Do you wonder what makes Lenormand different
from other decks you’ve worked with?

Hi there! I’m Layla, the Lenormand Reader,
and I want to tell you what makes Lenormand
different, and I mean really. I know you’re
picking up something special about it, so I
want to articulate it for you.

Not only will this make things clearer, but
it will actually open you up to new
interpretation techniques that you can carry
over to other practices, including the Tarot.

The first thing that makes Lenormand
different is that it is not esoteric - at all!
The symbols on Lenormand’s cards are
from everyday life: the Coffin, the Sun, the
Heart, the Key, etc. are all everyday things
that we can immediately connect with.

This means that we don’t need to first learn
a ‘language of the cards’ so that we can
then ‘speak’ it in our readings. This is
unlike the Tarot and many Oracle decks. With
the Tarot especially, we need to first get
an understanding of what all these symbols
are, starting with the basic meaning of the
four suits, then building up to the major
arcana, and eventually delving into the
esoteric symbols which can also depend on
the deck illustrator (e.g. Rider-Waite-Smith
vs. Golden Dawn vs. Thoth Tarot, etc.).

But it is not so with Lenormand. We know
that a key opens doors, that the sun is
bright, that a coffin represents an ending,
and so on. So we can make an immediate
connection with the cards. There are only a
few Lenormand cards that seem a bit ‘mute’
at first.

Another key feature of Lenormand’s deck is
that it is a small deck, only 36 cards, and
its cards are read upright, although some
authors have ventured into reading them in
reverse. This is very different from the
Tarot which has an abundant 78 cards that
can also be read in reverse. 

So what do everyday symbols and a small
number of cards do for diviners who need
depth of insight? How do we get a wide range
of meanings from Lenormand’s humble deck?

Combinations!

Reading cards in combinations is what opens
doors to a very wide range of meanings.
There are 630 card pairs and 7,140 triplets!
(Depending on the basis for combining.)

Obviously, it is not possible to memorize
the meaning of all these combinations. The
key with Lenormand is to understand the
essence of individual cards so we can make
sense of them in combinations, spontaneously,
and for the context of the question at hand.

I call this the interpretive imagination and
reading cards in combination is the 
cornerstone of the Lenormand practice.

Now, how do combinations affect how we
do layouts in Lenormand?

Great question! 

Lenormand layouts are precisely driven by
the fact that we read the cards in combinations.

You might have heard of or seen the huge
Grand Tableau spread. It is a big layout that
uses all 36 cards of the Lenormand deck.
They are arranged in a big rectangle and the
Tableau comes in a few different versions.

Tableau-style layouts are totally unique to
the Lenormnd practice. They involve laying
out the cards in a geometric configuration
so we can read all sorts of lines, including
rows, columns, and diagonals.

This way, we get plenty – and I mean lots! –
of insights from reading all these ‘sentences’.
It is a deeply engrossing and satisfying
experience to lose oneself in all these lines
to dig amazing insights out of the reading.

And it is precisely because we need to read
Lenormand’s cards in combinations and
sentences that we have them laid out in
geometric configurations.

So, do you see how the key features of
Lenormand’s cards drive the way we read
them?

The Lenormand way is very different from
other practices, and I find that this surprises
students when they join my programs. They
come to the courses expecting that Lenormand
is done the same way as with other decks, but
just with a different set of cards.

Not so. The Lenormand way is genuinely
different. And this combination business
has a way of enhancing our interpretive
imagination in deeply fulfilling ways.

I invite you to try and discover how you can
carry over Lenormand skills to other
divination methods.


About Layla:





Hi! I'm Layla, the Lenormand Reader, and
I have been reading Lenormand for over 20
years. When I set out to learn Lenormand,
I discovered that there wasn't a lot of
literature about it, and what I could find
wasn't always consistent. This caused me to
struggle but it also inspired me to create
Lenormand Reader, one of the only
comprehensive resources for learning and
mastering Lenormand. I encourage you to try
your hand at Lenormand and discover how it
can deepen your interpretive imagination in
the most interesting and creative ways.

Website:  lenormandreader.com

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