The Celtic Lenormand Oracle

In the Tarot Blog Hop posts since last Yule, I've been writing about the eight cards in this deck which are associated with the festivals of the pagan Wheel of the Year. You might wonder what these cards are intended for, when reading with the Celtic Lenormand.

Timing is something which a lot of people ask about, and having a simple system to look at it was my intention with these cards. One possibility is to use them in specific spreads to look at the energies around that time of year in particular, as I did for the Yule blog hop back in December 2012. This can be done not just with a nine square reading, but also with simpler lines of 3, 5, 7 or 9, or with more complex spreads such as the Master spread.

Another thing you can do with these sabbat cards is to look around each one in a Grand Tableau, to assess the timing of certain situations and events. Or, as with the timing board system, you can re-shuffle the cards after a GT and lay them again, looking to the sabbat card houses for the timing of the events you saw in the GT.

And speaking of the Wheel of the Year, the next post on this site will coincide with Mabon, on the 22nd of September at 7pm BST.

©McCracken & Worthington

Welcome to another Tarot Blog Hop! You may have hopped forward from Tarot Trends, or back from Pure Blessed Tarot, depending on which way round you like to go. Or maybe you found your way here from the Celtic Lenormand Facebook page, or somehow else. Whatever the case, I hope you'll make your way round the hop, there are sure to be plenty of interesting posts! And if you get lost along the way, here's the Master List.

For this hop, our wrangler, Christiana Gaudet, invited us to look at myth as it connects to the cards. What I'd like to offer is a look at the card that I chose to represent this spoke on the Wheel of the Year in the Celtic Lenormand, and the myths that might be associated with it.

In traditional decks, this card would be the Garden. While there is much evidence of the Celts being involved in agriculture, there is little evidence of them having gardens. And those they did have were more of the kitchen-garden variety. Whereas the Lenormand garden was originally based on the Parisian (or generally city) practice of going for a walk or ride in the local gardens to see and be seen. It is connected with socialising, events, and hospitality, as well as our public persona.

To represent that idea, I decided to rename the card Meadow, and show a space prepared for the gathering of a village or tribe to celebrate the Mabon harvest, focused more on fruits than on wheat, though that is present, too. Of course, one myth we see here is that of celebrating Mabon.

There is plenty of discussion as to whether or not people in the past actually celebrated any or all of the 'pagan' festivals which are highlighted today. And strangely, the myths associated with Mabon refer to Beltaine as the time of his birth and to the Winter Solstice as the time of his rescue from imprisonment by King Arthur's knights.

The naming of the second harvest for Mabon is probably a later pagan association, connecting with the idea of the cyclical battle between the Summer and Winter Gods. The young Son/God defeats the old to win a wife and continue the cycle of life, bringing fruitfulness to the earth. The time when Mabon is imprisoned could be associated with the harvest and the storing up of those fruits over the winter.

Yet, even if Mabon is a name only later associated with the time of harvest, there is clear evidence of harvest festivals from the past. Though they may not have fallen on this exact date, the fact of giving thanks for the fruits of the season would have been a common occurrence. And gathering to celebrate that as a village or tribe would have been one of the times when groups came together, seeing friends old and new, telling tales of the trials of the year, and generally socialising and putting on a public face. So, though not exactly a Garden, the Meadow fits the spirit of the Lenormand card, and the spirit of this turn of the Wheel.

Now, for more myths and cards, please hop on over to Pure Blessed Tarot.

This week, I will be running a workshop at the UK Tarot Conference on ways to combine the tarot and the Lenormand in readings. The Celtic Lenormand will be there, both in prototype form, and in the images on the slides of my presentation. On top of that, I've created a slideshow with a selection of the images from the deck - 33 of the final 45. Wouldn't want to give away everything, with still 5 or 6 months to go until the deck is to be published!

So, if you're anywhere near London, why not think about attending? And if not, well, I'll keep sharing more images here over the coming weeks and months - ever the ambassador spreading the word of the Celtic Lenormand :)

©McCracken & Worthington

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Welcome to another hop around the world via the blogs of tarotists and other diviners :) Our wrangler this time is the wondrous Alison Cross, who asked us to talk about love. Well, that's a tough one as I love many things about this Celtic Lenormand deck! One of the things that makes it rather different, though, is the fact that it uses the Pagan sabbats rather than days, weeks, months and years to look at timing. I also love this season, with its spectacular colours and the suggestion to take time to look inward and to connect with those who have passed. Honouring our forebears is something which I am finding more and more relevant as I grow older.

