If there is something people asking for a reading have difficulties expressing, it’s their choice between Lenormand or Tarot. Why one, or why the other? Or course, some know one of these tools and for them the choice is easy. But what of the others?
Well, in my opinion, it depends mostly on what you want to ask. Do you want a predictive reading? Or something which is more oriented toward advice?
Of course, each tool could be used for everything, a little bit like a swiss knife. But of course, some tools are better tailored for some specific tasks.
If we go to the root of the question, it has more to do with the structure of the deck than anything else. Of course the number of cards and the origins are very different, but let’s talk more about what they try to represent.
If we look at Lenormand, the cards represent objects that we use everyday, animals that are very familiar with their attitudes, and practical things. All this tends to give a reading more descriptive in nature, or what is happening in a particular situation. Something very practical.
On the other hand, the Tarot is configured very differently. The major arcana represents archetypes, universal forces that surround us. These cards look more like actions we would do, not something of a descriptive nature. If we look at the pips of the Tarot de Marseille, they are very abstract, like playing cards. We can easily assign them a numerology system to give them some meaning. We could define choices, directions, stability, challenges, etc… with each number from 1 to 10 representing a concept. In the Rider Waite Smith, these pip cards are represented by scenes having people on them. The court cards are quite similar in structure in these two types of tarots.
The tarot tends itself more to actions we could take, what we could do facing a situation. This is certainly better suited for advice. I often ask the tarot what I would ask a friend.
Seen this way, the choice is simple. Lenormand will tell you what’s going to happen, and the Tarot will tell you why, or what you should do. Do you want to know what is going to happen, or how to get the best from a given situation? Do you want to know if he is coming back or if you’re going to be happy with him if he comes back? Or why did he leave? Do you want to know what will happen with your job, or how to react to some situation happening at work? Are you passive, or proactive? Are you going to get the job, or how should you prepare yourself to get the job?
Let’s take a simple example, 3 cards, and we will look with 3 different tools, Lenormand, the Tarot de Marseille with 22 majors, and the Rider Waite Smith with the full deck. That might help you decide.
Lisa had a fight with her lover, he left her, and is asking what’s going to happen. Typical kind of question you will get if you read cards. I will keep the readings short, to get quickly to the point.
According to Lenormand, the Star shows that she’s going to keep hope for a while, but as we see with the Child in the middle, that hope will diminish quickly and she’ll pass to something else, when, as the Book shows, she discovers some things he was hiding from her. We don’t see a reconciliation here.
The Tarot de Marseille shows a woman kneeling in L’Etoile, in front of a couple in Le Soleil. We could deduce that she thought that everything was going fine betten them (le soleil), that’s probably why she takes that kneeling position in the middle, probably imploring him to come back, having some hope. But at the end, that hope will wane, La Mort, with the heads rolling, shows that the relationship is over.
The Rider Waite Smith gives a different point of view, I see these 3 cards as explaining why he left. There was an attempt to make the relationship working, even counselling maybe. But the burden was too big for him and he left to find a more peaceful place.
As a final remark, I must say that I’m always amazed by these tools. All the cards were randomly selected, and even for a rhetorical question, all these divination tools give responses consistent with each other.
Jeu Petit Lenormand, by Carta Mundi.
Jean Noblet, restored by JC Flornoy
1909 Art Restoration Tarot, from drivethrucards.
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