philosophy

What Draws You to the Cards?

April 21, 2014 By Joanne

Donnaleigh de LaRose (Tarot and Lenormand educator extraordinaire and owner of cool birds and cute dog) asked a really cool question on Facebook the other day. “What draws you to the cards?” she asked.

For me, two things: The stories, the myths they reflect of the human desire to understand the intangible; the power they give me to channel the energies of what I know through my brain so my insights can be interpreted and expressed.

Story and Myth

The cards (whether pictorial or just playing cards) all have traditions attached to them that reflect universal human questions and conditions that have been explored in mythological stories and more recently using the scientific method and perspective. We learn from both. As Neil deGrasse Tyson says in his new version of the show Cosmos (you can find it on Hulu), no matter how we approach the universe, it’ll always be with a combination of rational observation and wondrous imagination.

Finding the Energies

And then there are the energies. The web of the universe’s energy and matter is also available to us to feel into what’s going in with the collective consciousness that I think pervades the entire universe. God, if you want to call it that. It’s physical, and the scientists will get a handle on how this works as time goes on (the quantum physics area is providing some current mysteries that may eventually shed light on what I can feel but not measure yet). Some folks interpret the voices they hear or the visions they see; I feel waves of emotional energy from others and the universe at large. I use the cards as a symbolic language to translate that. My Tarot readings seem to be getting some very synchronistic results for my querents as a result, so I can tell I’m getting better at the translation. It’s a very cool thing!

I need to create a spread for the current edition of the British Tarot association’s (TABI’s) newsletter, so let’s play one off of Donnaleigh’s question.

Physical/Metaphysical Spread

Use for a question where you want to know where to look for the answer to something, like a new idea, relationship, career move, etc.

Three cards, like this:

1) In the physical, what should I look for to shed light on this question?

2) In the metaphysical (inside me), what should I look for to shed light on this question?

3) Integration: What insight can I use to integrate these two perspectives and set my direction?

I took out my trusty Universal Waite deck and went after this one with a question about how to express the “I give good space for you to be your own star” service that I’ve been providing on an informal basis to friends and family for the last fifteen years.

So, in the physical, I see that I need to take some risks and then my results will be tangible (as this guy’s ships come in). I’ve planted the seeds and practiced; it’s time to make this my business, one way or another. Turning inward, I’m meant to take a very practical but nurturing approach, starting close to home, but looking for a fair energy trade (usually money) for this service that I provide. I need to share in a practical way, but close to home first. To integrate these aspects, I need to use the clear and rational perspective of the Queen of Swords. Keep it straightforward and again share and work with others to build an intellectual structure for this service.

So, let me know how this spread works for you, and what draws you to the cards. 🙂

30-Day Lenormand Challenge—Q 20

September 4, 2013 By Joanne

Welcome to our walk in the Lenormand Park!

Depepi’s question for number 20: How do you feel when reading the Lenormand? Is it a different feeling compared with you reading the Tarot?

Yep, definitely. It’s going to take awhile, that’s for sure. Some readings come together nicely into phrases describing potential activities to be aware of, and sometimes, it’s hard to parse them because of the linguistic nature of the interpretive tradition. So, I stay in a very intellectual mode with this system compared to the often intuitive/visual thing going on with Tarot.

For example, this morning for my daily “what should I be aware of?” three card draw, I got the Tree, the Lady, and the Dog. The Tree in the “noun” position is what’s throwing me off right now. Am I going to have “friendly” health today? Oh, or maybe this: I need to be loyal to my fitness and healthy eating practices today to avoid problems. Ah-ha! See, it’s all about taking the series of standard meanings and weaving them together into a sentence or phrase advice or description of a situation.

Let me know what tricks you use to zero in on a phrase that makes sense to you.

30-Day Lenormand Challenge—Q 18

August 13, 2013 By Joanne

A welcome bark and dog dance from the Dog card (loyal, friendly, dog, friend)!

And Depepi’s 18th question is interesting: Do you think the cards have a life of their own? How do you connect with them?