Connecting all these dots, I would like to share with you the card that I designed for this spoke of the Wheel of the Year: the Burial Mound (Coffin). It's one of my favourite images in the whole deck: I think Will Worthington did an exquisite job on it!

©McCracken & Worthington

This card was a slightly tough one, as the Celts didn't bury their dead in coffins, instead inhumating them (putting the whole body inside a burial mound in the earth). Still, I tried to capture both the traditional aspects of the Coffin card, and also to honour celtic practices. So, in this card there is a crow flying off to the left, to echo the black pall often found draped on the left side of Coffin cards. The crow also points to the sickness interpretation of this card, as they are known to feed on carrion, the meat of animals that may have sickened and died.

The mists emphasise the idea of the thinning of the veil between the worlds at this time, as well as adding an edge of uncertainty to the card. The dark of the inside of the tomb echoes the dark of the grave into which a coffin is lowered, and also lends more eeriness to the card. Yet, the slight crescent moon in the sky above reminds us that new beginnings follow endings, no matter how dark they seem at the time, and that even in times of sickness, there is hope of improvement.

A dark, but beautiful card, then, and one I hope you will love as much as I do. My partner refused to have a print of it on our wall, finding it too dark, but I think it's wonderful, deeply atmospheric!

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Wow, look at that! It's been a year since the Celtic Lenormand first posted as part of the Tarot Blog Hop. Last Yule, the cards for this deck weren't finished, and I shared a spread that will be in the companion book. This year, I would like to share the finished card that represents this spoke on the Wheel of the Year in the pagan-themed Celtic Lenormand deck.

Our wrangler, the Sun Goddess herself, Joanne, presented us with our theme: turning darkness into light. And that's an interesting one to consider in the light of the Moon, so to speak. The Moon travels around the earth and around the sun, and brings light to our nights by reflecting the sun's rays. And yet, it is still nighttime, despite the light. In the same way, Yule is still midwinter, the longest night, even if it does reflect the point after which days once again start to get that little bit longer. So, it was the Moon card that I chose to represent Yule in the Celtic Lenormand.

The black-and-white sketch is incredibly atmospheric, yet I still prefer the colour version. Interestingly, Will suggested that the dark of a moonlit night be painted in green, as he has in other decks. It's also a choice made by several artists from the Victorian era, heroes of his, such as John Atkinson Grimshaw.

I adore the play of the light on the water in this image, and the way the rocks stand out, jagged and sharp. The clouds, too, are very atmospheric, and the moon itself is shadowed and textured.

One meaning of the Moon in the Lenormand system is about reputation and fame, the way we are reflected in other people's eyes and minds. This can be seen as coming from the fact that the Moon reflects the sun's light, and is also why I put the reflection in the water in the Celtic Lenormand image. Another meaning is that of emotion, not necessarily just happy, loving emotions (more the realm of the Heart). Hence the deep waters and jagged rocks.

Here's hoping you enjoy the Moon's light on this longest night: that it helps illuminate how others see you, and how you feel.

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Final image

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Our wrangler on this blog hop is the delightful Christiana Gaudet. As someone inspired by the Goddess Brigid, whose festival this is, she suggested we talk about divination, healing and creativity, and that fits just perfectly with the card I chose to represent this spoke on the Wheel of the Year.

The card is one variant on the Birds: there are three in this deck (including the Owls, which you can see here). You can use all three, or pick the one you prefer to stick to the traditional number of Lenormand cards. This one is the Songbirds, and shows three songbirds sitting on a branch, looking out over a frosty winter's morning.

When thinking about timing for the Celtic Lenormand, I considered nature-based ways of connecting with the seasons. The old saying "one swallow does not make a spring" emphasises the idea that when songbirds migrate back to more northerly climes, it does not mean that the warmer weather has actually arrived. So, while it is still chilly, we may yet see some of these lovely, colourful creatures.


Original "Cliodna" birds

Another association I had with the Birds was a connection to the Goddess. And researching Celtic Goddesses, I found Cliodna. As one source describes, she had three birds, one blue with a crimson head, one crimson with a green head, and one golden with a speckled head. However, when Will painted the card that way, the contrast between the songbirds and the misty morning landscape just didn't work. We tried a couple of variants, before agreeing to the finished card, which no longer respects the myth, but is more true to real-life birds you might see in the British Isles.

