To all my clients and readers I wish you all, and yours, a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas.
Illustration for January 1 from the Menologion for Basil II.
One of the more illuminating peculiarities of my profession is that one gets to see and read for people from all walks of life. Whether the client is a university student or a house-wife (or husband) or an investment banker or a pensioner the questions, when stripped of the peculiarities of the individuals’ lives, are often the same.
We all want to know if or when things will get “better”.
2013 has been one that, for many, has brought its challenges; challenges that have not always been easily, or individually, surmountable (job markets, health, to the floods). To this all we can do is hope for better. In fact, my clients coming for year-ahead readings have asked, simply, ‘Is it going to get better?’
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice.
I hope therefore that 2014 is found to be better voice. Thank you for all your support, kind wishes and patronage in 2013. I really am grateful to each one of you – -
Back in 2012, I authored what was the first purposely written (i.e. not translated from German or French) petit-Lenormand correspondence course. The course ran for over twelve months but regretfully required a level of monitoring that was too high for me with my other commitments.
Since the course closed in the late summer of 2013, I have received numerous requests for details on if and when it would return. My intention was always to try and find someone who could both host and run the course, with my involvement only being on the material side (revising, expanding, et cetera.) and I am happy to say that this has now occurred.
The course will now be offered by the Traditional Lenormand Fortunetellers Guild, along with material authored by Chanah Morrison, author of The Freaky Fortune-teller blog, and several other prominent Lenormand experts. I myself am deeply happy about this development and feel privileged that they would utilise the course.
I have revised the material, which now includes seven in-depth lessons divided into multiple modules with exercises. The course is more comprehensive than any other available right now. Content covers cards’ meanings, how to build combinations, through to the grand-tableau, and a whole lesson devoted to the oldest and most traditional method of reading the petit-Lenormand – “distance” or “near, far”.
As most of you might know, I authored a chapter of Ciro Marchetti’s Lenormand e-book on the method of distance (near and far). The book is a companion to his Gilded Reverie Lenormandwhich has now been published by USGames inc. Check out Ciro’s site for information on this sumptuous deck and the e-book, which also includes chapters by Rana George and Nefer Khepri (“The Egyptian Lenormand”).
Be sure to keep a watch for up-dates on the Guild’s site about the course will be launching.
I had thought I had posted about this small spread before, but I’ve not been able to locate the post in the archive. Thus I will try and outline it here and now, and if time permits, I might do another example.
Getting an overview of the coming twelve months is something I think we can all agree is useful. I, personally, do a big Tarot reading for myself, once a year, with the 12 houses spread and then a couple of tableaus throughout the year. Nevertheless, this smaller reading is also good to look at specific events.
The spread uses the twenty-one trumps and Fool-card and then the forty pips and sixteen honours/court-cards. It is based on “tarot numerology” which was written about, extensively, in Mary K Greer’s seminal Tarot Constellations and Tarot for Yourself.
Step One:
You need to work out your Tarot year card. To do this you add up the date of your birthday for the year you’re enquiring on.
So if you were born on 17th November, 1968, in 2014 you would add 17 + 11 + 2014 = 2042. Now, this number needs to be reduced to a value between 1 and 21. So, to reduce it we go: 2 + 0 + 4 + 2 = 8. Therefore, this individual is in a year that corresponds to trump-8, the virtue of justice*.
If you were born on 25th July, 1920: 25 + 7 + 2014 = 2046 = 12, which corresponds to trump-12, the hanged man.
It’s worth looking to see if the year corresponds to the individual’s birth number. Such years do tend to be “interesting”.
Step Two:
Once you have the year card ascertained, remove the corresponding trump card and the four corresponding pips:
I & II = the aces.
II & XII = the twos.
III & XIII = the threes.
IIII & XIIII = the fours.
V & XV = the fives.
VI & XVI = the sixes.
VII & XVII = the sevens.
VIII & XVIII = the eights.
VIIII & XVIIII = the nines.
X & XX = the tens.
As trump XXI symbolises heaven and attainment, it isn’t included. The Fool isn’t a trump, so also isn’t included in the above.
So, for someone in a year that corresponds to trump-8, the virtue of justice, you would remove that card and then the eights of batons, chalices, swords and coins. For someone in a year that corresponds to trump-12, you’d take the four twos.
Now, you can shuffle the remaining twenty trumps. When you’re ready deal two cards on the right pre-selected trump.
Shuffle the pips and deal two cards on the right each of the pips.
Step Three:
Read each series as a three card deal. If you struggle, use the prefix, root and suffix system. They’ll normally describe an important event or topic.
