{"id":19058,"date":"2018-11-01T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T06:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=19668"},"modified":"2018-11-03T11:31:31","modified_gmt":"2018-11-03T16:31:31","slug":"learning-lenormand-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/11\/01\/learning-lenormand-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Lenormand"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Portrait of the Morning<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My sun is in Taurus and I most definitely a creature of habit. My morning routine is a good example of this. I generally wake around 4 a.m. I stay in bed for a half-hour or so, cuddling with a kitty \u2013 usually Radar, who sleeps with his head on my pillow \u2013 and praying. Then I get up, put on my flannels and go into the kitchen, where I start the coffee. I feed the cats. I have my oatmeal and coffee while reading and replying to emails and then it\u2019s in the shower. I\u2019m in and out of the shower by 6 a.m., generally. After I\u2019m all clean and dressed, I make my bed and straighten up my room. While I do this, I listen to classical music on the radio. I like peace and quiet in the mornings.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is when I meditate. My son James is still sleeping and the cats are fed and back to sleep so it\u2019s a nice serene environment. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I used to do Tarot readings after meditation. When I got my Lenormand cards, I started doing both \u2013 but with James living here, I usually don\u2019t have time to sit and read cards for over an hour anymore. Honestly, I barely have enough time to do anything I want to do anymore but that\u2019s a whole \u2019nother issue! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have to read the Tarot everyday to learn it \u2013 my life is immersed in the Tarot whether I am reading the cards or not. My poetry and my artwork are both mostly about the Tarot and uses Tarot themes. I am not so arrogant to suggest that I don\u2019t need to learn anymore about the Tarot \u2013 there\u2019s always <\/i>more to learn! I\u2019m just saying that my Tarot journal is now essentially a Lenormand journal.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I decided to stop doing daily readings of any <\/i>cards except the Lenormand because \u2013 like learning a new language \u2013 I just wasn\u2019t getting<\/i> it. That\u2019s the honest truth. If you are only using the cards once in a while \u2013 or if you are only using them after <\/i>you have already done a reading with your favorite Tarot deck \u2013 how are you supposed to actually learn anything? I had to get in a schedule where I was sitting and only using the Lenormand. I also had to use the same format everyday \u2013 like I had with the Tarot thirty years ago, when I was using the Celtic Cross predominantly. So \u2013 after working with several different Lenormand spreads I found in Caitl\u00edn Matthew\u2019s The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards<\/a><\/u> \u2013 I decided upon Spread 6 <\/i>\u201cThe Portrait\u201d, which you can find on page 132, if you own this fundamental book \u2013 and I highly <\/i>recommend the purchasing of this text! \u2013 I cannot stress <\/i>that enough!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Portrait Spread is a 9-card spread that is the basis for many of the spreads that follow in subsequent chapters. Therefore, it\u2019s perfect for a daily spread \u2013 it\u2019s a quick and easy look on what is going on in your life. Nine is such a great number on so many levels \u2013 as the saying goes, \u201cThree times three, so mote it be\u201d. Matthew writes that, \u201cNine is a powerful number in that it replicates itself in all its multiples.\u201d (Matthews, 131). There\u2019s ten cards in a Celtic Cross but when you consider that the first two cards are \u201ccrossed\u201d over the same position, it can be argued that there are actually only nine positions in the spread, which gives it a different dynamic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Portrait Spread is laid out with three cards along the top, three in the middle, and three along the bottom. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Matthews, 132)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Card 5 \u2013 the middle card \u2013 is the focus of the reading. I can\u2019t tell you how many times that card is absolutely dead on. <\/i>Sometimes I can\u2019t get heads or tails out of the cards around it \u2013 especially when I try to blend meanings of cards \u2013 but usually that one card tells me everything I need to know. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cards 1+4+7 = the past. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cards 2+5+8 = the present. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cards 3+6+9 = the future. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Card 1 tells me what \u201cprovoked or instigated the issue\u201d (Matthews, 133). On a daily basis, there might not be an ongoing \u201cissue\u201d but then again, there might be stuff going on that you are not yet aware! The corners 1+9+3+7 shows what that basic issue is. The diamond cards of 2+4+6+8 (who do we appreciate, sorry couldn\u2019t help it) show the inner aspects of the issue. