The Celtic Lenormand Oracle

Self-belief is a funny thing. Sometimes we can project it, yet may not actually feel it. Or else we feel it in some ways, but not in others. And being human, those ways we don't feel it tend to seem like the ones that count!

Doing some journaling this week, this came up for me powerfully. So, I decided to create a spell to help...

Obviously, you can place at the centre the card you most relate to. I have used the Lady, because she feels stronger and more spiritual to me than the Woman, and those are characteristics I'd like to strengthen. Around her, I have placed the Flowers for creativity and feeling touched by grace; the Stars for a sense of direction; the Fish for feelings of worth or value; and the Fierce Snake for defending my own boundaries and values.

This layout could be filled out with cards in the corners to make a nine square, though for this I think it's good to keep it simple. You can always work on other aspects at another time. And of course you could choose different cards to represent the characteristics you want to strengthen...

Which cards would you choose?

A few years back, Melissa Hill, the creator of several lovely self-published Lenormand's (the Melissa Lenormand and the Postmark Lenormand), posted a hilarious YouTube video. Titled "Shit Lenormand Readers Say", it's a great spoof of some of the rigid thinking that sometimes comes into the Lenormand community. The one she says most often is "But Lenormand cards aren't read intuitively!"

I was reminded of this video by a few posts on Instagram recently. Seems like this dead duck refuses to stop quacking. So, I wanted to post a bit about it.

It is totally true that Lenormand cards aren't traditionally read in the same intuitive style as many people use for tarot. The intention is not that you see a cute-looking Mouse card and think the Mice are telling you something small and cute is coming your way. Rather, the cards act like pictographs: they spark keywords. Mice, for instance, is associated with theft, pollution, tainting, undermining, eroding. However, once you have those keywords, then you should absolutely let your intuition come into play!

Below is a little brainstorm linking three cards I drew at random from the Celtic Lenormand, asking what I should be aware of at this time: the Chickens (Birds), the Cat (Dog), and the Hill Fort (Tower).

Above each image I have put some of the traditional keywords. Between the cards, I have put some suggestions of how each pair might combine. Then, along the bottom, there are a couple of suggestions of how all three might meld together.

Which combinations of keywords you use, and how you put them together, is where the intuition comes in. Should they all be melded together, or is there a sentence in there? Is mirroring important? Is the first card the key, and the other two follow together, or do you work from the centre out, or do the first two lead to the last? Or a combination of these?

If I worked in a business environment, perhaps the first interpretation might have been useful. That's not the case, and so, still staying with the keywords, I came to the second: Independence from social talk and from corporate speak. In this, I was also mirroring the Chickens with the Hill Fort, to give me corporate speak. Having just given my first session as a magical life coach, this made a lot of sense to me. There is a fine line to tread between being just plain chatty and going off into institutional jargon.

I hope this example helps to clarify where the intuition is in a traditional Lenormand reading :)

Continuing this series of posts on jobs in the Lenormand cards, today we cover the Ring to the Moon.

The Ring

The Ring speaks of commitment, and in terms of strengths is a great card, showing someone who has the capacity to commit and stand by what they say.

As for jobs, it could by itself suggest cyclical work. Combined with the Fish and the Letter, for instance, that could point to tax accounting, with its cycles based on the financial year and governmental tax requirements. Paired with the Scythe, we might see cyclical agricultural work.

The contractual side of the Ring can also point to legal areas: with the Bear it could be a contract manager or lawyer. With the Fox, perhaps an independent legal adviser, or independent contractor.

The Book

The Book can stand for secrets, esoteric learning, and also big projects such as writing a book. When teamed with the Anchor, it could stand for being secretive about your work, or a job that is confidential. That might be highlighted by a combination of Ship, Flowers and Book - diplomatic work abroad that requires secrecy - spy, anyone? ;)

When teamed with the Tower, we might see a librarian, or someone in academia. When paired with the Letter, the aspect of writing is highlighted, suggesting an author. This could be a spiritual author (Letter, Book, Stars), or someone who writes about catamarans (Letter, Book, Ship), or someone who writes about agribusiness (Letter, Book, Scythe, Fish).

In terms of job strengths, being able to keep confidentiality is important in many professions. However, the inability to open up to others can be an issue if a role requires teamwork.

The Letter

Turning to the Letter, we have more writing, but this time of shorter pieces. So, various kinds of journalists would be covered. For example, gossip columnists (Birds, Letter), celebrity journalists (Moon, Birds, Letter), horoscope writers (Stars, Letter), financial journalists (Fish, Letter), or political pundits (Garden, Tower, Letter).

An ability to write with clarity, consciseness and precision is a great strength in many different professions. There is a degree of strategy to the Letter: both in terms of putting the written word out there (with Garden and Book, for example, community information officer) and in terms of writing action plans and to-do lists (with Bear, we have a manager who lays things out clearly and in writing).

The Man

Taking the male person cards as representing more than just "the querent is a man, or there is an important man in their life", we can see the Man as indicating rationality, logic, and action. While these are by no means limited to men, such binary distinctions can be useful as signposts, rather than taken as fact. In terms of strengths, these characteristics might be useful in scientific research (with Book and Stars), or as an exam marker (with Scythe and Letter, for making the cut in a written paper).

In terms of jobs, this card could also represent someone working in a particular forum, such as a men's club (with the Garden).

The Woman

In the same way, the Woman can represent intuition, emotion, and a willingness to wait-and-see. These would be positive character traits for anyone in one of the caring professions, such as nursing (with Coffin and Tower), or counselling of some kind (with Birds).

It could also point to working with women (a women's shelter, for instance, with the Tower and the House).

The Moon

This card points to ideas about fame and reputation, as well as emotions and cycles. These may be linked ideas, in that we can feel quite emotional about how people see us, and that fame is based on the last thing you did, rather than being naturally enduring.

Spin doctoring would seem to fall naturally under the aegis of this card paired with the Garden. And working as a publicity agent might also be suggested, perhaps paired with the Fox.

These are once again just suggestions, and I'd love to hear what professions or job strengths YOU see in these cards...

Sometimes, the borderline between a spell and a reading is a little fuzzy, and this is a good thing. One of the great joys in doing Lenormand spells is that you can also "read" the spread you create, and this may give added insight into the situation you were doing the spell for.