The trumps describe how that person’s life will progress in general i.e. Justice + Fool + Hanged Man = a mistake will cause a setback or strife, possibly officially.
Do the same with the pips but remember that: batons relate to speculations, luck and social life/new love; chalices home and family; swords work and financial investments, and coins health, legal and security.
So for batons you could say for 8 of Batons + Ace of Cups + Queen of Coins could indicate making a new female friend following a house move or with an estate agent.
* I take 8 = justice and 11 = fortitude whatever deck I use. The above is based on that; especially in the pips. Mary K Greer recommends using the order of whatever deck you’re working with for year-cards, but I’d counsel you to take Justice as 8 whatever deck you use, for this spread.
Do you use reversals with the petit-Lenormand ? Personally, I never do and I do not advocate them. That is however just my opinion. But as people keep asking me why, I shall outline it.
When people talk of the “petit-Lenormand” there is a tendency to discuss it as if we are talking about a deck of cards or a set of meanings. In actual fact, the petit-Lenormand is actually a method of reading a reduced pack of playing cards, not cards’ meanings, or a deck et cetera. As a method it has too many differences that mean it cannot be classified as a sub-type of piquet, or Skat, or the Sibillas.
Reversals have been used in some cartomancy methods for some considerable time; nevertheless, they appear largely in reduced pack methods. Quite early on, due to printing expense, playing cards began to be reduced. 32-card decks, as used in the Bésigue and adapted by Etteilla for the petit-Etteilla, were popular for fortune-telling in France, Germany, the Low Countries, because of gaming. Piquet and Skat have their origins in the Italian Briscola (played with 40 cards) which was an ancestor of one prototype of Sibilla.
Contrary to what most readers think of as reversals as being now (i.e. “blocked”, “opposite”, “passing” et cetera), in reduced card fortune-telling cards have separate, and often unrelated, meanings upright and reversed. Similarly, multiples i.e. 3 Kings or 2 Aces, had separate meanings for upright and reversed multiples so that if you had four Kings and three were reversed you only had a multiple of three reversed Kings.
For instance, the following table gives meanings for two cards in a couple of systems I use for the 9 of Diamonds:
Cards’ meanings, upright and reversed, can be further modified by the attendance of other cards. For instance, Spades with the 9 of Diamonds upright mean grave danger, unless it’s the 8 of Spades when it’s an argument with the potential for violence.
In Schafkopf or Jass reversals were predominantly less common, but cards’ meanings could be modified or changed, sometimes completely, by being surrounded by one suit or to another meaning by being surrounded by two suits or in proximity to another card.
For instance, in Schafkopf, the 9 of Bells (diamonds) stands for one’s finances in general, but if touched by multiple Leaves (spades) its meaning becomes work in general and if with Hearts it becomes happiness in the home – however, if it was close to the 9 of Hearts, it is travel regardless of whether it’s surrounded by one suit. All these meanings become malefic i.e. disliking your job (with leaves) or an upsetting trip (near the 9 of Hearts) if the King or Over Knave of Hearts are surrounded by Acorns, as these represent the client if they are male or female, respectively.
As such, each cartomancy method has its own rules and within those are many intricacies. Trying to fit in the Bésigue method of reversals to Schafkopf would be like trying to blend French with German in Spanish speaking Argentina: confusion would prevail, inaccuracy would be the result.
The petit-Lenormand’s method gives both clear instructions as to how cards are read, as well as modified cards’ meanings dependent on whether a card is near or far from the significator or key cards (Clouds, Ring). That is it. Those are the meanings you should be using. We have these going back to the time the cards’ appear with no reference to reversing cards.
For that reason alone be aware that there is no reversed cards’ meanings available. So where do you get them ? Add in your own, or follow Lo Scarabeo’s, and then it ceases to be the petit-Lenormand. I can only repeat something I have said time and time again:
There must be a difference between reading the petit-Lenormand and just using a “petit-Lenormand” deck.
For a bit of historical information: the 19th century instructions belong to a sub-type methodology of that is seen within Jass or Klaverjas, and to some extent Schafkopf, where reversals are both less common and attendance and sometimes distance predominate. However, it has too many differences to be seen as “part of” or a “sub-type” that method – there was and is no attention, ever, to suit-to-suit combos i.e. the Bouquet’s meaning doesn’t Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.change if it’s touched by one suit or another, and the suits don’t follow either Skat or Bésigue conventions, et cetera.
As such, Lenormand itself is rightly classified as a singular methodology.
If one is sensible, it’s quite hard to see how one can incorporate reversals into their readings without subverting key features that define the petit-Lenormand. For this reason alone, one must ask themselves: if you add reversals, are you ceasing to read the petit-Lenormand ?
