As most examples we find in divination books tend to show positive or advantageous situation, I’d like to show an example where things don’t look so good, a complex relationship. This was a general reading I made a few days ago for a woman in her 30’s, married, for the next 6 months.
As usual, for a general reading, I tend to prefer doing a grand tableau with the Lenormand; and I use the method of distance, where the distance at which some card is from the consultant determines its meaning.
I am not going to explain the whole reading in this post, but right away, trying to get a general view of the spread, something felt wrong concerning the relationship. Already the first 3 cards, snake - clover - man, might show some opportunity for the husband with someone else, especially with the snake so close to the ring: there is some danger for that ring. If we look at the 3 most important cards concerning relations, we can see that the Anchor, which represents stability is at a distance for the consultant, this might show some instability in the relationship. The Heart is far, 4 positions away, feelings for each other might have cooled down. The Ring is 5 positions away, the farthest it could be from the consultant; and to the left, a sign that the relation is in real danger. Continuing the analysis, we see that there are straight lines from the consultant to the heart and to the husband, and they don’t look very good. Last, the Lilies stand somewhere below the consultant, a sign of unhappiness.
Here is the complete tableau:
Let’s start with our consultant. She certainly does not feel appreciated enough for the moment (moon - clouds), she’s quite upset (whip - birds), and while she tries to find strategies to stay optimistic (fox - sun), optimism is quickly fading away (rider and sun clouded).
There are 2 direct lines to the Heart and to the husband. For the heart, going into the right direction seems difficult (paths - stork - whip). She’s certainly lashing out verbally at her husband (man, scythe, birds, woman).
So, what’s happening? If we look at the husband (the Man card), he certainly want to isolate himself (tower) from the unhappiness of his wife, and his solution is to cut communications (letter, key, scythe). He might have view on someone else (snake - clover - man). Indirectly, even if he’s still happy at home (house - bouquet), he sees the relationship as eroding (ring - mice).
If we look at the Anchor, we still see plenty of trust (fish - child), but some jealousy might be present (bear) and that might be what creates an obstacle to the stability of the relationship (mountain).
The ring is far away and to the left. In the traditional instructions, this indicates a real risk of a relationship terminating. At the minimum, it shows something fishy, but all the good cards around it try to temper the potential crisis. There are still plenty of good opportunities in the domestic life (clover - house), even if we see communications between the husband and that snake (snake, man, letter), someone known to them and quite close (garden - house). Probably just some flirting, threatening the relationship. I do not see a breakup here for 2 reasons. First, there is no threatening card around the ring: no scythe, no coffin, for example. Second, indirect connections around the ring show the Man, the Ship and the Heart: the husband is still longing romantically for his wife. So, what appeared so bad at the beginning start to be tempered, there will certainly be some flirting in the coming months, but it does not seem that things will move further.
The heart is at a distance, indicating that for the next 6 months, there might really be a lack of romance in the relationship, more like two friendly people living together rather than two lovers. Looking around the Heart, it looks like the life at home will be mostly on their mind (house), separating themselves from too much social activities (garden - ship). They hope that will move them in the right direction (star - path). That duality between social life and domestic life is certainly something that makes her unhappy (paths - lilies below).
In conclusion, there will certainly be a crisis, the couple will be threatened by an exterior element, but it seems that, even if that period will certainly not be fun to live, the relationship will survive.
Deck: Brepols reproduction from Game of Hope Lenormand.
