Common Sense Lenormand - Level III

Lee

"Common Sense Lenormand" is a system for reading the cards which I created because I felt the need for a system which was logical, understandable, and easily explained, without the necessity for the reader to guess at how cards in a line should be combined.

There are four threads in the series:

Level I - the basic 5-card spread
Level II - one way of expanding the spread to go deeper
Level III (this thread) - another way of expanding the spread to go deeper
Keywords - you can certainly use your own meanings but these are the keywords I developed for this method.

For Level III, we start with the basic 5-card spread. As before, I'll use an actual reading to illustrate the method.

A friend of mine is going to spend a year working in a foreign country. He wants to know how the year will go.

Step 1:

5 Tree..........6 Clouds...........29 Woman...........1 Rider............16 Star

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Cause:

For a while he's felt the desire to branch out (Tree) and trying something new, but was uncertain (Clouds) how to accomplish that.

Effect:

The initial idea, the planning, and the travel and living arrangements (Star) were brought to him (Rider) by...

Pivot:

... his boss (a woman), who suggested the year abroad to him, and he accepted.
 

Lee

Step 2:

We choose a card from the line of 5 that we want to explore further - either we're unsure what it may mean, or we simply want to find out more.

The card that we choose from the line will become card 2 of a new, vertical line.

Let's say we chose to learn more about the first card, the Tree. He's wanted to branch out - what more can we find out about that? So we draw four more cards. The Tree becomes card 2 in the vertical line. So we have:

24 Heart

5 Tree

21 Mountain

7 Snake

18 Dog

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Cause:

His desire to branch out (Tree) is caused by a need to connect to people. He wants to reach out to and help other people (Heart), but has felt...

Pivot:

...blocked (Mountain) by...

Effect:

...jealousy (Snake) of friends (Dog). It seems that his current circle of friends resists his desire to connect to new people in new ways because they feel their own relationships with him would be threatened. So the year abroad is a good thing because it would (a) provide him with new opportunities to interact with new peoples and cultures, and (b) provide some necessary distance from his current relationships.

(Note: I've usually been interpreting the line by looking first at the Case, then at the Effect, and finally at the Pivot, but in this case I looked at the Pivot and then the Effect, as it seemed to make more sense in this instance to do so. You should feel free to consider the sections in any order, including considering the Effect first, as you see fit, whichever makes the most sense for the developing story.)
 

Lee

Step 3:

For this step we repeat what we did in step 2, except that now we choose from our vertical line a new card to explore.

In this case, we want to know more about how the jealousy from his friends and family is manifesting itself, so we will form a new line (this time horizontal) with the Snake as card 2.

31 Sun............7 Snake...........14 Fox............36 Cross............32 Moon

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Cause:

His friends are so actively (Sun, energy) jealous (Snake)...

Pivot:

...that they want to mislead him (Fox) into...

Effect:

...thinking that he will be seen in a poor light (Cross+Moon)
if he crosses cultural barriers to befriend different kinds of people.

Here we have done our original line and two add-on lines. You can do as many or as few add-on lines as you like (limited, of course, by the number of the cards in the deck - I believe you can do 7 lines before you run out of cards).
 

Lee

Step 4:

When you have finished reading all the lines, for as many lines as you've decided to draw, there's one last step:

Any two cards from different lines which are parallel to or adjacent to each other have some meaningful connection.

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Clouds in the first line is connected to Fox in the third line. His doubt and confusion about how to act on his desires to branch out is clearly causally connected to his friends' cultural biases.

Woman in the first line is connected to Cross in the third line. In this case the connection is a negative one - his boss is an influence which counteracts the bad effects of his friends' selfish agenda.

Rider in the first line is connected to Moon in the third line. His boss's communication to him (Rider) of the offer to work abroad is a sign of her trust in him and respect for his abilities, and represents a reward for his past efforts at work and a potential for future promotion (Moon).

And there you have it -- the conclusion of Level III and of the entire method. Level I gives short and direct answers. Levels II and III provide alternative ways of adding cards and going deeper. Level II is good for exploring a 5-card spread further, while Level III is good for elucidating particular cards in the spread.

The nice thing about Level III is that you are in control - you get to decide how many new lines to draw. The connections of parallel or adjacent cards is interesting because it mirrors a quality that we can often observe in real life, where individual factors that are seemingly separate and distinct from each other turn out to be causally or meaningfully related.