Another facet of the Cliodna story is that the birds could heal the sick with their song, a theme often found in myth and fairytale. And of course, with the connection to Brigid and her power of healing, that also seemed to fit well with this sabbat.

Birds are also often associated with being messengers. We see this in ideas around divination, be it watching the flight patterns of birds or looking at their entrails. And we also find it in traditional Lenormand meanings for the Birds card, which include conversations and telephone calls. The Birds can also represent nervous energy and anxiety, which would then call for the healing these Songbirds offer - finding the solution in the issue that the darker side of the card portrays.

Now, onwards to more thoughts and ideas around divination, healing and creativity...

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Final card - Martagon Lily

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For those who don't yet know, the Celtic Lenormand is a 45 card deck due to be published by US Games later this summer. While it is a standard Lenormand which can be read following that deck's tradition, it also has pagan influences. For instance, there are associations between the cards and the eight sabbats on the Wheel of the Year. These can be used for timing questions, or as a focus for readings around the sabbats.

Last year, I posted about the Lily card as part of that Ostara blog hop. The responses I received to that post led to the card being overhauled. So, I'd like to share those changes with you all, as part of this blog hop focused on renewal.

Lily of the Valley version

Originally, I thought to have a Lily of the Valley on this card. White lilies are fairly common in Lenormand decks, and the Lily of the Valley also has connections to the Goddess Eostre, linked to this pagan celebration. However, it turns out that the Lily of the Valley is no longer considered a true lily (it used to be, but botanists changed their minds!) Combining that with the fact that traditionally the Lenormand Lily is associated with the King of France in particular (linked through the Fleur de Lys), and wise, older men in general (through the King of Spades playing card association), I decided to choose a different, true lily for this depiction.

The Martagon Lily combines the purple of royalty (and spiritual enlightenment) with the more masculine protruding stamen you now see in the card. I placed it at the foot of a great oak, to suggest the wisdom of age, and the commanding, masculine virtues of the Greenman/King of Spades. As well as the association to an older man, the card can also be linked to sexuality (those protruding stamen and its pink/purple colour), and to harmony and balance (the wisdom brought by experience, and the purple of the crown chakra). These associations connect well with this time of year, too, a time of renewal. After all, you can get that feeling of renewed energy and vigour both from finding a better harmony and balance in your life and from enjoying your sexuality!

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For this round of the Tarot Blog Hop, we were invited to write about the union of opposites. The first thing I thought of was how the very urban, eighteenth century divination system of Lenormand cards is combined in the Celtic Lenormand with both a rural aesthetic and a modern pagan perspective. Some may find this a strange union, while others will hopefully feel it brings something new to each.

Certainly, as Ronald Hutton indicates in his book Triumph of the Moon, historically these elements are strongly interlinked. Modern paganism grew from the urbanisation of Europe, and Britain in particular. And a large part of its draw is precisely because of the way that urban life distances us from, and allows us to romanticise, nature and the countryside. In a similar way, we also romanticise the past, for example the glamour of eighteenth century France!

This combining of urban and rural was also a factor in the creation of the Flowers, the card that in this deck represents Beltane, this spoke on the Wheel of the Year. I am a thorough urbanite, and when designing the card chose spring flowers based on colours I thought would work well together (inspired by the photo above). I wanted to represent the idea of the gift of spring blooming, and an invitation to enjoy the budding wonder of nature, notions that play into the Lenormand meanings of this card - beauty, creativity, a gift, an invitation.

Fortunately, though, Will Worthington acted as more than simply an artist in the creation of this deck, instead being a true partner. Will is a keen gardener, living far closer to nature than I do, and having created a garden that visitors flock to admire every year. He queried my flower choices, telling me that they wouldn't all be in bloom at the same time. And when I told him that these should be flowers blooming at Beltane, he came up with suggestions of more appropriate choices, and then brought them beautifully to life!

In these Flowers, then, is a union of pagan and traditional meanings for the Lenormand Bouquet. And also a combination of the rural understanding of real flowers with the divinatory understanding of the Lenormand system. I hope that it is the better for bringing these different aspects together.

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On Monday, I heard from US Games. They sent me through card images to okay, as they have now finished designing the card layout and elements. There were a few tweaks needed, which should be fairly quick to do. And while they have completed editing the companion book, they still have to finalise the packaging and card backs (will update here when I hear about those). Overall, things are definitely getting closer, though there is still no official publication date.

