Post your rogue Lenormand interps here!

LOL, I was reading for my daughter last night, she always asks about boys (she's fourteen). We did spreads on them one by one, and for the third spread, the Gentleman came up, looking at the Tree.

"Does he have some special concern about his family?" I asked her. She said she really doubted that. "How about health?" No. We ran through the conventional meanings and none of them seemed to fit.

Then I remembered a neighbor sitting outside over the holidays calling out "Burn some WOOD!" (Turns out "wood" is local slang for pot.) I mimiced the neighbor: "Burn some WOOD!" and she busted out laughing. Turns out that's exactly what this boy is into. I gave the usual parental warnings about the current social climate, etc. etc. and reflected yet again on how List-O-Meanings glorp can get in the way of what the cards are trying to say.

What were some of your more avante garde interps?

That is so funny Stella! I'll have to remember that alternative meaning! lol

I think Lenormand interpretation works the same as dream interpretation:
free associate, free associate, free associate.

A lot of readings don't make sense until you go outside the box, and then you see it's all there.

Hehehehe...once my grandma was reading for me. My father & his wife had just had that big fight because of something i said and shouldn't have and i was feeling pretty bad. And guess what card showed up first? The SNAKE! I'd laugh if i weren't so sad, because it was so perfect to represent my dad's wife in that situation...shame there is no 'ostrich' card, i'd be even more perfect
After the snake, she drew the 'cloouds' card. I thought it was because the situation sucked, by my grandma said instead: 'The woman is thinkin'...she's thinkin' of ya'. I learn some different ways to see the cards with her...

My grandma never had access to any Lenormand books or traditional meanings, so i think most of what she sees comes from personal experience/observation and intuition...

My, i do miss studying Lenormand...last night i was playing with my deck and i felt completely rusty =/

Miss yuko, there´s a ongoing thread on the Lenormand. It´s in fact a workshop given by Sylvie Steinbach. if you don´t have the book to follow the cases, reading will also give you some insights.

"My, i do miss studying Lenormand...last night i was playing with my deck and i felt completely rusty =/"

Do you have Sylvie's book, miss_yuko? If so, come dust off the cobwebs and get a new twist on it her case studies are great practice.

I have always been a tarot person, but am thoroughly amazed with what I'm learning on the LeNormand. I haven't felt such excitement over cards in a long while.
I'm starting out without, any other training with the cards, so am fully immersed in Sylvie's way of reading them. (Kinda think that's helpful.)

Whereas with playing cards, I was taught by a woman, who learned from her grandmother, and am now trying to expand on my knowledge, and keep bumping up against differences.

I can't get over the nuances you can get with LeNormand,--
I'd definitely recommend Sylvie's book on the subject, it's well done.

miss_yuko said:

Hehehehe...once my grandma was reading for me. My father & his wife had just had that big fight because of something i said and shouldn't have and i was feeling pretty bad. And guess what card showed up first? The SNAKE! I'd laugh if i weren't so sad, because it was so perfect to represent my dad's wife in that situation...shame there is no 'ostrich' card, i'd be even more perfect
After the snake, she drew the 'cloouds' card. I thought it was because the situation sucked, by my grandma said instead: 'The woman is thinkin'...she's thinkin' of ya'. I learn some different ways to see the cards with her...

My grandma never had access to any Lenormand books or traditional meanings, so i think most of what she sees comes from personal experience/observation and intuition...

Click to expand...

That's the best way to work with these! No book can capture that. Books are static, frozen...Lenormand is a small deck with simple pictures, so it requires more flexibility than you can get into a book, I think.

Remember the deck was created in the 19th century. I think there must have been more "life of the mind" then, at least in some ways, since people weren't used to being entertained all the time. A snowy evening indoors with no phone ringing, no TV, no Lenormand books but a LWB that was just as bad the LWB's we have today, (I know, I have one, lol) just a family sitting around working out what a spread might mean, passing the time that way.

TV and everything has gotten us away from that, but in a way the 'net has brought us full circle. We're talking cards again.

My, i do miss studying Lenormand...last night i was playing with my deck and i felt completely rusty =/

Click to expand...

(winks mysteriously)
PS Great story, lol.
As far as Sylvie's book, I've done fine without it and see no reason to spend the $20 now, after all these years.

I mean, I used to be one of those people: "Why can't I find anything in English? Arg! I wish I had translations" etc. etc. Until I started hanging around where people were posting translations from books in Dutch, and they just aren't all that. We all started questioning stuff. We'd gone further by ourselves, the books were actually getting in the way.

I read nonstop, all kinds of stuff. Just not books on card reading, except Jodorowsky's Tarot book. It's the exception that proves the rule, and it's in spanish, so I can muddle through it.

stella01904 said:

I mean, I used to be one of those people: "Why can't I find anything in English? Arg! I wish I had translations" etc. etc. Until I started hanging around where people were posting translations from books in Dutch, and they just aren't all that. We all started questioning stuff. We'd gone further by ourselves, the books were actually getting in the way.

I read nonstop, all kinds of stuff. Just not books on card reading, except Jodorowsky's Tarot book. It's the exception that proves the rule, and it's in spanish, so I can muddle through it.

Click to expand...

I do know what you mean Stella. I have an extensive book collection on Tarot that goes back to the early 80's..but I rarely crack any of them now-
I've developed many associations with the cards that come from intuition and practice- but as for Sylvie's book and thread, it's been incredibly helpful in learning a new system. I'm learning alot from her experiences and getting nuances about combinations that would have taken years- I'm new to them, and enthusiatic .. a good teacher goes a long way! lol