Learn With Me: Lenormand, The Moon

Learn Lenormand and Tarot together

There is more to unpack here than it seems.

From a purely intuitive point of view, when the card turned over the message was simple and clear: Trust your own intuition right now. You already know what you are seeking to know. Trust your gut. Even if you don’t want to face it, deep down, you already know.

But from the “Let’s Learn Lenormand!” point of view, things are evolving.

As I dug into some other online resources to learn about the card, it starts to get contradictory and confusing. Honestly I’m not surprised. Lenormand is the quinessential large layout and this deck is very tied to that method and therefor that energy.

On one hand, the Moon in this deck vibes just like the Moon in the RWS based decks.

Which makes sense, because according to some sources, the deck is based on the Thoth Tarot and Thoth oracles while other sources say it is from oracle cards created directly by Marie Lenormand. Or both.

It doesn’t really matter except for vague background context which may or may not be helpful in any given individual reading. Like I’ve said over and over – no matter what oracle you use or how you use it, the REAL oracle is our own innate human intuition and psychic senses. The cards, runes, charms, crystal balls, bone or chicken gizzards are all just amplifiers and clarifiers that help access our intuition with greater ease and to communicate it to other people with greater clarity.

The Lenormand specific interpretations are all over the place. Some say it is just like the RWS moon. Others say it is nothing like the RWS moon. Christopher Buther, this deck’s author, basically connects it with intuition like other Tarot, but changes the meaning quite a bit based on adjacent cards.

My hunch the message here is to show just how interdependet the card interpretations are. The grand tableau layout using all of the deck is very interconnected and very interdependent.

It may be time for us to move on from one card readings and start with a tres petit tableau to play with the interconnected and mutually modifying card relationships.

Although, admittedly, I’m beginning to think good old Marie used the cards a prop as much as anything, laying them all out on the table and letting the psychic reading fly, occasionally making something up about the cards in front of her to justify what intuition had just told her. Which is as good of a use of the cards as any. They are props and prompts in the end, no matter how structured or methodical our approach to the cards may be.

*shrugs* who knows

There is your Tarot lesson for today: Trust your intuition.

Trust it when you are using Tarot cards, no matter how you use the cards. Trust it in pure form just out and about in daily life. Like a full moon in the middle of the night, trust your own good intuition to light the way.

Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Meditation Practice

Meditation Tarot

Members get free one card meditation style Tarot readings by email (upon your request) and discounts on larger layouts. Please visit HERE for more details

“The real meditation practice is how we live our lives from moment to moment.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

Former MIT educator and author of Wherever You Go, There You Are (1994) – a title that I always assumed was a nod to one of my favorite movies, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension

“No matter where you go, there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai (1984)


Visit the Ask Me Anything page or leave a question in the comments for a free Tarot answer in the blog.

Private readings are OPEN throughout the holidays. Order email Tarot readings 24/7 no appointment needed. Fulfillment times vary. (I’m only one real world person with a day job after all)

Meet Your Reader:

Tincture of Time

The most difficult and deepest healing

“Time heals all wounds”

Deep healing requires the tincture of time.

Time is often the bitterest pill to swallow in our emotional healing. The slow changes time brings are often the most bittersweet. Patience with ourselves and everyone else is necessary medicine, but often the most difficult to create.

The seven of coins calls us to be patient and let the most difficult medicine of all, time, work its healing magic.


Email readings are OPEN all holiday season long. Delivery times vary, especially during nights, weekends and holidays (US eastern) After all, it is just me and my cards and my laptop and my annual panic knitting – but I get the readings to you ASAP with a photo of your real world card layout and my (more than I card to admit) years experience card reading included. Pro Tip: read the whole list to find a layout and price to fit every questions and budget from $5 for one card (FREE for members) up to $40 for a full 7 card layout. Click HERE to order, no appointment needed!

Members only post today

Members only post today. Members get free and discounted tarot readings, plus exclusive content.

New blog post for everyone on Monday.

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I hope you have a relaxing and fun weekend too! See you at Monday’s sip!

About Sage Words Tarot

Every now and then, I’ll remind the blog of other pages on the website. This page tells you about my reading style

Sage Words Tarot is:

  • Inspired by Taoist simplicity, authenticity, honesty and kindness.
  • Transparent: Up front, flat rate pricing and clear business policies
  • Inclusive: You can be yourself with me
  • Safe Space: No spam, proselytizing, hate or bigotry is tolerated
  • Customized: The energy message adapts to your individual needs
  • Experienced: 30 years of Tarot in every reading
  • Dynamic: Always learning and updating to bring you the best reading possible
  • Authentic: No predictions, no stage mentalism
  • Comfortable: No drama, just advice, ideas, inspiration and encouragement
  • Affordable: priced per layout, not per minute.

I’m a writer, so email Tarot is my specialty. Email readings tend to be vivid and concise. Email Tarot is ideal for book lovers, introverts and anyone who wants maximum privacy. Email Tarot is a reader’s reading.