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After this, read the rows 1+2+3, 4+5+6, 7+8+9 as well as <\/i>1+8+3 and 7+2+9 to get all the aspects of the portrait. If this seems like a lot \u2013 well, it is! But like learning any new language, doing your daily homework is the key and that\u2019s the only <\/i>way to learn. And I\u2019ll be honest with you \u2013 quite often, I lay out the cards and start writing my analysis in my journal and have to stop because life <\/i>intrudes. So now I have started setting aside time after lunch to finish up any unfinished Lenormand \u201chomework\u201d. Since it is my habit to take a nap after lunch, it\u2019s nice to drift off to sleep with Lenormand images and concepts floating through my head. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s today\u2019s portrait:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I usually shuffle the cards as part of my morning meditation. I don\u2019t focus on a question or anything at all. I just let the cards slide through my fingers and back through between my hands as I drift through consciousness. I\u2019ve found that I get better readings when I don\u2019t<\/i> have a specific question then when I try to get the cards to \u201ctell me something\u201d \u2013 I just let them talk to me. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

32 Moon 8 Hearts is Card 5 \u2013 the middle card \u2013 the focus of the reading. After months of being artistically blocked, I am once again working at my poetry and my artwork and other writing projects \u2013 I am getting up before dawn to work. I am also baking bread and thinking of other creative things to cook. My life seems to be bursting with creativity and I am working harder than ever. And I am loving my work! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

30 Lily + 11 Whip + 28 Man is my past \u2013 I always read this as resent past, within the last twenty-four to forty-eight hours. At first glance, I really can\u2019t make any sense of these cards together but I will take a guess \u2013 I\u2019m always guessing! \u2013 and say that these three cards refer to the maturing man in the house \u2013 my son, James \u2013 and how he is increasingly in charge of things. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

20 Garden + 32 Moon + 23 Mice is my future \u2013 I read this as \u201cwhat\u2019s happening today\u201d \u2013 and this tell me that having to go out into the world (running errands) will cut into my ability to work today, since getting around Buffalo on public transportation takes up so much time. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

16 Stars + 5 Tree + 4 House is my future \u2013 which I take to mean as the near future, tomorrow or the next day \u2013 I will be focusing on my health and well-being and doing things at home. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That seems really straight-forward and to the point, doesn\u2019t it? When I first started reading Lenormand cards, I was obsessed with getting the perfect reading, the correct reading of the cards and the most precise reading but now I realize that I could read these cards today and get a certain reading and then read these same cards tomorrow and see something different. There is no<\/i> true correct reading. <\/i>There\u2019s only the reading that resonates for you. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After I read all aspects of the Portrait Spread and make notations in my Lenormand Journal, I put the cards and the journal away for the day. Later in the evening, I get the journal out and see how closely the cards predicted the day and remind myself of tomorrow\u2019s prediction. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When you have been doing a spread like this for say \u2013 two or three weeks \u2013 a month, tops \u2013 look through your readings and see what cards have been showing up most often. This past month, I have been seeing 32 Moon 8 Hearts, 26 Book 10 Diamonds, 5 Tree 7 Hearts, 6 Clouds King Clubs, and 33 Key 8 Diamonds more than any of the other cards. Given that my focus has been on creativity and writing and just how to get going on my novel again, I think these cards really show my struggles with those issues. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I really like this spread. It takes a bit of time to do but the more I do it, the easier it gets to read the cards. For me, I think the trick is to read the cards quickly <\/i>—
