7 WAYS TO READ ONE CARD WITH LENORMAND
Lenormand’s one-card reading can actually be a bit tricky!
That’s because it usually takes a few cards to make good sense of a Lenormand layout. This in turn comes from the fact that Lenormand’s cards are designed to be read in combination. So, it can be a little challenging to get a full picture from just one card.
At the same time, the single card draw is essential to start learning the cards.
Isn’t it curious how the one-card Lenormand reading is a good exercise for both beginner and advanced seekers alike?
So here are seven ways you can read one card to deepen your Lenormand practice.
Got your deck on hand?
1. LEARN THE CARDS
There isn’t really a substitute for taking each card in turn to learn its meaning.
If you have as little as a couple of minutes a day, which I’m sure you do whether you’re waiting in line somewhere or getting ready to sleep, take out 1 card and look up its meaning in the card booklet or whatever reference you’re enjoying these days.
I’ve got a super-helpful and totally free Card Keywords guide for you.
I wouldn’t overdo reading about the card at this stage. It matters much more that you resonate with it and develop what you think it means. Jot down some notes and build on them to jog your own creativity.
2. A-CARD-A-DAY PRACTICE
Read about your day ahead with just one card.
You can do this in the morning, then revisit your card at the end of the day to think about how it played out for you. You won’t get much detail from the card at first, but if you stick with it for a month or so, you’ll soon see patterns around what the card is trying to tell you.
You’ll get a good sense of how the essence of the card stands out that day, and you’ll also discover the multitude of ways a card can be interpreted.
3. FRIENDLY ADVICE
Cards don’t just predict, they give you good advice!
You know how I feel about this: I prefer to cultivate a proactive attitude and focus on actions. And I’ve written a few time about it as well like in here and here.
When you infuse your cards with constructive advice, you can’t go wrong! Any card you get will communicate a supportive message.
It’s that simple. Keep practicing and it will get burnt in your brain.
The key is to start with how you feel about the cards and from there expand on their meaning.
Build your Lenormand vocabulary by matching symbols and card combinations with real-life events and spiritual phenomena that are meaningful to you. That way your deck will become relevant, helpful, and intimately insightful. It can become a real friend!
4. WHAT TO FOCUS ON
With a short one-card reading, you might not get much insight (though it also depends on your vocabulary), but you’ll certainly get a clue about what you can focus on.
If you practice Tarot, you’ll know that the Minor Arcana correspond to different areas of life: The Wands (suit of fire) are about ambition and career, the Cups (suit of water) are about emotions and relationships, the Swords (suit of air) are about the mind and challenges, and the Pentacles (suit of earth) are about skills and material success.
While Lenormand’s card pips (clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds) help group the cards, their meaning is atypical and not easily matched with the elements (fire, water, air, earth) - I know, confusing...
But it’s easy to group them into themes based on their meaning. I’ve done just that and come up with twelve life themes. They range from career to travel, and I discuss them in detail in the Card Combinations Master.
My themes are completely based on Lenormand’s card meanings and don’t come from some external system.
So here are a couple of exercises for you:
- Organize each card into a life theme
- Think about that theme in your own life when you draw a daily card
5. SPECIFIC CONTEXTS
For those of you who are becoming more seasoned with the cards, you’ll love this tip.
While it’s possible to organize the cards into themes like I have, any card can make sense in any context. Lenormand’s cards are very open and flexible. It’s super fun to stretch and morph the meaning of the cards to make sense in different contexts.
I call the meaning of a card for a specific context its correspondence.
What do you think the Fox means in the context of career, money, love, health, etc.? What do you make of the Scythe in these different contexts? How would you interpret the Flowers across these areas?
Practicing correspondences will take your understanding of the cards to a whole new level.
In the Master, I cover each card’s meaning across ten different correspondence categories - my fancy term for contexts.
6. POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS
You guessed it, this is one of my favorite exercises. Affirmations completely changed my life and I wrote a little about it here.
In the same way that each card gives good advice, and has a specific meaning for a given context, we can assign each an affirmation that matches its essence.
Be sure to follow me on social media to get these affirmations in your feed. (My social media links are in the purple bubbles at the bottom of the page).
Here’s an Anchor affirmation:
I am safe and secure.
Here’s a Fish one:
I am grateful for all that I am and all that I have.
Again, when you infuse your cards with positive thoughts, they can only be supportive, even with the seemingly negative cards.
Here’s a Coffin affirmation:
I let go and I trust Life.
...And a Snake one:
I handle matters carefully and patiently.
7. THE ONE THING
I’ve recently written about achieving razor sharp focus by zooming in on the one thing that can make a difference for you right now.
In that article, I suggested a three-card reading, but the one-card can help you just as well - if not more.
And if you’re starting to refine your card meanings through the above suggestions, then you could get quite a bit of insight when you’re willing to cut through the clutter and detail, and just get to the heart of things.
So when you’re ready for that one thing, shuffle your deck, cut it, and turn over the top card. What’s the one thing it’s telling you to zoom into?
Heart-centered guidance and intelligent advice are key for an empowering reading
If you want to take your readings to the next level, incorporate practical and spiritual advice into your interpretations. Lenormand Reader’s Card Combinations Master offers detailed heart-centered advice and spiritual guidance as part of every card’s meaning.
