A Healthy Conversation with the Lenormand

Ever since I got the Malpertuis Lenormand, I’ve been coming up with all sorts of reasons to break out the cards.

Ever since the arrival of my Lenormand, “Mal,” (short for Malpertuis Lenormand), I’ve been coming up with all sorts of reasons to sit down and work with it.

Well, toward the end of the week, I could feel that a cold was coming on. I was so proud of myself for not having gotten sick all winter long, and thought this might be the first time I would make it all the way through. Nope.

Then I remembered one of the cards from my weekly Tarot forecast, the 8 of Cups. One of the meanings I have for the card is leaving something toxic behind you. Usually, I consider this to be a person or situation, but a cold is a process in which toxins are needing to be released from the body (or at least for me it is).

But, truth be told, this one hasn’t been as bad as some colds have been in the past for me. And since I’ve been looking for reasons to practice working with “Mal,” I thought we would have a chat about my bout with this head cold.

So, I asked Mal, “What can I know about this head cold?”

Since my health was the topic of the conversation, I decided I would select my focus card. I chose The Tree, as one of its chief meanings is health.

I shuffled the deck, and then went through the cards looking for The Tree and the two cards that would be flanking it for a three-card reading.

Finding The Coffin coupled with The Gentleman–the card that represents me–prompted a momentary detour during my reading about my head cold.

As I was making my way through the deck, I stopped for a moment when The Coffin card came up. I thought about one of the meanings of this card being illness, and as I did, I noticed the card beneath it. The next card was The Gentleman. The Gentleman is a card that represents the man who is having a reading done (for a woman, it represents a male figure close to her). So here I am (The Gentleman) with a card that represents illness connected to me. I decided to see what the next card–the card beneath The Gentleman—would be. It was The Clover.

I decided to leave these three cards out, since the pair of Coffin + Gentleman was spot-on, reading as “A man (Gentleman) with an illness (Coffin).”

Resuming my search for The Tree, I found it, flanked by The Mountain and The Ring.

The Mountain, The Tree, and The Ring, from the Malpertuis Lenormand.

If you checked out my last post about reading the Lenormand, you’ll remember that cards are read in pairs and triplets. So here’s my rundown of the pairs that make up this triplet:

• Mountain + Tree = health (Tree) challenge (Mountain)
• Tree + Ring = commitment (Ring) to health (Tree)
• Mountain + Ring = a commitment (Ring) to overcoming a challenge (Mountain)

And then, my summation (using forward narration, from left to right) became, “A challenge (Mountain) with health (Tree) is cyclical (Ring).”

The Ring, being a circular object, can represent cycles and something cyclical. And remember, I thought I had broken the cycle of getting a cold every winter.

I also came up with this one: “A setback (Mountain) with health (Tree) affects commitments (Ring).”

Due to being sick, I had to change some of my plans for the weekend, which were previously planned commitments and engagements.

So, this triplet was accurate. I turned my attention back to the triplet that I put aside, which was The Coffin, The Gentleman, and The Clover.

The Coffin, The Gentleman, and The Clover, from the Malpertuis Lenormand.

Here’s what I noted about the pairs:

• Coffin + Gentleman = the man (Gentleman) is ill (Coffin); the man (Gentleman) is confined (Coffin; this card can also represent limitations, restrictions, and confinement); and the man (Gentleman) needs bed rest (Coffin as a resting place)
• Gentleman + Clover = the man (Gentleman) is fortunate (Clover; this is a card of luck and good fortune)
• Coffin + Clover = illness (Coffin) is brief (Clover; this is a card of things being brief or short-term); a fortunate (Clover) ending (Coffin; this card can also represent endings); and an opportunity (Clover can represent opportunity) for rest (Coffin).

And my summation became, “Illness (Coffin) for a man (Gentleman, which is me) is brief (Clover).”

Then I felt prompted to add the playing card inserts for each triplet to get the Advice Cards.

The Stars, from the Malpertuis Lenormand, which was the Advice card for not one–but two–individual triplets.

For the first, there was the 8 of Clubs (Mountain), 7 of Hearts (Tree), and Ace of Clubs (Ring). 8 + 7 + 1 = 16; the 16th card in the deck is The Stars.

For the second, there was the 9 of Diamonds (Coffin), Ace of Hearts (Gentleman), and 6 of Diamonds (Clover). 9 + 1 + 6 = 16 (!) The Stars!

Both triplets had the same card as advice: The Stars. In health-related matters, this card can mean healing, hope, and recovery. It can also represent things spreading (The Stars can represent multiples), so I saw this as saying, “Don’t spread it (the cold)!”

And I took the advice to heart. Despite numerous invitations to come out and play this weekend, I opted to stay in the house (Coffin being confinement), telling everyone I didn’t want them to get what I had. I didn’t want to spread this cold, as The Stars advised.

Instead, I’m sharing this latest experience with the Lenormand in a way The Stars would approve: with you, over the internet (The Stars being an internet card).

Wishing you the best of health (The Tree)—on all levels…