One great bit of news is that the cards will be borderless! I think their designers have done a wonderful job translating my idea of golden torques to hold the Lenormand numbering. What do you think?


Child, Bear, Dog, Storks, Sun, Birds, Garden, Anchor, Stars

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Last year, for the Litha blog hop I looked at the making of the Sun card, which I associate with this time of year, and which in Lenormand terms represents joy, energy and success. So, while that would have been very appropriate for the topic of this hop "joy", I knew I'd have to do something different.

What, I wondered, can the Celtic Lenormand tell us about joy? Well, the cards can be used to look at life, and many people like using them in a very practical, everyday way. What, then, are everyday expressions of joy? Here are some combinations that might represent different kinds of joy:

Joy in expressing creativity: Flowers + Sun
A joyful date: Garden + Sun + Wo/Man
Enjoying a conversation with a friend: Birds + Dog + Sun
Joy at your child winning a prize at the science fair: Child + Flowers + Sun + Stars + Garden
Celebrating the completion of a work project: Anchor + Coffin + Sun + Garden + Flowers
Happiness that the baby is eating well: Child + Bear + Sun
Gladness at receiving a job promotion: Anchor + Sun + Storks
Seeking joy! - Stars + Sun

What joys are you experiencing, and how would you express them in Lenormand cards?

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Meadow (Garden), Fish, House, Ring, Woman, Anchor, Clover, Dog, Bear

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For this round of the Tarot Blog Hop, Joanna Ash, the divine Sun Goddess, asked us to write about the Queen of Pentacles. Which is a lovely topic, but this is a Lenormand blog... Worry not, I decided to look at how Lenormand cards might describe a Queen of Pentacles woman!

One way of reading a 3x3 (nine square) in Lenormand is to read each card in the round as related to the centre card. So, placing the Woman card at the centre, we build a description of the Queen of Pentacles.

The choices made here are based on the keywords I use for cards. For instance, I see in the Bear the wise use of resources (it's the "manager" card), and I also relate it to mothers. Although the Queen of Pentacles likes to spend money (Fish), she does know how to make the most of what she buys, and is very motherly. Likewise, the Garden (Meadow in the Celtic Lenormand) is related to social events, and so to hospitality, a definite trait of this tarot Queen. The Queen of Pentacles is also loyal (Dog), focused on her home and family (House) and doesn't shirk her commitments (Ring). She is hard-working (Anchor), and makes the most of the opportunities (Clover) that present themselves.

Some people are sure to choose different keywords for these cards. So, which cards would you choose to describe the Queen of Pentacles?

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P.S. If you enjoy these blog hops, you can join the Blog Hop Community page to be informed when they take place and have your say in future topics etc. And if you want to join the hop yourself, just ask!

About ten days ago, U.S. Games sent me through the final proofs for the Celtic Lenormand companion book, as well as the box and cardbacks. They've changed the cardbacks in a way which I think looks gorgeous: intricate, yet soft and glowing. As for the companion book, they picked out my very favourite image from the whole deck to illustrate it, which made me dance with delight!

The best news, though, is that after working through a few minor corrections, the final proofs are now with the printers. They'll take about three months to produce everything, and then there's the time to put it all together. Still, it means the decks should be ready in time for Christmas! Definitely the best Yule gift I will be getting...

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For this season's blog hop (follow the links to discover other blogs from around the world), our wrangler decided to go with a non-seasonal topic. What, he asked, has helped us make a quantum leap in our readings?

In terms of Lenormand readings, my answer is clear: creating the Celtic Lenormand! In Mary K. Greer's book 21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card (Llewellyn, 2006), she suggests drawing cards, even if simply reproducing RWS imagery in sketch form, as a way to explore a card and its meanings. While I did that with my Kindergarten Lenormand (2nd Edition, 2014), it was the actual designing, without drawing, of the Celtic Lenormand that made the biggest difference to me as a reader.

In the process, I really thought about how I read each image: which keywords I associate with each card; and how those keywords relate to the animal, object or person involved. For instance, I connect the Dog with friendship and reliability. By putting a stick at his feet, ready to play fetch, I subtly pointed towards those two aspects: you play with a friend, and a dog can be relied on to fetch a stick when thrown.

