Different decks, different interpretations?

UniversesCollide

I keep to the same interpetations from deck to deck with one occasional exception: which direction certain images are facing can influence my reading.

I think it's fine if a reader uses Lenormand cards in a different way, I just don't think they are practicing the Lenormand system when they are doing it any more than I am playing poker if I am using a regular poker deck to do a reading.
 

Genna

The Mystical Lenormand was made by a German artist and writer, and in the German tradition, the Snake is not completely evil. So sometimes variations in the deck are rooted in the different "schools" - which are not SO very different after all, the interpretations are not completely different but just put the emphasis on a different aspect.

(If the book or website you read mentions sexuality with the Lilies and Anchor as main work card, it probably follows or is influenced by the German tradition.)

Once you have the core meanings clear in your head, you can interpret with any deck, and the small variations of the different "schools" reflected in some decks need not disturb you.

I didn´t read this before. Thank you for explaining about Mystical Lenormand. It is true that "The Mystical Lenormand" book by Regula Elizabeth Fiechter not only has more positive things to say about The Snake than other decks (although she mentiones the very bad as well), but she mentiones sexuality when talking about the Lilies, (although they also stand for purity and virtue), and The Anchor is for work. So I see I´ve been reading by the German tradition.
 

Barleywine

I use the same meanings across all decks, but generally within the "school" I first encountered, as Nemia notes. Even where the creator has ad-libbed a bit (or a lot) in the images, I stay with the tradition as I learned it. I save my revisionism for the tarot.
 

Genna

Yes, I see that that must be the correct way to do it. But, getting hints from different authors about different meanings, I´m glad to find out what set of interpretations is German or French school.
It seems to me now that I tend to use both the German and the French interpretations. I have to study more about the differences between the schools, choose one, and stick with it.
Thank you for your good advice.
 

Barleywine

I'm not 100% sure, but I think most of what I latched onto was in the French tradition. Unfortunately, I don't read French or German fluently, so I can't go right to the source material. It would be nice to have a few competent translations.
 

onesun

Yes, I see that that must be the correct way to do it. But, getting hints from different authors about different meanings, I´m glad to find out what set of interpretations is German or French school.
It seems to me now that I tend to use both the German and the French interpretations. I have to study more about the differences between the schools, choose one, and stick with it.
Thank you for your good advice.

Must one really stick with one tradition? I'm very new so coming from non-argumentative place, just trying to figure it all out. But I guess that's what makes it a tradition eh?, 'going deeper' into one as opposed to 'wider' with many..
 

Barleywine

Must one really stick with one tradition? I'm very new so coming from non-argumentative place, just trying to figure it all out. But I guess that's what makes it a tradition eh?, 'going deeper' into one as opposed to 'wider' with many..

One "classic" example I can think of where you can run into trouble here is with the idea of a "work" card. One tradition considers it the Fox, another ascribes work to the Moon, and there is the idea that the Anchor is related to long-term career rather than simply "job." I made my peace with this by considering the Moon to be day-to-day work (stretching the idea of the Moon as showing "habitual behavior"), the Anchor to represent career and the Fox - at least for its cleverness in a work-related matter - as the skills and talents necessary to do the job. (But of course it could mean treachery in the work place as well.) They all come into play across traditions that way. I think there are other examples but they don't come to mind right now; when I read several books back-to-back, a few of them jumped out.

ETA: I thought I would add this quote from Rana George: "If you vacillate and mix meanings, you will disrupt your unconscious, compromise the clarity of your answer, and always have the doubt of which meaning applies, which will affect your confidence."
 

Tag_jorrit

Lenormand is unlike the Tarot. Read the symbols in the cards, not the art. You will be better off and your understanding and accuracy will improve if you decide from the outset, and then stick with, the tradition that makes most sense to you. When you start deviating from your path it will be like moving the mile markers and signs on the highway; you'll get lost.

Once you learn and grasp the language Lenormand, you will be able to understand and identify the nuances of each of the cards as it interacts with the other ones in the context of the questions you ask.
 

Barleywine

Lenormand is unlike the Tarot. Read the symbols in the cards, not the art. You will be better off and your understanding and accuracy will improve if you decide from the outset, and then stick with, the tradition that makes most sense to you. When you start deviating from your path it will be like moving the mile markers and signs on the highway; you'll get lost.

Once you learn and grasp the language Lenormand, you will be able to understand and identify the nuances of each of the cards as it interacts with the other ones in the context of the questions you ask.

Good advice. One example of tarot invading Lenormand is with the Moon card. Many people see it as emotions (including many modern writers), but I usually treat it as matters of honor and reputation first, work second. I don't use Lenormand much (or at all, really) for psychological factors. And I never try to transfer techniques like quints, clarifiers and shadow cards.
 

onesun

One "classic" example I can think of where you can run into trouble here is with the idea of a "work" card. One tradition considers it the Fox, another ascribes work to the Moon, and there is the idea that the Anchor is related to long-term career rather than simply "job." I made my peace with this by considering the Moon to be day-to-day work (stretching the idea of the Moon as showing "habitual behavior"), the Anchor to represent career and the Fox - at least for its cleverness in a work-related matter - as the skills and talents necessary to do the job. (But of course it could mean treachery in the work place as well.) They all come into play across traditions that way. I think there are other examples but they don't come to mind right now; when I read several books back-to-back, a few of them jumped out.

ETA: I thought I would add this quote from Rana George: "If you vacillate and mix meanings, you will disrupt your unconscious, compromise the clarity of your answer, and always have the doubt of which meaning applies, which will affect your confidence."

Ok so this all makes a lot of sense -but- how is it I would be able to tell which discipline or tradition I'm involved with when going thru all these books, documents and youtubes? Any telltale 'signs'?? any advice for what to look out for?? because as you say, I wouldn't want to inadvertently mix n match traditions.