by
Wayne Limberger
Most
of us are familiar with the “multi-tools” used by craftsmen
and handymen; Leatherman makes
one and the ubiquitous “Swiss Army Knife” is
another. They
allow the wielder to perform a variety of dissimilar tasks
without relying on an arsenal of task-specific implements. The
36-card Grand Tableau – one of the oldest card arrangements in
the Lenormand system of cartomancy and certainly the most
complex – is just such a multi-tool. With
a single throw of the cards, all of the essential aspects of a
seeker's present and probable future can be examined over the expanse
of several months or more. This
is supported by the fact that the Lenormand deck has an
abundance of “topic” cards representing a wide range of
life's circumstances. The
Grand Tableau, or GT, is not a spread for asking
narrowly framed questions, except to the extent that almost any
conceivable answer can be found within the spacious confines of
a GT layout.
The
Man or the Woman card – also known as the
Significator - identifies the seeker in the spread and his
or her status at the time of the reading (it may also show the
“Significant Other” in a romantic relationship.). Other
cards used for the purpose of targeted prediction are (in
no particular order):
the
House - the home and domestic affairs; family
or housemates in the immediate environment;
the
Birds – routine stresses and upsets; a
“doubling” effect or anything that comes in “twos;”
the
Lilies – the extended family (not under one
roof); enduring
happiness and protection;
the
Ship - enterprise and travel;
the Tree - health
and well-being; anything
of long duration;
the Clouds, the Scythe, the Cross, the Whip and the Mice - trouble,
hardship, strife, pain, loss, anxiety;
the
Storks – change, generally positive; the
Dog – friends, and friendships;
the
Snake and the Fox – dishonesty, deception,
treachery; complications; where something
is “wrong”;
the
Child – children and anything small or new;
the Tower - official dealings and the institutions for such
actions; loneliness
or isolation; longevity;
the
Book – education; a
revelation or surprise; something
hidden, coming to light;
the
Garden – public affairs and gatherings; social
connections;
the
Rider and the Letter – messages, verbal and written;
the
Crossroads – important life decisions, and possibly
crises;
the
Fish - wages, salary, income, routine
finances; strength
or power; the
envy of others;
the
Moon – status, recognition, and honors (also work,
see below);
the
Anchor – stability in general; hopes
fulfilled (also career, see below);
the Heart
and the Ring - love and marriage, respectively; (the
Ring can mean any contract);
the
Clover, the Bouquet, the Star, the Sun and the Key –
happiness, good fortune, and success; certainty;
the
Mountain – challenges, and obstacles in one's path,
usually indicating delay;
the
Coffin - “endings” and major losses of all
kinds.
Employment
and career are handled differently in the various regional approaches
to interpretation. The
Moon or the Fox can describe the work environment, while the Anchor is generally seen as indicating the long-term career
path. Personally,
I break it down as follows: Moon = work
routines and reputation; Anchor = big-picture
career matters; Fox = the
skills and talents needed to successfully perform the job – in
this sense, it acts faintly like the Magician of tarot and
its correspondence to the planet Mercury.
All
of these cards have secondary and tertiary meanings that are largely
situational or circumstantial, more context-based than descriptive of
life's core considerations. They
often come into play as modifiers to the main areas of
inquiry.Making
sense of this elaborate and often conflicting array of targets in a
reading requires organizational skill and agility. The
usual advice for the Lenormand neophyte is to avoid
attempting the GT until experience has been gained
with shorter spreads. However,
I see it differently; with
a few important exceptions, the basic interpretive
techniques used in small spreads are also applicable to the GT. The
conditions under which they are learned are less critical than the
overall objective of eventually mastering the internal workings of
the system. Interpreting
a linear three-card spread as a “noun/qualifier” phrase
is little different from reading the same three-card series
in a larger layout, with the notable difference that the directional
factors of “horizontal, vertical and diagonal” create an expanded
matrix that complicates but also enriches the picture. My own
preference is to have all 36 cards on the table in front of me, even
though I may only read those few focus areas that are of
particular interest to my client. That
way I'm prepared to handle any unplanned digression without
having to lay a new spread.
Over
the course of several stimulating discussions with
cartomancer extraordinaire Mary K. Greer on
the Aeclectic Tarot forum, I formed the
opinion that, rather than being insanely complicated, the GT is
actually quite manageable when taken in small bites. In
doing so, the “distance” or “proximity” method championed by
Andy Boroveshengra in his book, Lenormand, 36 Cards,
is an invaluable aid. As
a rule, in most – but not all – cases where
beneficial cards land close to a topic card, the
contact will improve its lot, while
detrimental cards farther away are diminished in the
severity of their impact. By
treating each topic card as a localized “vortex” of emphasis
within the seeker's life — a kind of gravitational well that
absorbs the influence of the cards in close proximity — it's
possible to develop a “patchwork quilt” of contextual or
situational meaning that illustrates the role of the surrounding
cards in tweaking the focus.
Think
of several large stones dropped concurrently and randomly
into a placid pond; this
scattering causes multiple concentric rings to spread across the
surface and eventually intermingle, creating kaleidoscopic
fragments of “wave-energy” that either amplify or partially
cancel out the original impulse. In
the GT equivalent, applying specialized “linking” techniques like
intersection, knighting and mirroring allows these divergent elements
to be blended creating a vivid profile of the life's
journey over the next six months to a year. When
one focus area appears to “step on the toes” of another by
holding a neighboring position in the spread, these forms of
integration, when judiciously applied, serve to clarify which aspect
of the life is likely to hold the upper hand.
If
you're a Lenormand beginner, don't be intimidated by the
Grand Tableau. Dive
right in, the water's fine! It's really the
most enjoyable, efficient and effective way to
learn Lenormand.
Recommended
Reading:
Apart
from Andy's book, which is positioned as a stripped-down offering for
beginners, a handful of worthy English-language texts cover the GT
in admirable depth ( more are available in French
and German.). Rana George's
The Essential Lenormand is highly recommended, as is
Caitlin Matthews' The Complete Lenormand Oracle
Handbook. In
her book The Secrets of
the Lenormand Oracle, Sylvie Steinbach dismisses
the GT as “this tedious spread,” briefly explaining it without
bothering to name it. I
found her book useful primarily as a guide to interpreting the
cards. Tali
Goodwin and Marcus Katz published Learning Lenormand: Traditional
Fortune Telling for Modern Life, but I haven't read it
yet. Beyond
the realm of print, there are numerous web blogs and online
courses of instruction; half
the fun is finding them for yourself. Assuming
it's freely distributed, I suggest capturing the relevant text from
the best of those blogs in a tabbed binder for ease of future
reference, If nothing else, get yourself the downloadable Philippe Lenormand Sheet, the original “little
white book.”