I hate to seem unhelpful or restrictive, but due to past issues can I request my readers:
a) Do not copy and circulate the content of this blog. b) Do not re-blog posts that feature a reading for someone other than me. c) Do not use pininterest et cetera. with the posts on this blog.
If you want to make a copy, promote it on a forum, or translate something I have written, contact me and I will normally agree. I’ve had problems in the past and regret that I have to be careful now.
If this continues I will simply make the blog invite only.
Following on from the reversals post, I have had some requests in the past for an opinion on “pictures” on the petit-Lenormand cards and what, if anything, they are used for in reading. Particularly, I want to draw your attention to the orientation of the 28 – the Gentleman and 29 – the Lady, and what, if anything this can mean.
Lots of “new” Lenormand readers, learning in the wake of the 1990s, adhere to a view that the Gentleman and Lady should face different directions, right and left, respectively. The combination for “man and wife” is Gentleman + Lady, so having them facing each other is a novelty [1].
However the different direction is represented in probably 80 % of petit-Lenormands, particularly the iconic Blaue Eule. However, the combination rests not on which way they look, just the order of Gentlemanbefore the Lady. Order, be it by distance or attendance, is how this deck is read.
Thus, not all Lenormand-decks have this feature nor do they need it. In fact, quite a few older ones didn’t.
In the example below, from two 19th century petit-Lenormands [2], you can see that the Lady and Gentleman both face one way. Interestingly, one show them both facing right and the other left.
New decks, such as Gilded Reverie Lenormand by Ciro Marchetti (USGames, inc.), follow this historical precedent whilst the Lenormand Oracle Cards by Gina di Roberto (Lo Scarabeo) choose to flip the Lady to face right and the Gentleman to the left.
Does it affect combinations? No.
In the combinations below, involving the High Tower and Tree with the Gentleman and Lady, it does not matter that the Lady and Gentleman both face one way. In the top row it shows a separation or schism between the Lady and Gentleman because the High Tower comes between them; as the Lady comes first, it will be at her instigation or her conduct.
The second shows a general feeling of inertia between the two, that is actually often mutual, regardless of whichever card comes first. And again, their facing makes no difference.
As such, the cards’ images are overruled by the order they fall. This is always the case.
Our Lenormand-meanings derive from a sheet that accompanied the 19th century decks, from the so-called “Philippe Lenormand” sheets[3]. All the books published on the petit-Lenormand utilise meanings derived from this list, from Erna Droesbeke [4] to the more suspect Madame Sheyla [5].
If you look at the literature provided by German sources, they often give Tree + High Tower as a sign of longevity, this derives from the High Tower’s earliest meaning even though they might not put “age” as a keyword of the High Tower’s. [6] In fact, some people might use the combination and not know that the High Tower is a life-length card.
A minority practise in the Lenormand method is to sometimes follow the direction the Gentleman or Lady faces as the “future” [7]. This is not uniform nor is it as old as some adherents would have it. It may actually derive from a deck other than the petit-Lenormand; as, again, the oldest instructions do not talk about dividing the tableau up in past, present, and future, but rather seeing it all as present to future.
Dividing a tableau into the past, present, and future, is good for beginners. I taught my students [8] those techniques, but professionally if I did that, what would I do if the Lady fell on the far side meaning it was all past? I never divide my tableaus up professionally, these days.
Direction of any card is mentioned just twice in the most consistently applied cards’ meanings [9]:
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Firstly, the light and dark side of the Clouds is mentioned within the method of distance (the oldest method). In terms of the client’s cards, the dark side facing the significator is a bad omen of tribulations and difficulties to come in contrast to the “lucky” light side.
The dark side of the Clouds also affects other cards and its proximity to the significator, also.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Secondly, the Ring: if this card falls to the left of the client’s card it harbingers a break in their relationships whereas on the right, it promises a fulfilling union. On the left, and close to the significator, this break does not necessarily have to be permanent and both the Heart and Anchor (cards dealing with relationships) can help in this respect.
The Lilies also has an orientation based meaning as does the House. However, these are based on being above and below or in the centre and below, respectively, and require additional insights [10].
What cards do you note? Personally, I note only the Clouds and the Scythe. I think anything more, in any regularity, complicates and detracts from the Lenormand method which grew from 18th and 19th century cartomancy done with suited-cards[11].
With the latter, however, I would see Dog + Scythe (below) as the sudden appearance of a man or aggressive friend regardless of whether the tip of the Scythe faced right or left. I just note the tip of the blade as a warning, or severity indicator i.e. if the tip was on the left, the friend might be aggressively-violent on the right probably just aggressive as likely here.
