TAROT PENTACLES & SWORDS

[EDITED VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION]

Hi everyone! Welcome back to the channel and thank you for tuning in. If you're new here, welcome, I'm Layla, the Lenormand Reader, and today folks we are following up on the video that I did earlier, a few weeks ago, about translating the Tarot cards into Lenormand.

In the previous video, we looked at the cups and wands, and in this video we are going to look at the swords and pentacles of the Tarot deck. And this also builds on the earlier video that I did about the pips. So I'm going to link everything for you so that you can catch up on that or follow up on it on your own time.

So looking at the swords and the pentacles. The pentacles normally represent the diamonds - the diamond cards - and the swords normally represent the spades. But with Lenormand, there is an exception.

The spades are typically associated with challenges, as it is the suit of swords in the Tarot. But in Lenormand, the spades are not a challenging set, and that too is something that I covered in the earlier pip video. Instead, the challenging suit in Lenormand is the clubs, and that would be a bit unusual in terms of what the playing cards symbolize - like the different suits.

So looking at the clubs, although the ace is the Heart, we do have the Cross, Mouse, Mountain, Fox, Bear, Whip, Snake, and Clouds, are all in the suit of clubs. So it's really the suit of clubs in Lenormand that stands out as the challenging suit of cards.

THE PENTACLES

Now, we're going to start with the diamonds - the pentacles in terms of the Tarot. And let's have a look through the cards and see what would be a good way to translate each of these cards into Lenormand.

So, the ace of pentacles I feel is really well represented by the Sun. It's the shape in the cards, the brilliance and the beauty of the card. It's really beautiful in terms of this new beginning, this new opportunity, and all around success.

And of course, other success cards may well be represented by the ace pentacle because it’s about this new opportunity that has to do with material success.

You're thinking maybe the Fish. Well, I feel the Fish on its own might not be sufficient. It is the king of diamonds in Lenormand. I don't feel it's enough on its own because the Fish can take on negative influences from nearby cards. So in a way it has a neutral aspect. But the Sun is all around success, so I think it works better with the ace of pentacles.

The two of pentacles is a bit of a tricky card in the Tarot. It points to fluctuating fortunes. It suggests that things need to be juggled, and we need to make a balance between different demands and responsibilities. Things go up and down. It's pretty clear I think from the illustration of the Tarot.

So in terms of Lenormand, I don't think there is one card that represents this idea. Instead, it would be a combination. The context would also drive meaning. But I feel that the card that might stand out is the Road.

If I recall, the Road is in the diamonds, it represents the queen. It is someone who is indecisive. So there can be this hesitation and wobbliness [represented by the two of pentacles]. But I feel that if we also have the Mouse with it, then it expresses the two of pentacles better. And we saw the Mouse earlier. So that's how I feel I would represent something like the two of pentacles.

And there could be other options as well. Maybe the Birds. The Lenormand Birds can also mean this kind of wobbliness, this hesitation, and so this can be matched with the two of pentacles.

The three of pentacles is a card of marketplace success. It is about presenting your work to others. It has to do with sharing ideas and working toward common goals. And because it involves other people (there are two people in here, but it is really the idea of the marketplace), I feel that the Garden is best representative of this, but again not on its own. It would need another card. Which one is the Garden? Let me see, I don't have them memorized. Here's the Garden. The Garden is about the public and sharing. And I would say a good card that works with it is the Flowers.

So the Flowers would represent this idea of sharing, presenting, and putting your work out there, especially in the context of the Garden. So these two cards together can make sense in this way [to represent the three of pentacles].

And you can use another card instead of the Flowers to represent your work or what you're sharing with the public. But I think the Garden is really key to represent the idea that you're bringing your idea or your service to the marketplace. I think it is necessary to represent the three of pentacles.

Now the four of pentacles has to do with hanging on to wealth. It can represent selfishness sometimes, so I feel that a couple of cards here can do well. There is the Anchor for example. It can be really good to suggest boundaries or limits, or hanging on. And there can be the Fox that can represent the idea of being self-interested, not really sharing, not wanting to share. That's what I feel works best with the four of pentacles.

But again, I think the context can guide this a little bit. It can suggest holding onto things in a more positive way. So the Anchor with maybe a brighter card like the Flowers, or maybe the Anchor and Coffin, the idea of hanging on and not releasing just yet.

The five of pentacles is obviously a challenging card in the suit of pentacles. It has to do with hardships, usually financial hardships. So typically it would be the Fish. Like we saw, the Fish is the king of diamonds in Lenormand, but it can't be on its own. It would need another card.

