Cult of Tarot Forum

I have only one Lenormand deck and it came with a very tiny little Little White Book. It just gives a very basic description for each card.

The thing is, I wonder how much can really be said about each card?

And I 'm wondering, have any of you seen a Lenormand LWB that had an individual take on the card meanings?

Can that even be done whilst remaining true to the spirit of Lenormand?

What information could a Lenormand LWB provide that would enhance a deck?

I realise that's 4 questions. But I'm really wondering about this.

The Anna K Lenormand has a substantial booklet with what I think may be quite a personal take on the several of the individual card meanings.

My two Malpertuis Lenormand decks and my Gravenchase have no LWBs.

I am planning to stick to Andy Boroveshenga's book at least whilst I'm learning! I am stuggling a bit though as I'm too used to the Mary Greer and Rachel Pollock ways of tarot reading.

Lenormand seems to me (but hey I'm no authority) to be much more like older fashioned ways of reading Tarot. If you look at any of Stuart Kaplan instructions for Tarot, they are the same, very brief info about card meanings, numerological based meanings for pips etc, more fortune telling than psychological or spiritual. Developing individual interpretations for Lenormand cards would be a significant deviation from the accepted way of reading Lenormand I think.

I have no experience with Andy's book but I do have experience with Bjorn Meuris' courses that he expanded into book form . His step by step, straight forward method takes a diligent learner to competence in very little time. Just follow the exercises conscientiously.

His introduction to Lenormand is non-overwhelming and gradual. Along the way he offers some very memorable examples to help with understanding the method. By the middle of his basic course course (now the first book that also encompasses the Method of Distance) you will put away the ubiquitous combination meanings and rely on your own infused knowledge. There is also more that includes information about the suits and royalty of the playing card inserts. His books are absolutely worth every penny.

After his book(s) make you into a competent reader, Caitlin Matthews' Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook offers even broader horizons.

I found the intentional simplicity of Andy's book to be perfect for the rank beginner, which I was when I discovered it after numerous conversations with him on Aeclectic and hours mining the Lenormand blogs (including his). Caitlin's book was next in usefulness for me, with those of Rana George and Sylvie Steinbach a distant third and fourth, and the Goodwin & Katz entry not in the running. I will probably get Bjorn's material at some point, but the price gives me pause. Some people recommend only the second book for the more experienced reader, but I'm interested in how he uses the distance method.

Based on what people have said about Bjorn's books, I get the impression that he and Andy are no dissimilar. I do seem to recall Andy having spoken highly of Bjorn as a Lenormand reader. Is there any truth to the idea that Bjorn is preparing supplementary volumes dealing with things like health readings, etc. ?

Joan Marie wrote: ↑26 Jun 2018, 07:55 I have only one Lenormand deck and it came with a very tiny little Little White Book. It just gives a very basic description for each card.

The thing is, I wonder how much can really be said about each card?

And I 'm wondering, have any of you seen a Lenormand LWB that had an individual take on the card meanings?

Can that even be done whilst remaining true to the spirit of Lenormand?

What information could a Lenormand LWB provide that would enhance a deck?

I realise that's 4 questions. But I'm really wondering about this.

I wonder about the same thing. The BlueBird Lenormand has a little white book. The Alexandre Musruck does not. I’ve heard many times about the Philippe Lenormand sheet, a fictional descendant of Mlle. Lenormand but I’ve never seen it. Frankly, I would just like to be able to find a simple sheet with traditional Lenormand meanings. There is an ocean of info out there and very little of it is simple. Just one word (aside from the name of the card) would be fantastic...definitely no more than two...

BreathingSince72 wrote: ↑19 Aug 2018, 14:41

Joan Marie wrote: ↑26 Jun 2018, 07:55 I have only one Lenormand deck and it came with a very tiny little Little White Book. It just gives a very basic description for each card.

The thing is, I wonder how much can really be said about each card?

And I 'm wondering, have any of you seen a Lenormand LWB that had an individual take on the card meanings?

Can that even be done whilst remaining true to the spirit of Lenormand?

What information could a Lenormand LWB provide that would enhance a deck?

I realise that's 4 questions. But I'm really wondering about this.

