Being still new to Lenormand I'm still learning the basic meanings and trying out different combinations and trying to understand the Lenormand language, I'm doing two and three card layouts, I haven't tackled anything bigger as I feel I need to be able to understand each cards meanings properly first... So it's the meanings that I need to get right and feel comfortable with...
I have read most of Rana's book and at first I found it totally amazing, basically a wealth of information that I thought for me as a complete novice on Lenormand was just what I needed and I still think it's an excellent book, but by reading all of it I feel overloaded with so many different variations of each of the cards meanings, she does say to use basic keywords, but I find that she has so much info and variations for each card that I'm not sure which bits to use!
I'm not sure about using the fox as a work card, and I'm not sure if she is saying in her book that the Fish card is about money or whether the Bear card is to do with finances aswell, both aspects are mentioned as are other meanings for those two cards in her system..
For Lilies she says the main keyword is "Older" and she says it stands for maturity, then she says it also denotes happiness and protection.... So many possible meanings... It gets confusing for me personally... Perhaps I should just take from the book what feels right to me as most of the info is very good... There's just SO much of it!
I have Caitlin's enchanted Lenormand deck and to be honest I don't like it, I don't like the name changes or the way the images are portrayed in those orbs, I must admit I have not read the accompanying book.
I will do as you suggest and begin with the basic definitions first and build up from there...
There are so many Lenormand teachers and readers out there and it seems some of them do things differently, which is their right of course, but it just makes it harder for us beginners to chose who to follow when we are starting out!
I haven't seen your book.. Hmm, I think I ought to check that out..
Rana’s meanings are influenced by or reflective of a few popular authors and teachers (mostly Belgium and France) who published books in French in the latter half of the last century. She got her cards off a French man and Lebanon had strong ties with France.
Not all readers in either of those countries however take the Fox for work; I know several who don’t. The trouble with taking it as work is you have to then start to wonder is it “work” or is cunning and deceit? Most of the time the Fox just appears to say something is ‘wrong’.
So if you don’t feel comfortable with these, you do not need to use it – personally I use the Moon and Anchor, and also the Ship in certain cases, as these cards are associated with areas common to employment and enterprise.
Older is not specifically traditional with the Lilies but is popular, again in those books/takes that are similar to Rana’s, but for me most of the time it just happiness. In the original suits Spades are Lilies which are not associated with ‘older’ people.
Whilst I don’t say it’s a ‘sex’ card it can show that, as it’s your progeny and shows virtue, too. Like the House the Lilies has a meaning that is affected by being above or below the significator.
The Bear is a sign of good fortune, which is often monetary but can be other things (such good looks in some contexts), and when it’s with bad cards (such as the Clouds, Fox, Whips) it will also show envy and jealousy over these and the need to be careful.
So it’s more the benefits of wealth and/or status, comfort if you will, rather than cash flow, which is more the Fish which is the card closest to a modern “salary”. The Ship, Fish and Anchor all originally meant stuff to do with trade and wealth and are thus a trio ‘money’ cards showing opportunities to make money, income, financial security respectively.
You may find it easier to work off the Philippe Lenormand sheet and internalise that. Then you could go through Rana or Caitlín’s books and just focus on the methods. Caitlín’s name changes won’t be a problem when you know the traditional names
but a few traditional decks do have a broom on the Whips/Birch Rod card.
Check out a couple of on-line sources, along with Rana's book, and write down in your own notebook, only the main two or three nouns that you find for each card. Augment them with two adjectives. Use just these few concepts for each card for several months. Slowly add new words to your list *as they make sense to you.*
Good advice Mary.
This is kind of what gets me... So with negative cards around there's just no possibility of someone strong who will aid me in my misery?
This is where, to me, the ''rules'' are too stiff.
No, that’s not true. When you get bad cards around the Bear you need to be careful of whom you rely on, as often there is an unwillingness to help you from whomever the Bear signifies due to ill-feeling. That’s not stiff that is just the Bear’s meanings.
This can be mitigated by the Bouquet, Child, and Dog being near the significator and the House being with good cards. The rules are not stiff, they are actually quite fluid, and very much based on multiple testimonies but as with everything it has basic parameters which is what keeps it being what it is – Lenormand.
