This is a first for me,  giving you a review before I have seen the work but from experience I know all about this –

Yes it is true and it is coming very very soon!

So now why would I write about something I have not read as of yet or that is not available?  And why oh why would I be so excited about it??

I perform readings for a living, Lenormand is my tool of preference but that wasn’t always so – I came from Tarot background.  I must admit at the start I was a somewhat stereotypical American Tarot snob (oh I see the mail pouring in about this post already) and couldn’t believe anything could get me to put down my Rider Waite’s.  Well that was true at the start of my Lenormand travels.

I worked with Rana’s Book “The Essential Lenormand”, I devoured “The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook” by Caitlín Matthews and followed (and still do) the work of these two ladies as well as Stella Waldvogel and Andy Boroveshengra.  I was lucky enough to take a course or two with Andy B. online and learned so much from him, and all the people I have noted along with others far too numerous to mention but… something was missing. You know that sort of, something is missing but you don’t know what it is let alone how to remedy the issue?

Enter Björn Meuris.  I had heard of him and that he was teaching online via a FaceBook page and actually I almost didn’t take the courses he offered.  I mean really, I had searched far and wide, you have no idea how obsessive I can be when on the hunt, and almost passed up these courses as “same ole same old” but decided what the hell, give it a go – BINGO!

Björn took me from being a decent reader of Lenormand and created, and I say this with humility, the Lenormand reader I am – a pretty darn good one.  His way of explaining the cards, while not radically different from what I had heard before, was just that little bit more I needed and when it came to the Grand Tableau (GT), his way of explaining the Method of Distance made the lightbulb over my head go on.  I can’t tell you how reading his work, and it was not extensive in the classes back then that he offered by the way, really made all the pieces click.

(Yes it is a second volume you are not seeing things)

My knowledge of Lenormand and the GT started to flow, and flow far more easily then it ever had before and….. with greater depth of understanding and hence the information I received reflected this.  My clients noticed right away that there had been a shift in my readings.  What had been a “fun, different tool for readings, those Lenormand Cards” became what my clients wanted – no more Tarot for them.

So with all of this said you can see how I can be very excited to see these books come out.  Björn, there is no other way to say this, is a class act.  He shares freely and openly a depth of understanding that I aspire to achieve with Lenormand and he does so with no attitude.  I have interacted with him a few times over the past few years and each and every time he has been supportive, informative and most of all kind.

So my bookshelf and reference section of Lenormand knowledge is about to grow by two books and I do believe they may make up a large part of the required reading I insist of my students who study with me in-person.  Just so you all know that adds these two books to my already required reading list of;

The Essential Lenormand by Rana George

The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlín Matthews

Lenormand Thirty Six Cards by Andy Boroveshengra

I know there are other books much anticipated coming out in English in 2018 but I have to say this up front and from the heart – if you have to consider what books to buy and you in 2018 on Lenormand and you are on a budget- there is no doubt in my mind that these are the ones to purchase!!

And just another note before I hit the “publish” button, I have it on good authority (okay I asked Björn, I admit it, and I am spilling the beans) this Encyclopedia is going to be added to in the future, perhaps up to 3 more volumes – YES!!!!!!!!

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As would come to many as no shock I am seeing a definite trend between myself and a friend of mine that seems to be the Universe teaching us lessons, the same lesson at the same time of course.  Again no shock to many I am sure.

Toni Puhle, my amazing friend and Co-Founder of the World Divination Association (WDA)  posted a video not too long ago on how she reads and her style of being a reader – sure enough I start to get asked the same question by people as well.  Okay I guess it is time for me to bite the bullet and do the same thing, you won’t be at all shocked, if you know Toni, that we read soooo very similar it is almost frighteningly similar.

a perfect example of NOT me

First and foremost when I was doing the Psychic Fair circuit I quickly gained the nickname of “The Blunt Psychic”.  Well blunt works but Psychic?  Let us get something straight very quickly, when asked to describe myself I do so as a Card Reader.  I don’t bill myself as a Psychic, as Gifted (don’t even get me started on how that term is thrown here, there and everywhere) and I surely don’t bill myself as the Extraordinary Hugh or the Reader to the Reader’s – I am not built like that.  If others wish to do so, go for it, but for me, it’s Card Reader and that suits me right down to the ground.