I wonder about the same thing. The BlueBird Lenormand has a little white book. The Alexandre Musruck does not. I’ve heard many times about the Philippe Lenormand sheet, a fictional descendant of Mlle. Lenormand but I’ve never seen it. Frankly, I would just like to be able to find a simple sheet with traditional Lenormand meanings. There is an ocean of info out there and very little of it is simple. Just one word (aside from the name of the card) would be fantastic...definitely no more than two...

When I was putting together my Lenormand binder, quite a few sites had simple meanings, but going back to them I see that they've exploded with keywords. Jason's is still one of the simpler ones:

https://jaseoncards.wordpress.com/lenor ... -meanings/

ParsifalsWheel wrote: ↑19 Aug 2018, 15:20 .
When I was putting together my Lenormand binder, quite a few sites had simple meanings, but going back to them I see that they've exploded with keywords. Jason's is still one of the simpler ones:

https://jaseoncards.wordpress.com/lenor ... -meanings/

I did find this and actually copy pasted it to a pages doc for easy recal yesterday. I have read your blog and know that you had many, many years of experience in with Tarot prior to Lenormand becoming your passion. As a complete newbie, part of my concern is whether I am finding reliable Lenormand info. You have confirmed my sense that Jase is the real deal. Do you feel that his descriptions are true to tradition? Also, is the first word on each of his lists the best one? Finally, do you feel a newbie should pick a tradition, German or French, and just sitck with it? Thanks for your reply. I do appreciate your time and input to the topic.

Victoria

The Astounding Lenormand has a little bound book. Aside from keywords, each card has a full meaning that's a paragraph long, along with love and career meanings.

The Golden Lenormand Oracle has a bound book too, but for each card it only has nouns/subjects and descriptor keywords.

Haven't delved into the Lenormand system yet, but I'm glad that the Matthews book has gotten good reviews here since I have it.

I never used the lwb for my lenormand decks..
mostly because when I got my first lenormand I got the easy lenormand set so a more detailed book came with it..
when I started to read more,,i us this website for my refrences.
https://www.cafelenormand.com/lenormand-card-meanings/
at least til I got more books,, I tend to use range George books I noticed in the last 3 readings I did instead of cross referencing each book

BreathingSince72 wrote: ↑19 Aug 2018, 14:41 I’ve heard many times about the Philippe Lenormand sheet, a fictional descendant of Mlle. Lenormand but I’ve never seen it.

There was a downloadable one at the Game of Hope site, but the link appears to be broken. (Tag? Might want to give your daughter a heads up.)

Meanwhile, there's this https://marygreer.files.wordpress.com/2 ... ion-21.jpg

It may not appear useful the first time you see it. But all Lenormand meanings are rooted in these. When the tradition was developing, this was all that a lot of people had. So they progressed their meanings from the P.L. sheet.

katrinka wrote: ↑02 May 2019, 09:50 Meanwhile, there's this https://marygreer.files.wordpress.com/2 ... ion-21.jpg

What a cool document. I'm going to print that one out just to hold it my hands.

@katrinka, I like them simple. I would much rather have the straightforward and original single words to build my own practice than to use someone else’s stuff. One of the many things I love about Caitlin Matthews lenormand book is how she teaches the reader to develop their own practice.

BreathingSince72 wrote: ↑04 May 2019, 07:02 @katrinka, I like them simple. I would much rather have the straightforward and original single words to build my own practice than to use someone else’s stuff. One of the many things I love about Caitlin Matthews lenormand book is how she teaches the reader to develop their own practice.

The meanings can't be compressed into a single word for each card, though. Whips, for instance, could be strife, signatures, something that happens twice, dancing...Child might be a literal child, a younger mistress, something new, something small...each card is a bit of a catch-all. And you really can't learn the method without using "someone else's stuff".

"Developing your own practice" isn't about changing the core meanings. It's noting how the cards speak to you in combinations. I often get the old electricity combo Sun-Scythe for music events. Probably due to the amps, PA, etc. That's not something that comes up in combo lists (which are only examples and not something to be committed to memory!) or the cards one might expect. It's just the shorthand I get from the cards. Somebody else would get something different.