So here, depending on the severity of the challenge, we might select the Clouds. This can point to a sudden expense. The Whip can point to straight up challenges - maybe closer to what we see with the five of pentacles. We might also try the Fish and Mouse, which point to problems, losses, and waste.

So a number of challenging cards can apply with the Fish to represent the five of pentacles depending on what you're after.

The six of pentacles is a beautiful card of giving and sharing. It has to do with donations and being generous. And so here I feel that the Flowers is a very good card for that. It has to do with that sense of giving and sharing, and it is “out there”. It has a sense of pouring out goodness. I feel that comes really strongly with the Flowers.

But then what specifically you give, might be suggested by another card. So if this is about money, for example, if you're giving money, donating, sharing, it can be the Fish again. And it can be other elements depending on what exactly you're after when you're saying giving  and sharing.

You could be sharing ideas. With the Key, for example, you could be sharing your thoughts. Maybe with the Clouds - being creative. You could be sharing your space - maybe with the House. All of these are possible with the Flowers, in the context of the six of pentacles.

Moving on to the seven of pentacles. The seven of pentacles is a card of assessment. It has to do with stopping to examine how far we've come. It has to do with looking at the results of our work. And so I feel this card implies a pause. So the Coffin or maybe the Tree, would be the more appropriate card.

I I think the Tree would be more appropriate here - I think it's a heart card. The Tree has to do with that sense of contemplation, of examining things, looking at how far we've come. It has to do with taking time out. It can be associated with solitude. So I feel on its own, the Tree does well to represent the seven of pentacles.

But then we can add more cards to the Tree to see what we're examining, what we're assessing. And the same would apply in the Tarot. So for example, if you're looking at cards around the seven of pentacles, they can tell you what you need to assess and contemplate. So that's a pretty good match I feel.

Moving on to the eight of pentacles. The eight of pentacles has to do with practice and work, and discipline and consistency. The Fox is actually a really good card because, even though the Fox can be negative, it is also a really good card for working and nine-to-five employment, and routine that is associated with work. The Fox works really well with the eight of pentacles.

And I would say, since the Fox can be a bit negative, you might want to use additional cards depending on the context of the question. If you are looking at the Fish again because this is the suit of pentacles, this can be discipline about money, setting budgets, making plans, working within your budget, and things like that.

It can be your relationships and your commitments for example, although in Lenormand this can be a little bit tricky because of the Fox. With the Ring, it can suggest tricky relationships. 

With something like the Flowers, there is this idea of being productive - consistently productive. So I think the Fox is a really good match with the eight of pentacles, even though it has a bit of a negative implication most of the time in Lenormand.

The nine of pentacles is a lovely card of luxury, well-being, and financial comfort. It is also a card of solitude often enough, probably through its association with the number nine, but it does point to the idea of achievement and feeling good about what we've achieved.

So I think the Fish and Sun is a beautiful combination here. The Fish and Clover can be another good combination. And also the Fish and House, the idea of comfort and luxury, the idea of being at ease where we are.

These are all possible. Any harmonious card actually works well with the Fish to represent the nine of pentacles. And the nine of pentacles is also a card of wish fulfillment I think, because it is associated with so much positive achievement.

Something similar comes through with the ten of pentacles. The ten of pentacles has to do with luxury. Perhaps here the House is more appropriate than with the nine of pentacles, but it would still work pretty well. This is the idea of family and we see in the ten of pentacles that it is about home and family. You've got the dogs, the children, the elderly, and the next generation. So really, the Fish and House, and also with the Tree, would be a really nice triplet. Or either pair with the Fish would work really well for the ten of pentacles.

And of course the Sun, Clover, or any of the positive cards with the Fish can work to represent the ten of pentacles, because the Fish is the main card of money.

The page of pentacles is a card that usually represents a person so we might pick any of the relevant court cards in Lenormand, but it’s also associated with learning, studying, and acquiring skills. So here, perhaps the Book and the Fish can work well to represent the page of pentacles.

Sometimes, pages are associated with travel - across all the suits, in fact. They have to do with movement because they bring the idea of exploring. The page is also associated with starting out. There is this idea of exploring and going out there into the world. So the Lenormand Ship might work well with the Fish. They can be a really good representation of the page of pentacles.

I think this card is a bit more flexible. It can take on any number of indications and, as a person, it can be like the queen of swords in here. The Child might be a good representation through the idea of starting out. But this is flexible, it would apply to a number of new beginnings.

I'm not so sure about the jack of diamonds or the Scythe in Lenormand, because the Scythe takes on a slightly different meaning than what we're seeing through the page of pentacles. So again I feel that maybe a couple of cards depending on the specifics are more appropriate here,  and the page is a bit more flexible.

