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!
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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