So we’re back to everyone’s favourite Lenormand topic for readings… and of course, it’s LOVE!
Lots of people have asked for Lenormand spreads that specifically look at the relationship dynamics between two people. And the post today is going to cover not only romantic partnerships but other relationships and partnerships too.
Now, we’ve already covered several love readings previously on Lozzy’s Lenormand. You can check those out here:
Lenormand Love Reading Examples
But what I’ve got for you here is TWO additional layouts which do exactly what you’re asking for.
Both may look on first sight very similar, but one is much longer than the other, and has a different laying method.
Two New Spreads To Add To Your Repertoire of Love Readings!
The Purpose Of These Layouts & Card Reading Skills They’ll Help You With
- To look at the dynamics of the partnership or relationship between two individuals.
- These are most usually love partners, but can cover other relationships too; parents and children, business partners, friends… even enemies!
- The second one in particular will give you some examples of events and happenings (and yes, it works with Lenormand! See below)
- They will give you great practice in:
- Reading three-card spreads/triples
- Reading chains of cards
- Applying card meanings to “real” relationship situations
So, without further ado… here are your two layouts!
1. Short 10-Card Partnership Spread
Purpose Of Layout
- The strengths and weaknesses of each partner AND the relationship between them
- What each brings to this specific relationship and how it blends
- The likely future state of the relationship
- You can also use it to look at some likely events.
For more details regarding HOW to lay it out and interpret it, read on!
Significators
It’s not required to use a significator but I find it really helps for focusing on which partner is which in this layout!
In Lenormand, the Gentleman and Lady cards are the main and only significators traditionally, and there aren’t any others in the deck (except for the Child and Rider). If neither of these are suitable, you can use some of the animal cards to represent people, eg a Fox, for someone wily, a Snake for another woman or an enemy, the Dog for a friend or partner, possibly the Rider for another male partner, a Bear, for a manager, etc. Obviously, the Lady and Gentleman as a pair traditionally assume heteronormativity, but you do have other options; and of course if you have one of the decks with alternative Lady and Gentleman cards, you can use this to your advantage also.
Take a look here for some of the decks that do have alternative people cards.
How To Lay And Read This Spread, Step By Step
Step 1: Extract your significator cards, if using
If you’re going to use significators for each individual in your couple, take them out of the deck before shuffling and lay them in position at the top of the layout. You need a cards-width space between them.
Step 2: Shuffle your cards
In whichever way you choose, thinking about the partnership in question and what you want to know.
Step 3: Lay The Cards In Order
Our example spread uses the Gilded Reverie Lenormand:
Step 4: Interpret The Cards As Follows
Begin in rows with the cards immediately below the partners.
Row 1: Their Strengths
Card 1: Partner 1’s Strengths: The Dice.
Our male partner is happy to takes risks and gambles, so he might be exciting to be with.
Card 4: Partner 2’s Strengths: The Stars
Our female partner’s strengths are her ambition, her big-picture thinking, and her hopefulness.
Card 7: Their strengths together: The Snake
It could be around dealing with problems… but this can also suggest that their strengths as a couple are under attack and having difficulties right now. “It’s complicated” is very much the case for this couple.
Card 1, Card 7, Card 4: Read as a whole for the strengths of their relationship.
Dice—Snake—Stars
The three cards together tell us that his risk-taking, while sometimes being a positive, is now causing major headaches and complicates matters, and she maintains hope of being able to untangle the problem. I would say that the Snake suggests the previous strengths of the relationship are being sorely tested and under strain. She will take a chance on things, and continue to take chances on him with a hopeful approach, or look at the big picture and think the risks and issues are worth it, but phew, this is a messy one. He could always be at risk of cheating, it seems.
Row 2: Their Weaknesses Or Fallibilities
And that was the strengths! Now let’s look at their weaknesses.
Card 2: Partner 1’s Weaknesses: Coffin
Something has ended for him, it seems, or he could be prone to depression. But it may mean that in his heart, it’s all over, his feelings are dead.
Card 5: Partner 2’s Weaknesses: House
Home, or self. Perhaps this is to do with how she feels about herself, or it could be to do with the family name or “brand”.
Card 8: Their weaknesses together: Compass
The Compass in this deck refers to guidance, direction of travel. Perhaps they misguide one another, or are poorly advised, or are going in the wrong direction.
Card 2, Card 8, Card 5: Read as a whole
Coffin—Compass—House
Reading the three cards together suggests that their family or “brand” is dead or on its way out, or they are being guided now to finish things. The direction it’s going is towards the finish, and the family is being guided or headed that way.