I think the same applies with the knight of pentacles. I don't always feel there's a great difference between these two cards - the page and the knight. Perhaps the knight has to do with movement, but again it's one of the slower knights in the Tarot.

We're not seeing aggressive movement like with the jack of diamonds. The jack of diamonds is the Scythe, it’s the one we just pulled out. I feel the jack of diamonds would be maybe better associated with the knight of swords [in the Tarot] because of the Scythe - the idea of the sword, the sharpness, the movement, the swiftness, the speed. This is a much better translation between these two cards. So that's how I feel about the page and knight of pentacles.

So instead, [the knight of pentacles] is more about an offer, perhaps the Book and any of the money cards like the Fish. This can be suggested by the knight of pentacles.

The queen of pentacles and the king of pentacles are more focused on the gender of the person. This can be helpful in terms of identifying someone in terms of their gender, and I think also, they are pretty similar. They're both about achievement, the idea of attainment, and also a sense of comfort and luxury.

They're both really peaceful people, with a sense of quiet pride I would say between them. And they're also very similar. 

So here perhaps, the king of diamonds can work well. The queen of diamonds [in Lenormand] is not really similar to the queen of pentacles [in the Tarot], because the queen of diamonds tends to be a little bit shifty and hesitant, so I don't feel it has that stability that we see through the queen of pentacles. But the king of diamonds is better associated with the king of pentacles.

Again these are people cards and you could choose any of Lenormand cards that make sense for them. The Lenormand king and queen of diamonds are not so aligned [with the king and queen of pentacles], and definitely not the clubs.

The queen of spades which is the Flowers works best for the queen of pentacles. And the king of spades, which is the Lily and the idea of achievement, can work, as well as the king of diamonds, which is the House, [work well for the Tarot king of pentacles]. These are possibilities I think, if you want to identify them as people.

THE SWORDS

So this is for the suit of pentacles. Let's now move on to the suit of swords. We just looked at the knight of swords, so let's move onto the other cards.

In the Tarot, the suit of swords is the challenge suit. So we have the three of swords that jumps out, the five of swords is another one, the seven is a bit tricky, the eight is also challenging, and of course, the very famous nine and ten of swords in the Tarot.

So it's mainly the challenging suit. In Lenormand, like we said, the challenging suit is the clubs. We have again the Cross, the Mouse, the Mountain, the Fox, the Bear is neutral but it can be challenging, and the Whip, the Snake, and the Clouds. So very obviously challenging.

Now, the ace of swords [in the Tarot] is really not like the ace of clubs [in Lenormand]. The ace of swords has to do with a breakthrough. I feel that the best combination for this would be the Scythe and the Key, and I say that because the Key is a card of intellect. It has to do with brilliance, sharpness, alertness, and awareness. Very sharp thinking. And the swords are associated with the element of air, which is about thoughts. So I think this would be a really good combination to represent the ace of swords.

You might have other ideas, of course. Lenormand combinations are flexible and there's so many of them.

The two of swords is an interesting card. It has to do with not wanting to see, possibly being in denial. I think different authors might interpret it differently, depending on whether it is upright or reversed. But in general, the idea of not wanting to see, being blindfolded, as we see in this picture, is typically represented by the two of swords.

And so in here, I feel that the Book and Coffin, or the Coffin or the Book with any other card depending on what it is we are not wanting to see, needs to be represented by the cards. That's my suggestion for the two of swords and the diamonds. The idea of things being on hold, not wanting to see.

But I think it requires another card. I would say the Book or whatever it is that is on hold, that we want to represent. So I think the two of swords is a bit of a tricky card. I think it requires more context and I think even in the Tarot, the two of swords is not always telling. It requires context. So that's my thought for the two of swords.

The three of swords is clearly a heartbreak and so here there are many possibilities with Lenormand because there are quite a few challenging cards. So it can be just straight up the Whip. It can be the Mouse, although perhaps this is not strong enough for the three of swords. 

And I think the obvious one would be the Scythe and the Heart, so the combination of the Scythe and the Heart, which is the jack of hearts. That is a very, very clear correspondence here, very obvious translation into Lenormand. It's interesting that it's two jacks. Very, very clear interpretation. I would say this solves it really.

Moving on to the four of swords. The four of swords has to do with taking time out and resting. I feel that the Tree is really good for this. It can be a one-on-one translation, which works well. But the Coffin is also possible, because the Coffin is about needing to rest.

And I would say on its own, it works well as a straight up translation, but you might want to add other cards depending on the energy of this timeout that we're seeing through the four of swords.

The five of swords is typically a lot like the three of swords, and so the suggestions that we made for the three of swords apply. But here I feel there is more of a confrontation, and so the Whip would be a really good card to translate this on a one-on-one basis as well. I think the challenging cards work well to represent the five of swords.

