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.