*.............*............*

To all of you who have read through the entire system, I thank you! For those who try it out, I hope you find it useful, either because the system itself works for you, or even if it inspires you to experiment and create your own systems.

I believe that all cartomancy is creative, including:

How we interpret the cards in a reading
What meanings we choose
What reading methods we choose
What decks we choose
Creating our own decks

Each of these is a creative act. It's great to follow a system, but we should be careful that we don't follow it so faithfully that we forget to supply our own creativity -- or, put another way, our own sense of play.

Best wishes to all! :)
 

kalliope

Hi Lee!

Nice system you've worked out! I've been trying this out for the past day or two, and thought I'd post a Level-III reading I did about my upcoming vacation. (I used my new small sized Alte Deutsch deck from tag_jorrit/Lauren.)

My husband and I will be sharing a rented house with out-of-state friends on a beach island for a week. "How will our upcoming vacation go?"

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Initial line:
2/Clover - 30/Lilies - 11/Whip - 35/Anchor - 14/Fox

Cause: This is an opportunity (Clover) for peace and relaxation (Lilies),
Pivot: but there will be discord or disagreements (Whip)
Effect: due to misplaced (Fox) hopes (Anchor); or misrepresented (Fox) beachfront location (Anchor, taking a cue from Rana)
ETA: granted, my Pivot & Effect are a little switched around, but that's what made the most sense to me. I could read it alternatively as: due to disagreements(Whip) the hopes for peace will be misplaced (Anchor-Fox).

I wanted to know more about the Fox and what will be wrong with the house or if there was any deception in the listing:
Second Line:
22/Roads - 14/Fox - 12/Birds - 36/Cross - 4/House

Cause: A bad decision or choice (Roads-Fox)
Pivot: causes worries and stress, or perhaps phone calls to the landlords (Birds)
Effect: about the poor house we've rented (Cross-House); or burdens and unhappiness we'll suffer due to the house setting or location.

To find out more about the misfortunes of the location:
Third Line:
9/Bouquet - 36/Cross - 1/Rider - 21/Mountain - 31/Sun

Cause: The beauty of the house isn't what it should be (Bouquet-Cross); or the grief we have over this invitation to join our friends; or this unfortunate invitation
Pivot: brings (Rider)
Effect: obstacles to happiness; or there will be no good, sunny weather (Mountain-Sun)

Parallel cards for more info:

Anchor-Bouquet: This is all about our invitation to the beach, and the hopes we have for a beautiful location.

The place we've rented has gotten good reviews online, so I'd be surprised if there was any outright deception going on, but it looks like we'll be disappointed somehow with either the location on the island, the house itself, or maybe even the weather. Somehow our expectations might not be met. We'll see!
 

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DownUnderNZer

"Common Sense Lenormand" is a system for reading the cards which I created because I felt the need for a system which was logical, understandable, and easily explained, without the necessity for the reader to guess at how cards in a line should be combined.

There are four threads in the series:

Level I - the basic 5-card spread
Level II - one way of expanding the spread to go deeper
Level III (this thread) - another way of expanding the spread to go deeper
Keywords - you can certainly use your own meanings but these are the keywords I developed for this method.

For Level III, we start with the basic 5-card spread. As before, I'll use an actual reading to illustrate the method. I suggest you open each step's attached image and keep it on the screen while reading about that step.

A friend of mine is going to spend a year working in a foreign country. He wants to know how the year will go.

Step 1:

5 Tree..........6 Clouds...........29 Woman...........1 Rider............16 Star
(see attached image)

Cause:

For a while he's felt the desire to branch out (Tree) and trying something new, but was uncertain (Clouds) how to accomplish that.

Effect:

The initial idea, the planning, and the travel and living arrangements (Star) were brought to him (Rider) by...

Pivot:

... his boss (a woman), who suggested the year abroad to him, and he accepted.

The only real question I have is that you are asking a FUTURE tense question and the whole break down shows the PAST and Causal factor, but nothing to do with the FUTURE itself.

How, based on the cards above, will it go for the year? That is what I want to know. :)
 

Lee

Hi Lee!