Or consider the Moon: two keywords for it are emotion and reputation. Placing the Moon above dark waters suggests the aspect of emotion, while the Moon's reflection in the water hints at the idea of how we are seen by others, through their emotional perspective. Of course, the Moon only shines because it reflects the sun's light, but that is an extra layer that remains implicit.

While in reading Lenormand cards, these kinds of visual cues are not important, as the cards act more like pictographs pointing to keywords, I still felt it would be handy to have clues towards those keywords subtly in the images. Also, in Lenormand readings the biggest factor is how the cards combine. Even so, connecting with each card more profoundly makes such connections easier, too. When Dog and Moon combine, for instance, we might have an emotional friend, be aware of a friend's reputation, or see a need for emotional reliability. And when Moon and Dog combine, we may be able to rely on our reputation, have a reputation for friendliness, or be loyal in our emotions.

As for what a Lenormand leap would look like, perhaps the joy and enlightenment of the Sun coming after the delays and obstacles of the Mountain, or finding the Key to those mysteries held in the Book...

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For this round of the Blog Hop, Louise of Priestess Tarot asked us to commune with someone from across the veils, which are said to be at their thinnest this time of year. While she suggested coming up with cards that would describe them, I decided to try doing a reading to hear what they had to say. And as this is a Lenormand blog, who better than Mademoiselle Lenormand herself?

Grand Tableau for Mademoiselle Lenormand

The first thing I notice is that the Lady stands in the bottom left corner, facing away from the rest of the cards. Although some would throw a GT again if it came out like this, it seems appropriate. For it is certainly true that Mlle Lenormand herself has no future, though the cards that carry her name may be a very different story.

The main theme of the throw is Snake, Anchor, Lady, Flowers. Mademoiselle worked both intelligently and creatively. Not only did she push her limits outward, using her gift for connecting with people socially, she also quickly grew her working reputation. She was dedicated to building her own image, and didn't allow her gifts to be boxed in by religion or politics, even when imprisoned.

As for the heart of the reading: Tower, Bear, Dog, Storks. Strong people in positions of authority called her friend and helped her progress. She certainly had a talent for getting in with the cream of society, and they all wanted to know about what would help them move onward and upward, too. So, a strong affinity in life focus helped her get where she went.

I wanted to look at her reputation, as it was what led to these cards being named after her, despite her never actually using them. So, I started with the House of the Moon and followed the cards around til the Moon card: Anchor in Moon, Letter in Anchor, Lily in Letter, Cross in Lily, Fish in Cross, Moon in Fish. Two readings of this sprang to mind.

Firstly, Mademoiselle worked on her reputation through her written works. She found peace through writing, yet that sense of harmony was burdened by the need to make money, for which she had a reputation. Secondly, her reputation worked to bring about the publishing of Lenormand cards, using also the work of an older man (Johann Hechtel, who created the Game of Hope, the direct precursor of the modern Petit Lenormand deck). The ethics of this were ignored in favour of making money from her reputation by the publishers who combined his deck and her name after both their deaths.

What did she love? I look to the cards around the Heart and find: being socially connected and secure, in the thick of what was going on (Rider in House); in the know about gossip and seeing both sides of some situations (Birds in Clouds). She also loved having insight into what was being done on the sly (Stars in Fox), constantly finding new mentors/supporters (Bear in Child) though her emotions were also impacted by worries around institutions (Tower in Birds). Well, as someone who was imprisoned several times over the course of her life, being wary of Towers sounds pretty common-sensical!

Asking what was she committed to, I look to the House of the Ring and find the Lady: she was first and foremost committed to herself. The trail from there involves her own public persona, being the bearer of messages, deception and secrecy, creativity and painful endings, and a love for her adopted home (Paris),

Looking to the final line, the destiny four as some people call them: Book in Key, Moon in Fish, Letter in Anchor, Fish in Cross. What it says to me is that her reputation for being able to navigate the emotional waters of esoteric secrets gave her a solid grounding for her authorhood. It directed her to her destiny, to write copiously and make money from it. It is doing the same for the cards that hold her name, and I think she would like that!

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As the longest day finds us, it is time to think about the joy of gifting, a way to cheer us through these dark times. That was the title our wrangler, Arwen Lynch, gave us for this Blog Hop. She also suggested five questions to use as a spread to examine this:

What gift would you give the world if you could?

What gift would you want from the world?

What gift have you gotten that has brought you joy?

What gift have you given that has brought you joy?

