How to Pick Your Five Cards

I have two ways of picking them. In both cases, I shuffle the deck while holding
the question I want answered in my mind. Generally, it is best to avoid �yes� or
�no� type questions; this is about details.

Either I pull the five cards out at random when shuffling while concentrating on
the question I want to ask. (I find I tend to get a �feeling of knowing� when
hovering over a card if it is correct, but this may just be me)

OR

When I already have a clear card �focus� (money, love, work, opportunities, for
example, or if I�m asking about a particular person). After I�ve shuffled the cards
and feel that the answer is �ready�, I find that representative card in the deck,
and along with it, pull out the cards that were either side of it in the pack to
make my five.

I�ve had good results with both methods.

How To Read The Cards

Card 3 is your Key Card � the centre, or �theme�, of the reading.

First, you read the cards individually.

Then, you can get a good summary of the whole reading by reading:

Cards 2 + 3 and 3+4

to get the heart of the reading.

Then use mirroring:

Cards 1+5, 2+4

to get the main issues surrounding that

You can also read the cards in pairs, going along the row, like a story

Card 1 + Card 2

Card 2 + Card 3

Card 3 + Card 4

Card 4 + Card 5

(If you�re not sure about meanings, take a look at the Card Combinations page)

In addition, I have found it can be helpful to add further to the detail by reading
all the cards in pairs, so:

Cards 1 +2, 1 +3, 1+ 4, 1+5, for example. Then 2+3, 2+4, 2+5 etc.

EXAMPLE
Question: What opportunities will be coming up for me this week?
I shuffled the deck thinking about this question and used the Clover card �
representing luck, chance, opportunity � as the focus.
Birds + Storks + Clover + Fish + Key

The cards individually:

Conversations/communication; fresh start; luck/opportunity; business; key

The core of the reading:

Card 2 + 3, 3+4 = Storks + Clover, Clover + Fish = Lucky new start; business luck

Mirroring
Cards 1 + 5 = Birds + Key = important conversation or communication

Cards 2 + 4 = Storks + Fish = a new beginning in business

It�s important communication about a new start in business.

Then you can read all the cards in a line:

Card 1 + Card 2 = Birds + Storks = changemaking conversations or communication

Card 2 + Card 3 = Storks + Clover = lucky fresh start

Card 3 + Card 4 = Clover + Fish = freelance business luck or opportunity

Card 4 + Card 5 = Fish + Key = important freelance business, vocation

So this indicates that my opportunities this week involve some kind of conversation
or communication about a fresh start, perhaps the chance for a new business for
myself that would be key and based around a vocation.

And for further detail about all the main elements:

Cards 1 + 2 = Birds + Storks = changemaking conversations or comms

Card 1 + 3 = Birds + Clover = chance conversation or communication

Cards 1 + 4 = Birds + Fish = business conversation or communication

Cards 1 + 5 = Birds + Key = important conversation or communication

This is also telling me the communication itself is probably a �chance� thing about
business that will turn out to be key.

Card 2 + Card 3 = Storks + Clover = opportunity for a fresh start

Cards 2 + 4 = Storks + Fish = a new beginning in business

Cards 2 + 5 = Storks + Key = an important new beginning

The opportunity involved is not just any old new start, it could be the start of
something major for me.

Card 3 + Card 4 = Clover + Fish = freelance business opportunity

Card 3 + Card 5 = Clover + Key = major opportunity, lifechanging opportunity,

lucky twist of fate
In other words, a business opportunity that should not be missed as it�s a big deal

Card 4 + Card 5 = Fish + Key = important freelance business, vocation

The chance perhaps to make a business out of my vocation

So, in summary:

What opportunities will be coming up for me this week?

Answer:
My opportunities this week involve a chance but key conversation or communication
that could translate to a huge and potentially life-changing fresh start, most
likely the creation of a new freelance business based around a vocation. It�s a
chance that I really shouldn�t miss.