Another of the benefits of the Lenormand system for this kind of combined spell/reading is the fact that the cards have playing card associations as well as Lenormand numbers/objects. This can be particularly helpful when it comes to creating a spell or doing a reading on a situation with a number of people involved.

For example, this is a spell that was created to help a young couple who had recently moved house, and had an issue with their neighbours. The Storks are associated with the Queen of Hearts, and the Child with the Jack of Spades. The young couple were someone who works in the caring professions, and someone who is quite forthright and open, acting with a good will, but not always with tact. As for the neighbours, these were two older men, an architect (House - King of Hearts), and a business man (Fish - King of Diamonds).

At the centre of the spell, we placed the Lily. While also associated with the King of Spades, the Lenormand keywords of harmony and peace were the reasons behind the choice here. For the "action" part of the cross, we placed the Key for problem-solving, the Ring for commitment, the Paths for good choices, and the Sun for success. Overall, this emphasised the couple's wish for problem-solving through a commitment to harmonious choices to bring success to the situation between these four people.

Once the spell was in place, reading the triplets of the lines offered some extra help.

Storks, Key, House: home renovations are key to the situation. Ring, Lily, Paths: a commitment to this new section of their life's path requires approaching it with pure intentions. Fish, Sun, Child: shining an open light on money matters will help.

The couple agreed that some of the issues were around renovations that were being carried out on communal parts. They hoped that demonstrating that they had acted in good faith, and agreeing to the older men's requests for transparency, were both probably helpful strategies in coming to an understanding with them.

Hopefully, this shows the way the cards can be used to create a spell which helped the couple prepare to negotiate with their neighbours. It expressed their desire for harmony, and also gave them some suggestions on how to best go about achieving it at a practical level, too.

Here is the final part in the career questions series, looking at jobs and strengths in the work environment represented by Lenormand cards and combinations:

The Sun

As a card of happiness and success, the Sun bodes well for any career question. In particular, it points to someone who is cheerful and energetic, sunny and outgoing. Not the best fit for a quiet and solitary job, perhaps, but otherwise very positive.

In terms of actual jobs, paired with the Tree it suggests energetic healing modalities such as reiki. The Sun with the Tower could be working for a sun tan parlour, while the Sun with the Snake might be working with electrical cables - an electrician, especially with the Fox added as an independent contractor.

The Moon

For some people, this is their main 'work' card. Personally, I see it being more about fame or reputation, as well as the whole gamut of emotions (Heart being more just positive emotions). The Moon can also represent cycles, especially seasonal or shorter cycles (compared to the Ring which can be about infinity and longer term cycles). The emotional interpretation ties into the question of reputation, as how others see us can affect how we feel, about them and ourselves.

Reputation is an important matter, especially if you are a sole trader or independent entrepreneur. Whether you have a good or bad reputation, or what you have a reputation for, will link with the other cards. For example, with the Sun we see a positive reputation or even a reputation for success.

With the Fox, you might have a reputation for deceit. More positively, it can show a reputation for street smarts, and in terms of a job, the independent/entrepreneurial side of the Fox could show a talent agent - someone concerned with promoting other people's fame. This would be strengthened by cards such as the Meadow (Garden) (promoting via social media), or the Flowers (promoting someone's creative reputation). At a literal level, if you have the Stars combined with the Moon we have a stellar reputation or a famous star ;)

The Key

While some readers consider this a 'yes' card, it can tell you far more than that. The Key offers insight and the ability to unlock potential, as well as being about problem-solving. Once again, these are very positive traits when looking for work, either as en employee or working for yourself.

Given the unlocking potential side of the card, especially when linked with the Tower it would suggest some kind of teaching. The Key, Tower and Garden together would be a state school teacher, while a private school teacher might be suggested more by the Key, Tower and Fish.

The Bear could also make an appearance, as a mentor in unlocking your potential - a business coach, for instance. A life coach would more likely be the Tree with the Bear and the Key (a mentor to help you grow at the level of body mind and spirit), and a magical life coach (like myself) would be the Stars, Bear and Key :D

Thinking about the problem-solving aspect of this card, pairing it with the Stars for science and technology, and the Book for academia, might point to a scientific researcher of some kind. A forensic accountant, who problem-solves by delving into the background of finances, could be the Key with the Fish (possibly adding in the Coffin to point to the ill health of the finances being looked into).

The Fish

This card is often used to represent money, the give and take or flow of lucre for services or goods. It might just be the money you need for the weekly shop, or it could be more about currency exchange. The Fish also talk about quantity, and things multiplying - a good thing for finances, generally.

Taking the key word of finances, then combined with the Letter we have a financial reporter or journalist, combined with the Book more like an auditor or accountant. The Fish with the Ship and the Fox could be read as a currency trader. With the Garden, we have someone working with public funding.

If we look more to the flow side of the Fish, pairing it with the Rider for vigorous exercise, or the Whips for repetitive movements, might give us a yoga or dance teacher.

The Anchor

For me, the Anchor is my main work card. In it, I seework which provides a degree of stability, that we feel at home with, and where we are willing to work hard. However, the Anchor can always be raised, so the Ship can move to a new port - it doesn't mean we have to be locked into something forever, though paired with the Tree it might well suggest a job for life.

The Anchor can represent feeling the weight of responsibility, and as a job strength it certainly indicates someone who can handle that weight. With the Bear, we see a hard-working, responsible manager, who can deal with people (especially if combined with the Garden) and resources (especially if the Fish is added to the mix).

At a more literal level, it could represent someone who works on the sea, or in a port - paired with the Tower we might have a port authority officer. Combined with the Rider and the Tree, a life guard at the beach, perhaps...

The Cross

As a card of burdens, the Cross might suggest trouble in our career. However, the positive side of this is that there is a life lesson to be learnt here. In terms of strengths, it suggests someone who believes in what they are doing, and someone who is used to shouldering heavy burdens, who can cope with sorrow. As such, it might be a positive card for someone who works in bereavement (coupled perhaps with the Coffin and the Tower).

And if it's your job to help people with their life lessons, providing guidance, then that could be shown by the Stars combined with the Cross. The Cross also connects with faith, and so with the Tower we might see someone working as a priest or minister.

What other strengths or careers do these cards suggest to you?

