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Being I woke up in an absolutely horrid mood, I figured what could be better than to throw some cards? Generally I am not an optimistic person, but I figured things couldn’t get much worse. But they always can…
What’s this all about? Well, the anchor is work (to me that is – many people use the fox for employment instead). The cross often pertains to grief and the child new beginnings.
And here begins our lesson. I thought this might be a good opportunity to illustraite how three different schools of thought would interpret these cards, and how important it is when reading to maintain an open mind.
When I went on my hiatus from reading for others, I invested in a membership over at waldfee.net which is a very extensive website as far as Lenormand and several other card systems are concerned. I had become familiar with it back in 2005 if I recall correctly. It’s exclusively in German so I have to use several online translators, but I feel it’s quite worth it. It was very important to me to be able to find additional resources to draw from. Part of what I’ve always had trouble with as far as English resources are concerned are the combinations. Waldfee has many that aren’t typical in any of these books.
Why is this important? Well….
When you read, you hope it’s going to be coherent. When I read the Lenormand, I think of my layout as a sentence where each card represents a word or phrase. This is why I like to read using linear type spreads. Now, I will demonstrate why this becomes challenging when using the different resources that are out there.
Reference #1: The Secrets of the Lenormand Oracle
“Anchor+Cross: Lasting sorrows, painful life experience, religious lifestyle”
“Cross + Child: Communion, baptism, birthing pains”
Now, it’s VERY important to note here that Sylvie Steinback (the author of this book) uses the Fox to represent work. I started reading using Sylvie’s method. It’s a very good one as far as I am concerned (I still use a variant of her “no layout method”) but because I had some background in what I would guess are traditional German meanings (and anyone more knowledgeable out there – please do correct me if I am mistaken) a lot of her meaning didn’t work well for me. This is one of those instances. If you’re a beginner to the Lenormand (or just looking for what I would consider to be a more “hip and updated” version of reading with these cards), this is a very good jumping off point to learn from. I know of many people who swear by Sylvie’s method and this is where they stop because it works beautifully for them.
Part of reading cards is really about connecting with your medium of choice. This way, when you lay out cards the meanings will be evident to you. Through interacting with many wonderful people over at The Art of Cartomancy forum I have seen this fact to be illustraited over and over. There are people from all over that come there and share knowledge and it’s so interesting to see how people view the same cards I use. There is no “wrong” way to read them – everyone is different. The important thing to do is find YOUR way of reading….
Had I stuck with Sylvie’s methods exclusively, the cards I threw probably would have been different. Once you and your cards agree on a language together, they will speak the one you’re familiar with. In my case, everything is “a work in progress” so the cards and I are still perfecting our conversational methods, lol…
Example #2: The Treppner Course
“Anchor+Cross: This work is destiny”
“Cross + Child: A child/young lady has a cross to bear”
Could this work for me? Well, I suppose it could but it’s not entirely clear what work it is that is destiny. I have several different “jobs” if you will. Having a cross to bear also wouldn’t fit – I am not what I would classify as a “young” lady, lol. This surprised me because usually Treppner’s method works well for me and it is what I use for meanings most of the time. But I started to run into things like this where I wasn’t too clear on the meaning. Rather than throw more cards (and further confuse myself) I decided to try looking for alternate meanings again. If you are interested in learning about the Lenormand and using the Grand Tableau in particular I would VERY highly recommend this course. It is worth the money spent in my opinion, and this course really helped me to move forward with my reading as a practice.
Example #3 Waldfee
Anchor+Cross: (this is roughly translated in both cases): An end to one’s occupation, layoffs due to work reduction.
Cross+Child (this is what struck me): A fresh start in 3 weeks. An important new beginning.
Both of these examples really hit home for me, which is somewhat unfortunate. Both my husband and I have seen enormous slow downs at our respective jobs due to the gargantuan mess that the US ecomony has become. It’s probably not helpful that we work in different divisions of the same very hard hit sector. My husband’s job has already seen multiple layoffs. Mine has not yet and my employers are working dilligently to avoid them.
The Child/Cross combination is reassuring – at least there will be a fresh start in three weeks though I am not entirely certian how this will impact us. Because (of course) this was very unsettling I looked at the bottom of the deck. What did I find?
Everything for a reason, I suppose
I decided to return to the Lenormand today and my usual five card spread.
We have the scythe in an interesting position. The scythe generally is a “danger” card, but it also has a positive aspect. You may note that it is resting on what appears to be bundles of wheat. The wheat has been harvested by the scythe, so this card isn’t always negative. I initally wondered if our trip was going to be cancelled, but given that the cards are aspected more along the lines of business (the fish is generally a money card, the ship can also pertain to business and not simply travel and the bear also can be representative of a business man or official person) I would think it is more in that realm.
Since the fish card is behind the scythe (the sharp pointed end is facing away) it is possible that either we will have a sudden financial windfall or that money troubles are behind us. The scythe + ship could indicate sudden travel, or a sudden business decision. The bear and scythe could be telling me that someone’s boss is not safe or their position is in jeopardy. Combine the ship and bear, and we have another potential financial windfall suggestion, or possibly a large business dealing. The bear + cross indicates an important man or wealthy man. I’m not really clear on the fish and the cross combination, it makes me think of money going to or coming from a religious institution. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what comes of this.
I checked the bottom of the deck, just because I was curious and lo and behold, there was the coffin once again.
I am going to see how this works for me. I got the idea from Tarot Dame’s blog. Instead of my 5 card draw, I am going to do a combined five card Lenormand draw with a three card Shustah draw in conjunction. Here was what I came out with:
Shustah: Death, Gemini, Destiny - Lenormand: Sun, Cross, Garden, Anchor, Ring
First the Pages of Shustah:
Red 1 (Death) is the card of endings (the angel of death is carrying a scythe).
Black 3 (Gemini) has a time frame of 5/20 – 6/20, and is a card of high energy, movement, adaptability and communication.
Black 13 (Destiny) is the potential self brought to manifestation. Truly I have a very difficult time with this card and the book meaning. It’s the second time I’ve drawn it for my blog.
So it sounds as if there will be an ending and rebirth that will happen rather quickly, however this is meant to happen so that personal growth can take place. Or that’s my take… Now on to M’mselle…
The sun could be indicitive of summertime. It is also the card of great luck. The cross speaks of challanges and destiny (interesting). The garden (or park) could be a meeting or something in the public arena. The anchor is work (your job) or could indicate stability. The ring is a marriage, relationship or contract. So far this is quite promising. Now, for the second layer…
Sun + cross+ ring to me is a lucky contract or agreement and this is “meant to be”. The cross + anchor solidifies this for me as it is about work and that destiny is at play. The garden + cross again could be a funeral though the other meaning is an important (cross) event (garden). Garden + anchor could indicate a job in the public. The anchor + ring is an employment contract.
I have to admit that this is puzzling to me, but I began throwing similar cards last night and just decided that I was getting goofy and needed to go to bed. These cards are very positive but I have a hard time comprehending what this could be about. If I am to take both together, the Shustah reading would lead me to belive that this would potentially rock my world. I guess I will wait and see. Of course, any commentary is always appreciated…
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