Andy B. and Rana George (Books)

decan

I have several Lenormand books. I find it helps give me a more rounded perspective of the card meanings.

When I first explored Andy's work, I found the cards to be very negative. All my GT's were doom and gloom. It is what it is, right? Rana gave me a more positive outlook while Caitlin Matthews gave me more detail.

Now that I am getting a better handle on the cards, I am looking to explore Andy's book again.
Concerning Lenormand I don't know because I miss the big picture currently.
Concerning doom-and-gloom this is generally how people view traditional astrology, but this doesn't stop me, LOL
Modern versus Traditional, this is something that can be found almost everywhere, or I have a karma with this, I don't know :)
 

Tag_jorrit

Concerning Lenormand I don't know because I miss the big picture currently.
Concerning doom-and-gloom this is generally how people view traditional astrology, but this doesn't stop me, LOL
Modern versus Traditional, this is something that can be found almost everywhere, or I have a karma with this, I don't know :)

Your observation is quite astute. Every single person who writes, writes from their own subjective view which reflects their personal approach to life in general. Each author has a contribution to make and it is up to us to sift through all the information and apply nuggets of truth to our own unique perspective.
 

Anise

This thread has been really helpful to me too! I wanted to know people's opinions about the difference between Andy's, Rana's, and Caitlin's books. They all came out at the same time, and they're all highly rated. It would be my first introduction to Lenormand, so I wanted a traditional book. Now I'm torn between Andy's and Caitlin's.
 

Barleywine

Your observation is quite astute. Every single person who writes, writes from their own subjective view which reflects their personal approach to life in general. Each author has a contribution to make and it is up to us to sift through all the information and apply nuggets of truth to our own unique perspective.

One of the best things I did right at the beginning was download the "PL sheet" from your web site. It gave me a kind of "bedrock" against which to compare all later published contributions. It left a lot to be desired in terms of useful guidance, but it gave a minimalist perspective on interpretation that I've followed every since. It and Andy's book have helped me fend off many of the tempting embellishments (like "quints") and the eruption of keyword extravaganzas that seem to creep in from the tarot side of things.
 

Barleywine

This thread has been really helpful to me too! I wanted to know people's opinions about the difference between Andy's, Rana's, and Caitlin's books. They all came out at the same time, and they're all highly rated. It would be my first introduction to Lenormand, so I wanted a traditional book. Now I'm torn between Andy's and Caitlin's.

I have a kind of hierarchical view of the usefulness of the English-language Lenormand books I own.

Andy's is my favorite for its "roots" approach to card meanings and interpretation.

Rana's is valuable for its broader perspective on ways to use the cards.

Caitlin's I especially like for the playing-card section.

Sylvie Steinbach's book is good as a reference work, but I couldn't swallow some of her opinions (for example, she doesn't call the Grand Tableau by name, just "that tedious spread"). It's an example of Lenormand "newspeak" run amok.

I don't own the Goodwin and Katz book yet since there seem to be some mixed opinions here at AT about its value.

Other than a raft of Lenormand blog material out there, I don't know what else is available in English.
 

Teheuti

Don't forget Lenormand Symbols by Anthony Louis (an ebook) https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J7229O2/

It doesn't teach you to read spreads but it is the best repository of traditional card meanings and it's easily navigated. I always check my interpretations by comparing them with the original meaning to see if I've gotten way off track or overlooked something. I also have my first tier meanings (the Phillipe sheet), my 2nd tier meanings - modern that have closely evolved out of the original, and 3rd tier meanings that are more literal or out-of-left-field and contradictory to the other two but occasionally useful.

I spent a couple of years following Lenormand readings on Facebook where follow ups were given. By far, the traditional readers were more accurate, with very rare exceptions that seemed to be more psychic than based on the cards.

I think every experienced reader will have evolved some of their own understanding of the cards that will conflict with others (and Rana is an example of this). However, if you always check your insights with the core meanings I find that it will keep you on track (and Rana also does this). Caitlin is generally more traditional regarding the basics, but has evolved her own meanings and techniques in the more advanced material that can get a little too complicated for my tastes.