The Sun

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Welcome to another blog hop, where writers from around the world come together to create a circle of posts all on the same topic, yet each from our own perspective. For this round of the Tarot Blog Hop, our wrangler, Joanne Sprott of Cosmic Whispers Tarot, challenged us to write about the Sun and/or Mercury's presence in the cards.

The first thing that came to my mind was the Sun card itself, and the interesting fact that the Lenormand interpretations are pretty much the same as the Tarot meanings. This isn't the case for any of the other cards which have the same symbols/title! In fact, these could almost be described as mercurial in their differences between the two systems :D

The Moon

The meanings of the Moon vary from mystery and confusion (tarot), to fame and emotions (Lenormand), as Ethony explored last blog hop. Likewise, the Tower in the Tarot is a card that strikes terror into many, with its threat of sudden, shattering events that upset our fixed ideas and sense of self. Meanwhile, in the Lenormand system, it indicates authority and institutions, the top echelons of power, and the aloofness and loneliness these can all entail.

While there is no Rider in the Tarot, some people have tried to compare this card to the Tarot Knights. However, it is more often Pages that are connected with messages. And while the Rider is energetic and denotes movement, he doesn't have any of the subtleties of the Knights, such as variations between where his attention is focused, or how reliable he is.

Riders and Children

And the Tarot Pages, while sometimes connected to the idea of children or a child-like energy, are also mostly unrelated to the Lenormand Child. The Child has no connection to messages, nor to learning. It is far more about innocence, openness, naivety, honesty (not something you'd connect with the Page of Swords, for instance), and new beginnings. Although some of these characteristics might be attributed to the Pages, once again there is the lack of focus on where these are applied, so important to understanding the Tarot Pages.

Coming back to the Sun, in both systems this is a card of joy, success, energy, and enlightenment. You might say that this is because the Sun is so simple and clear in its effect on our lives, so how could it be seen differently. However, looking around the world, that isn't so.

For example, in countries where droughts are an issue, the sun is not seen just as a happy harbinger of good harvests. Instead, it is a fierce challenger, sucking the life out of both land and people. Even the energetic, dynamic aspect of the Sun is not as clear cut as you might think. While in the English language, there is a tendency to see these characteristics as male, and while that is echoed in the Roman languages - le soleil (French), il sole (Italian), el sol (Spanish) - in German the sun is female (die Sonne). In Japan, the Sun is associated with the Goddess Amaterasu, linked to beauty, royalty and creativity.

Hope you've enjoyed this little exploration of the Sun, and the mercurial variations between Tarot and Lenormand symbolism :)

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Some people ask what the playing card inserts in the Lenormand cards are used for. One answer is that you can use them to calculate the quintessence for the reading. Obviously, this is something you would only do with a smaller reading: a Grand Tableau always uses all the cards, so the number would be the same. Plus, adding up all those numbers would be rather time consuming! I would only use this for readings up to nine cards.

The next question is how to calculate the quintessence. In fact there are several ways of doing this.

Let's take an example to make things clearer. The first option is to add up the numbers of the playing cards. Here, for instance, we have the Ace (1) of Hearts, the King (13) of Spades and the Nine (9) of Spades. This adds up to twenty three, or the Mice. This could also be reduced down to five, the Tree.

If your deck doesn't give the playing card associations or if you just prefer to try something different you can also use the Lenormand numbering in this way. In that case you add twenty eight (28), thirty (30) and thirty five (35) to give ninety three (93), which breaks down to twelve, the Child. Reducing it further adds up to three, the Ship.

Whichever way you choose to calculate the quintessence, what do you do with it?

One option is to consider it as you would the base card in a tarot reading or a jumper card. It could be seen as the underlying message, a message from spirit, or as the overarching theme of the reading. Another lovely variation suggested by Caitlín Matthews in her Complete Lenormand Handbook (Healing Arts Press, 2014), is to create a blessing based on this card.

So, what would this look like in terms of the example given here?

The basic reading might be that calm action (Man/Lily) brings harmony to a work situation (Lily/Anchor). Taking the playing card quintessence as the Mice and the Tree, we could say that not finding a peaceful resolution will undermine our health: too much stress! Or it could be that the undermining of our health is the reason why we need to take calm action to create a more peaceful workplace.

Thinking about Caitlín's blessing, this could be: I release attachment (Mice) to this situation in order to honour and support my well-being (Tree).

Following on from last week's post about using the playing card associations for the cards to calculate the quintessence of a reading, this week we look at another possible method for using the playing card associations on the Lenormand cards.

As anyone who has followed this blog, or who has the Celtic Lenormand, knows, I don't favour seeing any cards as either positive or negative. However, even without ascribing positive or negative to the Lenormand cards, it is possible to use the playing card associations to answer yes-no questions. For this, basically red suits are seen as positive and black suits are seen as negative. If you want to add a little more subtlety to this, you can take diamonds as a strong yes, hearts as a weak yes, spades as a weak no, and clubs as a strong no.

One thing I like about this system is that it gives you more information than just a straight yes or no. After you have read the playing cards, you can still interpret the Lenormand images for a deeper answer.

Being a bit of a skeptic, to demonstrate this system I decided to do two draws. The first asked should I give up on X, while the second was should I carry on with X. As you can see the cards played along.

Should I give up on X?

Both the Chickens and the Paths cards are diamonds, strong yeses, with a weak Spade no. Give up - yes.

Should I carry on with X?

The Tower (six of Spades) is a weak no, the Scythe (Jack of Diamonds) a strong yes, but the Ring (Ace of Clubs) a strong no. Carry on - no.

Overall, the draw answered yes to 'should I give up' and no to 'should I carry on': nicely consistent.

Looking deeper, the first draw for giving up (Chickens, Paths, Lily) suggests I have a choice to make here between what people will say, and a sense of peace. This fits. The question is whether to carry on with something that I have told others I will do, but which has been going extremely slowly and weighing me down with the burden of something unfinished. Add to that the fact that some new things are really taking off, and also have a deadline, and I have been questioning whether it's worth continuing.

The second draw has the Tower, Scythe and Ring. The Scythe is a card that is often read with an element of directionality: what is the blade pointing to? Here, the Scythe's blade cuts at the commitment of the Ring. And the Tower speaks of institutions: an institutional requirement (that deadline imposed from without) recommends I break the promise I made to myself and told others of.

