New to Lenormand ? Discover the 5 Best Spreads !
The spread the "Grand Tableau" is maybe *THE* spread to practice the Petit Lenormand, it is its letters of nobility, and makes the Petit Lenormand interesting and positions it as a Tarot challenger. If you don't know what the "Grand Tableau" is, in one sentence, it is a spread using all 36 cards of the deck, in 4 lines of 8 cards + 4 mood cards at the bottom (in cartouche) of the tableau. (To learn more, read my article about the "Grand Tableau").
However mastering the "Grand Tableau" spread can be difficult, much more so than learning the meaning of the Lenormand cards, which by the way have simple symbolism. And when coming from the world of Tarot, the "Grand Tableau" can be a big step to take. Also it can be very useful and relevant to start practicing the Petit Lenormand with 3, 4, 5 slot draws to get familiar with the deck, or to use the Petit Lenormand in a quick and easy way during a flash spread.
Can we use the Tarot readings for the Petit Lenormand ?
Yes of course, and if you come from the Tarot universe, you can pick up your favourite draws. It's probably a good optic to start the Lenormand. For example, I've seen cartomancers use the Cross spread with the Petit Lenormand. However, with practice, you will find that the Petit Lenormand is much more polarised, much less neutral, and also less generalist than the Tarot. In fact, the Lenormand draws are more direct, more instantaneous, more "cash", more "raw" than the Tarot. There is an immediacy to a Lenormand print that is not necessarily found in a Tarot print which is usually more constructed.
Are there any specificities for the Petit Lenormand draws ?
Yes, because as I said above, the Petit Lenormand is drawn differently from the Tarot, the "Grand Tableau" spread being the perfect example. You must take into account the following elements :
- The Lenormand cards have a simple symbolism. If you want to nuance and deepen your reading, you will need to spread more cards than you do with a Tarot deck.
- There are two special cards in the Lenormand system : 28 - The Man and 29 - The Woman which have no equivalent in the Tarot. In fact, with the first two draws on the love life, the occurrence of the 28 or 29 card can disturb the interpretation.
- There is no such thing as a right-side-up or wrong-side-up interpretation in Lenormand. Historically, the distance between the cards is used to evaluate their polarity.
With these few elements that I have just mentioned, one can easily understand that drawing the Lenormand as one draws the Tarot can be contradictory. Also the draws below, even if I consider that they are the best draws to approach the Lenormand from a Tarot vision, do not represent "the original way" to spread the Lenormand. Historically, we use draws without slots ! And I remain convinced that this is the best approach to using the Lenormand. The "real" Lenormand spreads are more thoroughly explained in my article How to read Petit Lenormand.
Why two cards per slot ?
As I have already mentioned, the Petit Lenormand is very polarised. Traditionally, the polarity of cards depends on the distance between them, but this method is becoming obsolete, and cannot be used with slots. If you only keep one card per slot, you may get very "raw" results, either all good or all bad. I know it's good for show and the "guru" effect, but I'm not Miss Lenormand and neither are you, and in modern fortune-telling it's good to be neither triumphant nor alarming, and to make nuanced and open readings. Also having two cards per slot will allow for " duos " in which the cards can counterbalance each other, allowing for a balanced interpretation without being neutral or bland.
Thus, if you wish to adapt your Tarot draws to the Lenormand, I systematically advise you to use "duos" of cards for each slot, for the reasons I just mentioned. Since the Petit Lenormand system contains only 36 cards, this has an impact on the number of slots you can use in your deck. So a 5 slot spread you draw 10 cards, a 6 slot spread you draw 12 cards and a 7 slot spread you draw 14 cards. Note that a 12-card spread is already a third of the Lenormand deck. I therefore advise you to limit yourself to draws of 6 slots maximum, because beyond that I feel that too many cards are drawn on the table, which distorts the probabilities, the interpretations become repetitive or similar because the same cards are drawn from one consultant to another. I find that the same phenomenon occurs when the Tarot is drawn with only the series of 22 trumps (the Major Arcana), which is often the case in France with users of the Tarot de Marseille (personally I always draw with the 78 cards of the Tarot de Marseille).