Now when we look at Card Reader we will see how I am viewed as blunt.  I read the cards, plain and simple.  I tell you what the cards say, no sugar coating and little to no filter as to how they say it.  Lenormand and Kipper, my buddies, are known to be direct, some would even say brutally honest, that works for me.  Tarot, I read that as well, is direct but…… somewhere along the line people have gone into an esoteric realm when reading these lovely cards – not me.  I tend to like Marseille Tarot again for it’s directness and also because, thank the Stars (no pun intended), no one has created a “Kitty Kat Marseille Tarot” to muddy the seas of Marseille Tarot up with.  Watch now I put that out there and sure enough one will show up – LOL.

And then we come down to a simple fact of my life, I like things direct and to the point yes that’s true but also – I like them practical.  That is why you won’t find me the Reader that people go to when they want “spiritual guidance” of the oracle card reading variety that has no system.  You know the ones that I mean, the oracle cards where you pull one or two and there is your answer.  Okay, these things might be all well and good for others, but especially with oracle cards, if you pull a card and expect the answer of “Inner Wellness” (I just made that up but who knows that could be a card out there) to solve issue I might present with – Nope.  Again I like practical and it seems the Universe has heard me about that and my clients do as well.  So if you want to hear that the answer to your issue is to “Embrace the Serenity of the Spheres” – please don’t come to me!

Now the along with being blunt and on the practical side we have to look at what goes right along with that, I am not a Counselor or Therapist.  I deliver information, specifically the information that I get from reading the cards.  I do so and I convey this information in a very detached manner.  It does not mean I do have compassion, because I do, what it does mean is I am not the type of reader who “holds your hand” and gets you through things.  Again, this comes down to that point I have made – I read the cards and deliver the information they tell me.  What I will do is answer questions about how to handle things IF the person I am reading for asks or IF I see them in a state of high distress over an area of the reading.  This is where the compassion part of me comes in.  Other than that I expect, I read only for adults by the way, that you walk away with information to process and work with on your own to your own best end.  Yes I see clients more than once, and these people tend to be those that are of the variety who come from the School of Do the Work, not from the School of Poor Me – you get my point I am sure.

And last but not least – I am a Card Reader who likes to base your reading on questions you have, not general readings.  Why?  It’s not that I can’t do them, sure I can do them and we can find out some good things along the way but…. general readings tend to give you general answers.  I am more the type that likes to make sure we get to the specifics of things that interest you and the best way to do that, I base your reading on questions you have and then go to the cards to look for your answer.

So after reading this you might be surprised that my business as a Card Reader is growing and thriving – I think that might be the proof in the pudding as they say.  Read the Cards, give them the information and…… done!

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Okay we all have these days !!

Let’s be honest, we all need to take care of ourselves as Readers, no matter the system or tools you choose to use.  As we work the Arts of Divination we all need to take sometime to practice one or more of the items below to help re-charge ourselves –

1. Get outside and walk.  Nature has it’s own healing abilities that we need not activate with the exception that we must go out and be in it.  Hours spend studying and working with your cards can drain you in many ways – reading for others adds to that but this simple tip is easy to do and FREE.
2. Take a long, warm shower or bath.  Adding some sea salt to this helps you detox a bit more as well as the water just helping your muscles relax.  You will be amazed at the muscles that you don’t realize are all cramped up from a day with divination until you do this.  This is another tip that is very low cost.
3. A bit more pricey and not for everyday (how I wish I could) but is helpful – go for a massage.  The benefits of this are endless and really when you think about it how many times do you do something for just you that pampers you?
4. Meditate or just sit still and as quite as you can be.  The simple act of this intention starts to shift your awareness rather quickly as long as…. you don’t make it hard, judge yourself and hence get frustrated.  We all can meditate just not in the same way – cut yourself some slack here and just “be” with yourself – no cutting yourself some slack doesn’t equate to being a slacker, LOL.
5. Cleanse your space – this one I have to stress.  Be it Whiteleaf Sage, Palo Santo, Frankincense or any other cleansing product of this type, find that one that works for you and use it.  My rule of thumb is that you should cleanse the space you read in at least as often as you vaccum it – normally more but…. it’s a start if it’s only when you physically clean the space.
6. Schedule a Holiday from readings and studies once in a while.  I perform readings for a living so I pretty much go at it every day except, my  Holiday from readings is EVERY night after 8pm – no cards, no books, no…..    You might need to follow the same sort of schedule as I, I don’t know, but do not doubt that constant work with divination with no break is the same as your daily work of any other kind – you can burn yourself out if you don’t watch it.
7. The list can go on and on take these as just the start of suggestions.