Row 3: What They Bring
Card 3: What Partner 1 Brings: Ship
The Ship suggests it is he that brings a sense of movement and progress, but he may also be moving on or prone to do so.
Card 6: What Partner 2 Brings: Garden
The Garden implies that it is the female partner who brings the people, the public face, the sense of sharing and togetherness here.
Card 9: What Is Brought Together By Both: Bridges
The Bridges card implies that both together bridge a gap, somehow, have been able to bring different worlds together
Card 3, Card 9, Card 6: Read as a whole
Ship—Bridges—Garden
The three cards read together strongly imply is that together, these two bridge worlds and gaps, and find ways of meeting people or connecting with people. He provides the forward momentum, the not wanting to stay still, and she finds ways of connecting that with people.
Card 10: Future Prospects, What’s Ahead: Child
The final card is the “final outcome” card, where the relationship is headed.
Here, it’s the Child card, which suggest it’s all about younger people. Perhaps their own children, perhaps younger versions of them, but it could also imply a brand new start.
You can, if you wish, also look at the cards vertically, and diagonally for additional insights. Vertical cards can sometimes be viewed as “events” in order (but this works better in a longer reading, as you’ll see from the second layout below). Here, this would give us:
- The male partner here takes risks which brings an ending and a move or moving on (Man, Dice, Coffin, Ship)
- The female partner has big ambitions and is hopeful about their home, family, name and brand with regard to the public (Stars, House, Garden)
- Between them, there is or has been betrayal and complications, complexity, which they’ll be guided through in order to either bridge the gap and connect with their children or younger people, or will provide a transition to a new beginning. (Snake, Compass, Bridges, Child)
Summary Of Our Couple’s Full Partnership Story
Here, we have a couple whose relationship is complex and troubled. The male partner is happy to takes risks and gambles, so he might be exciting to be with, and his female partner is blessed with a positive outlook, big ambitions, big-picture thinking, and hopefulness. Their ability to deal with the problems in the relationship may be seen as a strength, but it also suggests they are overcomplicated and there are likely to be betrayals and cheating involved. “It’s complicated” is a pretty good summary of where these two are at. His risk-taking, while sometimes being a positive, is now causing major headaches and complicates matters, and she maintains hope of being able to untangle the problem. The previous strengths of the relationship are being sorely tested and under strain. She will take a chance on things, and continue to take chances on him with a hopeful approach, or look at the big picture and think the risks and issues are worth it, but phew, this is a messy one. He could always be at risk of cheating, it seems.
Worse, something has ended for the male partner, it seems, or he could be prone to depression. But it may mean that in his heart, it’s all over now, his feelings for her may be dead. For her, her weakness likes in herself, and the family and home, so perhaps this is to do with how she feels about herself, or it could be to do with the family name or “brand” or even their physical home, where they live. Together, it’s suggested, they may misguide one another, or are poorly advised, or are going in the wrong direction. It looks as though their home, family or “brand” is dead or on its way out, or they are being guided now to finish things, it’s headed for the end.
In terms of what they each and together bring to the relationship, he brings a sense of movement and progress, but he may also be moving on or prone to do so, whereas it’s his female partner who brings the people, the public face, the sense of sharing and togetherness here. Yet both together bridge a gap, somehow, have been able to bring different worlds together. They do find ways of meeting people or connecting with people. He provides the forward momentum, the not wanting to stay still, and she finds ways of connecting that with others or bringing people together. What’s ahead for them concerns their own children or the next generations, and it could also imply a brand new start.
The cards also suggest that events-wise:
- The male partner here takes risks which brings an ending and a move or moving on.
- The female partner has big ambitions and is hopeful about their home, family, name and brand with regard to the public.
- Between them, there is or has been betrayal and complications, complexity, which they’ll be guided through in order to either bridge the gap and connect with their children or younger people, or will provide a transition to a new beginning.
So there we have it! A very useful little partnership spread which yields a surprising amount of information.
Now let’s go for something similar, but bigger.
Spread 2: The 21-Card Partnership Spread
This layout, which is based on one by Kipper card designer Hildegard Leiding, also works extremely well with Lenormand, and has similarities with the spread above. Again, it looks specifically at the dynamics, themes and events in a partnership between two people but is much more extensive than the one above and is more events-focused, as you’ll see; and has quite eye-opening results. It uses the two significator cards for the people of relevance, plus 19 more cards.