The idea of the spreads in this article is to follow the method of Tarot, adapted to Petit Lenormand, by offering 2-card positions. The "real" Lenormand spreads are more thoroughly explained in the series of 7 articles dedicated to learning Petit Lenormand, especially the article How to read Petit Lenormand.
Spread 1 : The love encounter
The spread takes place as follows :
- First, the consultant draws two cards that represent him/her : his/her disposition, state of mind, openness and expectations of the meeting.
- Then he/she draws two cards representing the person he/she has chosen, which will also indicate his/her expectations and behaviour in the meeting.
- Finally the consultant draws two cards relating to the encounter itself. If he/she wants a predictive spread, the third pair of cards can represent the future of the encounter, how it will develop or end. If the consultant wants a psychological spread, the fifth and sixth cards can represent the psychological issues of the encounter, what the two partners will exchange, what they will build or not, how they will live the encounter and maybe even the lessons they will learn. The 5th and 6th cards can also represent advice to follow, allowing the relationship to progress with reason.
Spread 2 : The love dilemma
In this second love spread, I talk about the love dilemma, i.e. the choice between two people. The love triangle is actually quite common. Indeed, without necessarily speaking about a single person who has the choice between two suitors, even when we are in a couple, married or not, we sometimes meet a person who opens our mind to a possible love relationship. And then what should you do ? Leave your current partner ? Stay with him or her ? The answer often seems quite complex, as no one is perfect, and the ideal relationship does not exist. The spread takes place as follows:
- First, the consultant draws two cards that represent him/her: his/her state of mind, doubts, expectations, dilemma. It is possible to assign each of the two cards to a partner, in order to clarify the consultant's perception of each partner.
- Then the consultant draws two cards for one of the partners he/she has previously determined.
- Finally he/she draws two new cards representing the other partner. The duos of cards about the partners evoke, like the consultant's, their state of mind, their expectations, their behaviour. The fortune teller guides the consultant to consider the psychological dimension of each partner in order to try to conclude on the most profitable and fulfilling relationship that he/she would develop with one or the other partner.
- If this psychological spread is not enough, the consultant can draw two last cards which will represent a piece of advice to implement, or the result of the dilemma. I think that one should be careful not to draw these last two cards - which remain optional - too quickly, because it seems to me necessary to approach such a dilemma on a psychological and human level, with reason and lucidity. If the consultant is really lost, the 7th and 8th cards should represent a piece of advice, which he/she can take into account or not.
A free PDF to print, cut out, and fold!
Keywords for the 36 cards of the Petit Lenormand, to slip into your favorite deck. Your leaflet always with you, at hand, to guide you in your readings. Thanks to it, your interpretations gain in richness and subtlety.
spread 3 : The search for a job
This reading is not intended to tell the consultant if he/she will find a job. For this, I refer to my article on the YES/NO spread with the Petit Lenormand. Of course, the challenge of finding a job is major for the person, so I advise against making a binary reading in this kind of situation which can either discourage the consultant or make him/her too sure of him/herself and consequently negligent.
The aim of this spread is to draw up an exhaustive inventory that can be useful to the consultant and enable him/her to take relevant and positive action. The spread takes place as follows :
- First, the consultant draws two cards that represent him/her : his/her doubts, expectations and whether he/she is in the right frame of mind for the job search.
- Then the consultant draws two complementary cards representing his/her application : is his/her CV attractive ? does he/she present him/herself well in an interview ? is he/she smiling and convincing ? How do the recruiters perceive his/her application ?
- The consultant draws two new cards about the labour market : Is it closed or gloomy ? What are the real opportunities ? Is there any competition ? Are the salaries interesting ? What kind of job : temporary work, seasonal work, fixed-term contract, permanent contract ?
- Finally, the consultant draws two final cards on the job actually available to the consultant : Does it meet expectations ? Is it in the branch of activity in which the consultant is looking ? Does the consultant need to change direction ? Is it useful to do a skills assessment ? Is coaching or training necessary ?