However, whether because I have authority issues and don't like being told what to do, or whether I'm just not ready to be a quitter, for the moment I'm going to ignore the card's advice. I shall carry on and try to keep the promise I made, despite other commitments. My next question, I guess, would have to be: what can I best do to fulfil all my commitments... :)

My Lenormand book collection - 52, not counting LWB's

It's amazing how many Lenormand books in different languages focus on odd number lines (3, 5, 7, 9). And I should know, as I have quite a collection of Lenormand books, in English, German (the majority), French, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish!

A beginner couldn't be blamed for thinking that lines should always have an odd number of cards. Yet, how true is that?

The only time a line really needs to have an uneven number of cards is if you have chosen a significator. That card goes in the middle of your line either by choice (putting it there and dealing cards around it) or by finding the significator in a shuffled deck and taking one or more cards to either side of it for your reading.

That's it. Otherwise, there is no reason why a line cannot use an even number of cards.

What about reading past-present-future, I hear you ask?

If you have four cards and you blend them, then cards 1+2 can be seen as the past, cards 2+3 are the present, and cards 3+4 are the future :)

All this to say, this week I decided to draw a line of four cards...

Another subject that sometimes confuses people is the notion of directionality in Lenormand readings. Most Lenormand cards aren't intended to be read with a sense of direction. One obvious exception to this is the Man and Woman cards. There are plenty of readers who take the way these cards face to either show where the person's interest lies, or to determine which side of the reading should be the past and which the future.

There are some other cards which tend to be read with direction. The Clouds and the Scythe are two frequent cases, though some others are the Rider, the Coffin, the Mice, the Book and the Cross. I mention this, as three of those came up in my readings today...

Yesterday, I made a decision about pricing for my Magical Life Coaching service, and sent off an email to that effect to someone who'd made an enquiry. Then, I started worrying and second guessing myself - should I charge less? Does it depend on whether I know the person? Who is my ideal client anyway?

So, I decided to ask whether I'd made the right choice in sending the email with those prices.

Man, Clouds, Lady, Girl

The Clouds card has a dark and a light side. In this reading, the dark side is next to the Man, who represents logic and rationality. Added to that, he's actually looking into those dark clouds. The light side is next to the woman, representative of intuition and nurturing. And she is looking at the Child, sign of being open, honest, and willing to try new things.

If we apply last week's yes-no formula, we have three black cards and one red, so no, I didn't make the right choice. Seems the problem is that I was too focused on being rational, which made my actions confused. Instead, I should take a more nurturing, intuitive approach, in order to clear away those doubts and worries. Looks like I need to take a new approach, and perhaps be honest with the person about why I'm making a change.

And how can I find a more nurturing way to price my Magical Life Coaching?

Meadow (Garden), Book, Anchor, Scythe

Meadow + Book - research the community I'm interested in
Book + Anchor - consider work confidentiality, work at uncovering things
Anchor + Scythe - make a clean break with the work I did before, no quick harvest

Here, we have the Book, with its spine (the side that cannot be opened) to the Meadow. Some readers take this as representing secrets that cannot or should not be disclosed. So, while I may need to do research, this is made harder by the fact that a lot of coaches don't advertise their prices. You have to actually talk with them to get to that nub.

In terms of my potential clients, like that Book, they may open up with a little work. That work of understanding them may also help me decide how to price things on a case-by-case basis. How much do I want to work with someone, and how much can they afford?

A face-to-face approach would be better than trying to do these things via email. The Scythe's blade faces away from the other cards. While I need to make a clean start, that doesn't mean doing anything too sudden or drastic. It may be that this is a lesson in how best to work with people, rather than something I can fix with this particular person.

Back to the nub of the question: each person in the tribe I would most like as my clients is a book that may take some time and work to understand. There is no point rushing into things, that's no way to reap a harvest that is worthwhile. That's fine by me, I'm in no particular hurry. I would rather have clients I really want to help, than just taking on any client who comes along :)

After last week's post, I wanted to explore the idea of directionality in the cards a little more. Not trusting that the exact cards I wanted would pop out in a shorter reading, a Grand Tableau seemed like the best idea. I chose to stick to 36 cards, for clarity's sake :)

Grand Tableau for a woman

As I mentioned in the previous post, the cards most often assigned a sense of directionality (though not all of these might be used in this way by all readers who use directions) are: Rider, Clouds, Coffin, Scythe, Mice, Book, Lord, Lady, Cross.

The Clouds are the very first card of the GT, with the light side in towards the other cards, and next to the Dog. A little uncertainty around friendship, or what to be loyal to, which quickly clears. After all, there is a journey of discovery to be embarked upon, a financial venture (Ship/Fish), which may have its challenges (Cross).

The Cross is a card which some people interpret with a lot of directionality. It is a burden if it is 'in front' of you, but something to lean on if behind you. Uplifting if below you, but crushing what is beneath it. In this GT, it is at the very top of a column, and beneath it is the Lord, the Lady, and the Storks. Taking it as a card of life lessons, these weigh heavy on the mind of our Lady. Logic (the Lord) is no help at all. Yet, with the Lady on top of the Storks, she still feels she has some control over her ability to make progress.

The Rider can show messages, but are they coming to us, or missing us? Taking this reading as one for a woman, the Rider is next to the Lady, riding away from her. The message either comes from her, or has missed her.

The Book is also next to the Lady, with the pages facing her: secrets she can uncover, given time. (I recently discovered that some readers see the spine/pages the other way around - the spine holds the title, it gives up its information; the pages must be opened and read in detail, so their secrets are more closed).

The Scythe is cutting into the Letter, writing that needs to make the cut - an exam! It could also be something written that causes a shock.

In traditional Coffin cards, some readers interpret the side of the Coffin draped with a black cloth as the darker, more permanent ending side, while the other side is more about illness or less permanent endings. To honour this, in the Celtic Lenormand card I asked Will Worthington to paint a black raven flying to the left (the most traditional side for the black cloth). Here, the raven flies towards the Rider, who rides away from the Lady, and the Tree (health) is on the 'better' side of the Burial Mound (Coffin), followed by the Fox. The Lady has not finished delivering a message about ill health as an independent contractor.

