The Grand Tableau; go on, sock it to me

I didn't want to hijack the other thread about which downloadable courses are better.

I have questions. Let's see if anyone can answer them...

Where Oh where will I find an explanation of the Grand Tableau that makes sense? Is it only available from downloadable sources? I am sure the recommended courses are excellent but I am also sure that the Grand Tableau isn't some state secret hidden away only for the initiated.

But why is it that the versions I read never really make sense? Why do they all say that you don't have to interpret every single card and then promptly interpret every single card? To date, the one I have got nearest to understanding is in Britta Kienle's book.

Basically she explains it as reading the cards in front of and below the Significator as Future and the ones above and behind as "past". Those which are diagonal are "possibilities".

I can get my head round that but someone will promptly come along now and tell me that's "wrong"!

All other versions do the "interpret every card" style of reading and then deny it (I have, alongside Britta's book, Sylvie Steinbach's book and Mario dos Ventos'). I thought the thread here about doing Grand Tableau readings would help but nobody really explains which method is being adhered to.

It's the only thing in Lenormand card reading that really makes me tear my hair out. And it feels like a secret society that everyone belongs to except you...

Question; in a nutshell what cards do you interpret? Is it enough to do horizontal and vertical (I'm not too bothered about knowing possibilities)? And is there anywhere online that explains it clearly?

I mean, come on, I'm on the way to cracking the Thoth. This can't be any harder than the Book of Thoth. Is the Grand tableau harder than Elemental Dignities and the Liber T? Is it possible to talk about the Grand Tableau without mentioning pdfs?

It's not a secret. I read the cards in front of the significant card as the future. The cards behind as the past. The up and down as the "now" and the diagonals as influences, either known or unknown.

It might be helpful to think of the lines of the tableau like the heart of a Celtic Cross. There are just a lot of potential hearts you might like to examine.

ETA -

You *DON'T* have to read every card. But here's the beauty of a GT.

Next week I am reading at a local college for their end of semester "relaxation day". Students have booked 10 minute appointments. I get 5 in-between to shuffle. I will throw a GT for every student.

They will sit down in front of me. If my querent is a woman, I will start with the woman card. She will want to know about her boyfriend. I will look for the Man card. She will want to know about her grades. I will look for the Book. She will want to know if she should buy that car she was thinking about. I'll look for the Ship. She will then ask about her job at the hospital. I'll look for the Fox. Then she'll ask if her boyfriend will propose. I'll look for the Ring. Then she'll ask about her best frienemy. I'll look for the Snake.

I won't have to pick up and shuffle *once* during this rapid-fire Q&A. It's a wonderful method. After she leaves, I'll pick up, shuffle, and put all the cards on the table for the next kid. Love it!!

Is the "up" and "down" line a constant present or is it - as I have seen sometimes - the cards above signifying thoughts and the cards below as external influences?

Am I right in thinking there are just loads of different versions?

And tarotmama...I love your approach. It's true, it saves one having to shuffle when the questions come quickfire!

tarotmama said:

It's not a secret. I read the cards in front of the significant card as the future. The cards behind as the past. The up and down as the "now" and the diagonals as influences, either known or unknown.

It might be helpful to think of the lines of the tableau like the heart of a Celtic Cross. There are just a lot of potential hearts you might like to examine.

ETA -

You *DON'T* have to read every card. But here's the beauty of a GT.

Next week I am reading at a local college for their end of semester "relaxation day". Students have booked 10 minute appointments. I get 5 in-between to shuffle. I will throw a GT for every student.

They will sit down in front of me. If my querent is a woman, I will start with the woman card. She will want to know about her boyfriend. I will look for the Man card. She will want to know about her grades. I will look for the Book. She will want to know if she should buy that car she was thinking about. I'll look for the Ship. She will then ask about her job at the hospital. I'll look for the Fox. Then she'll ask if her boyfriend will propose. I'll look for the Ring. Then she'll ask about her best frienemy. I'll look for the Snake.

I won't have to pick up and shuffle *once* during this rapid-fire Q&A. It's a wonderful method. After she leaves, I'll pick up, shuffle, and put all the cards on the table for the next kid. Love it!!

Click to expand...

Beautiful explanation tarotmama!

That is the way I read it. There are some here, who's GT does a timing thing, meaning in our practice we do monthly GT's; there each row is their "weekly" for that month. I have tried that method but I can tell you, it does not work for me. I don't think that way. So, I'll do what Tarotmama says ... If I want to know about the man in my life, I'll do the past/future/present/diagonals for the Man card and so on ...

I also do the 8x4+4, so the last four cards are the "fate" cards ... which I believe are what's going to happen in the next 4-6 weeks.

You should totally practice with us for December. And we'll all help you out!! (I am still learning myself on what makes sense to me, so we are all learning as we go)

Yes, Tarotmama and Mona have it...! I've also written a few posts that might help, here:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=152337
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=145389

I didn't include details on diagonals (which I do read), but just the very basics. I have since that time added some Treppner to my readings which means that I look more closely at the first 3 cards of the 9x4, look at the corners, and add the houses to the interpretation.

Not going into too much detail here, but houses would be the equivalent to laying out the cards from 1 to 36 in 9x4 fashion. So if a card falls as the eighth card in the 9x4, it is said to be in the house of the coffin, while a card that comes out first is said to be in the house of the rider, etc.

Also, some people will add mirroring, and a slough of other options. Frankly, not one person reads it the same way as another and it becomes a very personalized style of reading.

about the confusions and "that's wrong" part, i can just say, do not let others decide what is wrong for you and what is right. once you tune in with the cards, you will have your own method, your own meanings and you will be comfortable with them. you should just explore every method, and everything and then whatever resonates more with you is your answer. some people use the same deck but they have different meaning for a card, its because its our personal friend and it talks to us in the language we understand. The more you confuse yourself, the more you will lose confidence in them. i remember when I did my first GT(its here somewhere) i did write that I can't nail these cards, because I just don't think they like me. but its been about four months since then and its going to be my 5th GT this December, and I have found my own way of working with them. so just try everything and you will find it. other can't tell you what's wrong if its right for you !

Cheers

Like everyone has said: there is no right and wrong with the Grand Tableau. I don’t think there was ever a particular methodology, and if there was it’s more or less lost to us now.

I’ve explained how I do it on my blog with posts and examples. I do 'skim read' every card but not 1+2+3 - I tend to pick out key combinations and then I go onto 'lines'.

On its most simple level I would say that to the left is the past and right the future. I also take diagonals as past and future but relate them if I can.

I was told the lower left is the old past rising up to the most recent, and the upper right the nearest future and the lower right the most distant. My aunt reversed this for women but I never do.

However you personalise. I don’t do everything I was ‘taught’ – my friend did this thing with 5s and 7s that never made sense to me, it worked for her but didn't for me.

Andy, I have found the posts on your blog enormously helpful (I read it through last night) and have added it to my favourites and those threads you link are also very, very useful. All that has been said to me so far makes sense, so thank you all for your imput. I shall be working through all this material.

Thanks for starting this thread Le Fanu. I'm on the cusp of taking my first baby steps with the Lenormand and the info in this thread has been helpful already.

its really amazing watching so many new members on board...we are increasing in number yaayyy