As you may be aware, some Lenormand layouts are more suitable for different scenarios and timeframes than others. And in this post, I’m going to let you know which is which for some common scenarios, and give you some examples.
So What Do YOU Want To Do Exactly?
1. I Want To Take A Look At The Year or Next 6 Months Ahead
THE best layout for this is, of course, a Grand Tableau. This will give you, potentially, a TON of detail, and the beauty of it is, you can go into as much or as little as you wish. For all the free info & articles you might want about how to read Grand Tableaus, including step by step instructions, check here:
Grand Tableau Advanced Techniques
You can also, as per my previous post about 5 Useful Lenormand Readings For A New Year try:
- A Month by Month Clock Reading
- A Path Reading
- A Pyramid Reading
Or you could try an Astrological Clock Reading, another version of the clock, which looks at each of the 12 life areas suggested by astrological houses.
2. I Want To Read For A Month Or Week Ahead
Generally, for a WEEK, I’d do a five or a 9-card read. A 5-card read will give you more detail than a 3-card would – a surprising amount of detail, in fact, and can be very direct, whereas a 9-card is more analytical.
Find out How To Read A 5-Card Spread here
For a MONTH, I’d probably use a 9-Card spread. This is because it is more complex and involves a deeper understanding of interacting influences than a 5-Card read does. There are also additional techniques you can use in a 9-Card Reading, such as knighting, that can give you extra info. Find out how to read 9-Card Spreads and about all the techniques here:
You can also, if you’re happy not to go into too much detail, do a Grand Tableau, but then only a “short” analysis version, maybe looking mainly at the cards immediately around you and around any key areas you’re interested in.
3. I Want To Get A More Linear View Of A Situation
The 5-Card Layout does give you both a good overview of a situation, plus a “chain of events” from left to right.
For example, in this reading, which uses the Ciro Marchetti Gilded Reverie deck (so it includes extra cards), we can see both that this is a situation centred on how the Querent will get from A to B (Bridges at the centre), and that this will have something to do with a lucky contract or agreement (Ring-Clover) that should bring the fulfilment of their dreams (Stars-Rider).
But reading the cards in a chain from left to right, from more recent or the present into the future, we can see the order of events in a linear way. It tells of a commitment the Querent makes to their dreams (Ring-Stars), then a “bridge” to them is reached or found (Stars-Bridge). Then they they ride across said “bridge” (Bridge-Rider), upon which luck and good fortune will be delivered to them (Rider-Clover).
4. I Want To Find Out More About A Person Or A Specific Situation
A 9-Card Layout is perfect for this type of purpose, as it is quite analytical. It does give an indication of past, present and future influences via the columns but it goes in depth as well, and shows you how those all interact.
So imagine this was a person you wanted to find out more about. Using the 9-Card (3×3) Spread Resources to help you, what do these cards tell you?
For me, they tell me this someone for whom strength and power, possibly physically is key. At the moment, he’s thinking about getting older and feeling gloomy about it, despite its blessings, or letting the bad overshadow the good a little. Underpinning this is the arrival of something new, a change in his life: there may even be a new baby (whether literal or metaphorical) in the picture. Recently, a lovely and important change or new situation has come into his life, but right now he’s feeling gloomy, either about a child or about his own youth. Ahead of him, is a kind of maturation of power; he may be getting older and noticing it physically, as it most definitely “arrives”. Diagonally, we can see he has both blessings arriving, as well as the changes involved in maturing and getting older. If you knight the cards, you can see there are blessings involved with getting stronger and more powerful, and perhaps protecting a child. But he feels gloomy about the changes coming too. Maturity is important with regard to children, and it’s now fated to arrive. Strength and power is a blessed change for him, even though the change may make him feel gloomy about himself physically. The child is one of the blessings of getting older, even if he finds the upcoming change or new circumstances difficult.
5. I Want To Go Digging Deeper In General About A Situation Or Person
Again, a 9-Card layout is the one for you if you want to explore or dig deeper into a situation.
Even better, you can do more than one if something comes up that you’re curious about. Imagine, for instance, you wanted to find out more about the Child, say in the reading above?
You could then pull a new set of 9 cards with the Child at the centre. Or if you wanted to understand more about the Clouds here and what were driving them? You could pull a new set of cards with the Clouds at the centre, to find out more.
So this is particularly useful when you’re really wanting to do some digging into either a person or a situation. Check out my previous post:
Following The Trail: Using Lenormand To Unravel A Mystery
6. I Want To Read For The Day Ahead
A 3-card spread is ideal for this (although I do sometimes use a 5-card to get more detail).
So here, for instance, if I were to ask the question, “What’s Coming Up For Me Today?”, the cards suggest that there’ll be a woman coming onto the scene bringing money or business (or, if the Woman is me, that money or business is on its way to me).
You can find ALL my resources on 3-card readings here:
You can also use 3-card spreads to give you advice or a motto for the day. For example, if instead of asking “What’s Coming Up For Me Today?” in the reading above, I’d asked, “What Advice Can You Give Me Today?” it could be either “Look for a woman who’ll bring you money” or “You should find a way of bringing money and enterprise into a situation.” See how it works?
7. I Want To Read For Timings
I generally don’t read for timings myself ( I prefer to have it inbuilt into my question and don’t really believe in a ‘fixed’ future in any case), but if you are desperate to have a timeframe for your reading, I’d either use a one card reading for the “timing” meaning of the card, or a 3-Card “Event” reading.
You can find out more about Timings in Lenormand here:
All About Lenormand Timings I: Card Meanings
All About Lenormand Timings II: How To Read Them
8. I Want To Perform The Kind Of Layout You’d Find In Tarot, or A Bespoke One For Particular Situations
Do Tarot-type layouts work in Lenormand? Like that Tarot staple, the Celtic Cross, for example?
Generally, speaking, Tarot-type readings don’t work quite as well for Lenormand as they do for other decks (including other Oracle decks like Kippers and Sibillas) because the nature of Lenormand card meanings and how they work. Lenormand cards deal with “essences” and concepts rather than events, that get applied to situations. They also work better in pairs, at a minimum, where the meaning comes from the combination, than they do singly.
So you can try it out, but I think you’ll find that you’ll get very different types of answers.
What you can do instead, though, is adapt Tarot-like readings to fit the way Lenormand works! Mostly, you can do this by using pairs instead of single cards. Take a look at my previous post about creating your own personalised layouts for particular situations here:
5 Tips For Building A Personalised Layout
Practice With Non-Traditional Layouts: Resources
Want More Guidance On Picking Layouts?
How To Choose Which Layout To Use: 7 Questions To Ask
Coming Soon
Want To Find Out More About Layouts And Ways To Use Your Cards?
I’m running a little behind, but my new course is on its way: I will be notifying all my subscribers as soon as it’s available.
Meanwhile, you can check out my other popular online courses and books in the Shop!
And do check out my readings page for details of the card interpretation readings I offer. Just a reminder, I ONLY do interpretations of cards clients have pulled themselves and do not perform readings for clients where I draw the cards myself, so you will need your own cards. Please note, I am not a “psychic” type reading service. The focus of Lozzy’s Lenormand is primarily on teaching my readers the Lenormand system, rather than offering my services as a fortune teller.