What is one last thing you would like to share about this season?

Now, I could just ramble on about how the Celtic Lenormand is a gift I'm giving to the world, and how glad I am that I'll be getting my hands on a copy within the next month or so, but that sounds pretty dull! Instead, I thought I'd ask the cards their opinion on these questions.

Some people say that Lenormand cards are great because they give practical, down-to-earth answers, and this is certainly true. Still, I think they can also be used for readings that are more spiritual and/or broader in scope. We'll just have to wait and see what kind of answer they come up with here...

The next question was how to ask, given that you don't generally just draw a single card with Lenormand (though you can, and the answers can still be very helpful). I decided to draw a nine square, with the intention that the top row would answer question 1, the bottom row question 2, the left column question 3, the right column question 4, and the central cross for the final question. This combines traditional elements of reading a nine square with a positional aspect. It's something I've done before with this spread, to good effect, as it relies on the cards having variable meanings depending on the question/context. So, here goes:

1) What gift would you give the world if you could? Ship, Dog, Mountain

The gift of staying loyal to my soul's journey, no matter the obstacles. At a more mundane level, offering friendship to those who are far from me in either location or outlook.

2) What gift would you want from the world? Man, Lady, Flowers

The ability to creatively unite practical rationality with spiritual intuition. It's interesting that we have here the Man and the Lady, as opposed to the Lord or the Woman, as it gives an additional layer of differences to unite, and highlights the strength of the feminine. More practically, this could also be read as a moment of grace for a man and woman - my partner and I enjoying the pleasures of the holiday season together.

3) What gift have you gotten that has brought you joy? Ship, Moon, Man

The gift of sharing my life's journey with a man whose emotions run deep and true.

4) What gift have you given that has brought you joy? Mountain, Paths, Flowers

Ha ha, the first thing I saw was the idea that "You can choose the easy way, or you can choose the hard way!" Hmm, I do know someone who'd appreciate some film noir dvd's... It also makes me think of my goddaughter. She wants to learn piano, and so I am giving her a keyboard. It's a long, hard path to become proficient, but there is much beauty along the way, and it is a path she has chosen for herself!

5) What is one last thing you would like to share about this season? Anchor, Dog, Moon, Paths, Lady

An old meaning of the Anchor is that of hope. While not often used in modern Lenormand readings, this is where the original Spiel der Hoffnung (Game of Hope) got its name from, as the point of the game was to reach the Anchor card (and go no further). So, at the heart of this season is hope: hope that our friends will be with us through the cold, dark days of winter; hope that the sun and warmth will return after the longest night; hope that we will have time to ponder our choices, and make good ones moving forward; hope that we can be true to our best self...

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Maybe it's just me, being a double Gemini. Still, I suspect that many people have the experience of two very different roles in their lives (if not more). For instance, there's the sometimes tricky negotiation between being a mother and working, or between your beloved hobby and not so beloved job. Or between your personas as dutiful husband and father, and mad gamer...

I was thinking about this last week, when there was a distinct tension between my roles as mother and budding business woman. Not enough time for everything, it feels like. It reminded me of one of the uses of the extra people cards in the Celtic Lenormand. In a reading that includes both versions, for example the Lady and the Woman, you can look at different aspects of your life.

There are lots of ways to do this. Perhaps the simplest is to shuffle up the entire deck, all 45 cards, and then look for the two significator cards that match you. Looking at the cards to either side of them (I'd take two to either side, giving a line of five for each aspect), can be very enlightening. Even more so if you place the two lines one above the other, so you can see correspondences and differences between the two aspects.

Deciding to illustrate this with a personal example, as it felt very relevant to me, I shuffled up my prototype cards. However, the deck had a different answer in mind for me: the Lady and the Woman sat side by side! So, I ended up with a line of 6:

Lily, Tree, Lady, Woman, Paths, Fish

What this says to me is that, currently, these two aspects of my life just can't be separated. Moreover, finding a healthy balance that includes both will open up a lot of choices. I am also advised to let my decisions flow from what is happening, rather than trying to force them.

On another note, the Celtic Lenormand is now available to be ordered from either U.S. Games' website, or from amazon.com. Hopefully, European retailers will follow shortly.

Last week, I explained a way of using both people cards to look at different aspects of someone's life. In actually doing the reading, though, the cards had their own idea about what message I needed to hear. Still, the method is a useful one, so I decided to show it reading for someone else.