\n\u201cFirst thought, best thought,\u201d as Allen Ginsburg famously said \u2013 put the concepts together into a coherent thought and go with that. The more I ponder the \u201cmeaning\u201d of the cards, the less meaning they actually have. I get lost in layers of implication and nuance and end up confused and frustrated. So I have found that the first thought that pops into my head when I am looking at a group of cards is generally the one that I should listen to. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And like I said before, there is no true correct reading. <\/i>I haven\u2019t been keeping a Lenormand journal long enough to see this in action, but I can tell you that when I look through Tarot journals from ten, twenty, thirty years ago, I can see where I made rookie mistakes but also where I was spot on \u2013 even as a beginner! Your journals are a great learning resource, even years after the reading. And it\u2019s fun to relive whatever drama was going on at the time! And be grateful for the happy serenity I enjoy right now. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Until next month, Brightest Blessings!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Matthews, Caitl\u00edn. The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards<\/a><\/u>. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 2014.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards on Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Polly MacDavid<\/b>\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan and she is solitary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>She blogs at\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>silverapplequeen.wordpress.com<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Portrait of the Morning My sun is in Taurus and I most definitely a creature of habit. My morning routine is a good example of this. I generally wake around 4 a.m. I stay in bed for a half-hour or so, cuddling with a kitty \u2013 usually Radar, who sleeps with his head on my pillow \u2013 and praying. Then I get up, put on my flannels and go into the kitchen, where I start the coffee. I feed the cats. I have my oatmeal and coffee while reading and replying to emails and then it\u2019s in the shower. I\u2019m in and out of the shower by 6 a.m., generally. After I\u2019m all clean and dressed, I make my bed and straighten up my room. While I do this, I listen to classical music on the radio. I like peace and quiet in the mornings. This is when I meditate. My son James is still sleeping and the cats are fed and back to sleep so it\u2019s a nice serene environment. I used to do Tarot readings after meditation. When I got my Lenormand cards, I started doing both \u2013 but with James living here, I usually don\u2019t have time to sit and read cards for over an hour anymore. Honestly, I barely have enough time to do anything I want to do anymore but that\u2019s a whole \u2019nother issue! I don\u2019t have to read the Tarot everyday to learn it \u2013 my life is immersed in the Tarot whether I am reading the cards or not. My poetry and my artwork are both mostly about the Tarot and uses Tarot themes. I am not so arrogant to suggest that I don\u2019t need to learn anymore about the Tarot \u2013 there\u2019s always more to learn! I\u2019m just saying that my Tarot journal is now essentially a Lenormand journal. I decided to stop doing daily readings of any cards except the Lenormand because \u2013 like learning a new language \u2013 I just wasn\u2019t getting it. That\u2019s the honest truth. If you are only using the cards once in a while \u2013 or if you are only using them after you have already done a reading with your favorite Tarot deck \u2013 how are you supposed to actually learn anything? I had to get in a schedule where I was sitting and only using the Lenormand. I also had to use the same format everyday \u2013 like I had with the Tarot thirty years ago, when I was using the Celtic Cross predominantly. So \u2013 after working with several different Lenormand spreads I found in Caitl\u00edn Matthew\u2019s The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards \u2013 I decided upon Spread 6 \u201cThe Portrait\u201d, which you can find on page 132, if you own this fundamental book \u2013 and I highly recommend the purchasing of this text! \u2013 I cannot stress that enough! The Portrait Spread is a 9-card spread that is the basis for many of the spreads that follow in subsequent chapters. Therefore, it\u2019s perfect for a daily spread \u2013 it\u2019s a quick and easy look on what is going on in your life. Nine is such a great number on so many levels \u2013 as the saying goes, \u201cThree times three, so mote it be\u201d. Matthew writes that, \u201cNine is a powerful number in that it replicates itself in all its multiples.\u201d (Matthews, 131). There\u2019s ten cards in a Celtic Cross but when you consider that the first two cards are \u201ccrossed\u201d over the same position, it can be argued that there are actually only nine positions in the spread, which gives it a different dynamic. The Portrait Spread is laid out with three cards along the top, three in the middle, and three along the bottom. (Matthews, 132) Card 5 \u2013 the middle card \u2013 is the focus of the reading. I can\u2019t tell you how many times that card is absolutely dead on. Sometimes I can\u2019t get heads or tails out of the cards around it \u2013 especially when I try to blend meanings of cards \u2013 but usually that one card tells me everything I need to know. Cards 1+4+7 = the past. Cards 2+5+8 = the present. Cards 3+6+9 = the future. Card 1 tells me what \u201cprovoked or instigated the issue\u201d (Matthews, 133). On a daily basis, there might not be an ongoing \u201cissue\u201d but then again, there might be stuff going on that you are not yet aware! The corners 1+9+3+7 shows what that basic issue is. The diamond cards of 2+4+6+8 (who do we appreciate, sorry couldn\u2019t help it) show the inner aspects of the issue. After this, read the rows 1+2+3, 4+5+6, 7+8+9 