The Fortune Tellers Society

How do I read Lenormand??

Hello there,

Quite recently I was asked “how do you read Lenormand cards and get so much info from them so quickly?” Well that’s a question with many answers let me just start there.

It takes time and study to properly read using the Lenormand system. I laugh when I read posts online and classes offering “become a certified Lenormand reader in XYZ amount of time.” First off who certified the certifier ?? Then I have to admit, and it sounds daunting but it is true, it takes many many months, yes years in fact, of practice until the Lenormand system reads with ease – and even then we get a head scratcher from time to time.

I then saw that the person asking the question wanted to know if I used a “system” to read Lenormand. Okay, now the question becomes a bit easier to answer. Lenormand is a system, so yes of course you use one to read with. If you are looking to be an intuitive reader – Lenormand is not your bread and butter deck. Not to say intuition doesn’t play a part but…… it is a part AFTER the system is used to decipher the cards.

This all said I am a student of Lenormand influenced by the teachings of Andy Boroveshengra, and Bjorn Meuris then add in a dash of Rana George and Caitlin Matthews. Mostly I read as Andy teaches in his amazing book, Lenormand Thirty Six Cards. The smallest spread I read is a three card (never one card alone and a two card is only for a quick description that I might need) all the way up to the Grand Tableau. My go to spread is the 3X3, Portrait Spread, Nine Card spread – it goes by so many names!

When I read, before I look at the Lenormand images I take note of the playing card inserts – all the decks I use must have a playing card insert. I take note how many of each suit is present, if a suit is pre-dominant or is a suit is missing from the spread all together. Each one of these scenarios of course tells me a different type of info. Example – no Hearts are present, this is not an emotionally charged issue/question and yes that is just an off the cuff example not what it means every time.

Then I read the playing card inserts again to see if there are any duplicate types of cards there and if so how many of each. Each set of 2, 3 or 4 of a kind has a different meaning. It would be too long to type here, refer to Andy’s book for a comprehensive list of meanings. Yes, 3 Kings in a spread has a meaning just as a pair of 7’s or any other cards does.

(With both of the above please note everything thing is present in a Grand Tableau so that info doesn’t apply when using that spread.)

Now I have an overall feel for the reading from the Suits with an overall or over riding message from duplicates if they are present. You can have multiple sets of duplicates in a spread – ah there is more info to glean.

Now I proceed to reading the Lenormand Cards by their individual meanings and their proximity to each other. Yes, I am a Near/Far or Proximity reader in the Lenormand system.

So that, in a nutshell is how I read using the Lenormand system. I hope that answers the question. As well here is a link to Andy’s book – I can’t recommend it more highly. I have both paperback and Kindle versions and it is never far from me.

Until we meet again,

Hugh

August 21, 2023 3

Blogs and Blessings

Today I decided to splurge, a brand new shiny laptop to help me with rebuilding the website and getting my work back on track. So…. Blessings to the new laptop and time to blog!

This is my small tranquility area on our back deck. Even with the severe lack of rain here in Vermont this season, the green of the Green Mountain State is still thriving. I bring you here thinking of blessings which abound around us if we choose to just take the moment and think.

This small little scene shares blessings I had from a friendship gone too soon. My dearest friend Helen passed away a number of years ago, only in her 50’s. I spent many days/nights in her company, studied Tarot and Reiki and yes we drank way more wine then was good for us. Her home in Chappaqua, NY was an oasis of calm and she had a Buddha just like this one. We set out on an adventure one day and lo and behold we found mine.

The stones are all from Montauk, NY, called “The End” by some. It is the very tip or End of Long Island and long thought of as a vortex of energy such as Sedona, AZ. While not as popular it has an energy that stays with one. I experienced this a few times, again all with Helen.

Two chunks of Apophyllite are in this photo as well, at the far side, right and left. Yes you guessed it already, Helen helped me learn all about the energies of this stone, I might suggest you research it for yourself.

Now as I get older, a privilege these days that I do not overlook, I get to enjoy this spot. It is not a place of sadness for my friend’s memory, it is a sanctuary of calm that she helped me realize I could create in my life, where I needed one. It’s a seasonal one yes, but that helps me remember how things change – something I also do not overlook the privilege of knowing the value of.