Once again, I took all 45 of the Celtic Lenormand cards, shuffled them up and looked for the Lord and the Man cards. The Lord, in this case, represents the man's work life and the Man his home life. Then, I laid the two lines of five one above the other, so they can be easily compared.

Burial Mound (Coffin), Sun, Lord, Scythe, Female Rider/ Mice, Owls, Man, Tower, Moon.

Now, I can't go into specifics because of confidentiality questions. However, the first line clearly shows some big changes in this man's work life, with both the Burial Mound and the Scythe pointing to potentially painful endings. Still, the Sun suggests this change isn't all bad, and the Scythe partnered with the Rider suggest making a break with old ways of getting messages across. This is very appropriate for someone who is considering taking his face-to-face business online, due to changes that have slashed the prospects for the work he has, before now, enjoyed.

In his home life, too, all is not a bed of roses. Communication with a corporation (Owls/Tower) has been emotionally draining (Mice/Moon). This is true in two different regards, related to his house and his family situation. There is a suggestion that poor communication (Mice/Owls) may well be part of the issue, and that the way these corporations are seen has been affected (Tower/Moon), as well as how they see him. Advice here might involve holding his ground, getting some external support (Tower + Moon - emotional isolation), and communicating more clearly.

When we compare both lines, a couple of things stand out. How he communicates is an issue in both, suggesting this is an area to consider and work on more generally. There is also the question of how much the difficulties in each area affect his responses in the other...

As you can see, this spread gives two different perspectives on a person's life and roles, and comparing how they manage these, the similarities and differences, can add an extra layer. Do let me know if you give it a try!

This week, I wanted to demonstrate one of the spreads I created specifically for the Celtic Lenormand. This nine card Triple Goddess spread is designed to seek advice from spirit, looking at what inspires us (Maiden/Songbirds), what we can create (Mother/Chickens) and what guides us (Crone/Owls).

It's laid out as a line of nine. You can use the three Bird cards as anchor points/significators in positions 2, 5 and 8, and I've added a card on top of each of those, which is optional. It would also be possible to use any deck for this spread, simply keeping the Goddess positions in mind in the same way you can use Houses without needing a card to represent them. If you're not sure what I mean by that, check out this reading I posted last year :)

Nine Card Triple Goddess Spread

The cards I drew were: Fish, Lord/Songbirds, Ring, Burial Mound (Coffin), Mountain/Chickens, House, Rider, Boy/Owls, Boat

If I were reading this at an everyday level, I would see a logical approach to finances inspiring the end of a partnership, which could create the need to seek reliable information to guide a new venture. That reading is actually relevant to my week, as I have to make an assessment on two tenders the company I work for has received to change their accountants.

However, as this is a Triple Goddess Spread, I prefer to read it at a more spiritual level. Blending the Lord and Fish gives me an inspiration through active flow. If you go with the flow of a river, you go at the river's speed. If you actively follow the flow, you go faster than the river! That will inspire will me to end a commitment (Ring/Burial Mound) that has been creating blockages for me (Mountain/Chickens) in the area of messages that take me out of the home, both literally and metaphorically (House/Rider). The guidance from the goddess is to take a fresh approach in this venture (Boy/Boat).

Now, although the fundaments of the message are similar, I see a call to actively go in the direction spirit is currently directing me, even if it means breaking a previous commitment. Sometimes, if the road ahead is blocked, it is because we are called on to find a different path. And I hope I will fulfill that commitment, just at a later time. For now, being more playful and getting out of my comfort zone is closer to what my soul's journey calls for.

This makes perfect sense to me. Last week, I was feeling very blocked and confused in a project which is deeply important to me. While I don't like breaking commitments, even to myself, the advice to challenge my comfort zone and find a way to be more playful, too, will hopefully help me align better with spirit and move forward in a slightly different direction...

The Burial Mound

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It didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to write about after Karen Sealey, our wrangler, declared the topic for this blog hop: oracular anomalies.

The Celtic Lenormand is, itself, a bit of an oracular anomaly as Lenormand decks go. For one thing, several of the cards have been renamed, though only to maintain the integrity of the deck's theme. So, the Coffin became the Burial Mound, because the Celts intumated their dead (stuck them straight in a burial mound, rather than placing them inside a wooden box). And the Garden has become the Meadow, because there were no manicured parks maintained by slews of gardeners in Celtic Europe.