The Mice card can be seen as nibbling away at what the majority of the mice face, and pooping on the card to their other side. My original intention was for the mice to nibble towards the left (most traditional). However, due to the design chosen for the numbering and playing card associations, this card ended up flipped around the other way. Still, I choose to read it as nibbling left, pooping right, which has the Mice eating away at the Paths, the Lady's choices, and tainting the Storks, her chances for progress and change.

As for the Lord, he faces the Flowers (Bouquet). This is a card which is often associated with a charming, attractive woman, with its playing card association to the Queen of Spades. Some traditional readers might interpret this as the main man in the client's life having his eyes on someone else, or at least the Lady worrying that this is so (the cards are directly above her - on her mind). I prefer a more internal interpretation: a woman who is trying to take a rational approach to creativity, or logically understand a gift she is being offered.

I wanted to show how directionality might affect interpretations of these cards and those around them, so I won't do a detailed breakdown of this GT, the post is long enough as it is. However, it was useful to me this week, when I (the Lady) am facing some confusing obstacles (Clouds/Mountain), that I hope clear communication will help me get through (Owls/Key). I have an exam to take (Scythe/Letter), and have been studying hard (Book/Lady). There's a life lesson, too, about staying loyal to a financial venture despite its uncertainties and how I can find a new feeling of peace and clarity (top line). Whle I might need to make my wending way towards progress, it is difficult to make choices around work, but I need to follow my heart to find success despite the obstacles (bottom line). Thinking logically about creative messages and an opportunity to study these are at the heart of it all (Flowers, Lord, Clover, Book, Lady, Rider), so I'd better focus there - I have an exam today!

As the kids head back to school and cold season approaches, my mind turns to health spells. Lenormand cards are great for these, as they all have health associations, as I discussed a few months back here and here.

At a very basic level, you could use the cards to ask for radiant health during this season: Meadow (Garden) (associated in this system with this turn of the Wheel), Oak (Tree), Sun.

Getting a bit more specific, I chose these cards to represent children's runny (flowing) noses clearing up quickly :)

Boy, Fish, Fox, Birch Rods, Clover

You could also keep it tighter and just have these cards to represent children's ear/nose/throat infections being small or soon over...

Boy, Fox, Clover

Of course, a spell is not the only thing I'd do. As the saying goes, heaven helps those who help themselves. So, adding some eucalyptus or olbas oil to an oil burner to accompany the spell would be no bad idea. Or teaching your kids to use a neti pot (if they're old enough - can't wait for that discussion in our house!) Giving them probiotics and herbal remedies to boost their immune system, too: such as Cat's Claw (we give them this as a tea), Goldenseal, Echinacea, Schisandra. And have some yourself, while you're at it. After all, the thing kids love to share most is their infections!

Wishing you all a healthy autumn, and just to say that next week's post will go live on Sunday 20th September, as part of the Mabon Tarot Blog Hop.

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Our wrangler for this blog hop is Maureen Aisling Duffy-Boose. She asked us to get creative and draw the card we'd choose for the harvest festival of Mabon. Now, I've already posted about the card I created to represent this in the Celtic Lenormand: the Meadow (Garden). And as this is the Celtic Lenormand blog, I didn't feel I could just draw another card, especially as my artistic skills are limited, hence enrolling the fabulous Will Worthington to paint the deck in the first place!

Instead, I thought I could get creative by collaging this card with others I would consider related to it, especially in terms of this turn of the Wheel of the Year.

When I was at school, I remember us bringing in tins and packages of dried food for this season, as part of the Harvest Festival. These were then donated to those in need - a lovely, modern take on sharing the fruits of the harvest. This festival, then, is not just about the harvest itself, but about the sharing of it, the sense of community. That is represented in the Meadow card, where food is laid out on blankets in a meadow, ready for the entire village to share, perhaps also with people from the neighbouring lands. That element of gifting would be represented by the Flowers (Bouquet) card. Often, it is charitable institutions that oversee delivering the harvest fruits to those in need: Flowers, Meadow and Hill Fort (Tower).

Another aspect of this festival is the need to be organised about it: there's no point to gathering the fruits of the harvest if they then go to waste - either rotting where we store them, or never reaching the people who need them. So, we might pair the Meadow and the Flowers with the Anchor for doing the work necessary to preserve and store them, and/or with the Bear for the kind of person who would be good at that kind of organisational work.

And we definitely wouldn't want the Mice getting into our stores! Perhaps, if this were a spell, we might specify an end to the Mice - adding the Coffin to box them in, or cutting them away with the Scythe... Thieves will be sliced up and buried!

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DruidCraft Tarot (a big deck), Wildwood Tarot (regular Tarot size deck) and Celtic Lenormand (regular Lenormand size)

Recently, I've seen quite a few people asking what the differences are between Tarot and Lenormand, so this post looks at exactly that.

At a basic level, Tarot has 78 cards organised into four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles or some variation thereof) with fourteen cards each (Ace through Ten and four Court cards), plus 22 Major Arcana or Trumps.

Lenormand has 36 cards, divided into four suits (Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, Clubs) with nine cards each (Aces plus Six through Ten and three Court cards).

While the Tarot Majors have names (such as the Chariot and the Hermit), every Lenormand card has a title and key object: the Rider, the Clover, the Ship, the House, the Tree, the Clouds, the Snake, and so on.

Straight away, you notice that the Lenormand objects are rather everyday, things like the Letter and the Book, the Child and the Mice. There are a lot of natural objects and animals, as well as some people. And although you can use the playing card associations to add to your readings, you can just read the cards based on these key objects.

Many Tarot decks have cards showing situations, such as the Five of Cups with a cloaked figure looking sadly at three spilled cups, ignoring two full cups behind him. They often have detailed landscapes, a bridge and a town in the distance in the Five of Cups, for example.

Lenormand cards tend to be much simpler: a Book lying on a table, a Ship on the sea, some Mice eating something. This simplicity is connected to how Lenormand cards are read. They are pictographs rather than images, hieroglyphs/words rather than stories told through visuals.

For instance, the Five of Cups is associated with situations where someone is feeling melancholy or not seeing the potential/future because they are focused on what is wrong or past. A single Tarot card can be a whole answer: you've been looking to the past, what positives might you have been ignoring?

