Is this possible ? I'll try and explain the best way i can.

Sharla

Teheuti said:
Thank you for reminding me because I had wanted to make that point when I described using the GT by only focusing on the cards around the Topic. I really like this method because I can see the larger story if I so choose or I can simply focus on a few cards. Personally I believe that the entire deck tells the story. It's just that sometimes we want a more limited focus, which is what a small spread allows. So, yes, other, unused cards can reveal more information but we don't always recognize the role they play in relation to the query.

I discovered this when I was doing a lot of 78-card Tarot readings. It became clear that a certain theme was being expressed over-and-over again. So, a short spread is merely a cross-section of the whole.

Hi Teheuti

Sorry it must be my useless way of explaining things that you've not understood me properly lol.
I didn't mean the rest of the cards in the GT, i mean the rest of the cards you have left still in the deck after you've done say a 3 card or 3x3 spread or any spread without using all the cards.
So because the cards have been shuffled like for instance the base card always makes sense to the reading, so what about the card after the base card and the one after that etc etc.... I was wondering if these would be relevant to the reading, like hidden clues or something like in a GT.

Teheuti

Sharla said:
Hi Teheuti

Sorry it must be my useless way of explaining things that you've not understood me properly lol.
I didn't mean the rest of the cards in the GT, i mean the rest of the cards you have left still in the deck after you've done say a 3 card or 3x3 spread or any spread without using all the cards.
So because the cards have been shuffled like for instance the base card always makes sense to the reading, so what about the card after the base card and the one after that etc etc.... I was wondering if these would be relevant to the reading, like hidden clues or something like in a GT.

What I am saying is that the entire shuffled deck is a GT whether they are laid out in the pattern or not. Any selection of them is merely a cross-section of the whole. So you can extend any shorter reading, if you so choose, in a very long line or break it up into shorter lines. I know people who simply read the GT as a very long line-reading - no above/below etc. I also know people who continue laying cards from the shuffled stack after reading the initial spread. Whatever works. It helps if the process makes some kind of sense to you. Experiment and see what works.

Lee

Teheuti said:
I know people who simply read the GT as a very long line-reading - no above/below etc..

I actually find this intriguing. It would be like a paragraph made up of 36 words. I'm going to try it.

MandMaud

Lee said:
I actually find this intriguing. It would be like a paragraph made up of 36 words. I'm going to try it.

let us know how you find it, when you try it!

As I started reading this thread I thought: this is about being non-traditional, copying tarot attitudes over to Lenormand... but I see the point about each shuffling producing a GT whether or not it's read as such. I wasn't thinking about the option of reading as much or as little of a GT as you choose.

I haven't done a GT yet, but I've read a lot about how to, so in theory I know what we're talking about! The part I didn't know was that it can be read in one long line and those other variants.

How does a reader know when to read all the cards and when to use only a few? When the question is a "small", simple one - or the topic is trivial - that's when we'd do a small spread. For a huge or life-changing question, the GT. But having started with 3 or 5 or 9 cards, what tells the reader to continue further into the deck and use cards that weren't originally used in the spread?

With tarot, I'd say go with your gut. But I get the impression Lenormand is much more rule-bound - I mean, structured. (Some readers do tarot that way too, but with the tarot it's personal preference.) I suppose I'm asking about the borderline, how fuzzy it is: when to bend the Lenormand rules?

Lee

MandMaud said:
With tarot, I'd say go with your gut. But I get the impression Lenormand is much more rule-bound - I mean, structured. (Some readers do tarot that way too, but with the tarot it's personal preference.) I suppose I'm asking about the borderline, how fuzzy it is: when to bend the Lenormand rules?

My own Lenormand viewpoint has been evolving towards relative orthodoxy in card meanings but relative freedom in reading methods.

MandMaud

Lee said:
My own Lenormand viewpoint has been evolving towards relative orthodoxy in card meanings but relative freedom in reading methods.

Ah. Now I'm just more confused.

... But this thread is educational, in that what I thought was a non-orthodox method turns out to "fit" within the "rules" if you look at it that way.

DownUnderNZer

The GT is all on it's very own.

Other spreads stem from it or even mutate section by section to some extent, but the GT is the Grand Master.