Here, in the Celtic Lenormand, there are also nine extra cards. They are all variations on standard cards, rather than being new creations. There is a choice of a Cat and/or Dog, three possible types of Birds, two Snakes, two Trees, Man/Lord and Woman/Lady cards, and different gender choices for the Child and the Rider.

Rider and Child variants

These cards were added for a number of reasons, some to do with the pagan theme of the deck, some to do with the possibility of different gender choices. And I'll confess, my double Gemini soul loves choice and variety! I also designed some ways of specifically working with the extra cards, such as looking at the cards around the Woman/Lady or Man/Lord cards to look at different aspects of a person's life, or to look at what the three aspects of the Goddess have to say to us.

Some say that the number of cards is important in Lenormand, because of the Grand Tableau, which uses all 36 cards, and only 36 cards. While that is, in itself, a subject for another day, here's my bottom line. If you only want to use 36 cards, take any extra cards out of the deck. Now, how hard was that?

Having done readings, including Grand Tableaux, with all the extra cards, and having done readings with a pre-selected set of 36, what is the common element? All my readings have given me and my clients food for thought.

Sometimes, different versions of the cards have highlighted specific areas, especially when two versions have both appeared in a smaller reading. For example, in one reading the Cat and Dog appeared, highlighting issues around the client's work colleagues and his lack of friends independent of that context. In every case, the cards have provided helpful messages for exploring the given situation. And isn't that what it's really all about?

So, I hope you'll enjoy this oracular anomaly (when it finally becomes available in the next month or so), and maybe give those extra cards a go, see what messages they have to share...

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As I mentioned on Monday, it is perfectly possible to throw a Grand Tableau using all 45 cards from the Celtic Lenormand. Doing so brings a lot of material, though, so I shall look at different aspects and ways of reading it over the course of several posts.

For today, I wanted to focus on advice for the current turn of the Wheel of the Year. Sunday was Imbolc, or Brigid's Day, the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It marks the first stirrings of spring, though there was little sign of that here, I must say! I woke to traces of snow outside. Still, the first green shoots are starting to push their way up through the soil...

In the Celtic Lenormand, the Songbirds card represents this festival. Looking around that card can give advice for this turn of the Wheel, a spiritual focus for the next six weeks.

As you can see from the photo, the Songbirds fell on the last line of the spread. However, in the same way as you can count around a GT, moving from the last card back to the first, it is possible to transpose cards to still have a nine square to read around a card at the outer edge of the GT. Following that procedure gives us the nine square shown here.

Bear, Owls, Oak, Heart, Songbirds, Flowers, Hill Fort (Tower), Burial Mound (Coffin), Bard (Male Rider).

Reading the corners gives me a theme for this period: a need for strength in the face of messages regarding institutional health concerns. I know exactly what that is about, something that came up last week connected to the assistance we receive in relation to my elder son's disabilities. And the advice moving forward: emotional wisdom shared brings the gift of closure. Practically, I need to help my partner accept the withdrawal of some state support, and also reach out for wisdom and emotional support from others who have experience in this type of situation.

This may not seem exactly a spiritual message, after all it has practical suggestions attached. Yet, this isn't something that is in the foreground of my life. However, the message from spirit is that I would do well to put some of my energy into this over the coming turn of the Wheel.

When throwing a 45 card GT like this, if you want it to be a reading for the year you can interpret the cards around each of the eight sabbat cards for messages for each turn of the Wheel. Revisiting the reading over the course of the year can be a very useful exercise, refining the interpretations and reminding yourself of the spiritual messages offered.

That's it for this week. Next week I'll examine a different aspect of reading this 45 card Grand Tableau.

The Wheel of the Year

Mabon Blog Hop: The Making of the Meadow

Prototype on Show

Samhain Blog Hop: The Making of the Burial Mound

Yule Blog Hop: The Light of the Moon

Imbolc Blog Hop: The Making of the Songbirds

Ostara Blog Hop: Lily Renewed

Uniting Opposites: The Making of the Flowers

Card Design Complete

Joy in Life and in the Cards

Lammas Blog Hop - Who is the Queen of Pentacles?

All I Want For Christmas...

Lenormand Leaps

Tea With Mademoiselle

The Joy of Gifting

Different Perspectives, Different Selves

Different Perspectives, Different Selves 2

Triple Goddess Spread

Lenormand Anomalies

45 Card Grand Tableau - Part One