Pythagorean Number Theory and Lenormand

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Although I’m normally a literalist in my reading of the Lenormand cards, this is the sort of thing that excites my imagination.

Here I’m playing around with Pythagorean number theory as it might be applied to Lenormand. They are both traditional systems of thought that seem to be entirely compatible. The single-digit 1-to-9 series (“10” is basically a reboot of “1”) fits neatly into 36 cards if we use “Theosophical reduction” to relate the cards numerologically. (For example, 10 = 1+0 = 1; 19 = 1+9 = 10; 1+0 = 1; 28 = 2+8 = 10; 1+0 = 1; so the Rider, the Scythe, the High Tower and the Man have some commonality, at least in principle.)

I crafted a set of definitions that tries to bridge the gap between classical number meanings and what I see in each subset of cards. I like some of these quite a bit, particularly the Fours as Substantiation: “A young person (13) leaves home (4) and finds a path (22) to success (31).” Also, Fox and Mice at the heart of the “Destabilization” row suggest the “worm in the apple core.” The rest will take a bit more contemplation to confirm.

I intend to use this in the sense of preponderance. If I see two or more of a set in a 3-or-5-card line, I will give its “numerological footprint” a bit more attention. If I have three or more in a 3×3 spread or in a nine-card, topic-specific “box” in a GT, I will do the same thing.

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on July 9, 2023.