"Charged" Cards

Hi, I am only a month or so into my Lenormand adventure, but I have a question about significator/ "charged" cards. I realize that you can take the card that is the focus of your question out of the deck and then do your reading around it, but I was wondering if anyone does it differently?... Lately, what I have been doing is thinking of the charged card while shuffling and then I would cut and deal the first 5 cards. If my charged card wasn't in the five cards that I drew then I would go look through the deck and find my charged card and put in down along with the 2 cards before and and the 2 after it with the charged card in the middle. Then I would read my original 5 card spread along with my searched for charged card line up which I would put underneath the original spread. I also note how far I have to look into the deck before I get to my charged card..I feel it might have significance..for instance if I am asking about love and the Heart is near the bottom then I am assuming that a relationship may not be a top priority right now...

Anyway, I was just wondering how people generally use charged cards and if any of you use a different method then just picking it out of the deck first...

Also, if you do pick the charged card out of the deck say for a 5 card spread, do you put it as the middle card and then deal the first 2 cards, skip the around the charged card and then follow with 2 more cards? It sound like a dumb question, but I just want to make sure because I don't usually do it this way...

Lately I've been focusing on the charged card and dealing all the card in the deck. Wherever the charged card ends up I focus on and don't pay much attention to the entire spread anymore.

I don't like drawing the charge card out of the deck because it feels too contrived, as if it takes away the fatedness of the reading, but if it works for you and you get clearer answers that way there's no problem with it.

FerocityofaDoe said:

Hi, I am only a month or so into my Lenormand adventure, but I have a question about significator/ "charged" cards. I realize that you can take the card that is the focus of your question out of the deck and then do your reading around it, but I was wondering if anyone does it differently?...

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Considering that "charged" cards exist only in Steinbach, it's more appropriate to ask how many use "charged" cards since none of the readers not following Steinbach will use them. Nor any of the methods or spreads for Lenormand will use them except from her own (one) spread.

Therefore, I, as a person not following Steinbach and a person who learned long before she published her book, use mainly Grand Tableau and 7 cards linear or 9 cards square spread. I do not use "charged" cards and would never do that simply because it would change the setting of the spread and I'll actually affect it which i don't want to do. If there is a focal issue at hand, my cards will certainly put it in the middle of the spread anyway.

LovelyMissAries said:

Lately I've been focusing on the charged card and dealing all the card in the deck. Wherever the charged card ends up I focus on and don't pay much attention to the entire spread anymore.

I don't like drawing the charge card out of the deck because it feels too contrived, as if it takes away the fatedness of the reading, but if it works for you and you get clearer answers that way there's no problem with it.

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Thanks for replying... I forgot I posted this..but I like your method. I remember reading about using charged cards this way ( I believe it was in Sylvie Stienbach's book) , and I kind of adopted this method as well lately. I also agree with you on the whole taking away the fated quality by picking the charged card before hand, because when I read this way it felt a little off because when I dealt I drew two cards then skipped the charged card and then dealt two more cards, and I just couldn't get over the fact that if that charged card wasn't placed in the middle that the entire reading would be completely different.

Thanks for your input.

Ronia said:

Considering that "charged" cards exist only in Steinbach, it's more appropriate to ask how many use "charged" cards since none of the readers not following Steinbach will use them. Nor any of the methods or spreads for Lenormand will use them except from her own (one) spread.

Therefore, I, as a person not following Steinbach and a person who learned long before she published her book, use mainly Grand Tableau and 7 cards linear or 9 cards square spread. I do not use "charged" cards and would never do that simply because it would change the setting of the spread and I'll actually affect it which i don't want to do. If there is a focal issue at hand, my cards will certainly put it in the middle of the spread anyway.

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I actually didn't realize charged cards were strictly a Steinbach method, but I understand were your coming from in that the cards will make something perfectly clear if need be..they're good at that

If you call them "charged cards" then this comes from Sylvie. However, going through the deck until you find a personal or topic significator and reading the cards on either side is a long-time cartomantic method. It's the basis of card selection in the original Golden Dawn tarot spreads (called "Opening of the Key" c 1890) that was derived from cartomantic methods. As to when it was first used with Lenormand, I don't know.

I am fairly new at Lenormand, but I do find if I do a string, square of 9 or other spread, my foremost topic of concern card will always show up - I never need to go looking for it. I have rarely used a significator card, and when I did, I used the Woman to represent me. But it feels like the significator card is more of a tarot thing, to me.

I did read Sylvie's book but I do not use her methods, as they did not feel natural to me. I love the traditional methods, and they seem so reliable, so far! But that of course is a personal choice Whatever works for you as a reader. I think the cards will say what they need to say, regardless of method used, though I do believe some methods give more information than others.

Lotus Padma said:

I have rarely used a significator card, and when I did, I used the Woman to represent me. But it feels like the significator card is more of a tarot thing, to me.

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Tarot adopted the idea of a significator from cartomancy. The Gentleman and Lady cards have always stood for the querent (and his or her "significant other") in Lenormand as they are essential for orienting oneself when reading the traditional Grand Tableau layout. Shorter layouts are more modern and often based on segments of a Grand Tableau.