Working the Pips in the Weekly Lenormand Outlook

In my previous post, I shared a weekly outlook reading using the Lenormand. At the end of that post, I said that in the next post, I was going to share some other aspects of that reading using the pips of the cards, which are the playing card inserted at the top of the cards.

And here we are!

Some Lenormand readers use the playing card inserts; others do not. Some decks have the playing card inserts, while others do not. I like for my decks to have them, because I want to use them. I’ve shared the story many times in this space: It was a dream about reading playing cards that put me on the path of cartomancy, so having decks with playing card inserts on them have special significance for me.

And so, I’ve discovered some ways of using this feature in my readings, which I will share using the reading that served as the outlook for the week.

If you recall, our cards for that reading were Moon, Man, Ways, Scythe, and Anchor.

The outlook for the week: Moon, Man, Ways, Scythe, and Anchor. Cards are from the Dondorf Lenormand.

The playing cards inserted on those cards are: 8 of Hearts (Moon); Ace of Hearts (Man); Queen of Diamonds (Ways); Jack of Diamonds (Scythe); and 9 of Spades (Anchor).

One of the things I do in a reading with the inserts is looking for the Hidden Dynamics. This is a technique I discovered in the wonderful book “The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook” by divination expert Caitlin Matthews.

The way it works is we take the pips from the outer cards and add their numerical values together. In this reading, we have 8 (8 of Hearts) and 9 (9 of Spades). Adding them together gives us 17.

The Lenormand deck has 36 numbered cards, so we look for card 17, which is Stork. Stork is a card of change and improvement. It’s also about movement, keeping with the idea of storks being birds that migrate.

So, with the focus of the reading being choices, decisions, options, and alternatives, and choosing the best course (Ways), one of the choices may involve some type of change or a need to move on (Stork).

Next, we look at the inner pips, from the cards Man and Scythe, and do just what we did with the outer pips. So, we have 1 (Ace of Hearts) and 11 (Jack of Diamonds; Jacks are assigned the number 11). Adding them together gives us 12.

The 12th card in the deck is Birds. This is a card of communication and conversations; these conversations and communications are verbal in nature, as Birds can represent the spoken word.

From an emotional standpoint, Birds can indicate being nervous or anxious, as well as frustrations and sorrows. This card can signal emotional upset.

So, there could be a decision (Ways) to have an important conversation, discussion, or negotiation.

I could read the pair Stork + Birds as discussing some change or improvement; being frustrated with some type of change taking place; or talking about moving on.

The Hidden Dynamic is another way of uncovering additional information that may be helpful in the reading.

The last thing I do in my Line of 5 readings with the pips is to add them all together, kind of as a final word on the reading. Using the pips from our weekly outlook, we have 8 + 1 + 12 (Queens are assigned the number 12) + 11 + 9, which gives us 41.

Since there are only 36 cards in the deck, we take any number over 36 and add its digits together. In this case, we have 4 + 1 = 5. Card 5 in the deck is Tree, so this becomes our final card for the reading.

Tree is a card of health and healing, of family (playing on the idea of “family tree”), and of personal/spiritual growth. It’s a card that suggests the roots have been planted and that growth takes time.

As the final word, so to speak, Tree would suggest that when it comes to choosing the best course (Ways), we must keep in mind what is best for our overall personal well-being—and that every choice or path has within it the things we need for our personal and spiritual growth.

And that brings this weekly outlook with the Lenormand to a close.

Until next time,