Order email readings HERE 24/7, no appointment needed

In-person or online/phone readings are light, chatty, social and above all FUN! You get the exact same reading either way. Live readings are available by appointment.

Contact SageWordsTarot@gmail.com for more information or to schedule.

Come As You Are

Your Tarot message comes first!

My blog and YouTube channel are NOT monetized. I don’t get a penny from any advertising you see. With me, your Tarot message comes first, not an advertiser’s. Please support the blog and channel with private email Tarot orders, ko-fi membership or virtual coffee. Your likes, subs, and social media shares are always appreciated too!

Perfect!

A kitten is perfect for the Page of Wands today. The page is typically associated with youth and exuberance…we’ve talked about that new graduate vibe before.

Today the page is taking a sip from the six of cups too. There is a sense of the six’s innocence, guilelessness, utter transparency and default setting of seeing things as they are and taking them at face value.

It’s as good of a way as any to take on a routine day.

Please come back tomorrow as we look at a new Lenormand Tarot card as the Learn With Me series continues.

The Zombie Cat free reading offer is CLOSED, but you can always leave a Tarot question in the comments or “ask me anything” page to get a free Tarot answer in the blog.

Thanks for reading. See you at the next sip!

The “I”s have it

Since nobody voiced an opinion one way or another on any platform, I’ll make the command decision.

The captain is turning the ship.

We are going back to frequent, daily-ish one card Tarot contemplations to go with our daily coffee sips. Learn with me and oracle card posts will continue on Wednesdays.

If somebody (anybody! please!) posts a question in the comments or through the “ask me anything” page, I’ll post a bigger Tarot reading in reply.

I’m discontinuing the Substack newsletter AGAIN. It just isn’t necessary. Instead, I hope you’ll just straight up follow the free blog, join the membership level on ko-fi or follow Sage Words Tarot on social media. You can get the same free collective energy readings in all of those places.

The big difference is for members: They get free private one card readings by email and discounts on larger private email readings. You can join HERE

Socials will be quiet later this week while I’m out larking about and having fun with husband and the padawan. Email readings are always OPEN to order. Delivery times might be delayed if you order during nights (U.S. eastern time) on weekends, on U.S. holidays or during previously scheduled larking about with the family.

Have a great week!

Superheroes Have Stress Too

Sage Sips blog is Tarot for today in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Private readings by email are OPEN to order, no appointment needed. Members get free & discounted readings. Virtual coffee on ko-fi always gratefully accepted! Please click HERE for details.

Are you overwhelmed – or are you just busy being somebody’s superhero?

You have every right to say no. You are just as free to save the day. It’s your choice.

Once you know that “no” exists, your superpowers can take flight.

Anybody want a one card Lenormand Tarot reading for free? Leave a comment with your topic or question. Your reading will post in the blog (with no identifying information of course – nothing to connect it to you) Offer ends December 31, 2023.

Holiday Tale

A cautionary tale for the holiday season from the King of Pentacles

Private readings, memberships, shop all are OPEN all holiday season

You don’t often start a sunny November and the holiday season with a cautionary tale, but here we are.

Maybe it’s because the social media collective declared an early spooky season this year in response to the apocalyptic heat this summer, and we are all feeling a little fatigue at the end of it. I get a strange sense of melancholy blowing in the wind today, which seems an odd way to start the Holiday season. It’s all turkey dinners and holiday shopping this month – I’ve already heard Carol of the Bells in advertising. That’s hard core.

A sunny Thursday like this doesn’t often start with a feeling of caution but here we are.

Today’s card is the king of pentacles, in reverse (meaning the card turned over upside down relative to the person doing the reading.)

“So what?” you might ask.

Every Tarot reader handles reversals in their own way. Some always reverse the meaning into ‘darker’ meanings. Some make it into the opposite of the upright meaning. Some disregard them outright. As we are learning in the Wednesday “Learn With Me: Lenormand” series, Lenormand readings handle reversals by not handling them. They just flip the card and go on as usual.

In true Taoism influenced style, I do a blend of both. The cards embody both light and dark, positive and negative aspects all the time anyway. I take all of those aspects into consideration with every reading regardless of the card’s orientation. When a reversal comes along, I let intuition lead. Either it is a hint that the card’s layout position is blocked or turbulent or somehow problematic OR it can feel energetically neutral and I just flip it upright and move on like the Lenormand folks do.

In this case, it feels like it is telling us something.

The phrase “risky buiseness” comes through. The King of Pentacles can reflect material success, a breadwinner, a provider, a good payoff for hard work.

Reversed, it can mean that sort of prosperity flow can get jumbled up.

To be literal about it – don’t get carried away this holiday season. Don’t go into debt or live beyond your means just for the sake of social expectations about how holidays are “supposed” to be celebrated, whatever your chosen holiday may be.

Here, I am reminded of a meme…”tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.” I have a sense that this meme might be particularly true this year. We’ve all been through a heckuva thing with the pandemic and such. We have an opportunity to re-define our Holidays. Let go of the peer pressure from dead people and make this year into something heartfelt more than material.

