Afterword:
Lenormand for Tarot Readers
The Lenormand system has run parallel—mainly separated by language alone—to tarot for over two centuries. Whilst there are crossovers, starting with Etteilla and Mlle. Lenormand’s claims to read “Tharot,” to more modern versions such as the Lenormand Tarot (Lo Scarabeo, 2006), the two systems have remained separate. Perhaps there has been a bit of snobbery when referring to Lenormand as an inauthentic “gypsy”-connected deck with no pedigree, unlike tarot, which has had a long time to accumulate complexity and perceived history. Similarly, when mass media has reached for a symbol of the occult, they have usually picked a tarot deck from their stock shelves, rather than a Lenormand deck.
A surprising aspect of the Lenormand revival is that for those who have learnt the Opening of the Key method of reading tarot taught by the Golden Dawn from the turn of the last century (long felt by many to be Kabbalistic and complex), the reading of Lenormand, in sequence and by counting methods, has felt quite obvious. This is because the originators of the Golden Dawn method were utilising early cartomantic methods, glossing them with correspondences from other systems in a synthetic manner. We have now gone full-circle with the return to the more simple roots of cartomancy.
However, for the many tarot readers discovering Lenormand for the first time who are inexperienced with the Opening of the Key, the temptation is to apply their tarot experience to Lenormand, and this simply cannot work—it is a case of using a walnut to crack a hammer. It is far better to learn to “switch headsets” between one system and another, getting the best of both worlds, and bringing the best of one system, where appropriate, into the other. A tarot reading can benefit from many of the story-weaving skills required in Lenormand, and a Lenormand reading can benefit from many of the pinpointing and bridging methods required for tarot.26
Those who have been used to changing headsets, such as when switching from rune reading to I-Ching, to tarot, to astrology (or other oracle cards), will also be at an advantage in appreciating how different systems can take the stage for different purposes.
Here is a run-down of some of the primary differences, noting there may be exceptions to any given rule:
In many ways, comparing tarot and Lenormand is like comparing the board games of chess and Go as discussed in chapter 8. The former has a fair set of rules to be learnt (symbols), and is played through standard openings and mid- and end-game sequences (spreads), whilst the second is based on a very simple rule, played on a wider board (tableau) with an endless variety of patterns (combinations).
Both systems—and different decks within each—have their own voice, and it is likely you will have to experiment with alternate Lenormand decks as you did with tarot before finding the one that’s right for you. We would recommend trying at least one contemporary deck (such as the Steampunk Fairy Oracle) and one historical reproduction deck (The Original Lenormand) at the same time to calibrate which end of the scale you wish to explore first. Similarly, try one that is more pictorial (Mystical Lenormand) with one that is starker (Lenormand Arlo).
The Literal Lenormand
Whilst learning Lenormand, ensure that you keep going back to the core and literal meanings of the cards without your T-space head. Say the cards’ names out loud, and keep them literal, objective, and grounded to real situations. Doing so may seem somewhat scary to those who provide very “psychological” tarot readings, but the result is often psychological insight through a different path. One reading we recall for someone led to a quite transformational and profound experience through the simple and literal statement: “the man is in the House of the Child under the Lady (mother).”
There has been some discussion with regard to “intuitive” reading versus “rule-based” reading, although we consider this a bit of a red herring. You can only “intuit” something from your existing knowledge, whether it is rule-based or experiential … otherwise it’s just guessing. We recommend students study the available literature on the subject, read widely, and practice whilst remaining open to experience through experimentation, journaling, and contemplation. At some point, one will begin to intuit patterns and combinations in the cards based on knowledge and experience. Later, as you become ready, inspiration will also take a role in your readings.
Similarly, the notion of “tradition” has also been discussed at length. Our general practice is to encourage (for example, when learning any system of correspondences, such as tarot, astrology, or Kabbalah) the learning of one recognisable system at the beginning. It does not matter which system it is, although those based on study and experience will also be better building blocks.
Once you have experimented with that system, you will soon find disparities and tweaks; for example, you may simply not find yourself able to read the Moon as “work,” finding instead another card always seems to hold that meaning for you. Later, you may find that your own personal tweaks bring you straight in alignment with someone else’s system or tradition—because they have discovered the same things as you. However, you cannot get to this stage by simply cutting and pasting from one system to another—if several cards mean “work,” you will struggle with your readings or find yourself fitting the cards to the desired answer, which is obviously not encouraged.
You might also like to take a bridging course by learning the counting method of the Opening of the Key, which uses tarot and symbolism to perform linear and literal readings. The written records we have of these Golden Dawn readings show they were frequently used—despite it being seen as an “inner order” and spiritual method—for mundane fortunetelling, such as a theatre’s success, a lover’s feelings, the outcome of a court case, and so forth. This may make it easier to move to Lenormand if you are only comfortable with fixed-meaning spreads.
With regard to the meaning of individual cards, take a while to familiarise yourself with the cards of the Tower, Moon, Star, and Sun. These do not carry the same symbolic interpretations as in tarot, and you are advised to consider the simple functionality of a tower, or the most simple connections to the stellar bodies—the moon is a measure of time in agriculture, which at the time of the early Lenormand was the main industry, so hence could be a card of work, success, and fortune. The stars were used for navigation, getting you to your destination, and are thus images of literal destiny. The sun meant summer, good crops, growth, and longer days, hence it is simply “big luck” like an endless summer holiday. It is not the card of Ra the ancient Egyptian solar deity, as it appears in Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, nor “consciousness in spirit” as Waite would term it; the Lenormand card of the Sun is everything the sun actually is, and it represents its function in life on earth. We can move up to the symbolic layers and correspondences (and thus to every other system), but in Lenormand this has little or no bearing.
There are other, perhaps deeper issues with the move to Lenormand reading, particularly if you decide to deliver your messages in a more literal and fortunetelling type of voice. In tarot there has been much of a move toward “empowering” the querent, by telling the person that the future is not written in stone and that the cards provide a mechanism for reviewing potential futures, and making the most informed decisions. In Lenormand, there has been a history of stricter fortunetelling, i.e., choosing three cards for the day and waiting for events to match those three cards as “predicted.” Such an exercise can only sharpen one’s ability to make accurate predictions.
We must begin to consider the philosophical differences between fortunetelling and divination, and also consider how “luck” plays into this view of the universe if we are reading one or two of the cards as signifying “luck.” If you are able to make predictions, what role does the random, unpredictable nature of luck play in your readings? This topic is somewhat beyond the scope of this book, but it is worth raising into awareness. L-space has a different environment that brings considerations like this to mind for both Lenormand and tarot.
A more useful analogy may be to consider the difference between prediction and forecasting, as suggested by the tarot reader Mike Hernandez.27 We can forecast far better than we can predict, and forecasting at least offers us means of preparing for the storm or the season.
A final suggestion is to always start by performing a Grand Tableau or linear eight-card reading, but do not fall into the trap of one-card readings for simplicity. The Lenormand cards are more like letters in an alphabet, and you need several of them to make a meaningful word, and several more to make a sentence. If you try learning the “card a day” way, you’ll train your brain to think in smaller chunks than is ideal for intermediate and advanced reading styles, i.e., counting across lots of cards, reading them as you go into one coherent whole.
Above all, discover the voice of the cards. In divination, the voice of the system, deck, and even your personal deck, are paramount. The Lenormand has something to tell you. Listen carefully.