Cult of Tarot Forum

I will begin by saying that I have relatively scant experience reading with Lenormand. However that said, it seems like every time I read with it for myself, I get these really scary dark messages. Basically, everything will go wrong, I will be cheated and lied to and fail, etc.

Lenormand has several unambiguously "negative" cards. It seems almost as if the deck is prone to giving difficult messages.

I'm thinking this is the reason for the Grand tableau (which I have not yet tried). Is it that with Lenormand you need a REALLY BIG picture or something?

Also, could it be that I attribute too much negativity, seeing catastrophe where there is maybe just mild disappointment?

Can anyone comment on this? I need some perspective.

I can, but not at the moment. I shall return.

Ok, the thing about Lenormand is that the meanings "scale" in their grandeur. That is they don't mean quite the same thing in something small like a daily draw or a three card line as they would in a GT. You've actually got that bit backwards, because in the GT is where they take on their full negativity. In a small reading the threats and darknesses are likewise small and the cards will often be quite literal. The clouds may refer to the weather for instance.

To give you an example, in a GT scythe-bear-rider might represent a real problem for your finances. In a daily draw it might be about shaving your legs. coffin-mountain-paths might mean the sidewalk is blocked by someone's moving boxes.

I had a recent daily with fox-book-clouds. Pretty scary, right? All it meant was that the weather forecast was off.

Those smaller readings are, I think, also where you're more often going to get the cards coming up as people significators based on their playing card.

Charlie Brown wrote: ↑21 Feb 2019, 01:33 Ok, the thing about Lenormand is that the meanings "scale" in their grandeur. That is they don't mean quite the same thing in something small like a daily draw or a three card line as they would in a GT.

This eases my mind a bit. So, then it would seem that one important thing to remember is to always keep focused on the question (and the tone of the question) and not extrapolate a series of unpleasant events around the question. So for example if I ask, "how will my dinner party go?" and I draw Snake-Cloud- Scythe it could mean the roast will be tough, and not that the evening will end in murder.

I wonder if there isn't some kind of "Lenormand world view" that would help with understanding and reading these cards? What I mean is, (and this would definitely show it's German roots) there seems to be an understanding that life is not a bowl of cherries. Even when things aren't straight-up awful, there is always at least a constant series of obstacles and disappointments that we learn to navigate somehow and not let them get us down too much.

Happiness is not so much a goal for life as it is the result of how well we play the cards we've been dealt. How's that for being literal?

Joan Marie wrote: ↑21 Feb 2019, 08:57

Charlie Brown wrote: ↑21 Feb 2019, 01:33 Ok, the thing about Lenormand is that the meanings "scale" in their grandeur. That is they don't mean quite the same thing in something small like a daily draw or a three card line as they would in a GT.

This eases my mind a bit. So, then it would seem that one important thing to remember is to always keep focused on the question (and the tone of the question) and not extrapolate a series of unpleasant events around the question. So for example if I ask, "how will my dinner party go?" and I draw Snake-Cloud- Scythe it could mean the roast will be tough, and not that the evening will end in murder.

It's all about context with Lenormand. The deck will answer exactly what you asked it, so if you asked about the roast, the cards will tell you about the roast - not about a murder! And if you're just doing a daily, ramp the meanings down. Dailies usually talk about minor things, since most of our days tend to be pretty uneventful. It's not impossible for a small spread to talk about murder, it's just not a common occurrence.

I wonder if there isn't some kind of "Lenormand world view" that would help with understanding and reading these cards? What I mean is, (and this would definitely show it's German roots) there seems to be an understanding that life is not a bowl of cherries. Even when things aren't straight-up awful, there is always at least a constant series of obstacles and disappointments that we learn to navigate somehow and not let them get us down too much.

That's a good way of putting it.
Even the best of times come with little headaches. That's just life.
And the Lenormand will give you a heads-up, it can help you avoid certain problems.

Happiness is not so much a goal for life as it is the result of how well we play the cards we've been dealt. How's that for being literal?

There's a line from the movie Household Saints: "Man deals the cards, God stacks the deck." Call it God, or another deity, or blind chance - a lot of stuff is out of our hands. We just do the best we can.

Working through this book should help to clarify a lot of things: Lenormand Thirty Six Cards (2015 Edition): An Introduction to the Petit Lenormand