Newbies to the Lenormand are at some point inundated with long lists of card combinations. These are lengthy but non-exhaustive lists of how each card might be read when paired with another. This is understandably daunting to the newcomer, who often thinks that these all have to be memorized in order to do a good Lenormand reading.
I have good news: these lists are meant to be samples of how cards work together, and don’t need to be memorized. They illustrate how their author thinks about the cards and how they might work for that author in a reading. It’s important not to fall into the trap of thinking that they are rules for card interactions. They are examples, no more.
So it’s important to go beyond these lists and develop your own way of determining how Lenormand cards interact.
If you find it challenging to pair the Lenormand cards, then — don’t! For example, Sylvie Steinbach’s method tends to follow the flow of cards in a spread and each individually. They might be thought of as blended rather than combined, much like other cartomancy systems. The readers fills in the blanks in-between cards, so to speak, to move from one card to the next.
This works because the “no-layout” system incorporates a timeline, which affects card interactions more than more traditional pairings might. This is implied in her book, and explicitly mentioned in the virtual workshops. I myself started out with the traditional methods and still have a tendency to combine cards, but it can complicate what is otherwise a straightforward reading with this method.
In summary, remember that Lenormand card combination lists are examples for teaching; nothing more and nothing less. There won’t ever be a list of perfect combinations, although you may come across great ideas that are a springboard for your own intuition and imagination. And feel free to disregard combinations entirely if they don’t make sense, perhaps your readings will be better without them.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
April 9, 2012 at 4:41 am
Le Fanu
Exactly. I always found those mathematical formulas a bit restricting. If you actually stop and think about what two cards might logically mean together you’ll reach your own conclusion that makes sense to you. Nice blog…
April 19, 2012 at 7:09 am
Jason
Yes, it’s the clichéd art and science. I started out trying to do “science” style readings but loosened up to do more “art” style readings. I always think a good foundation is useful when starting to read cards; then one should use that as a springboard to develop reading ability. I must stop, or I’m going to write a new post here — and it’s a topic I’m sure I’ve written about already! 🙂
Thank you for the compliment. I stopped by your blog, and like it as well.
January 18, 2015 at 9:59 am
fee
I love your blog! I found it after searching how reliable the combinations from sites and my books are, because sometimes they are so different from one another. This really helps, see it as inspiration, but use context and follow my own instincts and intuïtion.