The Future, Fate And Free Will In Lenormand Readings

While not all Lenormand layouts necessarily have a ‘telling the future’ component, both the 9-Card and the Grand Tableau in particular do. In the 9-card reading, the right-hand column is specifically said to reveal future influences. Similarly, in the Grand Tableau, anything to the left of the Querent card is said to relate to past or passing influences, and to the right of the Querent, upcoming influences.

That being the case, what are the different ways we as individuals might respond to the “future” parts of  Lenormand readings – and how may we find it useful, if at all?

Should We Even Be Reading For the Future?

So what is the purpose of including possible future events or influences in our readings? Is it a good idea to even go down that route? After all,  a lot more cartomancy professes to focus more on the personal development aspects than pure fortune-telling these days; prediction has become almost something of a dirty word. I do use it myself, but not in every reading, and even when I do, I have found some ways of responding to it and questioning it are more useful than others.

Personally, I think it’s human nature to want to see into the future. I certainly don’t think that it’s all that systems like Lenormand have to offer, but fortune-telling has a long history for a reason, after all.

As human beings, we are pattern-seekers; our brains have evolved that way. We don’t like to think of things being out of control, and we really don’t like big gaps where we think answers should be. We are often especially uncomfortable with the idea that there isn’t some kind of framework for the parts of life that are unknown to us. We want to know things like “Why are we here? Do we have a purpose as individuals? Do we have meaning? Are our lives important? Is there someone or something in charge of things here or is it all just random?” We try and create frameworks all the time to incorporate those things that seem unanswerable. Whether it’s a traditional religion, or a more eclectic collection of spiritual beliefs – including ideas about Destiny and Fate.

How Useful Is The Idea of Fate in A Reading?

What is fate anyway? Is our destiny set in stone? Is it the case that whatever we do, our life is going to unfold exactly as has been ordained by some outside power ahead of time? Or are things a bit more complicated than that?

Your beliefs about fate can have quite an impact in a reading, both in the questions you ask and how you respond to a reading. You might believe, for example, that the future is already set in stone and you are just the passive recipient of it. You might ask questions like “Will I meet someone, or date this particular man?” “I want X to happen. Will it?”  “Will I get this job? When?”

You might believe that there is no such thing as a set Fate, and everything that happens is a result of you exercising your free will. If you use cards at all, you’ll tend to ask more ‘depth’ questions like, “What can you tell me about X situation in my life?” “What is useful for me to consider at the present time?”

Or you might, as I do, think that your destiny is largely in your own hands as above, a result of you exercising your own free will, and you have the power to influence it, but there are also certain life lessons on your path that you’ve already set in motion through your own past actions as well as those random, unexpected life events that get thrown at all of us.

At the same time, you exercise your free will in both having set them in motion in a way, and in responding to them AND to the possibility of them being told to you in the present.  Doing  a card reading is an act in itself, after all. The past and present are always connected to the future, and there are some strands that follow throughout your life (I often find, for example, the same ‘themes’ coming up again and again in my readings) but at the same time you are free to respond to their likelihood and their influences. “Ok, well what if this were to happen? Then what would I do?”

Check out my post To Predict or Not To Predict? How To Use Lenormand As A Personal Tool for more details of this approach.

Will It/Won’t It Questions

Although in the past, I have let myself be “tied” to what appears in readings sometimes, I haven’t rarely found that a particularly helpful approach. Ironically, I find the “Will it/won’t it?” destiny-set-in-stone type questions have been most useful to me only when the answer seemed to be a firm “No!”  remained resolutely open-ended, or urged me down a different path than the one I was hoping for!

After all, these questions are usually asked when the reader, deep down, really just wants the answer to be a “Yes.” Often in a situation where there are barriers of some kind being thrown up.

Card readers will often get some variation of questions like, for instance, “Will I ever get together with X person?”. But asking that question and making an effort to do or go as far as getting a reading already gives some clues as to the situation you’re in. It generally implies a) you’re not with X person now b) You really, really want to be with X person c) There is some barrier, like maybe you really like them but they haven’t shown much interest, are with someone else, live far away, or whatever.