Meanwhile, the House has keywords such as real estate, house, family, patriarch, and comfortable; and the Child has keywords such as new, naive, small, child and innocent. Lenormand cards are normally read together, combined or blended to make composite words or sentences. The House and the Child together could represent a new house, a naive father-figure or a small property.

With Tarot cards, some readers look at how they interact. Is the Queen of Swords looking at the Five of Cups? This could mean showing some empathy to someone who is sad and stuck in the past. Other readers pay attention to which details of a card jump out at them in a given reading. Do you notice the tassel on the Queen of Swords' arm? That might mean tempering your actions with kindness.

This interaction between cards is far more pronounced within the Lenormand system. Not in terms of the actual images, though there are some that have a directional element, and some readers will consider which way the people cards or the Court cards (if they have illustrated inserts) are facing. More often, it is about how near cards are to one another, or how far apart. Even if you read more with combinations than with the near and far approach, the distance determines which cards you combine together.

Another way of deepening your Tarot readings is through using associations to numerology, Kabbalah, astrology, mythology, etc. None of these is traditionally used with Lenormand cards, which are not seen as part of any esoteric tradition, but as something far simpler and more everyday.

On the other hand, Lenormand cards do still have different levels of interpretation. They can be interpreted at a symbolic level: the House standing for comfort or family. They have a literal level: the house as an actual house, or real estate more generally. They have a cartomantic level: the House is the King of Hearts, a kindly older man. They have a person aspect: the Rider is a lover, a young/er man, a visitor, the Ship suggests someone foreign. They have a timing aspect: the Rider is fast - the next three days. They have health associations: the Fox points to an issue with ear, nose, throat or sinuses. And if you are reading with the Celtic Lenormand, then you know they can also have a spiritual dimension...

As for reading intuitively, some people claim this is a difference between Tarot cards (read intuitively) and Lenormand cards (not). However, as I've written about before, this is a false dichotomy. If a reader is to be anything other than a computer, they will always bring their intuition into what they do.

In reading Lenormand cards, your intuition guides you to choose the correct level of interpretation for each card, and to find the combinations that are meaningful based on the question and the context around the reading and the client. Although this isn't connected with the actual visual on the card you are looking at, it is still a sorting process that goes on in your subconscious, which can examine and choose the most relevant meaning or image to you and serve it up in a way that your rational mind takes far longer to understand. Those "aha" moments of intuition happen just the same in a Lenormand reading, it's simply that what your subconscious is processing is the keywords, rather than the visual cues.

I hope this post has been useful and please do ask if you have any specific questions. And check out my most recent video, which looks at these differences in "intuitive reading" and offers an exercise to build your Lenormand intuition!

Step 1 - basic keywords

Last week, I posted a video about the difference between using your intuition in Tarot readings compared to Lenormand readings. It included an exercise to build your Lenormand vocabulary and practice tuning into your Lenormand intuition. Not everyone responds well to videos, though, so I decided to break the exercise down in writing. And it also means you get to see a second example :)

The first step is to write down keywords for each of the cards that you've drawn. It's good to brainstorm these, to practise/remember them. It can also be useful to look in a book or two - it's easy as a reader to get stuck using the same keywords all the time. While it can be good to develop your own Lenormand vocabulary in that way - knowing what the card most often means to you - it is also good to stretch yourself sometimes. After all, the world is a wide and wonderful place, and may present you with people or situations you don't know or expect.

Step 2 - basic interpretations

Step two is to create some basic sentences using these keywords. These are simple, off-the-cuff interpretations, and it is often at this stage that one of them will "ping" for you. Then, you know what the most important message of the reading is.

Step three is to write out combinations for the cards in the reading. Taking this three card reading - Book, Owls, and Lily - that means combining Books and Owls, combining Owls and Lily, and also mirroring to combine Book and Lily. You may also come up with some blends of all three cards. For instance, with these cards a three-way blend might give you a talkative mature student.

Step 3 - blended keywords for each pairing

Step four is to create some more complex sentences and variations, taking these blended meanings into account, and using several different variants to add texture to your reading.

Step 4 - more complex sentences

The final step is kind of a combination of steps two and four - you find the interpretation that your intuition tells you is most relevant, and then you dig deeper into it. You can ask a number of questions around the basic interpretation. For example, here I asked why and how...

Step 5 - digging deeper

What other blends or keywords would you have come up with? And if you give this exercise a go, I'd love to hear how you find it!

Okay, borrowing shamelessly from musical lyrics for the title, but today's post is all about timing. And just as KLF's What Time Is Love? may now seem very dated, I find the most traditional Lenormand timing systems to be pretty irrelevant to how I read.

Here is an image of a traditional approach to finding the timing of a reading. The idea with the Lenormand timing board is that after you have completed a Grand Tableau reading, you scoop up and re-shuffle the cards, and then lay them out in this pattern (basically the GT again, but with a timing focus). Where a particular card falls that was most relevant to your reading (for example the Heart for finding love), tells you the timing of that event foreseen in the Grand Tableau.

Imagine, then, that you've just read a GT, and it suggested that the person's perfect partner is out there, a studious, red-haired man (framed by the Book and the Fox). You then deal the timing board, and find the Heart on the House of the Snake - 7 years until this event is set to take place! Now, I don't know about you, but if I received a reading and was told that I'd think, what was the point of that whole reading?! Worse yet, it could land on the House of the Bear: not destined to happen for 10 to 20 years!!!

On top of that, there's the question of memorising these mostly random seeming timings. The Rider and Clover being fast, and the Scythe being sudden, make sense, as does the night for Stars and the Sun for summer. But why should the Heart be August and the Key November, with the Whips being two years and the Fish being four years?

In designing the Celtic Lenormand, I thought about timings that would make sense within a time frame of a maximum of a year (the most I would consider it useful to read ahead). I've written many times before about the cards associated with the Wheel of the Year sabats - shown in order from Imbolc here.

