ADAPTING TAROT LAYOUTS TO LENORMAND

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the channel, and welcome to a new tutorial. If you're new here, I'm Layla, the Lenormand Reader, and I focus almost exclusively on the Lenormand practice. I have been busy. I am traveling around and moving again. As you might know, I am nomadic. So every so often, I need to stop and bring myself together and get ready to go to the next place. So I've been a little bit away from the tutorials, and I am happy to be back.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about Tarot layouts versus Lenormand layouts. And I want to offer you a few ideas around the comparison between the two. I know many of us do both Tarot and Lenormand, and sometimes it is a good idea to compare the two because we can use techniques from the two methods into the other. So it helps us expand the things we can do. It helps us expand our toolbox.

TABLEAU-STYLE LAYOUTS

Now, the first thing that I want to talk about when it comes to Lenormand is that in Lenormand, we do Tableau style layouts. So for example, the portrait is a Tableau style layout where we have rows, columns, and diagonals that we can read. So here is a portrait that I'm dealing out randomly, just making sure you've got it clear into the picture here, into the frame. So the nine-card portrait is like your classic Tableau style layout.

And what is it about Tableau style layouts with Lenormand? The idea with Tableau style is that generally we have a bunch of cards laid out in a geometric figure like this. And what we do is we read the rows, the columns, and the diagonals. We also read other structures as opposed to sentences such as the corner cards or the inner diamond and other tricks and tips that we can pull out of the Tableau style layout.

So the key here is that we weave the cards into sentences. We read the cards in combinations. And as you might have heard me say several times before, what drives the Tableau style method of Lenormand is precisely the fact that cards are read in combination. So we read the lines and sentences, we read structures, and we can really come up with all sorts of interesting ways to connect the cards in a Tableau style layout.

So here, what happens is that a card, one single card, is read as part of several lines and columns and structures. There isn't a dedicated spot that represents a certain aspect of the story that we're reading about in a Lenormand layout. Whereas in Tarot, we have that all the time.

For example, the horseshoe spread. We have a past card, a present card, a future card, etc. Not so in Lenormand. Yes, we can read, for example, the left column as the past, the middle column as the present, and the right column as the future. But that is a technique we don't have to use. It is optional. The Tableau style layout is very flexible in this way.

EXAMPLE: PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE SPREAD

Now, suppose we want to adapt a Tarot layout to Lenormand. What would we do? Well, let's consider the simple line of three. So if we have a simple line of three in Tarot, usually we read the cards more or less individually. And often, they represent like a past, a present, a future, or a present position, future position, advice, you know and things like that. There tends to be a spot for each of the cards that represents an aspect of the story. In Lenormand, it's the whole line that tells the whole story.

Lenormand's cards are a lot more amenable to storytelling because of how we weave the cards together. Now, with something like a line of three from the Tarot, what we could do is a couple of things. We could first add more cards in the normal if we want more details. So for example, we can do a line of five. We could do a line of seven. I've even seen lines of nine and 11. So if you want to add more detail, you can just add more cards in Lenormand.

And often, a bit more cards in Lenormand is helpful because the symbols of the Lenormand deck are kind of general, and they're from everyday life, like the key, the sun, the whip. So with more specific meaning, with more cards, we get more specific meaning. Whereas the Tarot deck has 78 cards with reversed meanings. So there's a lot of vocab in there.

To get all of that vocab in Lenormand, all of these meanings and insights, we combine the cards. So for one thing, we can add more cards to align and we can get more insights. Something else that we can do is if we have a past, present, future, or first-person, second-person outcome of the relationship, or you know any number of ways we can assign meaning to these different spots as aspects of the reading.

What we can do with Lenormand is add more cards to each of these spots. So we would do a second card and a triplet, if you like. So whatever this group represents has more details thanks to more cards, and the same goes for the two other groups.