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WHAT THE SUITS MEAN
The Lenormand pips are those of the regular playing cards: Hearts, clubs, diamonds,
and spades.

Classically, these four suits correspond to the four elements: Water, fire, earth,
and air. So you�d think that they would match nicely to the Tarot�s four suits:
Cups, wands, pentacles, and swords.

But they don�t!

Lenormand�s suits have slightly different meanings from what we�d expect. The
challenging suit is the clubs, or Tarot wands � not the spades, or Tarot swords.

So what does each Lenormand suit mean? Here are some pointers:

Hearts: Relationships, feelings, support, moodiness.

Clubs: Responsibilities, obligations, complications.
Diamonds: Dynamism, enterprise, money, luck, wisdom, fickleness.
Spades: Business, work, structure, dependability, public interest.

The meaning of the clubs (fire, wands) and the spades (air, swords) are reversed in
the Lenormand.

How about you pull out your deck and examine the cards from the different suits?

MEANING OF THE NUMBERS AND COURTS

We find a few differences here as well.

The Ace, and numbers 6-10 follow the commonly understood numerological significance
of the numbers but with a few differences.

Here they are:

Ace: Beginnings, first steps, origins.

Six: Commitment, attainment, transcendence.
Seven: Communication, assessment, reminder.
Eight: Status, community, resolution.
Nine: Movement or stillness, transactions, conclusions.
Ten: Connections, guidance, mentorship.
Most of these align well with numerology. The one that stands out as an exception
is the number seven. Seven is typically an inwardly-oriented and spiritual number,
so it�s not clear why it would point to communication, assessments, and reminders �
but it does in the Lenormand deck!

Other than the seven, the Lenormand pip numbers are pretty well aligned with the
common numerological meanings.

The courts are also aligned with their commonly accepted meaning:

Jack: Energy, excitement, interactions, experience.

Queen: Resources, motives, nurturing.
King: Dominion, maturity, control.

Unlike the Tarot, the Lenormand deck does not have knights. This probably comes
from the Piquet and other decks of the time, which don�t have knights either.

COMBINING SUITS WITH NUMBERS / COURTS

A fun exercise you can do to find out the meaning of the pips, is to combine a suit
with a number/court.

For example, what do you get when you combine heart with jack? Club with six? Spade
with ace? Etc.

Jot down a few keywords in this template.

And then take note of the card symbol that matches that pip. Can you make any
connections?

More often than not, you�ll find the two work well together � assuming you�ve
accepted the meaning of the Lenormand suits, numbers, and courts!

But sometimes you�ll find the pip and its symbol have different energies.

ODDITIES: PIPS VS. SYMBOLS

Take the time to examine the cards of each suit. You�ll find that they mostly
harmonize well together.

But there are a few standout oddities.

The first one that jumps out is the Ring. The Ring is the ace of clubs.

The clubs is the suit of challenge. While the clubs� energy of responsibility works
well with the Ring because it�s all about commitment and seeing things through, the
rest of the suit�s characteristics are at odds with the harmonious and cooperative
Ring.

Other cards that stand out are those in the suit of diamonds, the suit of energy,
dynamism, and luck. Despite the Scythe�s aggression, it is fickle and dynamic as is
characteristic of the suit of diamonds. But it�s not clear how the Book, Coffin,
and Road harmonize with the diamonds.

Can you pick out other oddities in these suits? What about oddities in the suit of
spades?

Try your hand at this exercise so you can tell which pips harmonize with their
card symbol and which ones are at odds with it.

SUMMING UP
I call �summing up� the technique of finding the dominant suit in a layout.

This dominant suit tells us the overall character of the reading. While this
technique is not so practical for a large spread like the Grand Tableau, it can be
pretty useful for a simple reading.

If you�ve tried your hand at a three-card layout, or even a larger spread like the
hourglass, you can try applying the summing up technique with the pip suits to find
the dominant energy of the reading.