So when your readings get a bit off track, your attention/focus/intention is for naught or you have had the reading from He..  try one of the above – we as Reader’s occupy a very special place in the world and we have to start to learn to properly take of ourselves and honor that, so we can do the best at our divinations that we are capable of!

Please note – do not engage in strenuous exercise and in some cases partake of massage without making sure your Physician approves.  In some cases you may also be allergic to certain incense or such, don’t use what your body doesn’t like for cleansing work!!!!

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Here is the start of a typical morning for me,  a 3 Card Daily Lenormand “Give me an insight into my day, today”   Yes, after all the years I have been working with cards I still do my dailies and it is how I really start my morning every day, work day or not.  I brew my coffee, feed the cats and when the first cup is done – out come the cards to give me guidance.  Below (using the Enchanted Lenormand by Caitlín Mathews) came out just the other day.  We will talk about it more below (ahem it was all too correct).

Learning Fluency with the Lenormand Cards – it is so much more than just a keyword or two.  What gets you to being fluent with Lenormand, or that matter any divination system, is to work with them everyday as often as possible.  Making a routine of this, like my first cup of the  morning (and yes I have a rule don’t talk to me before I have had it) works well.  If you can start out your day with the cards it is likely you will keep them on your mind as you go about your day and hopefully use them more during the day as well.

Now you will find a few things that will benefit you along the way with doing your daily readings

1. Because you have drawn your cards in the morning and you are looking to see how they fit into your day and did you predict with them correctly you become more mindful of your day.  Since daily readings are “dialed backed” (see below for dialed back explanation) they make you look at your day in greater detail – even the small things.
2. You start to see that keywords aren’t all the cards are about – the mundane world of paying bills, missing the train to work, etc. are all here in the cards, we just need to see them.  The “dialed back” meanings help with this and stop looking at them as we often do as always being major events.
3. Andy Boroveshengra first taught me the meaning of the term “essence of the card” and I can’t thank him enough for that. Doing work with the cards like this teaches you this and the card essence gives you such fluency.  If you have not purchased his book “Lenormand Thirty Six Cards” I highly suggest you do and start to learn more about card essence with Lenormand Cards.

“So you are telling me I should or have to be working with the Cards at least once a day?” I can hear you asking now.  Yep – I am and it takes more than that actually but starting out with committing to doing your daily reads will get you started.  Don’t have time to do daily reads or work with the Cards daily, I can’t make you do that – that is for sure.  I can also not make you a fluent reader either if you can’t do that.

Okay that was a tough last sentence right?  No it was an honest last sentence is what it was.  Ask anyone who has gained a good level of fluency with their cards and, I am sure,  they are going to tell you the same thing.  It takes time, practice and lots of it.  But guess what – you are not running a race.  No one says you have to be up and running on  Monday January 16th (at random date) to perform amazingly accurate readings.  What you do need to do is start to working with them EVERY day.

Now daily draws are wonderful and give you a heads up as well.  The one pictured at the top of this posting?  Well it warned me of a woman who I thought was a friend perhaps not acting so – Ahem then I see a posting on Facebook with not one Woman I thought was a friend but a number of them all talking about me wearing tights to the upcoming Readers Studio 2018.  Friends like this I need???  Gotcha Toni Puhle and Gang, you knew I would !!!!!

So have I gotten you ready to make your resolution to do your Daily Lenormand Read every morning for the New Year to come?  If you want to become fluent and hence proficient with your Lenormand Cards I have thrown down the glove – go on you know you wanna pick it up!

** Dialed back meanings is when we don’t take the Card at full force so to speak.  An example would be The Coffin #8.  If we pull this on a daily and we do so 3 times in one week and we use it at full force – well we are knocking them dead left and right!  Rather we would look at the Coffin during a daily as more than likely an ending and a rather small one at that.  Example – Coffin, Cross, Moon – An ending that causes a crisis at work (I use Moon as a work card) and this turned out to be that I ran out of coffee in the shoppe!  

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It’s a Secret!

I have been reading cards for, well for more years then I really care to admit but okay I started when I was 5.  Really, some of my childhood friends still remember me with Tarot cards at that age. And why do I bring this up?  Well you would think I have built up a thick skin by now but…….

The other day I did a reading for someone and I was sort of dumbfounded with her response at the end.  “Well I THOUGHT that the cards would have shown what is important to me, not what you talked about.  I THOUGHT the real issues of my life and the  decisions I have made……….”  Okay you get the hint here, she was waiting for things to be said that were not, and she was upset about that in a big way, and I have to say it got under my skin and it took me a bit to realize why.