This is actually how I like to do a past, present, future with Lenormand. And I do have a worksheet in one of the courses somewhere where I propose like 30 odd different ways we can read each of these three groups.

Like I said, first person, second-person outcome of the relationship is an example. How about option one, option two, an outcome, or three options, or body, mind, soul, you know, all sorts of different ways you can read into this layout. What you're doing is you're assigning different meaning to the different spots.

So the first tip that I have for you to convert an entire layout to a Lenormand layout is to add more cards per position. And that way, you have more detail for each of the positions when you're using Lenormand.

EXAMPLE: HORSESHOE SPREAD

We can do this as well with the horseshoe layout. So suppose this is our horseshoe layout. So we have seven cards. And some people lay out the cards with the opening of the shoe upwards, the horseshoe upwards. It makes no difference. It's up to you how you want to lay out the cards. And often, this is the past, the present, the future, and obstacle other people advice and outcome. So this would be your standard horseshoe layout.

With Lenormand, if you want to do such a horseshoe layout, like I said, you can add more cards to each of the positions. And that way, you have more detail that makes more sense with Lenormand. So you can add a second card, a triplet. I like to go with odd numbers, as you might know. Some people are very good with two. I started here instead of here. It makes no difference. So that could be like your horseshoe layout with Lenormand's cards.

Another thing you can do when you have such a layout that you're using from another method like Tarot or Oracle Cards or whatever other method that has cartomatic features is in Lenormand, you can make these connections with the cards.

You could read, for example, the first card with the last card. You can read the string of the cards. You can read these two because they're on top of each other. You can read these two because they are opposite to each other. You can read this triangle and this triangle separately with the central card at the top as suggesting a key thing to focus on. You could also do these two. You could also do these two. You could also do this triangle, the one here. You could also do other connections like these two diagonals and these two opposites. So there are many, many ways you can connect the cards in a geometric figure. And of course, the more cards, the more connections.

But you don't want it to go so big that it sort of loses meaning. That is more dedicated to the Grand Tableau, which has its set of techniques, which I teach in the LLIT, and I also cover in one of the master guides. The thing about the Grand Tableau is that all cards are in there, so it's easy to get lost in it. So there are ways to structure the tableau so that you don't get lost in all of the possibilities because all of the cards are there. So apart from the Grand Tableau, with something like this, there is plenty of connections that you can make.

Now, here's what. When you make all of these connections, you might be wondering, "Well, what does this triangle mean? And what do these triangles mean? What are they about? What about these two? What do they represent? And these two, what do they represent?" That is up to you. If you want to assign specific indications or position kind of holders for these connections in the same way, for example, that this is past, this is present, this is future, in the Tarot classical horseshoe spread, it is up to you.

You can decide beforehand how to make sense of all of these different connections. Here are some ideas. You can take the full line that connects card one to card seven as the main story. You can choose to make these two cards along with the top card as the key takeaway.

Or you might choose for this part to be the outcome and this part to be what leads to the outcome, for example. You can also just keep it general and not assign any specific indications to all of these connections. And you can just say, well, it just adds to the story and whatever it adds to the story. So you're reading the main storyline here, and then you look at this detail, and it adds an insight.

You look at this detail, it adds another insight. You look at the connection between the triangle, it can add another insight. You look at these two, it might give you more insights into the reading. So it can be open like that. And actually, for the most part, Lenormand layouts are open like that. Like We don't really assign a meaning or a specific part of the story to a certain group of cards. We tend to leave that open.

Like I said, in the portrait, you can assign the past, present, future to the different columns. You can do this in a different way, somewhat different way in a Grand Tableau as well. In a tableau, there are a lot of structures that we can read, so we tend to focus on a few of them because it helps structure the tableau. Like I said, otherwise, it can go in all sorts of different directions. But for a smaller spread, like the horseshoe, the portrait, maybe an extended portrait, like the 3x5, it's okay not to assign any specific meaning to the cards.