How To Lay And Read This Spread, Step By Step
1. Laying The Cards
Note that how you lay the cards with this is DIFFERENT from how you laid them in the first spread. So pay attention!
Step 1
First, ensure you have plenty of room, as it is a layout (see above) that will take up quite a bit of space! Extract your two significator cards and from the deck, and place them, facing one another if possible, at the top. If your deck has a different design, I’d try to get your characters facing one another, even if it changes the order they appear in. Here, we have the Lady on the left, facing the Gentleman on the right. The deck here is the Rana George Lenormand.
Step 2
Shuffle your deck, asking your cards to show you the details of the partnership between the two characters you have laid.
Step 3
When you feel you are ready, fan the cards, face down, in front of you.
Step 4
You are now going to pick, randomly and with your left hand, your first three cards from those fanned out before you.
Lay your chosen three cards, face down, immediately beneath your Main Character cards in a horizontal row.
Step 5
Repeat this process five more times, until you have laid 18 cards (six rows of three cards each), each row below the previous.
Step 6
Pull one final card and lay it at the bottom of the middle row. This will represent a “final overview” card, so you won’t read it til last.
Now we are ready to begin interpreting our layout.
2. Reading The Cards Vertically, Column By Column
We will begin with the left-hand column, which in this case, represents the female partner in the relationship.
Step 7
Read these cards one after the other, from top to bottom as events, happening in order for our female partner, or whoever you have on the left hand side.
The Female Partner
Birds—Dog—Tree—Garden—Bouquet—Marketplace
Reading down from the top to bottom, we have our female partner communicating (Birds) with friends (Dog) about her health, wellbeing and growth (Tree) in public (Garden) and possibly in the beauty (Bouquet) or fashion industry (Marketplace).
Our female partner appears to be communicating with friends or advisors at the moment about her health, wellbeing and growth, in public, maybe in the beauty industry. The Bouquet is all about appearance and having a good appearance, so it may well be that she’s on a big PR drive at the moment, to ensure she looks as good as possible to the outside world.
Step 8
Now, in the same way, we read the right-hand column, to represent what is going on with the male partner in the relationship.
The Male Partner
Child—Tower—Snake—Fox—Book—Bed
Reading down, you see he has, from top to bottom, a focus on a child, children or younger person, perhaps a junior (Child), possibly whom he’s dealing with an official, managerial or corporate capacity (Tower), where there is a problem or complication (Snake) over a deception or lie (Fox) regarding a secret or something hidden (Book) about what looks like his sex life (Bed).
So our male partner appears to be having trouble right now. He is dealing with someone younger or junior, perhaps a child, and he may be “above” him in an official or managerial capacity, and there’s a problem or complication being caused by a major deception over a secret, something hidden, possibly to do with his sex life. So it looks like this is a guy who might have something secret going on regarding affairs or his private life that is not overt, but could have someone younger, a child or junior, threatening to expose it?
Step 9
Now we read the middle column in the same way to look at the detail of the partnership and events between them, leaving out the very bottom card for now.
The Partnership Between Them
Key—Letter—Stars—House—Clover—Moon
It looks as though the Key to their partnership right now is a message (Letter) of being an ambitious and high achieving (Stars) family, household or name, even a brand (House) and they will have luck and good fortune (Clover) with regard to exposure or how they are being seen and regarded right now (Moon), what they are creating about themselves.
From top to bottom, we see this partnership involves the key between them being the message (or press?) that they are a “star family”, a big high achieving “name” or brand, and that they’re lucky with regard to exposure and publicity, how they are regarded and seen in the world right now. Likely to want to be famous, “up there”, revered.
Step 10
Reading The Horizontal Card Triplets As Relationship “Themes”
For each triplet in this Lenormand partnership layout, read each of them, one by one from the top to the bottom. I would tend to read the centre card as the theme, and then ‘his n her’ cards either side of that to express what each partner is doing or focusing on associated with that theme, to give us the ‘bigger picture’ of their relationship together. You can also read them as a triplet in the normal way.
Theme One: The Key To Their Relationship, What Keeps Them Going (Key)
Birds —Key—Child
Here we have the Key at the centre, so that’s what this theme’s about. Their relationship appears to be held together by the importance of talking to and about their kids, or important communication that needs to be given to young people in general. He is focused on the kids, and she does the communication side.
Theme Two: News or The Message Of Their Relationship, The Press, Legality (Letter)
Dog—Letter—Tower
This seems to involve them having friends and support in high or official places, most likely in the press, or it may be that they have legal papers drawn up by advisors. It could be that she is getting advice and support, but he has the “official clout.
