Lets learn something fun today. Cartomancy! Specifically how to set up your very own Lenormand card set and use it. Of all the card sets and Tarot sets that I have worked with, Lenormand is a practical and a fun way of divination. No kaballah, no esoteric stuff, no high level words, just plain simple questions and answers. And it is a way of accessing the information hidden inside your own subconscious, a good way of listening to your own self.
Now straight on to the practical stuff.
You can make this card set at home. I think for most of you this will be your first card deck. It is just so exciting to make your own stuff because they then pick up your energy and really become your own.
Buy a deck of normal playing cards and separate the following 36 cards, write their card names on the playing card using a permanent marker. I have also mentioned a few important keywords for each card. The keywords are quite logical too, eg “child” may actually mean a child, innocence, inexperience, trusting person, small issue, playful person, all the things that we actually associate with a child. So remembering the keywords should not be very difficult.
- 9 of hearts is “Rider” – short journey, young energetic man, speed, messages
- 6 of diamonds is “Clover” – tiny bit of luck, gamble, small joy, spark
- 10 of spades is is “Ship” – long journey, vehicle, departing, adventure,
- King of hearts is “House” – family, home, physical building of the home, establishment, privacy, safety, takin care, at home
- 7 of hearts is “Tree” – family tree, dynasty, health, spirituality, roots
- King of clubs is “Clouds” – difficulties, problems, smoke, misunderstanding, doubt, hidden
- Queen of clubs is “Snake” – karma, clever woman, desire, intestines, tubes, lies, knowledge
- 9 of diamonds is “Coffin” – ending, death, sadness, sleep, rest, exhaution
- Queen of spades of “Bouquet” – happiness, flattery, social interactions, politeness, flowers
- Jack of diamonds is “Scythe” – accidents, cuts, danger, sharp weapon, warning, speed
- Jack of clubs is “Whip” – exercise, sex, conflict, repetitive activity, arguments, pain, beating, action
- 7 of diamonds is “Birds” – conversations, nervousness, gossip, excitement, lots of messages.
- Jack of spades is “Child” – child, inexperience, innocent, playful, new starts
- 9 of clubs is “Fox” – man of the world, just business, crafty, cunning, be cautious, not trustworthy, tricks
- 10 of clubs is “Bear”- power, strength, food, leader, anger, influence
- 6 of hearts is “Star” – hope, spirituality, dreams, inspiration
- Queen of hearts is “Stork” – possibilities, changes, new beginnings, out of the box,
- 10 of hearts is “Dog” – best friends, loyalty, followers, devotion, support
- 6 of spades is “Tower” – institutions, big buildings, authority, being alone, ego, arrogance
- 8 of spades is “Garden” – social networks, a function, get-together, open areas, fame, happiness,
- 8 of clubs is “Mountain” – obstacle, heights,
- Queen of diamonds is “Crossroads” – options, opportunities, choice, travel, confusion
- 7 of clubs is “Mice” – theft, reducing, disease, filth, rubbish, infestation, flawed, parasites, stealing under your nose.
- Jack of hearts is “Heart” – love, forgiveness, romance
- Ace of clubs is “Ring” – commitment, marriage, completion, cyclic
- 10 of diamonds is “Book” – secrets, education, information available but not yet accessed, research, prescriptions
- 7 of spades is “Letter” – documents, communications, information
- Ace of hearts is “Man” – any male associated with the question asked, family member, husband etc
- Ace of spades is “Woman” – any female associated with the question asked, family member, wife etc
- King of spades is “Lily” – maturity, sensuality, wisdom, sex, morals, older woman, serenity
- Ace of diamonds is “Sun” – happiness, success, pride, power, heat, truth
- 8 of Hearts is “Moon” – night, subconscious, emotions, desires, intuition
- 8 of diamonds is “Key” – solutions, achievements, freedom, openness
- King of diamonds is “Fish” – finances, plenty, gains, treasures,
- 9 of spades is “Anchor” – stability, restrain, foundations, enduring
- 6 of clubs is “Cross” – suffering, burden, religious, principles, harsh, duty, bound
In the Lenormand system, the name of the card is everything, the pictures of the cards have no divinatory meanings as such. The cards are read in pairs and sequences like a sentence. The cards have the same meaning upright or reversed. If you would like a short cut and not learn the above keywords then use the card combination meanings from this site.
Now to to play with your subconscious and your first card deck. Shuffle the cards and focus on a question, eg, “How is my day going to be today”. When you feel like it, stop shuffling and spread the cards out in a fan, with your non-dominant hand pull out 5 cards, lay them face down in a line as you pull them out and then turn them together.
Suppose you get this sequence “clouds scythe rider bear birds”. One interpretation of this could be “cloudy day” “cut sharply” “young man” “food” “conversations”, and it gets fulfilled as your day does not look so promising, confused, then suddenly the doubts get resolved, your boyfriend suddenly turns up and you eat food and talk together. The central card is the focus card around which the interpretation revolves.
Another example, “How is this new guy I met today for me?”, and you get “fox, tower, clover, man, mountain”, so one interpretation can be, “career/business” “office building” “small luck/gamble” “the young man in the question himself” “obstacle”. So you may think he would be a little bit lucky for your business establishment but in the end he will be a obstacle.
So you see for your first deck the Lenormand is perfect. Practical questions with practical answers. Right now you are on baby steps, trying to work around with cards. But Lenormand is definitely not a baby system, there are other spreads and ways to work with it, it is quite powerful and sometimes its answers will amaze you. As you learn the to interpret and learn to put meanings together you can use this system to its full potential.
Even later when you wish to experiment with self discovery, you should really try out Tarot, i.e. Thoth, Raider-Waite or Marseillus decks.
I do consider cartomancy as one of the easiest and safest means to start accessing you subconscious. The answers do not come by “magic” but from your internal higher self, the cards are the tools, the medium, the “magic” is you, your own self.
So as a to-do.
Ask the cards this one question everyday, “How is my day going to be”. Note the combinations in your diary and tally at the end of the day, how accurate they were and how good was your interpretation. Do this for 21 days at least before trying out the other spreads and stuff.
And all the best for your first step into divination.
Point no 14 and 23 is same; 7 of clubs.
Please correct.
Also I request to go through all cards mentioned again.
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Hi there
there was a typo, have corrected it,
9 of clubs is Fox
7 of clubs is Mice
rest of the cards are correct
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