First off, as I have always said, the cards are always right, it’s how we interpret them that can be wrong.  Well I happened to remember this spread like the back of my hand (due to the way she reacted) and I re-constructed it and sat with it and guess what – I was spot on and I have not a doubt about it.  If you know me, then you know this is not ego talking, I took well over an hour dissecting this spread this time around just to make sure.  So then I took my cards and start getting nosey, if you will, about why the reaction and why she treated me so poorly.

Well we have to know the cards told me in great length what was going on here and why they didn’t address “what she THOUGHT’ would appear.   The answer – why bother talking about that, she has made up her mind, isn’t going to change it and why then address it?  On the surface she appears open to what you will say, she is not and has taken all steps to block any information that you might give her to the contrary of what she thinks is in her best interest.

She walked in and wanted validation is what this boiled down to and that’s okay many people do, but most people are also open to hearing a different twist on something – not this Lady and the cards knew it and just headed off into other areas of her life instead.  They knew that saying about “talking to a wall” and headed off the confrontation.  So where am I headed with this?  Good question.

I sense most of all this was a lesson in you can’t make everyone happy, even when you are trying your best and know you are on target.  People are going to hear what they want, judge how they want to and ultimately leave a reading with the information they want to – not necessarily what you said by the way.  If someone wants a reading from you, yet is totally not open to having a reading the cards will figure this out faster then you and….. won’t waste their time with giving information that isn’t going to be received kindly.  The  person isn’t blocking the cards from reading them, no they are just putting their time where best spent – on subjects that the person may be open to hearing about.

So the Secret of this?  Read the way you do and trust in your abilities AND trust in the cards.  People don’t block you from reading them, the cards just won’t play into their games and drama and allow you to get into a debate that you can’t win.

We consult cards to gain wisdom and insight, and they give us that in more ways then one. It’s not just the information they convey that is important, what the cards are not talking about can be just as important – think about that!  

Until we shuffle the cards together next, Happy Readings, Hugh

PS – many thanks to Sarah for allowing me to use her beautiful photo,   XOXO

Greetings,

On July 25th, I might be off a day, a video explaining a different way of reading the Clover (#2) card in the Lenormand Card System was posted by Donnaleigh.  The following day I started getting emails as to when did this meaning change, why did the meaning change and just general confusion.

Simple – it didn’t change!

What Donnaleigh is explaining in the video is that she is using a Brazilian method of reading the Lenormand cards when interpreting the meaning of the Clover.  She is not invalidating what you already know or how you should read the Clover – she is showing you another way to read it.  It is akin to the “Work” card being Moon here, Fox over there and…….    it is a different system of reading the cards, some call them Schools of how to read the cards.

Now if you look at it in terms of how many read the Clouds card and that Clouds can in fact take two cards, one of them being the Clover, and make it negative – I see where you are getting confused.  Is it then making the Clover “super” negative since it now has this little bit of not so good in it already?  My answer – I don’t know because I don’t read the Clover as Donnaleigh has outlined.

If you are using Essential Lenormand by Rana George or The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlín Matthews reading the Clover may not work when interpreting with the way these two ladies present how to read cards either, so I can see the confusion there as well.  (I have not consulted with either of these two wonderful ladies before you ask or quote me here.) You need to decide if this way that Donnaleigh has presented makes sense to your way of reading Lenormand – no one else.  You also  then need to use this way of reading the Clover  consistently – keeping consistently in Lenormand Card meanings is Key, no pun intended.  Don’t use it when it is easier, faster, etc. use it and stick with it if it is your choice to use it.

What you were given in the video that Donnaleigh created about the Clover was information.  Now how you choose to use it, not use it or in fact abuse it – that is totally in the hands of you, the Reader.  I am writing this blog so that I have covered this subject and can politely say I won’t be addressing this “issue”, and its in quotes because I don’t think it is an issue, again.  Beating a dead horse – not my style.

Greetings All!

So you are so used to me talking about Lenormand it might come as a shock, pleasant I do hope, that I read Tarot as well.  On that note I was looking for a deck to use to teach a Tarot class with and I found this –

Golden Tarot – by US Games Inc.

created by Kat Black

This deck is just exquisite.  The cards are collages of artwork from the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance period and it has been masterfully done to follow a Rider Waite Style of deck as much as the art can allow.  With the time period of the art kept in mind and my poor photography skills as noted above, you can see how rich and vibrant the art is – you almost want to garb your self in your Ren Faire best when you sit with them.  How this deck can transport you to another era by its artwork is an easy observation to make, experiencing it and how it can assist you with your readings – there my friends is where this deck creator proved herself.

