Caitlin Matthews - 'The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook'

Thanks for the detailed review, Lee! I've received my copy of Caitlín's book, but haven't had much chance to read it yet. I look forward to revisiting your review once I have.

I suspect that there will be pieces that work well for me, and others that don't, as usual! I do really, really like the sort of learning exercises she uses, so I'll probably enjoy the ones included in the book, and will get a lot out of them. As you say, she's great at showing the mechanics of reading and combinations. I find that exercises help me make the most strides these days, because otherwise one just needs to "practice reading." The structure of exercises gives me something useful to do! (It's why I liked Britta's course, incidentally.)

I do know what you mean about her more in depth readings, though. For every reader, there comes a point where we have to make the jump to connect the strict card meanings & combinations with relevant everyday details of our (or our querent's) situation. And in her Enchanted Lenormand book, sometimes I didn't completely follow her jumps. My thought process is different from hers, my mind usually goes to a slightly different place. That may prove true with her new book, too.

But if this is the only sticking point, that's okay with me, really. That jump is where we become the individual reader that we are, and develop our relationship with the cards (as long as we're coming from a solid foundation of basics). I'm at the point where I'm looking for tools & exercises to help me extend my skills and deepen my foundation, and I'm hoping there's plenty of that in the book to make it worth it. I find that I click easily with Rana's ultimate conclusions from layouts of cards, but I wanted more about the process and technique of reading. I'm hoping Caitlín's book will fill in those blanks and will be a great complement.

As an aside, I took a look at the pages on the Rider to see the "witness" meaning, since I was curious. Just thinking out loud here: she lists it in the verb section, so it's "to witness", not a noun as I incorrectly assumed from what you wrote. I'm guessing that maybe it's an extrapolation of "to arrive," a more recognizable meaning of that card. If one arrives, one is present. If one arrives and is present, one can be there to witness something. Yeah? Maybe?

I have less to offer about "layoffs" for Whips. From my quick look, it only seems to appear in Appendix III Quick Reference section, not in Chapter 2 with the main card meanings. In the Quick Reference, she includes the "cleaning up" meaning that was more prominent in her Enchanted Lenormand, which even titled that card Broom, yes? My guess here is that a "layoff" is when a company or business is "cleaning up." So while it's not a common or very traditional meaning (to my non-expert knowledge, anyway), at least maybe I've convinced myself that I can see where she was coming from.

Anyhow, thanks again!

Hi kalliope!

I think you will enjoy Caitlín's book, there's a plethora of techniques and ideas to keep you busy.

kalliope said:

As an aside, I took a look at the pages on the Rider to see the "witness" meaning, since I was curious. Just thinking out loud here: she lists it in the verb section, so it's "to witness", not a noun as I incorrectly assumed from what you wrote. I'm guessing that maybe it's an extrapolation of "to arrive," a more recognizable meaning of that card. If one arrives, one is present. If one arrives and is present, one can be there to witness something. Yeah? Maybe?

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Mmm... sorry, still seems a stretch to me! Could easily be my own thickheadedness, though. It seems to me that "witnessing" is a passive, observational activity, which doesn't jibe in my mind with the active "incoming" energy of Rider. I tried to find the reading example where it came up. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to find it, but I finally did (whew!) Snake+Rider = witnessing treachery.

I guess we could say that how far one feels comfortable traveling away from the original concepts/keywords to come up with an interpretation will differ among readers. I think Caitlín is more comfortable traveling farther than I am. In other words, what still feels comfortable for her, to me feels like too much of a stretch sometimes. That's not to say either of us is right or wrong, just points to how there can be differences between readers, I suppose.

I have less to offer about "layoffs" for Whips. From my quick look, it only seems to appear in Appendix III Quick Reference section, not in Chapter 2 with the main card meanings. In the Quick Reference, she includes the "cleaning up" meaning that was more prominent in her Enchanted Lenormand, which even titled that card Broom, yes? My guess here is that a "layoff" is when a company or business is "cleaning up." So while it's not a common or very traditional meaning (to my non-expert knowledge, anyway), at least maybe I've convinced myself that I can see where she was coming from.

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Actually I find this one more convincing than the Rider=witness one! I'll be that was what she was going for, and it makes sense to me, now that you've said it. Thank you!

shadowdancer and Lil Red, thanks for the kind words!

great review about this book. I just saw this thread and got this book recently. I actually really like the book, but i can see what you guys mean when certain "jumps" in coming to conclusions are made. To be honest, i found these jumps present in other books as well.

I like this book because it has helped me become a better reader period, and i really appreciated the effort she took to describe how the mechanics work; an example would be showing how a reading could be interpreted with and without distance method.

I also like how she downplayed the doom and gloom aspects of certain cards, and tried to reframe it into something more positive, without neutering them.

I entirely skipped the Lenormand Universe chapter; while nice, it's not really my cup of tea.

I'm about a a third of the way through Caitlin's book and am learning a lot. While I do like Rana George's light-hearted approach, Caitlin's book is more in depth and has a more serious/studious overtone which I like.

Rana's was my first Lenormand book and gave me a good solid base. I simply do not see Caitlin's book as a beginner book. I would have run scared had I purchased Caitlin's book first. I feel the same about Andy's book.

