6 Tips For Getting Confident With Card Meanings

As I said in my previous post, Lenormand is an intuitive card-reading system which is based on universal symbols and meanings.

To be able to use Lenormand most effectively and confidently, you have to start building an intuitive relationship with your cards. A lot of this is to do with having an instinctive understanding of the underlying meanings of their symbols.

The tips below are some ideas as to how you can start to do that

1. Put Down The Books And Lists

I know, I know. Most of you arrive here because of the lists, right?

But here’s the thing. The card meaning lists that Lenormand readers like myself provide are put together to provide guidance and quick at-a-glance references for Lenormand learners. They are meant to help and support you. They are often examples of how the underlying meanings of the cards manifest in day to day life; they are not absolute and they don’t include all possible interpretations, just the main ones usually.

Getting confused about multiple meanings is usually because you’re relying too heavily on these external interpretations and examples rather than thinking about what connects them: the underlying meaning of the symbol itself.

To start to get to grips with the card meanings in a more intuitive way, you need to put the books and lists away. They are useful as a reference or to check back,  but focusing on the cards and symbols for yourself will take you into their meanings more deeply in the long run and yield richer results.

2. Get To Know Your Cards

A Lenormand journal is a great place to start doing this. You can do it over a period of time, but you’ll need to get to know each individual card and its symbol in depth, one by one.

First of all, think about the object, person or animal shown the card. Think about it in the real world. What is it used for? How many uses can you think of?  If it is an animal or person, how does it behave and look? What is it known for? Does this symbol have any particular cultural meanings? Does the word for the symbol have meanings in your language?

Make notes about anything and everything you can. For example, here are some possible notes about the Key symbol. Remember, I am thinking about a key, any key, in terms of real day to day life: both practically and how the  symbol and sometimes word gets used in the culture around me.

A KEY

• Opens the door or a box of treasure!
• Unlocks something important or valuable
• Means “the answer” or “the final clue” to a puzzle or mystery
• Often has a connection with magic in some way
• Can be very ornate, shows its importance
• In English, we use the word “key” to mean “most important” e.g. “Key points” “Key player” etc.

Try to note as many things as you can. DON’T consult any Lenormand card meaning lists; just think about the object, person or animal itself, as it is.

3. Consider The Symbol’s Underlying Meanings

So once we’ve thought of all the things we can, we are probably starting to get a sense, a kind of inner feeling about what connects them, what that symbol means at a deeper level. Sometimes this is hard to articulate or put into words; it’s more something conceptual that you just feel and “know”. If you can, see if you can jot down a few words that represent and connect this underlying meaning or concept.

So for example, for Key, I might put:

• Important, Significant. THE one answer. THE most important thing.

4. Now Think About How Those Underlying Meanings Manifest In Everyday Life

So that concept or idea – how does it show up in our day to day lives and in different circumstances & contexts? It can manifest in multiple ways.

Jot down some notes about this for the symbol you are focusing on.

In the case of a key, the concept of important, significant, THE one, THE most important could manifest as:

In General

The physical object: an actual key

Something or someone highly important or the most important

An answer, the answer, to a question

Fate, something destined to happen

Significant events

In Love

The one, a soulmate

Romantic destiny or fate

At Work

An important idea

The solution to a problem

A significant person

Money

The one single thing that will bring you money; the key to your financial situation

5. Practice!

Do as many readings for yourself as you can.

Keep a record, both of the readings and results and note any patterns, particularly with card meanings and how they tend to show up in your life.

You will often find that some variants of the cards’ meanings don’t show up for you at all, whereas others do often. I am like this, as are a lot of readers, with regard to the Lily card. Some lists of interpretations have sex as one of the main Lily meanings. I can see why; the opening and closing shape of the flower, the flower’s protruding stamen, the fact it’s heavily scented and sensual. But I have never used this card to represent sex personally although feel free to; I tend to use the Whip instead and the Bouquet for pleasure and beauty. For the Lily, I tend to use the meanings related to maturity, age, experience, wisdom and peace. I do not personally agonise about whether or not it might mean “sex” in my situation just because it does for some other readers and they relate to it that way.

For me, it just tends not to. End of. And my readings and interpretations, since it is me that’s doing them, will tend to reflect that.

6. Stop Agonising & Start Choosing The Meanings That Resonate With YOU

Leading on from my comment about the Lily, above. Personal resonance and intuition is really important here.

Don’t underestimate this and try not to second-guess yourself too much. If you have a choice of possible interpretation of the cards in a particular reading, your gut and experience from practicing will often tell you which one makes the most sense, both for you and the context in which you’re reading, as well as the specific question you have asked.

Also, after you’ve work with the cards for a while, it can all start to become a bit chicken and egg; when your cards are trying to get a message to you, they will tend to use the meanings that you most often relate to that particular card. So much so, in fact, that you can often tell what the cards are telling you at a glance.

 

In Summary:

• Put down the books and lists!
• Get to know your cards: list the features of that object or thing in real life
• Find the underlying meaning or concept connecting the features
• Think how that meaning might manifest in everyday situations and different contexts
• Practice readings of your own
• Go with the meanings that resonate

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