Methods to Read the Lenormand Grand Tableau
This post serves as an overarching post about ways you can read the Lenormand Grand Tableau. You should pick and choose depending on what you feel is important in your reading, for yourself or your querent. You can also read all of it, but just a fair warning that you'll be sitting there reading for a While.
This post is written from an assumption that you at least vaguely understand Lenormand meanings. If you don't, you can check Labyrinthos or LenormandReader.
As an extra note, you can use these same methods for the Kipper Grand Tableau, but the layout is four rows of nine instead of four of eight and one of four.
Depicted above: The main way the Lenormand Grand Tableau is laid out (not my preferred method, I prefer the Kipper layout, but for the sake of this post we're gonna use it especially because I need to learn this method better and this post is primarily for myself and anybody else who wants it), using Healing Light Lenormand by Christopher Butler.
There is also a chart of the theoretical spread, showing the house on top and the actual card on the bottom, with some highlights to depict the Four Corners and the Center Cards.
The above will also be used as an example when necessary to explain my point.
Always remember that cards being next to or near each other affect each other. Whip next to Bouquet represents a strained or hurting relationship, for example, not things on their lonesome.
If your deck has extra cards, you'll want to cut it down to there only being one of each number, so you have 36 cards. Such as if your deck comes with four people cards, you only want to use two people cards.
Theoretically, you can use this spread with any deck, as long as you cut it down to 36 cards. You can even use tarot, by cutting it down to 36 cards.
The significators have a lot of ways they're read. The only important one is to read the way the querent's significator faces. If your deck has multiple man/woman cards, and you always make the Querent number 28 like I do, then you don't have to worry about something like this. Otherwise, if the querents card faces left, you read right to left.
Firstly, the row the querent significator is in is the most important row. It's the row you want to consider the most.
Another method is that the card above the Querent Significator is their thoughts, and the card below is their feelings.
Another, the card in front of is what the Querent is focusing on, the card behind is what the Querent is struggling with.
You can also consider that cards closer to the Querent are more important than cards far away from the Querent.
Consider the significators face to each other - Are they facing each other in the spread? Are they back-to-back? This may reflect the relationship between your querent and their companion.
Consider the row placement. The higher the querent, the more control they have over the situation.
Consider the column placement. The more rows ahead of them, the easier time ahead.
Recommended Reading / Watching: Man and Woman: The Lenormand Significators by LenormandReader (link is to the transcripted article, but the article also has the youtube video linked).
This method involves starting with the six center cards. They represent the heart of the reading.
There's Whip, Bouquet, Fish, Mice, Heart, and Scythe. Generally, this would say that this reading centers a lot of conflict of emotion and relationships, which may step into ones work life.
This method reads the entire spread going through each card in its "house", which counts up in order from 1 to 36. Think of it like this: The drawn card visits the house of the card that belongs there and mirrors them, but their identity isn't wholly covered up by the house they're in.
The drawn card is affected by the house, but is usually louder than the house. Let's take the first card - Cross in the house of Rider. One might be finding a larger drive to focus on their faith as of late, or to tackle difficulties in their life.
You can also choose to read this based on a set list of mixed meanings, such as reading this instead as a painful message, and difficulties. (courtesy of Labyrinthos).
The four corners, highlighted in blue, have specific set representative meanings.
The left corners represent the past. The right, the future.
The top corners represent things out of your control, while the bottom represent things in your control.
One method is,
The first row depicts what's out of your control.
The second row depicts the present circumstances.
The third row depicts what's in your control.
The fourth row depicts your fate.
Another method is
The first row depicts what's out of your control.
The second row depicts the present circumstances.
The third row depicts what's in your control.
The fourth row depicts your "bottom line", which summarizes the whole reading succintly.
And yet another method is
The center rows depicts the present circumstances.
The top row is what’s out of your control.
The bottom row is what’s in your control.
The columns move from left to right, going through the past, present, and future, going through a different stage for each column.
However, you could also change it to read another method: Such as the next 8 months, or 8 years, or 8 weeks or whatever.
Once you've got all the rest together, you start telling the story, starting in the past then switching into the present and then future, based on where the querent is. I've always read it that the nearer the querent, the more present it is. Remember, if the Querent faces the Left, you read Right-to-Left; if the Querent faces the Right, you read Left-to-Right.
