This Easter was my first holiday as a single mama. I’ll admit, it was kinda bittersweet. Not that it wasn’t fantastic! The kids and I had a nice day and my parents visited and we ate lots of Easter eggrolls… Still, you know, I miss the promise of my family, and holidays are just going to be a reminder that I’m still mourning that loss apparently.
Pull the tarot card first. This will set the tone for the bit of practical advice the Lenormand cards will offer!
I did a quickie reading this evening with the question, “What lesson do I take away from today?” One of the ways I like to use tarot and Lenormand together, is to draw a tarot card for a “high theme” and then draw a string of Lenormand cards for “actionable advice”. Of course, you can see how there would be many variations on these spreads, but for a daily draw (and I don’t even recommend daily draws, honestly), no more than four cards are really necessary.
I used my Jolanda Tarot (I have lovingly cut the cards down so that they’re easier for my small hands to shuffle — which is why you see them devoid of the purple borders). And I used my Judith Bärtschi Lenormand. Don’t you love my lovely cell-phone picture illustrations?!?!
The tarot card I drew was Judgment. Fitting for Easter. In the Jolanda, it’s actually illustrated by a woman and a just-born baby (the umbilical chord is still attached), a stork, which is carrying the child, and the standard trumpeting angels in a cloud – city of gold on the horizon. (I know this is a very strange deck, but it’s working for me these days.) I get the sense that even though the scene takes place at night, and it’s a cloudy night (full of musical cherubs, no less), the woman’s vision is clear — the scene in the background is crystal clear. And she looks up with confidence and a sense of enlightenment about her situation. For me, this rings true of having this opportunity to really figure out who I am and what I’m made of. Judgment isn’t a card that is painful in my view — it’s a card that says, “You are being awakened to a new level of consciousness!” And I can get with that. That sounds pretty awesome, actually!
From the Lenormand, I drew the Tower, Child and Fox. Children in both the tarot and the Lenormand… children are kinda my full-time job. The story I put together is – “Don’t get distracted from what’s most important – providing structure and stability for my children.” The Tower + Child (welfare, structures surrounding the child), and then the Child + Fox (smart kid) seem to indicate that my children are thriving, so I should let go of the guilt (Judgment).
I suddenly realized this in the Bärtschi though — which I thought was super fascinating:
We’ve used the same image to illustrate the card!! (That is the Melissa Lenormand on the right — it’s a super fantastic little deck of cards, if you didn’t know!)
And then I was curious, because I’m heading to New York in a few days to give a little talk about Lenormand cartomancy and one of the criticisms I hear about these cards is that they all “look alike” and that it doesn’t even matter which deck you buy because the cards all mean the same thing (as opposed to a tarot perhaps being read differently based on how it’s illustrated), so I did a bit of a comparative exercise:
The top row is the Tower + Child + Fox with the Melissa Lenormand. My Tower is a little more onimious, but I was really trying to convey “modernity” with this card when I created it. The Child in my deck holds a bowl full of berries and the Fox — in the background, a woman dances with a fox. These three cards verses the Bärtschi – they’re still very whimsical, but when I see the Fox in the Melissa Lenormand, I get the sense that there is an issue I’m avoiding — and that I need to focus at what’s really important and make it happen.
The bottom row of cards is from the Lenormand 2009 deck by Michael Bock — which I also love. But when I put them on the table, the message I get from them is “I’m a light for my kids, I have to protect them (that Fox with the white bird!!).”
Certainly they’re all similar, and admittedly, I read Lenormand like a tarot card reader (which doesn’t invalidate my readings, by the way). But I think that seeing the same reading from these three very different decks should settle any questions over whether or not they even can be read intuitively. Ok, I’m done. And I feel much better this evening after going to the cards. And that’s what they’re for, right? To make me feel better…
Happy Ostara, Easter or irreverent chocolate-coated bunny day!! Hugs and kisses from my basket of chickies to yours!
I’ve been thinking about what I’d be doing this year for the winter solstice, which I celebrate along with Christmas/Yule and then the New Year. This year seems extra special because of the addition of a total lunar eclipse. I came up with a very simple, easy, but powerful solstice spread that will metaphorically light a candle for us in the darkness. And I made a video and worksheet for you as a present for the holiday!
I have been playing around with the Orphalese Tarot software — trying to figure out if I can use it as a way to store and organize my tarot spreads (I can’t — it seems). I’m really digging the software as a way to illustrate readings without having to take an actual photo of my reading space (which is, un-mystically enough, sometimes the space between the edge of my computer desk and the keyboard I’m typing on). I can throw cards in person, call up the spread I’m using in Orphalese and attach the cards I pulled (or I could have the computer randomly pick cards of course) and then type up notes and have a fancy diagram and everything to add to a journal or send with a reading.
When I was going through the notebook of tarot spreads I’ve collected and hastily scribbled down, I found a three card spread that gives advice regarding one’s voice as a reader. I pulled the three cards with my Morgan-Greer and here’s what I came up with (as illustrated in Orphalese):
The first position refers to my strengths as a reader. The seven of pentacles is telling me that I’ve done my homework here. I’ve put in my dues and I’m on the brink of finding the payoff. I find tarot to be personally satisfying and fulfilling and because of the years I’ve spent studying and in personal practice — planting the seeds of success, I have the confidence it takes as a professional. And there’s even more still to reap. This card is a process card. It’s not necessarily an outcome right now. I’ve got the Lenormand on deck and two other tarots I’m developing in conceptual phases. This card is telling me that there is no reason to believe I’ll fail so long as I keep growing what I most love.
The second position refers to my weaknesses as a tarot reader and this card is (obviously) the Lovers. As an aside — I really love this card. I think it’s one of the greatest Lovers cards in all the decks I’ve ever seen — hairy bum and all… In many ways I can see my relationship to tarot as an affair. And like affairs, it wanes and cycles. Often in the fall and winter when I’m kept indoors more often I find myself turning to the cards — and then, once spring hits, all I want to do is go out in the garden. Love is fickle — and at times, my voice as a reader is also fickle. I fall passionately for a deck one day only to give it away the next. I keep questing for the mythical “ONE” tarot deck. My feelings on reading for others cool when I experience burn-out. And the Lover’s card often indicates that a conscious choice is being made. I know that when I’m totally obsessed with tarot I leave my crafting self in the dust — and vice versa. When I’m working on the Lenormand or reading for myself, I feel guilty for not playing with the kids — and when I spend a whole day with my kids, I get itchy to shuffle cards. Love is often misunderstood as well, and as a reader, I sometimes hesitate to try to “explain myself” to people who just don’t see a value for tarot in their lives (or worse, fear it). I don’t want other people to judge my relationship with tarot and I’m ill prepared to defend it if necessary.
The third card reveals the tension or dynamic between the two. I find the four of pentacles in the Morgan-Greer especially to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, I see this card telling me that I’m steadfast in my practice and that I’ll hold on to tarot in my life as long as I can. On the other, I see this card as a bit of a warning that my “all-or-nothing” attitude holds me back. I need to work on establishing a practice that works with my life as it is — and does not compete with my other selves (the mother, the artist). I also think this card is telling me to not be so defensive and try to trust that the people who will reject me for my love of tarot probably wouldn’t fit in my life anyway.
So that’s my reading for today — and quite typical of my three card readings anyway. I’d love to hear any comments or insights any other readers might offer. What is your voice as a tarot reader?
If you don’t read cards, which version of “you” would you benefit the most from learning about? I can see myself pulling cards for myself as a crafter, as a mother, as a student, as a writer…
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