The six of swords comes after the challenges earlier in the suit, and so it is often associated with the idea of moving on from the challenges and the pain into a better place. And so here I feel the Road is important, but possibly with the Snake, and that's because of the context within the suit of swords.

So for the idea of moving on following some disappointment, moving on to a better place, the Snake and the Road I feel would work really well for the six of swords. We can look at the six of swords in the context of its suit, the idea that it comes after challenges that figure earlier in the suit. So I think that the Snake and Road work well.

There's also a sense of calmness and quietness that we see through the Snake. So I think that's a good way to represent it. And you may have other ideas as well.

The seven of swords is a very tricky card. It has to do with doing things behind the scenes. It can be associated with stealing, but it is also associated with discretion and being roundabout. So I feel that either the Snake or the Fox work really well to represent the seven of swords - and on a one-on-one basis.

Maybe you want to qualify the cards, add more to them, to define what this seven of swords is about specifically. But I think just the Snake or the Fox works really well to represent the seven of swords.

Now the eight of swords. This has to do with being stuck and being restricted. And normally, the Anchor can do really well with representing this. I always tend to forget which one is the Anchor... here it is in the spades.

The Anchor has to do with restrictions and being blocked. But on its own the Anchor is generally positive, so it's not a good match on a one-on-one basis.

Maybe the Mountain is more appropriate for this because the Mountain on its own can be challenging and represent this idea of a blockage. But if we were looking at the Anchor, we might need another card, maybe the Coffin, or the Mouse, can point to these issues, to the idea that we're not able to move forward. We're stuck and that could also be used with the Mountain as well. So here I think a few combinations can work to represent the idea of restriction.

The nine of swords is a pretty famous card. It always stands out along with the ten of swords as a bit of a nightmarish card. The most challenging cards in the Tarot deck are probably the nine and ten of swords. So I would say in the same way, the most challenging card in the Lenormand deck is the Whip. So this card is a straight up representation of either the nine or ten of swords.

The ten of swords is associated with endings obviously, because it indicates a death here, and so this can be a really aggressive combination to represent it. I'm thinking the Scythe along with the Coffin [and Whip] are probably the most aggressive triplet that we can create with Lenormand’s cards that would be a good match for the ten of swords.

And maybe fewer cards, maybe just the Coffin and Whip, or either one can represent the nine of swords. They're both very challenging cards. And so the most challenging we can get from Lenormand would be a good match for either one.

The page of swords is, I would say, also a little bit like the knight of swords, or we suggested the jack of diamonds, which is the Scythe in Lenormand. And I think either one works well to represent these cards.

There's a lot more speed in here with the knight of swords. So maybe there needs to be a Whip as well. Or what would be nice is the Rider. The Rider would be a good card to represent the knight of swords. I think that is a really good match. It can also represent the page of swords, but the Rider has the speed of the knight of swords, so that is a pretty good representation. But like we said earlier, the jack on its own works really well for either card. So these are good matches for either of these cards.

Now the queen and king of swords. They're similar in the sense that they're a bit stern, not much humor here, they're a bit rigid, so I would say maybe the more challenging court cards in Lenormand can work well.

We have the king of clubs, which is the Clouds. I think it can work really well to represent the king of swords because the Clouds is also the card of the mind. It's the card of thoughts and the swords are also associated with anything mental and the idea of the mind through its association with air.

The queen of swords might be... I'm not so sure about the Snake. She's the Snake in Lenormand - the queen of clubs. This might be a good match, although the Snake is better associated with discretion and diplomacy. I think the queen of swords is also sharp, and so she’s not really worried about being discreet or anything like that. So the Snake might be a good match but other cards might work as well.

I feel that the king of clubs is a better match to the king of swords, than the queen of clubs is to the queen of swords.

We might consider the queen of diamonds, the idea of going on your own, the idea of traveling down your own path. This independence that we see through the queen of swords can be captured by the queen of diamonds [in Lenormand] because the Road as a card, as a symbol, points to the idea of moving on, going down your own path, so it can be a good association.

So these are some possibilities for how to translate the cards of the suit of swords and pentacles from the Tarot into Lenormand. So go ahead and look at the other videos about the pips. That way you have a good understanding of what the pips do for Lenormand, and how you might think through Lenormand if you come from a Tarot background.

So let me know your thoughts. I hope you enjoyed this video and found it helpful. I'm looking forward to your comments.

And stay tuned for more tutorial videos and more videos about the Lenormand techniques. I'm really looking forward to doing them with you. Until we meet again thank you so much for watching and take very good care of yourself.

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