Total Newbie to Lenormand

Hello everyone!
I'm really hoping that some of you will take the time to help me out. I'm very curious about Lenormand style of reading lately but know absolutely nothing about it. It seems harder to "access" in my part of the world. I have looked for Lenormand decks in local shops without luck.

I have been reading RWS style decks for about 20 years now and I still feel like I'm learning and growing as a reader. That being said, I've really been intrigued by Lenormand of late.

How does a girl go about introducing herself to this style of reading and which decks and books would you recommend for a beginner?

Thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to your input!

Lenormand for newbie

Hi Saelyn,

Lenormand is a different system than tarot. Lenormand is read in card combinations. The simple images have set meanings. You don't really look at the symbol like in tarot. It is more linguistic than visual.

I would recommend you to visit Donnaleigh site divinewihispers.net. She has a lot of information on lenormand like suggestions on starter decks. You can also check out her video classes on lenormand on youtube.

Caitlin Matthews lenormand oracle handbook and Rana George the essential lenormand are great books on how to learn to read the lenormand.

Have fun on you lenormand journey!

Lunajade

Thank you very much Lunajade! I'll start with those online resources you've mentioned. I'm truly appreciative of your taking the time.

Hi Saelyn,
Welcome! I've studied almost all resources that exist today. A few I would recommend would be the courses at Cartomancy.net and Andy B's work. Honestly, if it wasn't for Andy I'm not sure I would have stuck with Lenormand. I was lucky enough to be a part of his initial course in 2012 and still revisit some of those materials. They provided a wonderful foundation, as does his book.

His updated book will be available via Amazon tomorrow, I believe.
http://boroveshengra.com/my-book/

There are also a few pieces of his blog that may help you to get you started to see if his work resonates with you:
http://boroveshengra.com/2014/11/15/lenormand-cards-essences/

http://boroveshengra.com/category/divination-drabarrimos/cartomancy/sybil-decks/lenormand/101/

Caitlin Matthews book is pretty solid and thorough, too, but veers off into some of her own innovations - this is not a bad thing, just maybe not best for beginners without a solid foundation. While I have Rana's book, it's probably the one I've read the least. I may revisit this at some point though.

Hope this helps. It can be a bit frustrating at times so aim to lighten up and enjoy the adventures... it's a process and study that's well worth it.

Have fun

Wanted to add, Treppner's work is worth a look but some of the translations were a bit rough.

Awesome! I'm looking forward to learning. It sounds a little more academic than RWS... Is that accurate?

What I mean is less room for interpretation and more memorization? Or am I off?

About the difference between tarot and Lenormand: If I understand correctly, a lot of tarot reading involves the reader getting impressions sparked by the images on the cards, which is greatly influenced by the style of art, the colors, the composition, the objects/people/animals the artist chose to depict in addition to whatever the standard symbol is, etc. So, a tarot reader depends heavily on the ideas that come to mind in response to what she sees on the card.

Lenormand is different. While there are many styles of decks, from Halloween themes to vintage postcards to fairies, the stylistic differences and the thoughts they inspire in the reader are irrelevant to the interpretation of the card. The Clover card, for example, has the same meanings in the Halloween deck and the vintage postcard deck and the fairy deck, regardless of the art, colors, or whatever else is in the picture.

The intuitive aspect of reading Lenormand comes into play when putting a card into the context of the question and interpreting the combinations of cards in the spread. It's sort of like reading a sentence, where one card in a line might be the "subject", another the "verb", and another and "adjective". Kind of.

Of course, there are plenty of people who read more intuitively, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just not the traditional Lenormand technique.

I just watched a series of videos from Donnaleigh and feel that I have a better understanding of the system. Interestingly I'll sometimes read Tarot in that fashion. I think I'll invest in a deck and have a little fun doing readings for myself.

I feel as though Lenormand could really open up my personal readings since there's no real room for wiggling around and I'll get clear messages for myself. Perhaps good for what some call shadow work (just in my own case).

Thanks so much!

If you have any other insights or information you wanna share, please do!

Saelyn said:

I feel as though Lenormand could really open up my personal readings since there's no real room for wiggling around and I'll get clear messages for myself.

Click to expand...

Not sure I really agree with this. There are multiple meanings for each card depending on the context, and the other cards in the combination affect how it's interpreted. So it's really not as cut and dried as it might appear at first.

Also, all the usual caveats about reading for yourself apply. It's very easy to bias a reading, just like with any other divination system, particularly when reading for yourself.

That's not to say Lenormand isn't worth learning! It can be very insightful and informative.

Aster Breo said:

Not sure I really agree with this. There are multiple meanings for each card depending on the context, and the other cards in the combination affect how it's interpreted. So it's really not as cut and dried as it might appear at first.

Also, all the usual caveats about reading for yourself apply. It's very easy to bias a reading, just like with any other divination system, particularly when reading for yourself.

That's not to say Lenormand isn't worth learning! It can be very insightful and informative.

Click to expand...

Fair enough. I understand that I can't really know until I know-- which is to try it.

I had a small epiphany this morning. The book "The Golden Compass" definitely based the compass interpretations on Lenormand (loosely)... I'm sure of it. I love that book and always wished I had a golden compass to read. Never dawned on me that I had tarot... And now Lenormand will be even closer in style.

Has made me a little more excited to get started.