the persistence of memory

As a child in the 80’s I remember how much I loved my little collection of swap cards. Small enough to fit in my hand with worn, rounded edges and soft muted colours. I would flip through them with great delight, looking at the dog, the birds, the bouquet of flowers. I don’t know what happened to those cards over the years.

Several years ago, as I was looking though the philosophy/esoteric section of a bookshop, the only section I ever look at really, I came across a very nicely designed box-set. The soft greens and muted colours took my eye, along with the matt laminate coating that enhanced the design (yes these things are important to me). A book and a tiny pack of cards, a system I was not familiar with, at that stage I only read tarot cards, but as soon as I looked at that imagery my heart was filled with the memory of those happy days flipping through those little swap cards in my room.

That box set was “Easy Lenormand” by prolific authors Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin. It started a learning journey of discovering a language that was not inherent or natural to me. Lenormand symbols are not read as a visual metaphor, it doesn’t matter if the image of the dog looks happy or sad or what the colours are like, the dog is the dog is the dog, that’s it. It’s the language of placement, context, surrounding cards and distance to the querents significator card that tells you more about the dog card.

By the way you can buy a copy of the Easy Lenormand set here, and despite now having an undisclosed (in case my husband reads this) number of Lenormand decks, this one, based on the original Dondorf is still one of my favourites, although I trimmed the borders.

As soon as I read that book I needed more and found a course run by its authors in a group I had never heard of, the Tarot Association, which signifies a pivotal time for me and the beginning of a life long learning journey. It’s an amazing resource, for both tarot and Lenormand.

Since that very first Lenormand course I’m now grateful to have also studied with some other remarkable Lenormand teachers including Mary Greer, Rana George, Donnaleigh de la Rose and Bjorn Meuris – to find the way the language works best for me to interpret clearly. There are a few varied approaches to reading Lenormand, but for me once I learned the traditional Method of Distance system  all the rest seemed to fall into place. Like any new language, sometimes it still eludes me, but other times it speaks so literally and clearly that it is mind blowing.

I wonder what came first in my psyche, the swap cards or the Lenormand? Did I always know where I would be today? There really are no coincidences in life are there.