The card stock is excellent and though a bit stiff at first should hold up well.  The edges are gold gilt – a favorite of mine I admit, so I would advise that you don’t “riffle” shuffle these as that constant bending of the cards can wreak havoc on the gilt.  You will also, like many new out of the box decks, have to go through and ensure that each card is separate from the others – they like to stick together like good friends do.  This all said once you break them in a little bit they do shuffle quite well and breaking them in gives you more time to look at the artwork.

The box is quite sturdy as well.  It is a lift off top/display type of box.  It works quite nicely as once you shuffle the cards you can lay out the spread of your choice and place the remaining cards back in the box.  Standing nicely as it does, if you need to pull another card from the deck to clarify something you will find them nicely at your finger tips and neatly together.  For those of you who might be a bit organized obsessed like I tend to be – this is a little piece of heaven on your reading table.

And last but not least is the Guidebook which accompanies the deck.  While you will find meanings for each card as is typical, you will also find a treasure trove information on art, specifically the parts of each card and what art pieces they came from.  Now while I am not an art historian by any stretch of the imagination I can already see I will be sitting down with my iPad and using Google to look up at least some of these pieces.  I think part of the fun of this will be seeing where the pieces came from and how Kat “pieced” these together.  I love a good puzzle to figure out , hence why I adore reading cards, so trying to see how this whole process happened is going to be interesting.

So if you are looking for a deck that will prove sturdy to stand up over time while also taking you back in time, look no further, Golden Tarot is for you.

Shuffle well my friends!

As most of you already know I read the cards professionally as my full time job.  Tarot, Lenormand, Kipper and even Gypsy cards are available to my client’s depending on their needs and what is appropriate to their situation.  But at night…………. other cards come out !!

I love to work with decks and systems that are a bit more obscure during my free time.  Yes I am a hooked on divination and I make no excuses for it.  This being said about a year or perhaps more ago I came across this deck – Die Zauberkarten der Mademoiselle Le Normand – or – The Magickal Cards of Mlle Le Normand.  These cards were rediscovered by Caitlín Matthews who had the good fortune of also acquiring the booklet  that went with them.  The translation of the booklet was done for her by Helen Riding.

This deck is a delight for those like me who like multiple systems because you find different systems within this deck.  We have a mix of Gypsy, Kipper and Lenormand cards all here as well as some I have not seen anywhere else.  This deck is compromised of 46 cards so not all cards of any one system are found within AND you will find the cards you may know from another system have a much different meaning here.  For those of you who are up for a challenge – I highly suggest working with this deck.  The art work of the cards is wonderful and I must admit my photography skills are woefully inadequate to how beautiful these cards truly are.

Caitlin did a lot of work on the booklet that was supplied with the deck I purchased.  Besides the translation she added more contemporary or modern meanings to the cards and these proved quite helpful.  Then she also clarified and made sense of what I must admit is the most confusing system of shuffling and sorting cards out that I have seen in quite some time.  I admire Caitlín for her ability to “cut to the chase” and in setting the system of laying out the cards to be more simplified she did just that.  Bravo !!

Now where you get to have more fun is this – you have to really decide how to lay out the cards.  There are a couple of spreads in Caitlín’s booklet but I decided to go out on my own and work it differently, with what I think is great success.  You do have two significator cards, a Woman and Man (very reminiscent of other systems) and I always pull out one to lay with the spread I am working on giving me a deck of 45 then in play. From there I use what you may think of as a more a directional based Kipper style of reading method and as above I used a Star of 13 spread.  You will note the Woman card is center as the significator with the cards spread around it.  Depending on my question depends on the method of how I read it, again based on a Kipper spread.  Is this the only way to read with these cards – absolutely not but half the fun is figuring out what will work best for you!

So is this a Deck Review?  No it’s not.  What this blog is about is the idea that sometimes we have to shake things up, learning something new and change (as in this time the meanings of some cards) what we already know.   This leads us to exercise our divination minds, expand and modify how we work and hopefully learn how to work with cards, any cards that is, in a more flexible and fluid way.  I am all for working with traditional systems, anyone who knows me will attest to that, but I also find it interesting when we find a system without “all the pieces/parts” laid out for us, to use what we already know and put it to use in different ways.  Knowledge is never wasted unless it is not used.

You may find this deck at Caitlín’s website,  Hallowquest.org  clicking this link should bring you right to the page with this deck but also look around at what other treasures she has there.

Shuffle well my friends!