Another aspect I included in these images was the idea of the time of day - relevant for when to perform a ritual or spell, for instance. So, the Songbirds can represent Imbolc (February Eve), and also the pre-dawn twilight. The Lily represents Ostara (Easter, Spring Equinox) and also early morning, while Beltane (May Eve) and mid-morning are shown in the Flowers. Litha and noon are indicated by the Sun, and early afternoon and Lughnasadh (August Eve) are the Scythe. The Autumn Equinox and late afternoon are found in the Meadow (Garden), and nightfall and Samhain are found in the Burial Mound (Coffin). Finally, Yule is represented by the Moon and midnight.

Alternately, a system which makes sense to me both in terms of time frame and in terms of practicality, is to see the cards 1-31 as potentially representing the day of the month when something is to happen. Likewise, the cards 1-12 can represent the months of the year. A little trickier is the fact that readers also associate the cards with hours, days, and weeks. So, the Tree represents something that is quite long-lasting (in terms of its main interpretation). Yet, it could also indicate 5 hours, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, or the fifth month (May). How do you decide which of those is indicated?

One possibility is that the answer will seem intuitively right. Another answer may be in how you frame the question at the outset. That is probably the simplest way to get clarity: defining how long you intend to read for before you begin. And of course you can combine both of these, setting your intended time frame and also accepting the message if something jumps out at you intuitively.

How about you, what timing system/s do you use?

There's lots of talk in various places about different 'schools' of Lenormand reading. There are also those who say no schools exist, that the real distinction is whether you read using the near and far method or with combinations. Personally, I feel neither statement is an absolute, nor are they mutually exclusive.

In terms of schools, it's certainly fair to say that every teacher, and even every reader, develops their own style. Yet, it's also true that there are tendencies among different language groups. For example, most German readers use the Anchor as a card for work, while the French are more likely to use the Moon card. Likewise, German readers tend to see exercise in the Rider, while French readers more often attribute it to the Whips.

Moving further afield, many readers will tell you that 'Lenormand cards are never read reversed.' However, it is traditional to read with reversals in Russia, where they even have a number of decks designed specifically for this. And looking across the Pond to Brazil, traditionally the Cross card was seen as being positive (well, what do you expect in a country with a 38m high Jesus the Redeemer statue above one of their biggest cities?), while the Clover is replaced at number 2 with the Logs, representing small obstacles along your path.

As for the near and far versus combinations debate, there are definite differences. Reading using the near and far method is the oldest known method of using Lenormand cards. It originated from the cards' history in tasseomancy: reading the images in coffee grounds. There, near and far referred to the distance of the image from the rim of the cup! In addition, you find here a very traditional approach to interpretation that is generally about fortune telling.

Combinations are a more modern approach, which developed as the cards were used more as an oracle in their own right. While the Dutch-Belgian school maintains the near and far system, most other schools focus more on combinations. However, the two aren't totally separate. For instance, you generally combine cards that are close together (near). And cards that are distant (far) may still be read as influencing one another (combining in different ways) depending on whether they connect to the person or topic via mirroring, diagonals, knighting, or houses.

What about the Celtic Lenormand? While I chose to locate the images in Celtic Brittany as a homage to the French ancestry of Mademoiselle Lenormand, the interpretations and reading styles expressed in the companion book are far closer to the German school. Not surprising, as the majority of books I read at the start of my love affair with this system were by German writers :)

Overall, many readers draw from different teachers, and every reader develops their own meanings and interpretations as they go along, based on their own experience and interests. And that's as it should be - we are all unique, and we each read the cards in the way that makes most sense to us. We read according to our clients and ourselves. For instance, Caitlín Matthews reads for a lot of actors, and so has developed combination meanings based on stage fright, voice projection, acting agencies etc. Others read in different milieux, and that affects their reading style. My advice, learn what makes sense to you, wherever it comes from!

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For last year's Samhain Blog Hop, I spoke with Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand through the cards, using a Grand Tableau. This year, our blog hop wrangler, Arwen, asked us to commune/communicate with, and commemorate someone from the past. My thoughts were drawn to the other main person involved in the creation of these 36 cards we know as the Petit Lenormand deck: Johann Kaspar Hechtel (1771-1799).

It was Johann Kaspar Hechtel who expanded on the Coffee Grounds cards, adding extra cards to make the deck up to 36 cards. He chose some different emblems - for example excluding the Lion and Worms found in the Coffee Grounds cards and adding in the Bear. And he added in playing card inserts - originally both the French suits (the suits used in most playing cards today) and the less well-known German suits (Hearts, Bells, Acorns and Leaves).

Some writers suggest that he added in the playing card inserts so that the deck could be used for a large number of different games, as well as the board game he originally intended (similar to snakes and ladders, with a gaming pot of cash as the prize). Certainly, he doesn't seem to have paid any attention to their divinatory meanings, as they do not match the Lenormand emblem interpretations. Of course, that would have been a big ask, in any case, as different countries, different towns, and different readers, interpreted playing cards differently.

Johann Kaspar Hechtel was a man of science (writing articles on physics), and a business man who enjoyed creating parlour games. For this communication, I decided to use a more conversational approach, asking questions and drawing three cards as an answer. For yes-no questions, I'm using the method of looking at the colours of the playing card suits - red for yes and black for no - and then interpreting the cards further.

My first question was: Did you include the playing cards just to make your deck multi-purpose, the only deck anyone would ever need for gaming?

Storks, Burial Mound (Coffin), Holly (Tree)

Based on the playing cards, that's a big fat yes (2 hearts and a diamond) :D Looking deeper, this brought progress (Storks) to completion (Burial Mound), in a lasting way (Holly). Okay, he's not shy about thinking he did a good job! Though the two different card inserts are hardly ever included today. Then again, it's only the Germans who ever read with the German system, and they use the French system equally these days... And the deck/system he created has held true for over 215 years now!

Second question: Given your original intent to create a gaming deck, how do you feel about these cards being used specifically (and almost exclusively) for divination?

Clouds, Oak (Tree), Sun

Seems to me that he was a little uncertain about this at the outset (Clouds), but has come to see it for the area of growth and energy it is (Oak, Sun). If this is what it takes to be an enduring success (Oak, Sun), he's all for it :)

Third question: Do you wish the deck carried your original name?

Girl (Child), House, Meadow (Garden/Park)

Two spades and a heart suggest the answer is no, not really. As to why, the deck has achieved a new, comfortable position (Girl, House) in the public eye (Meadow), which it probably would not have reached without Mademoiselle Lenormand's name.

