Grand Tableau for 2025
AUTHOR’S NOTE: It’s been a while since I last worked with the Lenormand cards because I’ve been busily studying the impact of Medieval culture on the tarot, but here is my customary New Year’s Eve Grand Tableau for the next twelve months, giving me a chance to exercise my new Le Lenormand a la Vincent with its striking van Gogh motif.
I prefer Andy Boroveshengra’s method of interpretation, although I’ve been exposed to that of Bjorn Meuris and want to buy his books. I add my personal “ripples on a pond” technique (see the link below) that treats the main life-area or topic cards as “vortices” gathering influence from the surrounding cards and also projecting it back into them in a two-phase dialogue. I don’t evaluate all of them in detail every time, but there are 18 key elements in this analysis (plus the main significator), while the other 17 can be considered “process variables” that modify their expression. (See the sidebar entry “Tarot and Lenormand Topic Sheets” for an overview.)
After assessing relevant near/far proximity to these topical “centers of gravity” in order to acquire a gestalt perspective (call it the “lay of the land”), I turn to the primary significator (the Gentleman for my personal readings) and apply the secondary techniques of intersection and knighting (along with pairing and mirroring) to examine the various vectors for any meaningful interconnections between it and the “topic hubs,” by virtue of which I can synthesize the whole into a coherent web of significance. Although I’ve recently been using the 9×4 tableau, the “house” template I created a while ago is based on the 8×4+4 design that includes a four-card summary or “destiny” row to which I no longer pay much attention. That said, if we think of the first three cards at the top-left as Andy’s “message for the querent,” we could view the last four as the amplifying “postscript.”
With the Anchor, the Cross and the Child at the beginning, I jokingly told my wife that we are so settled into our current routine (Anchor) that we may be asked to shoulder an additional burden (Cross) of caring for our young grandchildren (Child) since their parents could use the economic relief. The reality of it is that with summer coming and school going out-of-session, this is already “in the cards,” and we’ve talked about it privately. While the ominous Coffin, Mice and Snake also appear in this row, they are far from the Gentleman at the bottom so I don’t grant them much leverage.
The knighting is particularly interesting: Anchor knights to Moon and Stars, so — like the old US Navy recruiting pitch — “It’s not a job, it’s an adventure!” (or at least an aspiration), while the Child knights to the Lady, the Stars, the Birds and the Tree, implying that my wife (who is the primary caregiver) is most closely tied to the children, and the responsibility — while inspiring (Stars) — could pose some health-related risks (Tree + Birds) to one or all. (I’m uneasy about the Coffin next to the Child.) Lady also knights to the Heart and the Book, so we might say “her undying devotion is written.” The Cross knighting to the Mountain, the Ring and the Heart suggests that the “heavy load” will be accepted as an unshakeable commitment by both of us.
The Gentleman appears in the “summary” line, so its reach in the overall spread is somewhat limited. Before I analyze it, I’m going to explore what I see as another important feature: the “four corners.” Over the last year, I (or I should say “we”) have finally established some firm friendships (Anchor+Dog) after moving here six years ago. The Anchor+Dog+Tower+Key scenario as the overriding theme for the next year shows that I/we share enduring institutional values with them (Dog+Tower) that will drive salutary growth (Key) in those relationships. (Although the Dog is far from the Gentleman, implying “false friends,” I think Anchor, Tower and Key keep it honest.) I do very little with Lenormand houses, but it’s worth noting that the Gentleman resides in the house of the Anchor, reinforcing the message of stability in the very first card of the tableau.
The Gentleman is accompanied by the Fish, the House and the Bouquet, which could mean that I will receive a lucrative “work-at-home” offer of some kind, although I’ve been retired for fourteen years and am not actively seeking it. I have a stalled face-to-face divination practice (Covid and relocation saw to that) which I hope to revitalize, so that could be the focus here. Because this row is appended as a supplemental consideration to the main body of the spread, I don’t tie its cards into the rest of the reading by intersection or mirroring, so that leaves proximity and knighting as the sole input/output modes of access to the Gentleman. I’ve already mentioned the House and the Bouquet; the Bear, the Stork and the Ship are also “very near” to the Gentleman, giving rise to the idea that some kind of well-founded enterprise will gain traction toward success.
The Gentleman knights to the Lilies and the Clover above, adding some positive emphasis, while its knighting to the Crossroads could offer an opportunity to choose my course. The only sour note is its knighting to the Tree (which is next to the Heart); heart problems run in my family so, although I’ve taken strong measures to minimize my vulnerability, at my advanced age that potential still looms on the horizon. Although there is no geometric “center” card in an 8×4+4 tableau, the Tree is near the middle and bears watching. However, Tree with Fox to its right could mean a mistaken diagnosis on that score. (Support for this insight can be found in The Game of Hope, where, according to Anthony Louis, the “Wood” [our “Tree”] is “the sanctuary and refuge of the cunning Fox.”) The Fox is in the second tier of proximity to the significator, which also includes all four of the knighting arrays; it sits directly above the Storks and the Gentleman and knights to many of the benevolent cards supporting the Gentleman, which may give it disproportionate sway over the situation. (I’d hate to think I’m fooling myself to that degree.)
The Clouds and the rest of the unfavorable cards (other than the Cross, Mountain, Tree and Fox that I’ve already mentioned) are far away from the Gentleman, so I don’t see them as having much impact on my circumstances. It seems that I’m insulated by a dome of mostly positive cards with only the Tree and the Fox positioned to “drive a wedge” into my defenses. There is a lot more here related to interaction of the different topic cards but, because the Gentleman is isolated from them by its placement in the “summary” row, I didn’t see much point in running all of them down.
The factors of Money/Income (Fish); Home Life (House); Family Values/Virtues (Lilies . . . I don’t think Lenormand needs a “sex” card [if it did, my choice would be the Whip], and besides, I’m “older than dirt”); Investments/Property (Bear); Positive Change (Storks); and Enterprise (Ship) are all well-integrated with the Gentleman and need no further discussion. Job/Work (Moon), Career (Anchor) and Education (Book) are pretty much off the table (I’m retired), although Anchor as “Stability” is notable for its connection to Friendship (Dog) as described above. After 45 years, “Love and Marriage” (Heart and Ring) could be construed as “locked in” and all types of communication (Letter, Birds, Rider) are mostly “background noise” since I’m home a lot.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on January 2, 2025.
