hello Anie,
we use the Dondorf's Lenormand for our readings.
1. Your secret wish - Cross.
2. I heart it - Ship.
3. I dislike it - Tower.
4. restraint - Stork.
5. fulfillment - Book
The Cross is your wish. The cross is mainly a crossing, an intersection, the meeting point of two lines: the horizontal line of suspension, the earthly dimension and the perpendicular line of the upright standing. The encounter is in one point.
The Cross stands freely in the room, it keeps the balance on a small floor space. It is like a man with outstretched arms. It is stretched like man between top and bottom, right and left, between the head and feet, between bondage and freedom, mental and physical, conscious and unconscious.
The Cross is a symbol of tension-filled contrasts, as axis of abscissas a sign of time and space. It signifies the four seasons and the four solstice points and therefore it is a symbol of life's conversions.
The Ship is how you like your wish: from the Ship's perspective, the Cross is a point of orientation. The Southern Cross "(Crux) is a constellation located in the southern sky in a bright portion of the Milky Way" [wikipedia]. The Ship needs to keep its balance, or else it capsizes. Or it will be overturned by waves and wind. It needs to keep its balance against inward and outer factors. The Ship is a mobile cross: the mast is like a man with outstretched arms. The Ship unifies contrasts: wind and water, wood and water, firm and liquid. The Ship has a conscious navigator, the rhythm of the sea follows the moon (unconscious).
The Ship likes the Cross, it gives the right direction.
The Tower is how you dislike your wish: the Tower does not move. It is rock solid and watches the distance. It rises up in the sky, and from its top you may also see the stars. The Tower looks like it was taller than the summit cross. The Tower says: we have overcome the Cross. We have been converted. We have left behind the Cross. The Cross is on a lower level.
From the Tower's perspective, the wish is a step backwards. Wanting the wish would be a perpendicular regression.
There is a flag on the Tower, not a Cross. It is not a church tower. The Tower consists only of the vertical axis, while the Ship moves along the horizontal line of the sea, which does not have heights. Beneath the Ship's is depth, over the Tower is the sky.
The Ship sails across the ocean, which is a symbol of emotion. The Tower is placed on a mountain, it is a symbol of thought. The Tower is fully ignorant of the ocean and emotion. The wish deals with emotions which the Tower neglects. Too much feeling, too little thought.
The Ship is a nutshell, cast to the wind and the water. An odyssey.
The Stork is the restraint. Outside factors you cannot control. It is placed in shallow water. One foot in the water, one foot in the air. They cross in one point. The Stork unifies the contrasts: ratio and emotion, water and air. It gets its sustenance from the water. But it may fly away any time, pulling out from the water, rising up into the air again. When the summer comes to a close, the Stork flies to the south. The Stork carries its cross inside, it knows its way.
It does not need the orientation from the Cross. The Stork lives in the rhythm of the sun, which gives orientation. The STork is its own zero point on the scale, it moves freely along the axis. It is its own golden mean.
The Stork says: we all have our own cross to bear. He is not willing to carry yours and he does not care about the cross you bear. This is all your responsibility.
The Book fulfills your wish. A closed book lies before us. We may open it and start to read, or we just finished it and we may put it back on the shelf. The Book offers two possible ways: you may keep it in your hands, or you may give it away. The german idiom 'in die eigene Hand nehmen / take matters in your hand' comes to mind. Which reads: to bear the cross. Dealing with the contradicting contrasts of life, the tension between heaven and earth, laughing and crying.
Your secret wish is to find your inner centre. The Cross works as a symbol of your inner centre. If you do not sustain the inner centre, you are not well-balanced. If you are not well-balanced, you'll falter and fall.
Your secret wish is to fill a neutral point.
The neutral point is the basis to reconcile the contradicting contrasts.
The Tower warns about outsourcing the neutral point.
The Ship sails along underneath the starry skies, which are external points.
Hope this resonates with you!