I appreciate that given a group of traditionally trained readers you'll find that they usually will give the same answer to concrete questions and for the same reasons. Whereas given a group of so-called intuitive readers (who don't know the tradition) their answers will be all over the place with little concurrence. So whose intuition is right? Traditional readers read intuitively—they intuit which of the traditional and modern meanings are most likely and how best to integrate those meanings into a coherent and applicable response that actually answers the question asked.
 

Barleywine

Don't forget Lenormand Symbols by Anthony Louis (an ebook) https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J7229O2/

It doesn't teach you to read spreads but it is the best repository of traditional card meanings and it's easily navigated. I always check my interpretations by comparing them with the original meaning to see if I've gotten way off track or overlooked something. I also have my first tier meanings (the Phillipe sheet), my 2nd tier meanings - modern that have closely evolved out of the original, and 3rd tier meanings that are more literal or out-of-left-field and contradictory to the other two.

I spent a couple of years following Lenormand readings on Facebook where follow ups were given. By far, the traditional readers were more accurate, with very rare exceptions that seemed to be more psychic than based on the cards.

I think every experienced reader will have evolved some of their own understanding of the cards that will conflict with others (and Rana is an example of this). However, if you always check your insights with the core meanings I find that it will keep you on track (and Rana also does this). Caitlin is general more traditional regarding the basics, but has evolved her own meanings and techniques in the more advanced material that can get a little too complicated for my tastes.

I appreciate that given a group of traditionally trained readers you'll find that they usually will give the same answer to concrete questions and for the same reasons. Whereas given a group of so-called intuitive readers (who don't know the tradition) their answers will be all over the place with little concurrence.

Yes, I have that one too. It made me hungry for more of his, but I don't see anything out there right now. Another nice piece of work is the add-on pdf document that Andy and others produced for the Gilded Reverie. As for me, I'll take my Lenormand "straight up," with no intuitive "chaser." It seems to be an error to try imparting tarot-reading sensibilites and practices to Lenormand reading, which I see evidence of in some of the modern literature.
 

Teheuti

I have a kind of hierarchical view of the usefulness of the English-language Lenormand books I own.

Andy's is my favorite for its "roots" approach to card meanings and interpretation.

Rana's is valuable for its broader perspective on ways to use the cards.

Caitlin's I especially like for the playing-card section.

Sylvie Steinbach's book is good as a reference work, but I couldn't swallow some of her opinions (for example, she doesn't call the Grand Tableau by name, just "that tedious spread"). It's an example of Lenormand "newspeak" run amok.

I don't own the Goodwin and Katz book yet since there seem to be some mixed opinions here at AT about its value.

Other than a raft of Lenormand blog material out there, I don't know what else is available in English.
Great summary. I agree. I don't recommend the Katz/Godwin book as it is too idiosyncratic with a lot of made up stuff in an attempt to be innovative. It's not clear to a newbie which is new material and which is part of the tradition. The sample readings don't always demonstrate any of the meanings given.
 

decan

Very interesting! Great that this thread helps others too!

Concerning Anthony Louis I will note down this reference; on my wishlist I already wrote down one of his books (i.e "Tarot plain and simple", not his new book where there is probably much more than simply Tarot, but this is a remark a bit out of topic)
 

Village Witch

I appreciate that given a group of traditionally trained readers you'll find that they usually will give the same answer to concrete questions and for the same reasons. Whereas given a group of so-called intuitive readers (who don't know the tradition) their answers will be all over the place with little concurrence. So whose intuition is right? Traditional readers read intuitively—they intuit which of the traditional and modern meanings are most likely and how best to integrate those meanings into a coherent and applicable response that actually answers the question asked.

That really hit home. I am very much an intuitive reader. What I have learned is that I need to start over getting a better handle on the traditional meanings.