Lastly, then: What is your hope for the deck's future?

Boy (Child), Mountain, Moon

Seems to me that Herr Hechtel would like the deck to reach new (Boy) peaks (Mountain) of renown (Moon)! And you could say that playing/gaming (Boy) was an obstacle (Mountain) to that fame (Moon). Hence why he's happy with how it has developed :)

It's interesting to think about how Johann would have responded to this deck, given he died before his first version was even printed (1800), and long before the deck was rebranded in 1849. Perhaps if he had lived, none of this would have been possible. In any case, I like to think that he is glad his game has become such an enduring success.

Now, let's hop on round and see who else is joining the conversation this Samhain!

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This week, I decided to try something a little different. On Monday I posted a tarot reading using a Three Brain Spread based on ideas from neuroscience and life coaching, and I thought it would be interesting to do a version with the Celtic Lenormand. Drawing three cards, I interpret them as what our head, heart and gut are saying. Then, reading them all together is the overall message.

Head - The Lord

Unsurprisingly, the Head card is all about rationality, logic and thinking you're in charge: the things our head-based ego normally talks to us about!

Heart - The Rider

The Heart tells us to listen to the messages around us, to be open to hearing what others have to say and what the Universe wants us to hear.

Image courtesy of enneagram.co.uk

Gut - The Man

The Man is more practical and down-to-earth than the Lord, more focused on how to get things done than on being in control. He is more about doing than thinking. This fits beautifully with an image I found, shown here courtesy of enneagram.co.uk, regarding the realm of each brain!

Overall Message

Moving forward rationally is aided by listening to the more practical messages of heart and gut.

The cards absolutely agree - we mustn't think just with our head, but bring in our heart and gut, too, to have a well-balanced understanding of the world, ourselves and others. I like the imagery, as well. The head and gut cards look in different directions, it is only the Rider as messenger that links them together. And it's fascinating to have received both the "Male" cards - to emphasise both how this "thinking" by our gut and head is different and the same.

Once again this week, I decided to try out a life coaching spread, Lenormand style. This time it's a line of five, based on the acronym SCORE: Symptom, Cause, Outcome, Resources, Ecology. The spread is designed to look at an issue or problem and what you can do about it to reach a favorable outcome. It's nice that the centre card acts as the fulcrum of the spread, which fits well with a Lenormand reading style...

Symptom: the Woman

My first thought was 'working like a drudge'. I know that's not a traditional reading of the Woman card, but sometimes you have to trust your intuition. There's something about it being the Woman rather than the Lady, added to the positional meaning.

Cause: the Letter

Ha, yes, I have been writing a lot, and also worrying about how much I need to write. I have a business trip next week to prepare for, and which will take time away from my other pursuits.

Outcome: the Book

Exactly, I have some project deadlines that I need to reach, at least one on an esoteric subject 😊

Resources: the Child

If I can find a sense of playfulness, that will combat the feeling of drudgery. I need to be open to the joy of these projects, rather than focusing on the time constraints. After all, worrying won't get them done any faster.

Ecology: the Sun

How does this situation fit in my life (is it ecological)? I read this as having the required energy for this, I just need to tap into it by focusing on the fun side.

Reading the line more traditionally gives me: written intuition (Woman, Letter - this blog) around a project involving study/ing materials (Letter, Book) allows me to open up the project (Book, Child) by bringing new energy to it (Child, Sun). This woman has energy (mirroring Woman, Sun), if she writes playfully (mirroring Letter, Child) to put into the projects at the heart of this reading (Book).

I really like how this reading worked! The positional meanings added to the interpretation, though just reading the line traditionally brought most of the same ideas. Hope you'll let me know if you give it a go 😉

Highest Expressions Spread

Following on with the theme of life coaching tools adapted to be used with Lenormand cards, this week I threw a Nine Square. However, it is based on the mBraining concept of exploring the highest expression of each of your three brains, the head, heart and gut. These highest expressions are Creativity (Head), Compassion (Heart) and Courage (Gut).

Taking the top line as the head, the middle line as the heart and the bottom line as the gut also fits with traditional ideas of how to interpret Lenormand spreads. The cards above the person card (or the top row in a nine square), traditionally represents the person's thoughts. The centre is the heart of the issue, and the bottom row is what the person can control, where they can take action.

Let's see how this works in a real example:

Highest Expressions Reading

Head

Creativity and the head are represented by the Lord, the Scythe and the Man. A lot of rational, logical energy there, combining feelings of responsibility with practicality. At the centre, the Scythe is associated with the act of sorting. This looks like advice to brainstorm creative ideas from a logical perspective, and then be willing to sort them according to how practical they are. Also taking into consideration your responsibilities, and how these new ideas would fit with them.

Heart

Compassion in this reading is seen in the Meadow (Garden/Park), the Burial Mound (Coffin) and the Letter. In light of the events in Paris recently, I see the need for the compassionate public writings about death. An eye for an eye is not the way to bring peace to the world and prevent further pain, suffering and death. Yet, we must also honour those deaths.

Gut

Courage to act is shown through the Shedding Snake, the Chickens (Birds) and the Dog. What I see here is the need for boundaries around social chatter, and the suggestion to stay faithful to those boundaries. Practically, it tells me to be very aware of my own boundaries when confronted with other people's talk, and to stick to my own beliefs.

This takes me back to the head section - I need to do clear sorting for myself at a rational level in order to know what I want those boundaries to look like. And I need to check with my heart to make sure that those boundaries are compassionate, to both myself and others.

Confronted with so many highly emotional views on social media, it is important for me to assess how these things lie with my own heart, and to sort through my responses rationally, too. With that clarity at an emotional and logical level, I can then put in place the boundaries that will help me move through this time with a greater sense of wholeness.

Self-Belief Spell

Intuition and Lenormand

Career Questions: Part Five

Constellation Reading/Spell

Career Questions Part 6

The Sun is the Sun

Quintessential Blessings

Yes-No Questions

Line Length and Directionality

Which Way Is Which?

Health Spells

Harvest Festival Cards

The Differences Between Tarot and Lenormand

Working Your Intuitive Lenormand Muscles

What Time Is Love?

Lenormand Schools?

Communing with Johann

Three Brain Reading

What's the Lenormand Score?

Highest Expression