Theme Three: The Ambitions Or Goals They Have For Their Relationship, How They’re Guided (Stars)
Tree—Stars—Snake
Here, we appear to have him spoiling or complicating the growth and wellbeing of the relationship, particularly in terms of the fulfilment of their goals. Perhaps he has been getting poor guidance, or they are not seen positively online. She appears to be healthier or branching out more, with more plans for expansion, but he may be spoiling or strangling their ambitions and goals with his behaviour, or just causing problems in general.
Theme Four: Their Home & Domestic Life, their Family & Name (House)
Garden—House—Fox
This is interesting. He appears to be deceiving the world about their home and family life, as the Fox is on his side, and the Garden, is on hers. The publicity is what she shows about their home and domestic life, but he is the one who is not being truthful about what that involves. He could well be cheating or deceptive.
Theme Five: Their Opportunities, Chances and Good Fortune (Clover)
Bouquet—Clover—Book
It looks as though she has the advantage of being able to look good, so could well be beautiful or attractive, whereas he has knowledge of some kind, perhaps well-hidden. They both understand how to look good, and they are also good at taken advantage of hidden benefits.
Theme Six: Their Reputation, Fame, What They Create & Manifest (Moon)
Marketplace—Moon—Bed
This is very business-oriented, and they are in the business, it seems, of selling sexiness, particularly him (Bed). She has a reputation of being business and money-oriented, selling, working to create that, and he appears to mainly work at being a sex symbol of some kind. So their reputation largely resides in him being a sex symbol and being able to market that.
Step 11
Now, finally, we can read the final card, which is a suggestion about their future.
Here, we have the Crossroads card. This suggests that there are choices to be made, and we may see them going in different directions at some point. They may stay together and have parallel lives, but it doesn’t look as though they are pulling in the same direction.
Summary Of Our Couple’s Full Partnership Story
Our female partner appears to be communicating with friends or advisors at the moment about her health, wellbeing and growth, in public, maybe in the beauty industry. The Bouquet is all about appearance and having a good appearance, so it may well be that she’s on a big PR drive at the moment, to ensure she looks as good as possible to the outside world. Our male partner, meanwhile, appears to be having trouble right now. He is dealing with someone younger or junior, perhaps a child, whom he may be “above” in rank or a managerial capacity, and there’s a problem or complication being caused by a major deception over a secret, something hidden, possibly to do with his sex life. So it looks like this is a guy who might have something secret going on regarding affairs or his private life that is not overt, but could have someone younger, a child or junior, threatening to expose it. The partnership involves the key between them being the message (or press?) that they are a “star family”, a big high achieving “name” or brand, and that they’re lucky with regard to exposure and publicity, how they are regarded and seen in the world right now. These two are likely to want to be famous, “up there”, revered.
- The key to their relationship is their importance or relevance. It also seems to be held together by the importance of talking to and about their kids, or important communication that needs to be given to young people in general. He is focused on the kids, and she does the communication side.
- The press or “message” or perhaps lawyers are involved in their relationship. They are likely to have friends and support in high or official places, most likely in the press, or it may be that they are having legal papers drawn up by advisors. It could be that she is getting advice and support, but he has the “official” clout.
- With regard to their ambitions and goals, what guides them, at the moment, it seems he may be spoiling or complicating the growth and wellbeing of the relationship, particularly in terms of the fulfilment of their goals. Perhaps he has been getting poor guidance, or they are not seen positively online. She appears to be healthier or branching out more, with more plans for expansion, but he may be spoiling or strangling their ambitions and goals with his behaviour, or just causing complications in general.
- Their home and family life and family name may well be a bit of a scam, or rather fake. He appears to be deceiving the world about their home and family life, while the publicity is what she shows about their home and domestic life, but he is the one who is not being truthful about what that involves. He could well be cheating or deceptive.
- Where they are lucky and have opportunities is around being able to look good, especially her, so could well be attractive, whereas he has knowledge of some kind, perhaps well-hidden. They both understand how to look good, and they are also good at taking advantage of hidden benefits.
- As far as their reputation and fame is concerned, it is very business-oriented, and they are in the business, it seems, of selling sexiness, particularly him. She has a reputation of being business and money-oriented, selling, working to create that, and he appears to mainly work at being a sex symbol of some kind. So their reputation largely resides in him being a sex symbol and being able to market that.
- There is a suggestion that coming up for them are choices are to be made , and we may see them going in different directions at some point. They may stay together and have parallel lives, but it doesn’t look as though they are pulling in the same direction.