So why blog on this? Simple blessings are in my life and while I normally don’t talk or blog about them, today felt like the day I should. I am not going all “white light” here on you, rather I just gentle remind you that you have them also. I faced some of my hardest times these past 2 years, and the lessons I learned have been a few – count your blessings is among them.

Care to count yours as well?

August 14, 2022 0

Lenormand #14 Fox

#14 the Fox, from Maybe Lenormand by Ryan Edward

That Fox card, it seems to evade and confuse many who study the Lenormand Card Reading System and my answer is – Shouldn’t it?

The Fox is, if it is doing its job correctly, exactly suppose to evade and confuse those who try to watch it, so why not those who study Lenormand? I agree it might be a bit of a frustration at first but I have to appreciate someone who does there job well !

Remember, I keep to a rather “traditional” way of reading Lenormand and a primary source of information for me is “Lenormand Thirty Six Cards” by Andy Boroveshengra. I do not read the Fox as my primary Work card, this I reserve for #32 Moon – getting that out of the way quickly.

Basic Keywords associated with the Fox are deceit, trickery, fraud and in my mind the essence of the card, Wrongness. This is the red flag (pun intended to our red fox above) that something is wrong. If you read using directions as I do, then what the nose of the Fox is pointing to is what is wrong. In my case using the card above that would be the card directly to the left.

Now the Fox does what it does to survive. Many people are trying to put a positive spin on #14 and will go to survivor to do that – I have not seen that to be the case in my practice. This card is in the Suit of Clubs, that tells us that it brings the unpleasant with it and I always consider the Suits that I am reading as a factor to be worked with.

The Fox as I have found does its work in the business settings quite well, remember he is trying to survive and what place is tougher then business? #14 try’s to secure that which it needs, food, shelter and in this day money to obtain anything it might need.

I do give a nod to Rana George here. When she said, and I paraphrase here, that her family yells “Sneaky Sneaky” when they see this card, I agree. This card does try to skulk around and mislead you as to who has done the deed.

The Fox as a descriptor of a person – this I always find interesting. Streetwise is normally something this tells me, they know the lay of the land that they reside in. It can be a work or business rival – again they know the lay of that type of land. It can be a man or woman, you will note I have used it, versus he or she when speaking of this card. In any event I don’t find the person that this card describes to be trustworthy, I watch them closely. When they do things, again its to survive, they are not the spiteful vindicative card of our Lenormand family – that I reserve for the #7 the Snake/Serpent.

#14 is also the card for Redheads, for the obvious reason of the Red Fox being on the card.

So the study of Lenormand brings many to quickly compare this card to #7 the Snake/Serpent = perhaps that should be the next card I discuss?

Until my next blog, read the cards well and read them honestly!

July 17, 2022 1

A Pleasant Surprise

It is such a joy when you can openly admit to being wrong and not have any hesitation about doing so. This is one of those occasions.

Ethony Dawn’s book, Your Tarot Court cards is my subject today and I guess in it’s own way a book review. Book reviews are not something I am known for but, what the heck!

I was referred to this book sometime ago and didn’t bother to pick it up. You see I don’t care for some of Ethony’s work and quite like so many do, I painted her with a broad brush stroke and wrote it off. I am working on dealing with my short comings of being judgmental so this was done in that vein but along the way I found I did like this book.

Quite recently I picked up a new Tarot deck, the Rose Tarot by Nigel Jackson ( a subject for another post I am sure) and was getting acquainted with it. Now like so many of you I also have had my issues with Court Cards and this seemed like the perfect deck to work with and Ethony’s book – sort of a test drive of two items at once.

The deck as I said I will cover at another time but the book – hmmm.

Now first off let us get my few negative comments out of the way. I admit I am an old stick in the mud and can’t stand any type of language of a “colorful” nature in what I read. Yep I am 60 and grew up in that rarefied world of Westchester County, NY. Nothing is over the top might I say but any type of 4 letter word just turns me off. Okay off my soapbox now.