Nice system you've worked out! I've been trying this out for the past day or two, and thought I'd post a Level-III reading I did about my upcoming vacation. (I used my new small sized Alte Deutsch deck from tag_jorrit/Lauren.)
Hi kalliope, I'm delighted that you tried it and posted this! You made my day. :)

My husband and I will be sharing a rented house with out-of-state friends on a beach island for a week. "How will our upcoming vacation go?"
Excellent reading! I really like how you did this. I have no problem at all with the way you saw the pivot and effect in the first line. It's a great example of a very important concept, that any system or method has to have a certain amount of flexibility in it. The important thing is that whatever you do makes sense in the context of the reading (of course you know that, but I'm just emphasizing it for the benefit of those less experienced).

Edited to add: I just went back to my reading and noticed that I actually did the same thing in my second line, when I said that the pivot card showed a block (Mountain) that was caused by jealousy (Snake) of friends (Dog). If I had been doing it strictly by the book, I would have said that the block (pivot) caused the effect. But it makes more sense the other way. Again, the unfolding story takes precedence over adhering strictly to the system.

I love the way so many of the card combinations speak to the topic so clearly -- opportunity for rest, bad choice, bad house, bad weather -- it almost reads itself!

I tend to see the Mountain as a little more positive -- a long tunnel but a light at the end of it, or a long slog but getting there eventually. The sun at the end of the line seems to reinforce this... so if it were me, I'd say there will be a rocky period, but the sun will come out (maybe literally) at the end.

The way you phrased your reading of the parallel cards makes me wonder if we could widen their scope beyond simply factors that are related, and say that it really contains the heart of the reading, what it all boils down to. Or even the Consolation! ;)

Let us know what happens, and good luck for a relaxing week!
 

Lee

The only real question I have is that you are asking a FUTURE tense question and the whole break down shows the PAST and Causal factor, but nothing to do with the FUTURE itself.

How, based on the cards above, will it go for the year? That is what I want to know. :)
Isn't that always the way? We ask about the future and the cards only tell us about the past! :D

But seriously, it's a good question. The spread positions are seen causally, not temporally. So a cause and effect could both be in the past, or both be in the future, or (as I mentioned earlier) a cause could be in the future and the effect in the past. I think the important thing to ask is do the cards say anything meaningful about the future even though they seem mostly to describe the past and present.

As I read it, the cards say clearly that his friends' jealousies have blocked his growth as a person. Since we know he's made the decision to go, then we can infer that without his friends' presence, the block will be removed. Also, the parallel combination of the Rider and the Moon speaks of potential rewards and promotions coming from his boss (because the Rider is adjacent to the Woman).

So I would say the cards actually *do* address the future, if we look a little more deeply.
 

DownUnderNZer

As I see it there is nothing to demonstrate why the answer is based on the Past. Not in the Step or the cards. More like it is the background your friend filled you in on, but it still doesnt answer the question which is quite clear cut.

Isn't that always thee ask about the future and the cards only tell us about the past! :D

But seriously, it's a good question. The spread positions are seen causally, not temporally. So a cause and effect could both be in the past, or both be in the future, or (as I mentioned earlier) a cause could be in the future and the effect in the past. I think the important thing to ask is do the cards say anything meaningful about the future even though they seem mostly to describe the past and present.

As I read it, the cards say clearly that his friends' jealousies have blocked his growth as a person. Since we know he's made the decision to go, then we can infer that without his friends' presence, the block will be removed. Also, the parallel combination of the Rider and the Moon speaks of potential rewards and promotions coming from his boss (because the Rider is adjacent to the Woman).

So I would say the cards actually *do* address the future, if we look a little more deeply.
 

Lee

As I see it there is nothing to demonstrate why the answer is based on the Past. Not in the Step or the cards. More like it is the background your friend filled you in on, but it still doesnt answer the question which is quite clear cut.
Question: A friend of mine is going to spend a year working in a foreign country. He wants to know how the year will go.

Answer: Spending a year in a foreign country will allow him to cross cultural barriers and make new friends, something which he has been unable to do in his present situation because of the jealousy and narrow-mindedness of his current friends. It will also bring the potential for rewards and promotion from his boss.

The only information that he "filled me in on" was that he was going to spend a year working in a foreign country and that his boss was female. The rest of the information came from the cards.