Ultimately they are bits of paper, but the energies surrounding and running through cards, people, the Earth, the Universe are what make them “work.” I connect with Tarot cards in a more visual/emotional way than I do with Lenormand. It is always so much more about language and manipulating the symbolism and meanings than about “feeling the energy” of the cards or situation.

But I do “center” and put aside thoughts while shuffling, except for the question I have in mind, or if it’s a daily draw, the sense of receptiveness to what I need to be prepared for over the day’s time. I think that the combination of card shuffling and the interconnecting energies of my consciousness in the question and the collective consciousness all around are focused to give me a message (this morning it was about a positive change (Storks) in my financial circumstances (Fish) because of a contract (Ring)). So, I got a nice check from a new client later in the day. Awesome!

I do like some Lenormand decks better than others, but not necessarily for the same reasons as I do with Tarot decks. It’s much more practical. I do favor Ciro Marchetti’s artwork in Tarot, and I like his Lenormand deck, but primarily for the fact that the central symbol is easily visible, even if it’s not super traditional. And there are compromises for every Lenormand deck. In Ciro’s it’s the Road because he chose to use a split staircase, so I have to think about it for a few seconds. In my White Owl it’s the Moon, because the artwork for the Moon and Star are so similar. My ideal deck would have pleasing artwork where each symbol was quite clearly visible immediately. Actually, some folks’ homemade decks using photographs are more clear than either the old or new drawn and painted ones. 🙂

Let me know how your relate to your Lenormand deck(s) and what your criteria are for that relationship.

30-Day Lenormand Challenge–Q 14

July 2, 2013 By Joanne

Depepi’s next question has contributed a lot to the debate over how to use this oracle: How much emphasis do you put to the text-book meanings/ explanations/ combinations? How much emphasis do you put to your own intuition?

Tricky question, kind of like the Fox himself (see card at left).

I take a traditional view of the Lenormand. The illustrations are fairly simple, like having a word in front of you for each card instead of a spectrum of words to choose from. The meaning is in combining the cards. In the Tarot, you have a whole spectrum of symbols, particularly in the Major Arcana, but also in the Minors since the early 20th century. This wealth of imagery, I think, lends itself more to an intuitive approach, allowing one’s impressions of the mood of the artwork to affect the interpretation. For example, I think I’d interpret the Mary-El deck’s Strength card differently from the RWS deck’s card, just because of the art and the intent of the illustrator and author.

I like the linguistic emphasis and the practical nature of the Lenormand oracle. I don’t want it to be just a simplified Tarot. As a matter of fact, like most languages, it’s rather complex, but only when you start putting the pieces (words or card meanings) together. I look for practical advice from the Lenormand in the form of a sentence or descriptive phrase about some aspect of the day (3-card draw) or month (3X3) or my life as a whole (GT). The number of cards used dictates the scope in time and space of the reading.

I will only employ my intuition, if one can call it that in this case, when the standard meanings could be multiple; it helps me draw a conclusion within the traditional meaning combinations. If I’m given a specific enough question, I don’t have to use intuition at all, really. So a lot depends on the nature of the question.

This is one of the most interesting questions in the debate over how to read the Lenormand here in the 21st century, so I’m definitely interested in how you approach it. Let me know in the comments, if you are so inclined. 🙂

Wildwood Tarot, Revisited

April 23, 2013 By Joanne

Mark Ryan, John Mathews and Will Worthington’s WildwoodTarot: I got it, I got confused, and, well, annoyed. Read on, though. There’s redemption in the end. 🙂

Here’s the “rant”: I didn’t like the authors’ “agenda” particularly, even though I agree with a lot of it for us moderns. Well, from the prefaces, looks like its primarily Ryan’s ecological agenda that permeates the book for this deck. I felt like they weren’t being true to the period in which the images seemed to be set. People were into survival back then; they did have more respect for the land than we “civilized” folk, but a lot of that was out of necessity. We can learn a lot from their focus on being in rhythm with seasons and nature’s movements, but they weren’t being that way because they “cared” about the Earth Mother as such. What they seemed to know was that being in tune with the Earth meant survival for humans. We in the modern age have lost sight of that, and although the Earth Mother can survive without us, we cannot survive without her support.