You can get a feel for the story from just weaving them together and not from the position that they're in. Do you sort of see what I mean? So there's a position for the card, and then there's the meaning of the card. With Lenormand, we can get a lot of insight into the reading from just reading the meaning of the cards. And like I said, all of these different connections, they can just add more insights to this. So that's for a horseshoe layout. I think the horseshoe layout is amenable to be used with Lenormand.

EXAMPLE: CROSS & CELTIC CROSS

There are many, many Tarot layouts, and you can invent as many of them. But something like the extended cross, for example, which is quite big, it is, of course, amenable to Lenormand. We can adapt it to Lenormand. Oh, my deck is all around. But I find that it is a little bit cumbersome if we were to add an additional one or two cards per position for the Celtic Cross, like this one here. So if we were to add additional cards for Lenormand, this is still not in the picture. Let me just deal this out.

Here we go. Oh, still not too straight. Okay. That's a bit better. So if we're going to go with the tip of adding two additional cards per position for Lenormand, I find that it becomes cumbersome. Instead, I think weaving the lines together makes more sense. So this is a simple cross that is used in just about every method, including Lenormand. You could just read this line with this line.

You could include the central card, the additional card on the center card as part of the lines as well. This is something we also do in Titania's Extended Cross. You can also read the diamond, for example. Yeah? You can read this whole line as a sentence, and then you can sort of see what is going on here versus what is going on here. You can see what kind of cards you get here versus the ones here and see how they contribute to the story.

You can also decide that this part of the Celtic Cross represents one aspect of the story, perhaps the main outcome of the story. Whereas you might decide that this line adds additional details, perhaps not directly in relation to the outcome, but perhaps things happening around the story. It is up to you, again, what kind of role you assign to the cards within a reading. It is up to you.

But again, your key with Lenormand is either to add more cards per position or to weave them in a line. And you can do this with just about any layout.

And yes, you can just do a straight up Tarot layout using one Lenormand card and see what you come up with. So for example, in a Celtic Cross, this is the position of the readee. And then it can be a challenge that faces the readee or a hope and challenge as some people assign it to. Sometimes they assign these cards as well to the hopes and challenges. It depends on the book you read.

These are often the past and then the future, the base, and then the aspiration and things like that. And then these are often the hopes and challenges as well in some books. These can be, I think, the assigned to this card, other people. And this might be an advice, and this might be the outcome of the reading. Of course, different authors might assign to the position slightly different roles or meanings, but in general, there is usually a flow from past to future, base to aspirations, the challenges, and advice, and to other people, and the outcome as well. You'll often find these positions in many Celtic Cross.

So you can just use just a different deck with the same Tarot layout as well and see what you get. I'm just saying that in general, the Lenormand cards, they're a little bit too general to be read singly on their own, as in on their own for each of the card positions. So it's more insightful with Lenormand cards to have more than one card to suggest insight, whether it's into a specific area or just in general.

So like I said, you can add more cards or you can weave them in sentences. And for the Celtic Cross, I think adding more cards makes the reading a little bit cumbersome. And also keep in mind that you are limited by 36 cards. So if you're going to use up all of your deck, you know make sure that you can use all 36 and that you don't need more. So that's a key consideration as well when you're translating or adapting a Tarot layout to Lenormand.

So these are my suggestions for you for layouts when you come across all sorts of different layouts throughout Terra practice, oracle practice, and the normal. And these are just tips for you to be able to use your deck with different layouts as you see fit. And of course, you can always come up with your own layouts. When it comes to Lenormand, again, you know the Tableau style layout works for just about any query, any question because you just read the cards that come up in lines and sentences.

Let me know what you make of these tips. Let me know what are your go-to Tarot layouts if you've been wanting to use them in Lenormand. Be sure to type in any questions you have in the comments so that I answer them and also I could take up your feedback in another tutorial. As always, thank you for tuning in. And until next time, take very good care of yourself.

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