That said the book was a pleasant surprise for sure. Now I don’t agree with everything written, never found a book I have and I think that is normal for all of us. The bulk of what I read was shows a talent and ability to be able to communicate it and the subject material. She sticks to her guns, that’s for sure, but she also gives it to you straight and allows you to choose how to use the information you are given – that in itself is a breath of fresh air from many authors these days.

Now I am not known as a Tarot reader even though over 50 years ago that is where I started my love affair with cards – yes I started quite young! Playing cards were far more a available but quite literally under the table a family member slid a deck of Rider Waite Smith to me and off I went.

I wish this book had been there when I started. Court Cards are tricky little critters even for those of us with a lot of experience. Are they a trait we need to show or not? Are they a person in our life? Are they a facet we need to work with to achieve a goal we have? And there are other ways to view them, for sure there are. You see where this can be confusing – Ethony helps clear this up. The book is well thought out in how information is presented and exercises are there for you to work through, something I do enjoy. It is not a book to read and put down you need to work with the information and she starts you off well.

So for both the experienced and the amateur Tarot reader I say, pick up this book, a Tarot deck and a notebook and have a good time. It is not a one night read so be ready. And if you are afraid of doing the work then…. well then you shouldn’t be reading Tarot now should you?

And last off – Apologies to Enthony Dawn. I painted you with that broad brush stroke and should not have. We will never see eye to eye on certain topics but then when do we all agree all the time with anyone I dare say !

Many blessing to you all and I would love to hear your comments on this book if you have read it or do so in the future!

May 30, 2022 0

A Quick Reading

My Cards drawn on this past Thursday about my pending Scope being done that day. It turned out just as they said. Insight into a long term illness and what was ending was the long term part. The Scope was because a follow up Cat Scan had showed a thickening in the area of the colon where my surgery had joined two pieces together. My Surgeon told me that this was no issue and that it would always be there, even to the point of entering this all into my chart so that I would not have to have a Scope after every follow up Cat Scan – that’s a relief !!

So if you if see that Coffin card at the end of a line, don’t go into a panic, look at the entire reading – The Coffin is always an ending but that ending doesn’t have to be you. The Coffin ends the card that precedes it directly to its left – in my case it was that this was no longer to be a long standing issue! Yes sometimes you read the cards going in a forward direction and then, with the Coffin going backward a bit.

I hope you enjoyed this little Coffin tip!

April 25, 2022 0

Sitting back and …..

I have been quiet for quite sometime, i apologize. We moved to Vermont for peace and quiet and things sort of spun out of control on us. Here is the short version of the low down;

In September of 2020 I was diagnosed with Rectal Cancer and needless to say my world turned a bit upside down. I went through 2 different chemotherapy treatment series, a radiation treatment series as well as 2 surgeries. I also was cared for by a team of Reiki practitioners, and a few close friends who use other alternative therapies/practices. I am now Cancer free (yay me!!) and am on a road of recovery that keeps me a bit fatigued but still able to work full time with a slightly modified shift schedule. That’s it, I kept things mostly quite as I didn’t, and still don’t, want to make my life about Cancer or having had had it.

Now during all this sort of forced down time I had lots of time to study alternative healing work as well as return to traditional methods of reading Kipper and Lenormand. I added in Playing Cards – what a ton of fun those are – and made a few friends on a card readers forum. That forum, I will be kind and not name it, has gone South in a big way. They decided to embrace this new methodology of ”wellness” in readings and not support those of us who are Fortunetellers. Its all about, ”what is my greatest good”, ”will soul be nourished by this endeavor” and….. geez dear Gods help me. While that sort of thing might appeal to others, just give me the facts of life, ”how do I save enough for retirement quickly?” or other practical information and let me live life. I don’t feel I am am qualified to be handing out arm chair Psycho Babble and I won’t. Nuff said.

So I will be spending the next few weeks updating this website and get it back to running form. Readings and Healing works will be offered again. These are done around my Full Time job so please understand that. I also pace myself a bit more until I am back full steam, never fear I can perform this work well and actually doing so helps me out tremendously.

That’s it. That’s whats up. And now, let us move forward !

April 23, 2022 1

It is all coming up Clover

It is all coming up Clover, or at least I hope it is.

This card is from Maybe Lenormand, by Ryan Edwards, US Games Systems Inc.