Village Witch said:

I'm about a a third of the way through Caitlin's book and am learning a lot. While I do like Rana George's light-hearted approach, Caitlin's book is more in depth and has a more serious/studious overtone which I like.

Rana's was my first Lenormand book and gave me a good solid base. I simply do not see Caitlin's book as a beginner book. I would have run scared had I purchased Caitlin's book first. I feel the same about Andy's book.

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i do agree with you that caitlin's book can be quite daunting, but i'm curious as to what you find daunting about andy's book? I like how andy's book is so simple, and it's much easier to look up card meanings in his book--at least on kindle! lol

I do like Caitlin's tone a lot, she reminds me of a professor at hogwarts lol.

mysticsphere said:

i do agree with you that caitlin's book can be quite daunting, but i'm curious as to what you find daunting about andy's book? I like how andy's book is so simple, and it's much easier to look up card meanings in his book--at least on kindle! lol

I do like Caitlin's tone a lot, she reminds me of a professor at hogwarts lol.

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In my opinion, Andy's book is all about the grand tableau, which I wasn't ready to dive into being a newbie. Yes, his card meanings are easy to look up; but as a newbie, I felt overwhelmed with information about the GT as to what the cards signify being near or far from the significator when I was just learning the cards and and card combinations. Andy's book is a good one and I am glad I bought it. I simply wasn't ready for it being new to Lenormand. While Rana's book eased me gently into Lenormand, Caitlin and Andy give me more depth.

My copy arrived today. I'm really impressed - starting reading whilst having dinner alone. Packed with wonderful stuff. I'm really going to like this one. And so happy to see my blog recommended in the resources section :blush:

I think I'm the only one for whom Andy's book - much as I like it - really throws me as a possible beginner's book. The meanings are simply unlike any other Lenormand books around (which is a good thing, considering his background etc etc).

I have no idea how people can use Rana's and Caitlin's and Andy's book and find a certain consistancy. I love them all (not read this Caitlin book yet - I was thinking of the other) - but Andy's meanings are very distinct. I think as a beginner you have to choose either Andy's book or any of the others.

Le Fanu said:

My copy arrived today. I'm really impressed - starting reading whilst having dinner alone. Packed with wonderful stuff. I'm really going to like this one. And so happy to see my blog recommended in the resources section :blush:

I think I'm the only one for whom Andy's book - much as I like it - really throws me as a possible beginner's book. The meanings are simply unlike any other Lenormand books around (which is a good thing, considering his background etc etc).

I have no idea how people can use Rana's and Caitlin's and Andy's book and find a certain consistancy. I love them all (not read this Caitlin book yet - I was thinking of the other) - but Andy's meanings are very distinct. I think as a beginner you have to choose either Andy's book or any of the others.

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i honestly don't think there is. However, i like to keep my mind open.

Example, today i'm doing readings but strictly using only Andy's book. Tomorrow i'll try Caitlin's book. I'm still trying to see what method is good for me personally, and i was even thinking of going through older readings using different teacher's meanings to see if i could see another possible interpretations. I'm in a experimental stage atm haha.

Does anyone else have this? Just looking for more reviews on this

I had high expectations for this one. I'm about a third of the way through it at the moment, a bit past the card meanings and starting into the practical instruction. I have the same reservations that Lee did regarding some of the off-beat card associations. I also had this problem with Sylvie Steinbach's book, but at least Sylvie was very clear that much of her keyword material was based on her own intuitive, psychic impressions and not on the tradition (which, frankly, she seemed to scoff at). I found the "parts of speech" segments for each card especially troubling because they often struck me as incoherent, kind of a mish-mash or scramble of strained connections and grammatical anomalies. As a professional technical and legal writer with 30+ years of experience, I became a stickler for just the right word in any situation, and much of this material leaves me unconvinced; too much straining for relevance and too many lapses in style. On the bright side, the practical guidance seems balanced and sensible so far; I'll have to see if that holds up throughout. The production values are undeniably superb as well. On the strength of it's writing alone, and on its conversational, anecdotal tone, I'll take Rana's book over Caitlin's for now, and Andy's for it's conceptual clarity and careful scholarship. Those two I will definitely re-read and refer to frequently, The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook, probably not - at least not on the evidence of first impressions. But I will know better after I finish it.

ETA: I've warmed up to this one quite a bit as I near the end. I especially like the playing-card cartomancy material (suits and pips), although I admit that I have no frame of reference to tell me whether it is in line with European tradition or just Caitlin's personal approach. Regarding the Lenormand Universe, well, I guess you can do whatever you want with the cards, but I'm satisfied with straight-forward line spreads, 9-card "squares" and the GT, so I skipped over that section for now. I do like some of the creative tweaks she adds to the standard spreads, but her way of counting baffles me; guess I will stick with Andy's method. There are a handful of editing gaffes that I found, mainly situations where the text doesn't match what the illustration shows (for example, text says spade, picture shows club). All in all, I have a more favorable impression now, as I do for Sylvie's book (as long as I treat it strictly as a reference work and not a philosophical statement).