So, this modern environmentalist sensibility seemed artificially imposed on the ancient time frame of the art.

Also, the animal court cards were extremely counter-intuitive at first. Court cards are a challenge anyway, but trying to mentally match the animals with “people” characteristics was difficult (other animal-themed decks notwithstanding).

So, I put the deck away after first reading the book and trying to use it. But I started to keep track of Louise Underhill’s

Priestess Tarot blog (highly recommended) where she does daily card interpretations from the Wildwood, and I liked her takes on it.

Then, several months later, I felt called to pull it out for a reading for my hubby, who is a very back-to-nature-basics kind of guy. He would have been right at home in the Wildwood’s world. I left the book alone, this time, though, and went directly to Worthington’s rich imagery coupled with my own background in ancient European mythologies.

Now I can read the Wildwood! 🙂 I think I did need to read the book first, and then learn what I’ve learned about other decks and systems, then go back to the Wildwood and concentrate on mostly RWS-style meanings, but focusing on just what the imagery is saying about the Earth’s connection with humans in simpler times. I just love having my own special relationship with Ryan and Mathews’ world and Worthington’s art. Thanks, guys!

30-Day Lenormand Challenge—Q 6

March 7, 2013 By Joanne

Pepi Valderrama‘s next question prompt:

What do you like the most reading (or with which do you feel better reading): the Tarot, or the Lenormand?

I feel much more confident with the Tarot, of course, because I’m more familiar with that system, and it allows more visual/intuitive interpretation of individual cards, rather than a series of set meanings not always directly related to the simpler imagery in Lenormand. Lenormand is just one step beyond reading from playing cards, really. The main symbol does provide a trigger for at least one of the traditional meanings, but it’s just so much more linguistically oriented that one can only take the Tarot traditions into it just a little ways. Read too much into Lenormand imagery and one goes off on tangents, and then card combinations get very confusing.

Tarot speaks to psychology and spirit and energy, which I’m already familiar with, so that system works more smoothly for me there.

I am looking forward to learning the Lenormand, though, because just from what I can see already, it’s a great straight fortune-telling tool, very grounded to the present environment and concrete questions. it’s also helping me stay more grounded with Tarot to be able to do solid readings on a variety of questions.

Marseille Dictionary

February 12, 2013 By Joanne

And herewith, my dictionary for the Marseille deck. I’ll also post this under the Dictionaries section of the site for future reference. My sources for these keywords and phrases come from And Boroveshengra’s Tarot theory and the companion book to the Universal Tarot of Marseille by Lee Burstyn.

Please keep in mind when perusing this list that in accordance with my own instincts and Andy’s connection of the Tarot suits with the medieval humours (sanguine = staves/air, choleric = swords/fire, phlegmatic = cups/water, and melancholic = coins/earth), I have moved the air element to staves (wands), and the fire element to swords. You’ll see the focus of characteristics in the keywords, which may not match what you’re used to with Golden Dawn style decks.

Trumps/Major Arcana

0 Fool

ambiguity, stirring up trouble, unpredictability, fun, folly

1 Magician

cleverness, trickster, confidence, self-promotion, personal responsibility, an opportunity, unconventional

2 Popess

uncertainties, hidden knowledge, common sense, deception, not as it seems

3 Empress

home and homeland, family, pregnancy, wealth, health, motherhood

4 Emperor

power, responsibility, hard work, promotion, planning, foundations, fatherhood

5 Pope

faith and beliefs, vocation, traditional values, patience, marriage, giving charity and receiving, conscience