as well as 1+8+3 and 7+2+9 to get all the aspects of the portrait. If this seems like a lot \u2013 well, it is! But like learning any new language, doing your daily homework is the key and that\u2019s the only way to learn. And I\u2019ll be honest with you \u2013 quite often, I lay out the cards and start writing my analysis in my journal and have to stop because life intrudes. So now I have started setting aside time after lunch to finish up any unfinished Lenormand \u201chomework\u201d. Since it is my habit to take a nap after lunch, it\u2019s nice to drift off to sleep with Lenormand images and concepts floating through my head. Here\u2019s today\u2019s portrait: I usually shuffle the cards as part of my morning meditation. I don\u2019t focus on a question or anything at all. I just let the cards slide through my fingers and back through between my hands as I drift through consciousness. I\u2019ve found that I get better readings when I don\u2019t have a specific question then when I try to get the cards to \u201ctell me something\u201d \u2013 I just let them talk to me. 32 Moon 8 Hearts is Card 5 \u2013 the middle card \u2013 the focus of the reading. After months of being artistically blocked, I am once again working at my poetry and my artwork and other writing projects \u2013 I am getting up before dawn to work. I am also baking bread and thinking of other creative things to cook. My life seems to be bursting with creativity and I am working harder than ever. And I am loving my work! 30 Lily + 11 Whip + 28 Man is my past \u2013 I always read this as resent past, within the last twenty-four to forty-eight hours. At first glance, I really can\u2019t make any sense of these cards together but I will take a guess \u2013 I\u2019m always guessing! \u2013 and say that these three cards refer to the maturing man in the house \u2013 my son, James \u2013 and how he is increasingly in charge of things. 20 Garden + 32 Moon + 23 Mice is my future \u2013 I read this as \u201cwhat\u2019s happening today\u201d \u2013 and this tell me that having to go out into the world (running errands) will cut into my ability to work today, since getting around Buffalo on public transportation takes up so much time. 16 Stars + 5 Tree + 4 House is my future \u2013 which I take to mean as the near future, tomorrow or the next day \u2013 I will be focusing on my health and well-being and doing things at home. That seems really straight-forward and to the point, doesn\u2019t it? When I first started reading Lenormand cards, I was obsessed with getting the perfect reading, the correct reading of the cards and the most precise reading but now I realize that I could read these cards today and get a certain reading and then read these same cards tomorrow and see something different. There is no true correct reading. There\u2019s only the reading that resonates for you. After I read all aspects of the Portrait Spread and make notations in my Lenormand Journal, I put the cards and the journal away for the day. Later in the evening, I get the journal out and see how closely the cards predicted the day and remind myself of tomorrow\u2019s prediction. When you have been doing a spread like this for say \u2013 two or three weeks \u2013 a month, tops \u2013 look through your readings and see what cards have been showing up most often. This past month, I have been seeing 32 Moon 8 Hearts, 26 Book 10 Diamonds, 5 Tree 7 Hearts, 6 Clouds King Clubs, and 33 Key 8 Diamonds more than any of the other cards. Given that my focus has been on creativity and writing and just how to get going on my novel again, I think these cards really show my struggles with those issues. I really like this spread. It takes a bit of time to do but the more I do it, the easier it gets to read the cards. For me, I think the trick is to read the cards quickly — \u201cFirst thought, best thought,\u201d as Allen Ginsburg famously said \u2013 put the concepts together into a coherent thought and go with that. The more I ponder the \u201cmeaning\u201d of the cards, the less meaning they actually have. I get lost in layers of implication and nuance and end up confused and frustrated. So I have found that the first thought that pops into my head when I am looking at a group of cards is generally the one that I should listen to. And like I said before, there is no true correct reading. I haven\u2019t been keeping a Lenormand journal long enough to see this in action, but I can tell you that when I look through Tarot journals from ten, twenty, thirty years ago, I can see where I made rookie mistakes but also where I was spot on \u2013 even as a beginner! Your journals are a great learning resource, even years after the reading. And it\u2019s fun to relive whatever drama was going on at the time! And be grateful for the happy serenity I enjoy right now. Until next month, Brightest Blessings! References Matthews, Caitl\u00edn. The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 2014. The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards on Amazon *** About the Author: Polly MacDavid\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic. Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan and she is solitary. She blogs at\u00a0silverapplequeen.wordpress.com. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}