When the #2 the Clover appears in your reading almost always we have a note of joy, in fact that is the essence of the card. We have keywords normally associated with this card of;

Luck
Opportunity
Change of Fortune
Gamble/Chance
Good Luck Charm/Talisman

these are just a few of the words we can use of course. Let us also remember that what the Clover brings along is of a short duration or quick window of time to work with/obtain. The effects don’t hang around long, seize them while you have the chance – pun intended.

This card has always been my little Leprechaun of the Lenormand – catch this one in your reading and things can go well for you unless…… #6 the Clouds are close by. This is one of two cards that has its meaning reversed by #6, the other card that is reversed by #6 – keep up with the blog posts to find out. So this said without the #6 we see Good Luck, Good Opportunity, Good Change of Fortune, etc. and with #6 near, Bad Luck, Opportunity that is not good for you, etc. and still even with #6 near, it is quick and short in duration.

Questions -feel free to ask away. This is, to me of course, one of the easier of the cards to interpret and I love hearing how it works for you.

Remember to always read with wisdom and compassion,

Blessings, Hugh

June 23, 2020 0

Along Came the Rider…..

So the first of the blog posts on Lenormand Card Meanings starts out aptly with the Card #1

The Rider

card from Maybe Lenormand, Ryan Edwards, US Games Systems Inc.

The Rider, also I have seen it referred to as The Cavalier, Is a fun card to work with. It has the core or essence meaning of News. With this essence kept in mind, the keywords most normally associated with this card are;

News
Visitor
Delivery
Progress
Information
Package

I think of this card in terms of the Pony Express as my easy way of remembering all the different keywords. Now remember from my previous post, this is how I read the card, others I am sure will differ and it is up to you to see what resonates most to you within the Lenormand Card Reading System for each card to determine what works best for your readings.

The type of news, information, delivery, or….. can be determined a few different ways, depending on how you read Lenormand. Most often you will see it referred to as “look to the surrounding cards to determine……….” and this simply means the cards touching the Rider. Keep in mind that this is Lenormand, the cards surrounding a card almost always influence the card they touch. An example might be Rider followed by Tree, which I could interpret as a Health Delivery and then my prescription from my mail order pharmacy service arrives in my mailbox that day.

The other way I have seen how the determination is made is using the more “directional” approach to reading. Simply you said, you look at the direction of a certain part of a card, different for different cards of course, to give you further information. In the case of the Rider we look to see where the horses nose points to, on Ryan’s Rider card that would be the card to the left. Like the above example just place the Tree to the left of Rider and you can get the same answer.

Is either approach better? You tell me what works best for you and I will tell you that is what’s best for you.

This card is fairly straight forward to interpret. Within a Grand Tableau, it can also be interpreted by using the Near/Far (Method of Distance) system or perhaps the House System. Grand Tableau is something perhaps we will delve into another day, for now let us stick with the cards themselves and perhaps some simple tips or a line of three or such as I proceed through the cards.

Questions? Feel free to post them here as a comment and I will get to them as quickly as I can.

Always remember to read with wisdom and compassion!

Blessings, Hugh

June 1, 2020 3

Lenormand Card Meanings – You asked for it

As I start to settle into Vermont life I am also getting to settle back into my spiritual work. One of the items on my to do list is to blog about the meanings of each Lenormand Card. While this has been covered by many others, I am consistently asked how I read them and would I mind providing this. I happily do so with the caveat that this does not take the place of the excellent books that are out there nor does it take the place of a class or workshop you might attend. Also might I add, these meanings are how I have learned to read the cards – others read them differently I am sure.

For these blog postings I will be using the graphics of the cards from Ryan Edward’s most excellent deck, Maybe Lenormand, published by US Games Systems, Inc. A while back Ryan gave me permission to do this and I must say I am so happy that he did. If you are going to be learning Lenormand this is a fabulous deck to work with and if you are an old hand with Lenormand you will enjoy them as well. Thank you again Ryan.

So you will start to see these posts shortly. I haven’t decided as of yet If I will go in card number order or just post them as they present themselves to me. The Muse of Lenormand will assist me I am sure.

Blessed Be, Hugh

May 25, 2020 2