I have been reading those long threads of debate and arguments about one group which believes lenormand is their personal prophecy and they use their "intuition" to read the symbols, whereas the other group believes that there are limitations to following your so-called intuition when you are dealing with this particular oracle based on symbols and not the imagery.
I can honestly say that I'm a traditionalist. I leant it with time that I can de-track (we all do) and find our own meanings, which sound comforting and encouraging to our ears but it doesn't matter because that's just your unrealistic attitude talking, not the lenormand. I know most of us will see Coffin next to Ring and say "Oh our relationship is karmic, its going to change its phase, its going to transform from one thing to next" but we will never face that fact that its the ugly truth; its over, move on already. With Coffin when one door closes, another opens, but we deny it, because its not what we want to hear and after all, its our "intuition" telling us that it won't end, not like this?
We can read the cards intuitively staying within the traditional methods, and actually intuition plays a far more important role than which book or course we have lying in our laps. Sometimes when you turn up the cards you will instantly know what they are telling you and that stage never came for me until I had a practice of a year with the deck. I read them intuitively, my deck is also personalized, my cards also "talk" to me, BUT I still stick to the traditional methods and meanings. I can not say I have not tried them all ;) there is hardly a method, spread, course which I have not tried, but eventually the methods that worked the best for me were the ones that are considered "traditional". There is no debate over this. There is a reason why traditions survived for centuries.
I loved this post! I agree with everything you said! For me, intuition is an advanced form of knowledge - and you can only use it properly when you have a good base knowledge. "Making up" your own meanings may be comforting, but for me it's a sign of laziness.
ReplyDeleteWhen you become experienced with an oracle, you can sometimes immediately what they cards are saying, because you are familiar with that language. You no longer need to consciously translate it. But to reach that stage, a lot of study, practice and dedication is necessary.
What I often see in tarot and cartomancy communities is 'intuitive' reader who spend more time describing the card poetically than actually giving information in their readings. Intuition needs a solid knowledge behind it, or else it's no better than guessing.
Thank you Marina for encouragement and your opinions. I agree with whatever you are saying and this is what makes this oracle so unique. Sometimes I also start getting stuck and I will just stare at the cards and wonder what they mean, and most of the times its just because the message is clear, its my reasoning and logic denying it. But yes ofcourse it takes lots of practice and patience. I was a total mess initially. I still am not able to nail most of the spreads I do, but I'm learning :)
DeleteI love this post, Alyna. And I can't agree more! I was a mess, too, when I first started with the Lenormand. For me, it is like using a powerful divination tool, such as an Ouija board or the I Ching. (I don't know either of these, BTW). You need to KNOW what the basis of it is before you go messing around in it. That's when people get confused and get weird- often more negative messages- than are actually being said in the cards. I mean, it would be like only studying the Major arcana in tarot and not bothering to learn the rest. There is structure and meaning for a reason in metaphysics and any divination. Just jumping in and assuming you know all there is because your intuition tells you so is dangerous. Proper mediumship skills deter this kind of thing, and for me, those cards are a form of mediumship. Some people find them scary and I can see why.
ReplyDeleteCan not agree with you more Michelle. Authority comes with responsibility, when you are exploring the unknown you should not do it carelessly and irrationally.
Delete"There is a Guard Before the Door of The Adytum!"
ReplyDeleteYes! It takes a year or more of practice and study to work with lenormand cards using the traditional methods. Lenormand is a system. Systems have rules. As a matter of fact seven intuitiveness has a foundation which must be built!
As a spiritualist I know that in order to use the intuition one has to train the mind to step aside. There are other "voices" or prompts going on as well in the cognitive process which an untrained person may assume is their "intuition" speaking which sadly is NOT the case.
The people waving the word intuition about like a banner are the very folk who are unwilling to sit or to develop within the format of spiritism. They are just as unwilling to commit to those exercises which act to trigger the alignment of the subtle body that activates the higher levels of sense perception. Most do not even know that each of our 5 senses has a psychic twin.
MW
Thank you so much Mama Whodun for stopping by and your blog and your experience with this oracle is a guide and an inspiration for all of the learners.
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