6 Lovers

sex, love, heart, friendship, honor, warmth, art, poetry

7 Chariot

success, accolades, promotion, travel and good luck

8 Justice

fairness, just in body and mind, writs and orders, judgments

9 Hermit

contemplation, solitude, past lives, mentoring, father time, peaceful heart

10 Wheel

luck, circle of change, turning point, destiny shift, movement

11 Fortitude

fortitude, resilience, character, recovery, healing, charity

12 Hanged Man

mistakes, consequence, prison, guilt, reputation, defamation, fallow times, gossip, “no”/wait

13 Death

losses, serious illness, death, heartache, decomposition, withering of resources, prey and predator

14 Temperance

moderation, team work, mentoring, abstract ideas, peace, social intervention, consultations

15 Devil

hell, unfair situations, greed, debt, soul destroying love, grief, personal monsters and demons, temptations

16 Tower

suffering, anguish, sorrow, warnings, shock, being cruel to be kind

17 Star

faith, guidance, hope and guiding light, astrology

18 Moon

night, darkness (figurative and literal), change and transition, frustration, lies/secrets, watching and waiting

19 Sun

greatness, enlightenment, vitality, children, invigoration, young love, action!

20 Judgement

rebirth, forgiveness, second chances, transformation, reconciliataion, starting over, answering a call

21 World/Universe

accomplishment, emigration, vacation, spiritual triumph, sense of calm wisdom

Pips/Minor Arcana

Staves

Ace of Staves

lust and virility/new lover, a party, new idea, meeting a new friend

2 of Staves

consummation, friendly banter and gossip, social plans, new buddy, trying out new group

3 of Staves

formal date and romantic night, waiting for party to start, initiation into group, vacation plans, entertaining

4 of Staves

going steady v. sexual boredom, dull crowd, social conventions

5 of Staves

impotence, rape, adultery, social loss/fallout with friends, isolation

6 of Staves

orgasm and sex, out on a bender, party time, all night long, social fall from grace

7 of Staves

friendly fire, fetish and fantasy, risks for pleasure, visibility, life of party

8 of Staves

dissolution of social network, speed dating or blind date, lost spark in passion, communication snafus

9 of Staves

shine on!, celebration, enlightenment, great insight, inspiration manifested

10 of Staves

cancelled fun, end of party, social plans fall through, hangover

Swords

Ace of Swords

graduation or new job, professional recognition, edict or answer; new project

2 of Swords

professional impasse, rivalry, being passed over or held back by higher authority, negotiations, waiting

3 of Swords

job application, pitching an idea successfully or not, promotion to senior role or job loss, fruits of your labors career-wise

4 of Swords

job for life, entrenched views, plans and order, state-views/politics

5 of Swords

business failing/take over, professional loss, suicide, terrorism, crises of faith/breakdown

6 of Swords

internship in a business, interviews or disciplinary warning, trial promotion, sticking with it

7 of Swords

pitching your idea, professional rebellion, sweatshop, work improvement scheme

8 of Swords

competition at work, choosing to re-train for job security, efficiency moves

9 of Swords

promotion, career recognition/award, increased understanding, bravo!

10 of Swords

career or job change or ending, workaholism, disappointment with career

Cups

Ace of Cups

pregnancy and birth, decorating, love token, important new purchase, new relationship

2 of Cups

engagement, buying something together or splitting a home and assets, assessing new relationship

3 of Cups

home plans finalized, pregnancy confirmed, house warming, heartache

4 of Cups

ordered home, housework, familial conservatism, moral high ground, solid relationship

5 of Cups

homelessness, bereavement, miscarriage, break-in, relationship challenge

6 of Cups

coming home, reconciliation with family, will and testament, smooth home life

7 of Cups

dream home, a family business or win, trying for a baby, realization of hope

8 of Cups

house clearance, home renovation, family split, finding family, deciding on relationship

9 of Cups

awesome, deep relationship, satisfying friendships, public event, community recognition

10 of Cups

disillusionment with relationship, break-up, moving on, too much togetherness

Coins

Ace of Coins

healthy body and stamina, a lump sum or pay-out, new home, land, business opportunity