The suit of coins / pentacles is focused on the material realm, career, wealth and so on – but this is Tarot. The whole point of Tarot is understanding and spirituality, not physical realm predictions. Tarot isn’t made for physical realm except where physical and mental/emotional/spiritual all meet. The whole suit has esoteric threads intertwined with its real-world practicality. The whole suit has a “money can’t buy happiness” element to it.

My hunch that is what the inverted King is telling us. This isn’t the year for materialistic celebrations OR for forced traditions. Friendsgiving is a thing. This is a year for found family and perhaps a chance to let go of toxic or forced traditions that bow to the peer pressure from generations past.

That isn’t to say be overly austere. Celebrate. Indulge in the traditions and treats that speak to your heart. But don’t spend money or energy or emotion necessarily forcing yourself (or trying to coerce anyone else) into following old traditions that no longer serve or excesses that are no longer needed. Do, but do the truly meaningful, heartfelt things. Do, but let go of the forced, habitual, or ostentatious. Mind your bank account – both physical and emotional – this holiday season.

Thank you so much for reading!

There won’t be a newsletter next week or US Thanksgiving week.

In fact, the blogs and socials will go quiet November 9 – 13 and again November 22 – 27. I’m setting a pretty low bar for the holidays myself, but I do need to finish that sweater I’m knitting for a gift, sooo….

Merry Elfcon 5 for 2023!

BUT – private email Tarot will be OPEN those dates and all through the Holidays. You can order any time HERE. Your reading purchases, Sage Sip (ko-fi) memberships, and virtual coffees all support this FREE collective energy Tarot readings in this newsletter, the blog and the socials. None of this is ad monetized, so your Tarot message comes first with me. Any ads you see with any of my content is generated by the platform and all proceeds go to them – so in other words, please support me on ko-fi or by your likes, subs, follows and shares here and on social media.

Learn With Me: Lenormand, Snek

Let’s take a closer look at another card from my new Lenormand Tarot deck.

The more I work with this deck, the more it feels like a real-talk oracle card, really a thing of its own. Not a toxic positive overly optimistic oracle deck that sees the world through rose colored glasses, certainly, but not the depth and complexity that the 78 RWS or the 130+ card Alleyman’s Tarot. A bigger deck with smaller layouts seems to be the sweet spot for my intuition.

See, we learned something right there.

Finding – and frequently using – your intuitive comfort zone is not only OK but it is a good idea to better readings for yourself in the end. BUT at the same time learning, growing, and expanding that comfort zone is equally important. How else are you going to know what your optimum intuition conditions ARE?

That little bit of meta-analysis aside, let’s look at today’s card, the Snake.

All of the animal related ideas from the Bear last week still apply, just swap out the bear characteristics for snake characteristics.

Which I may not be super objective about.

I was born in the year of the wood snake – the green snake. After I learned about Taoism, feng shui, I ching and the like, I’ve always resonated with my chinese astrology symbol just as much if not more than my western Pisces sun sign. Although I don’t know anything about sidereal vs tropical astrology, all I know is that I’m Pisces in both, which in itself is supposed to mean something in itself, I think. I’ll leave that to the astrology adepts of you to figure out. But back to Snake.

The Christopher Butler guidebook to this Healing Light Lenormand deck reads the Snake as someone deceptive with malicious intent (Hey!)

Like owls, snakes are feared in some cultures, revered in others. Makes sense, because in the real world the old nope rope may be either harmless or lethal and you have to know something about them to be able to tell which is which. That’s not the snake being deceptive. It’s up to you to know “Red touches black, no worries for Jack. Red touches yellow, dangerous fellow.” and so on.

Knowledge arms you against deception, both literally and figuratively. But that’s another story.

Chinese astrology, the restaurant place mat edition, reflects the real world duality. Snake year people can be stubborn, opinionated, intimidating with a heaping helping of hubris to go with it. But at the same time they are viewed as intelligent, wise, creative and intuitive.

Or, as the Sirius Black character says in one of the Harry Potter books “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

Part of enlarging our comfort zone, part of learning new things is associating them with things we know well. Just like with the oracle dice from the last “Learn With Me” series I associate this with a few RWS Tarot cards, the Devil and the Three of Swords. Both acknowledge the malevolent side of human nature, cautions us to be on guard as well as asking us to be honest with ourselves about our deepest motives. Are we being deceptive, or are we being deceived.

As for the playing card inset, the queen of clubs, in my system of reading playing cards (I intend to write about that in an upcoming book) the Queen of Clubs is analogous to the Queen of Wands with a message of nurturing and self-care. Watching your back and taking care for your safety is, indeed, self-care.is

Thank you for reading! If you like what you’ve read, please like, follow, and share the blog (same goes for the socials). None of this is monetized, so please support these free collective readings with private readings, memberships and virtual coffees on sage words tarot page on ko-fi.

See you at the next sip!

Above, author’s photo including Healing Light Lenormand by Christopher Butler Title © 2021 Lo Scarabeo srl, via Cigna 110, 10155 Torino, Italy. All rights reserved, used by permission.