I believe the most common Lenormand spreads are:
- Line of three
- Line of five
- 9 Square (3x3) - also called The Box spread
- Grand tableu (this spread uses all 36 cards)
This is really all you need. The shorter spreads act as training wheels for getting into the Grand Tableau but they also serve great on their own.
Positional spreads (ala Tarot) are a modern addition and rarely used as all the cards are read in combination with each other. If you are looking at a choice of options (whether to do this or that) then use a different short spread for each option.
Donnaleigh's beginner videos are very helpful.
The main thing with shorter spreads is to write down a very specific question and frame the answer in terms of that question.
Three card daily spreads, with the general understanding that they will show you something that occurs that day or that you should pay attention to, are fine but they can be too vague and confusing. Also, the standard card meanings have to be scaled back to the minutiaes of daily life and can be quite literal (sometimes a Tree is just a tree; or Birds+Fox is just dialing the wrong phone number!).