Keep the GT separate to other spreads and entertain the idea they likely branched off of it.

Steinbach created her No Layout method away from it, but I'd say she was brought up teething on it like I did when I started out.

Smaller spreads can nail info just as well as long as you know the cards and understand the question and how to answer it.

Ps The GT looks at main areas, but if people want to know specifics or have lots of follow up/clarifying questions - it doesn't always deal with the questions.

PPs Smaller spreads do not mean something is missing in the answer just because of the remaining stack of unused cards.

Sharla;inSm6938 said:
When you do a GT you shuffle the cards stop shuffling and then obviously place the cards down in the order that they've been shuffled. Which leaves you with a full 36 deck of cards in front of you telling you a story (or trying to lol).

So my point is, when your not doing a GT and using all the cards and you shuffle thinking of the question and then stop shuffling and pick how many cards your using and then this is your reading, and some people turn the deck over to see what the base card is to take this into account also.

So with the rest of the cards that are left over is it possible that in the order they have been shuffled, could they then form a story relating to the question that's been asked ? For example you've got your 3 cards on the table you've looked at the base card and then what about the card before base card and the card before that etc....could these come into play too ?

Say man's base card and the querent is asking about her partner, so okay we now know her partners a Male then the card before man is scythe, so an aggressive man......etc etc

Sharla

This thread has totally turned into something totally the opposite of what i started, i feel like its turned into Chinese whispers as its started off as one thing and turned into being something totally different lol, i can only blame myself its not no-ones fault its just that nobody has understood me.

When i mentioned the GT that was only a mere example, it wasn't what i was talking about.

Once again, i was asking about the cards that are left over after you have shuffled and chosen your cards for smaller spreads i.e 3 card line or 3x3 spread....

Lots of people look at the bottom of the deck at the base card, i do this nearly all the time now and this gives information on what the reading is based on, so my point is what about the cards before the base card could these be significant also ?
The reason i mentioned the GT was because when doing a GT all cards are shuffled and used and laid out in the order they have been shuffled, so obviously the way the cards have ended up in the deck after shuffling are significant to the GT, because they then make a story etc.

Which got me thinking about when we shuffle NOT for a GT, what about the rest of the cards could they have ended up in a certain fashion to contribute to the reading in answer to the query ?

If the base card makes sense, what about the few or more cards after leading up to the base card ?

Lee

Sharla said:
This thread has totally turned into something totally the opposite of what i started, i feel like its turned into Chinese whispers as its started off as one thing and turned into being something totally different lol, i can only blame myself its not no-ones fault its just that nobody has understood me.

Hi Sharla,

Looking over the thread, I think several people did understand you and addressed your question. It's true that this thread, just like almost every other thread on this or any other forum, tends to go off a bit on tangents, as people find things to comment on (as I did in my post above) which don't necessarily directly relate to the thread-starter's post. That's kind of how it goes on forums.

Please do continue to ask for other's opinions and input, but keep in mind that a member can't really control the flow of conversation of a thread even when they started the thread. If anyone feels that a thread has gone truly off-topic, feel free to PM me or do a Post Report (click the little white triangle at the lower left of each post) and I'll be glad to look into it. A certain amount of "thread drift" is allowed and expected, as long as it doesn't go too far afield.

Lee, Lenormand Moderator

DownUnderNZer

Adding: As for the "Base" - to me it is along the lines of Tarot just like the counting system and directions cards are facing except the MAN and WOMAN.

I don't see the need to count or to use a base.

What if the question was about someone's passing and you got Bouquet or Sun as a base. :bugeyed:

DownUnderNZer said:
The GT is all on it's very own.

Other spreads stem from it or even mutate section by section to some extent, but the GT is the Grand Master.

Keep the GT separate to other spreads and entertain the idea they likely branched off of it.

Steinbach created her No Layout method away from it, but I'd say she was brought up teething on it like I did when I started out.

Smaller spreads can nail info just as well as long as you know the cards and understand the question and how to answer it.

Ps The GT looks at main areas, but if people want to know specifics or have lots of follow up/clarifying questions - it doesn't always deal with the questions.

PPs Smaller spreads do not mean something is missing in the answer just because of the remaining stack of unused cards.