Spread 4 : Resignation from your job
If finding a job can be difficult, changing jobs can be equally difficult. The consultant may not know what to do between staying in his or her current job despite the disadvantages or taking the risk of looking for or taking a new job, which may not be better or more interesting. This spread therefore proposes to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of staying or leaving one's current job. The spread proceeds as follows :
- First, the consultant draws two cards that represent the situation of staying in the current job : the conflict to be resolved, the compromise to be found, the stakes, the permanence of the position. It is possible to agree that one of the two cards should represent the advantages of staying and the other card should represent the disadvantages of staying.
- Then the consultant draws two cards about the possibility of leaving the current job : the difficulty of finding a new job, the perils of moving into the unknown, the promises made by the recruiter or new employer, the viability of the proposed job. As with the first pair of cards, it can be agreed that one of the two cards can represent the advantages of leaving and the other card can represent the disadvantages of leaving.
- Then the consultant draws two final cards on the result or advice to be applied. This pair may suggest a kind of compromise, or suggest another possibility, such as going into business for oneself, which the consultant had not considered. The result may be clear-cut, leave or stay, as well as ambiguous, inviting patience, mediation, counselling, or perhaps a change of position within the current company.
Spread 5 : The financial situation
The consultant's financial situation may be delicate. He/she may be looking for ways to regain a serene and balanced situation. This spread proposes to review several aspects of the consultant's finances without focusing solely on the search for new sources of income. The spread proceeds as follows :
- First, the consultant draws two cards to represent his or her income : is it sustainable or transitory ? Is an increase possible ? Is it possible to diversify ? Should the consultant change jobs ? Should he/she dip into his/her savings ? Should he/she sell assets ?
- Then the consultant draws two cards for expenses : Can the reimbursements be deferred ? Should he/she share the expenses ? Should he/she look for a roommate ? Should he/she move to a cheaper flat ? Should he/she save on energy costs ?
- The consultant draws two complementary cards about his/her lifestyle : Is he/she living beyond his/her means ? Does he/she need to be more frugal in his/her daily life ? Should he/she give up holidays, buy less clothes, renew his/her household appliances less often ?
- The consultant draws two final cards about external help : Should he/she ask his/her family for one-off help ? Should he/she go to charity ? Should he/she seek advice on filling in tax returns in order to get tax reductions ? Can he/she obtain state aid ?
Bonus : The Cross Spread
The Cross spread is a safe bet in France. Even if there are several variants, the base remains the same with 4 cards: situation, oppositions, advice, result. Some cartomancers add, for example, a synthesis card in the centre. Here, I stay with the simple version with 4 slots. As for the previous draws, you will not be surprised to see that I double each slot. The spread proceeds as follows :
- First, the consultant draws two cards that represent his/her situation : What is his/her state of mind ? What is the real issue ? What are the pros ? Who is the consultant really ?
- Then the consultant draws two cards on the oppositions : Where is the blockage ? What are the problems, the dilemma, the disadvantages, the cons ? What is hidden ?
- The consultant draws two complementary cards for counselling : What awareness is needed ? What outside help is needed ? What is the best way, the middle way or the way of compromise ?
- Finally, the consultant draws two final cards about the outcome : What is the possible outcome if the advice is followed ? What will be the response ? What consequences can be expected ?
I hope that these draws above will allow you to easily begin the Petit Lenormand by relying on a slot method and your eventual Tarot experience. I also invite you to move away from these same draws to learn the Lenormand with non-slot draws of which the most complete method is the "Grand Tableau". The practice of the "Grand Tableau" should be your goal in the long run, without saying that this method should be exclusive. Of course, slot draws with Le Lenormand can be very satisfying.
The YES/NO spread is the subject of a separate article, which you can read here: The YES/NO Spread with the Petit Lenormand
Learning the Petit Lenormand :
To go further, continue your reading with ...
Comments
I offer guidances ...
In a spirit of solidarity and openness, I offer draws (paid by the hat, through the nose) with the Lenormand or Tarot. Please note that English is not my native language, so my guidance will be written. If my guidance is useful to you, please thank me with a donation. Ask your question here
About me
At 50 years old, passionate about tarot for more than 20 years, I opened this blog in order to share my knowledge on the subject. I practice and teach 'psychological tarot', even if I remain a 'tarot student' because I don't think you can ever 'master the tarot'. Learning tarot is learning to live, learning never ends... To know more about it ...
Copyright © TarotQuest.fr