Always remember, it’s A + B versus B + A not what picture A or picture B is doing.
Similarly, I would counsel that Snake + Fox and Fox + Snake do not change their meanings regardless of which way the Fox is sniffing. The two illustrations below both denote lies and treachery, and possibly a dishonest woman, even though the fox and snake a shown in different orientation [12].
The reason Fox + Snake is considered malefic as opposed to Snake + Fox is because the Fox coming first introduces the MEANING of wrong and lies as opposed to lending ATTRIBUTES (if he follows i.e. like an adjective). [13]
As such, the picture itself doesn’t change the meanings. A lot of “beginners” decks, such as the Blaue Eule, have pictures that make this a lot clearer, however, that is just a bonus, not the origin of the rule or something to rely on in more creative decks [14].
For this reason, let me reassure one person particularly, that it doesn’t really matter if your Dog card has the wrong playing-card insert on it. You know what it should be, get on with it!
Footnotes and Sources:
[1] Lady + Gentleman is sometimes said to be a “cooling off” or a loss of interest in each other, by many sources. I learnt it as that, too. But, in a reality, a less chauvinistic, and probably more accurate view, would be a wife and husband or just a woman and man. A cooling off can occur regardless of whether they face each or other, or if the Lady precedes the Gentleman. In fact, having them face opposite directions would be completely overcalled by the position of cards such as the Heart and Dog being close, and the Ring on the right.
[2] Published by, Dondorf Frankfurt and Geuens-Seaux, Belgium.
[3] The deck now published as Wahrsagen à la Lenormand, is based on a deck published c. 1846. The original deck contained a sheet of cards’ meanings attributed to Philippe Lenormand. As with Camile Lenormand, or any relation to Mlle. Marié-Anne Le Normand, the name, meaning and deck is just marketing. This instruction sheet accompanied the majority, if not all, Lenormand cards in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium and latter importing to Russia, Bulgaria, Spain et cetera*. This sheet has recently been translated by the expert, Björn Meuris, from Dutch as well as by Helen Riding.
[4] The Oracle of Mlle Lenormand published 1989. First English book on the petit-Lenormand also published in Dutch, French and German. The Belgian author Erna Droesbeke von Enge is possibly the most influential post-1970s Lenormand-writer, with books having been translated into numerous languages.
[5] L’oracolo di Mademoiselle Lenormand. Italian book. Highly influenced by post-1990s “psychic” and “new age” publications.
[6] Despite differences, cards’ meanings as described by Iris Treppner; Britta Kienle; Malkiel Dietrich; Regula Elizabeth Fiechter; Colette Silvestre, and Pierre Ripert et cetera, all derive from the one source with only idiosyncratic differences that owe a lot more to language-and-culture than anything else.
[7] Appears in various but, predominantly, German literature. See Mario dos Ventos or the expert Malkiel Dietrich.
[10] Boroveshengra, Andy “36 Cards: Fortune-Telling with the Petit-Lenormand” [2014]. Meuris, Björn (see 3). “The Gilded Reverie Lenormand” by Ciro Marchetti e-Book (chapter by Boroveshengra, Andy).
[12] Blaue Eule. Müller. Jeu Lenormand Cartes de Bonne Aventure. Carta Mundi.
[13] See literature on building combinations by: Matthews, Caitlín. Treppner, Iris. Droesbeke, Erna.
[14] A number of minority practises, such as reversals, seem to derive from two sources: firstly, the dominant playing card practises in certain countries (Bésigue versus Jass et cetera), and secondly, post-World War I and II political and diplomatic restrictions, in certain countries and partition states, that affected the importing and interaction. Thus rather than the notion of national “schools” you just have regional/teacher-based influences.
In terms of iconography certainly, post 1950 and up 1980s and then, with growing ferocity, from the 1990s to 2013 publications of Lenormands all contain noticeable pictorial variations that are absent in the pre-1930s publications. It is also in the post-World War II publications that one finds the poems begin to prioritise rhyming above meaning.
As promised, the Lenormand cards’ meanings have been reposted in the theory index. I’ve now included the cards’ meanings for distance method and removed stuff that is covered in the main Lenormand category.
As I’ve been getting a few questions about “what is Lenormand ?” “what deck is best ?” or “how is it best to learn ?”
I’ve decided to do an open question and answer session.
As long as it is on Lenormand , you can ask pretty much whatever you want. The only thing I’ll say is don’t ask me is what I think about another reader – so you can ask about decks, prediction, methods, spreads, resources, et cetera.
Leave your questions and I’ll post the answers next week in a post.