2 of Coins

new investment, credit, settlements, new treatment plan, health risk or gamble, assessing pros and cons

3 of Coins

medical test results, weight loss or gain, maturation, product design, buying a joint home, planning

4 of Coins

recovery period, healthy mind—healthy body, financial austerity, working your way up

5 of Coins

serious sickness, operations, legal/medical challenge lost, financial loss

6 of Coins

solvency, savings, recovery/remission, titrated medication, moving along at a moderate pace financially or healthwise

7 of Coins

successful investment, payback, financial or health discoveries

8 of Coins

edge of change in health or wealth, uncertain income, efficient wealth management

9 of Coins

recognition for work, business savvy, excellent health, secure home

10 of Coins

ending of old business or start of new one, new health routine, change of luck in home, health, or money matters

Courts

Traditionally, court cards in fortune-telling indicate the querent or other real people in their life, so the focus here is on personality characteristics, although Knaves may also indicate triggers or messages, and Knights a sense of movement in a way that matches the personality traits of the card.

Staves

Knave of Staves

chatty, friendly, loving being with people, attractive, ADHD, growth, trigger or message about social life

Knight of Staves

gregarious, shallow, affable, spoiled, lacking focus, loving crowds, parties, handsome, helpful, on the move

Queen of Staves

vivacious, chatty, charismatic, lacking focus, life of the party, beautiful, magnetic, helpful

King of Staves

gregarious, affable, changes direction, but with more control than Knight or Knave, noncommittal, lady’s man, helpful

Cups

Knave of Cups

moody, shy, hesitant, lost in emotions, helpful but not practical, hugs, growth, trigger or message about love

Knight of Cups

romantic, moody, shy, sympathetic but more impulsive than King, more focused than Knave, quiet intelligence, unreliable

Queen of Cups

empathetic, encouraging, hesitant, retiring, moody or unreliable, impractical, good listener, focus on relationship

King of Cups

introverted, more reliable than Knight or Knave, quiet, detached but sympathetic, moody

Swords

Knave of Swords

beginning adventurer, bully, wide-eyed idealist, growth, trigger or message about career goals

Knight of Swords

big risk-taker, fanatically focused but not on details, probably drives a fast car, loner, swift movement toward a goal

Queen of Swords

lover of adventure and just itching to take you along, inspirational, cause leader, can get fanatical, persuasive

King of Swords

controlled man of action, zealous, risk-taking, but with some forethought, cause leader, forceful, focus on big picture

Coins

Knave of Coins

plodding, newly established business person, apprentice, security conscious, a little warmer in relationship than his suit family members, trigger or message about security and health

Knight of Coins

prudent, shrewd, farmer, security conscious, movement in accumulating wealth, a bit glum, focused specialist in his field, cold in relationship

Queen of Coins

wealthy, proprietess, willing to talk about money issues, cautious, shrewd, but cold

King of Coins

controller of wealth, wealthy person, scientist, narrowly focused businessman, moderate in habits, cold in relationship

30-Day Lenormand Challenge–Question 1

January 27, 2013 By Joanne

Pepi Valderrama has taken a wonderful idea from Rhee, a Tarot reader over on Tumblr, to ask questions about each person’s journey with their oracle over a 30-day period. I’ve been working the Tarot questions over on my Cosmic Whispers Tarot blog and will delve into Pepi’s Lenormand questions here.

The first question: How did you end up into the world of the Lenormand?

It’s all Facebook’s fault, really. I had already started my Tarot journey by connecting with readers on Twitter and Facebook when the English-speaking interest in the Lenormand fortune-telling cards began to really grow (they’ve been popular on the Continent of Europe for over 150 years, I think). I joined a great Facebook group on the subject and have been fascinated ever since.

it’s a very different kind of system in a lot of ways, than Tarot, as you can see if you plumb my short archive here or check out any of my recommended Lenormand blogs in the sidebar. I am determined to get in the flow of this linguistic divination system, but I can see that it will take some time…