So what would be more useful to you in that case? A reading where it says “Yes!” (in which case what do you do in response? Sit at home and wait for them to fly in through the window and drop into your lap? Follow them around like a puppy? Cut off all your friends and sit by the phone waiting for them to call?). Or a reading that won’t give a firm answer but suggests something along the lines of “Socialise more. Spend time with friends. Sign up for a college course.” etc

My Own Experiences With “Fate”

This may just be me, but in my experience, the ‘Fate’ stuff that comes up as accurate most often tends to be those more random events parts of the reading that at the time you think, “Huh? That’s out of place. Can’t see how that’s connected,” and it isn’t until later that you see that that’s the very bit that turned out… a specific event, a person… to be spookily accurate all along. It’s just that you didn’t have the knowledge in your life at the time to be able to see it clearly (or perhaps didn’t want to). I get this one a lot on Grand Tableaus. It’s usually the kind of stuff outside of yourself that you don’t have control over: those random events in life.

In terms of usefulness, though I find that it’s better to see potential future influences as exactly that:  potential, in the context of the overall reading including past and present, rather than something fixed. More like “If I carry on with this current way of thinking, these are the most likely influences coming up.” Which then sets you on the path of thinking, “Okay, well, what might I do about that?” And then exercising your own free will.

What Does This Mean For Readings?

Well, first off, that generally speaking, it’s usually not that useful to believe that everything is set in stone. It makes you too passive. It takes responsibility away from you and places it in the cards’ or another reader’s hands. At the end of the day, you are an active participant in your own life. Even if something comes up that you didn’t want to hear, it should encourage you to take action, to open up other paths and consider other options. I never let readings dictate decisions to me. I choose and frame my questions carefully.

The most useful Lenormand readings, I find, give you information, but show where influences connect. In my own readings these days, I tend to go for the “depth” and “exploration” approach over pure fortune-telling and use that information to try to empower myself and others. Really, it’s about guidance, not Fate.

What Do We Really Want?

Importantly, as a reader, it’s worth questioning the question you’re asking of the cards. What do you REALLY want to know and why? What answers are you looking and hoping for in your life? I like readings to open up possibilities, rather than close them down. To empower myself and others rather than to take away responsibility and hand it over to Fate. So it’s always worth thinking about what you want to know, and what that’s telling you about your life. For example:

• Are you scared of making a jump without a concrete answer? What actions can you take to make it less of a risk? Are there other factors you need to consider? Are there other ways you can get what you want without taking that risk?
• What would it mean if you weren’t to end up married to that person? What would you do instead?
• What if you don’t find fame and fortune down a particular road? Might there be other paths open to you instead? Or is fame and fortune actually not that important to you deep down?
• Do you want the cards to make a decision for you? Why? Why are you finding that particular decision difficult? Are there factors you are ignoring that you need to explore further in your day-to-day life? Are you just frustrated by a delay? What practical actions can you take to make that decision easier?

So think about the questions you are asking and why. If you’d like some help with asking Lenormand questions, check out my post How To Ask Lenormand Questions For The Best Results.

In Summary

• What you believe about Fate and Free Will has a big impact on your readings & how you respond to them
• Will it/Won’t it questions aren’t always that useful or empowering. What might you do with a “Yes” or a “No?” answer?
• Think about how you can exercise your free will in a situation & how you might best frame your questions
• Really examine the reasons you are asking the questions you are and what that tells you about your life right now.

And Talking Of Readings…

Most of this site, of course,  is dedicated to helping YOU learn how to do your own Lenormand readings and giving you all the information possible to help you do that for yourself.

That said, I am now offering private email readings.  I can also help you interpret your own readings: your own layouts and your own cards. Interested?  Please see my service pages here and here for how to order a reading. (Oh, and be sure to check my code of ethics as to my approach!). You can check out samples of my reading reports here:

SAMPLE ONE QUESTION 9-CARD READING

SAMPLE GRAND TABLEAU READING