DIRECTIONALITY

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to the channel. Thank you as always for tuning in. If you are new here, welcome! I am Layla, the Lenormand Reader, and I am one of the few people who focuses almost exclusively on the Lenormand practice. So welcome to a new tutorial.

What I have for you in mind today is talking about the order of the cards in a combination and whether that matters to how we interpret the combination or not. I call this idea directionality.

I know that different authors might use a different word for it. I don't think that's really important. You can use whatever word you like to use to point to this idea. The main idea is whether the order of the cards in a combination matters to how we make sense of the combination.

So I have a few combinations prepared for us to go through some examples and talk through this. I have some examples where I feel that the order of the cards matters and another set of examples where I feel that the order does not matter.

Once we have covered these combinations, we are going to draw a few random ones and see whether they have directionality or not.

COMBINATIONS WHERE DIRECTIONALITY MATTERS

So, starting with the combinations that I feel have directionality, I have one first set here: the Anchor and the Road.

I feel that the Anchor and the Road suggest that we pick up and leave. The Anchor is a card that is placed, settled, and deeply rooted. Whereas the Road is a card of change and movement. So when I see the cards in this order, I feel that we pick up and leave.

When we have them in the other order, I feel that there is this idea of arriving. We have been traveling and we arrive. We drop the Anchor. And I think directionality is really clear in this combination.

I also have the House in here because I feel that the same idea applies to the combination with the House. In a way, the Anchor and the House are similar. They play the same role in this combination.

The Road suggests arriving home or finding a home possibly, and then when we have the House and Road together, it is possible that we move or change homes.

The fact that the Road is at the end of the line makes the combination open-ended, whereas the House is a card of closure and the idea of being inside. It is also about foundations and offers a strong sense of being settled. The Road is actually the opposite of that.

So, that is pretty clear in terms of the directionality that figures in these cards. Of course, you can give me your feedback. Let me know in the comments how you feel about this.

Here is another combination. We have the Flowers and the Whip.

The Whip on the other side of the Flowers can upset the positive energy of the Flowers a little bit. The Whip is the most challenging card in the deck, and many authors agree on this. The Flowers is not the brightest card in the deck, even though it is a positive card.

There are stronger cards in the deck, such as the Sun, the Clover, and the Star. These cards are a bit stronger than the Flowers in terms of their positivity.

When I see the Whip on the other side of the Flowers, I feel that it upsets the energy of the Flowers. However, if the Flowers is on the other side of the Whip, then it is possible that the Flowers can help overcome the challenges of the Whip a little, because it is associated with healing, recovery, and renewal.

I think the same applies to the Star as well. The Star is a bit stronger than the Flowers, and definitely in this order, it helps overcome the challenges of the Whip to some extent. If the Star is before the Whip, I feel that the Whip can upset the Star a little bit as well.

Sometimes I feel that the Star is very strong, so I do not always see the Whip as capable of upsetting it. However, it depends on the context, and the order of the cards can weigh on this as well.

When I see the Whip after the Star, I feel that it can challenge a little bit the extent of our wishes materializing, although it is still a really bright card.

The Star is going to weaken the Whip a little, but you could say that they are almost on an equal level when it comes to how positive the Star is and how challenging the Whip is. So when they are together, there might be a bit of a tug-of-war in terms of who trumps who. Let me know what you think about this.

Let's move on to a third example. What do I have here for you? The Sun and the Clouds. Now, this is an interesting one. I want to start with this order.

The Clouds and Sun are a very obvious combination because they occur in nature. We always see clouds covering the sun and then the sun coming out from behind the clouds. It is an obvious metaphor, and it really isn't a metaphor at all.

So when we see the Sun on the other side of the Clouds, it is very obvious that the Sun comes out, right?

This assumes that we read Lenormand from left to right, which is what we normally do. Of course, I appreciate that you might read in the opposite direction. If you do, simply reverse the order of the cards. The same idea of directionality would apply.

So with the Sun after the Clouds, clearly the Sun comes out. Whereas if we had the Sun before the Clouds, it is possible that clouds cover the sun, which suggests that things can become a little bit unclear. There can be some depression, or the brightness of the Sun is a little bit compromised.

But in general, I feel that the silver lining is at hand regardless of the order of the cards because the Sun is very strongly positive and the Clouds are not all that challenging. When the Clouds is to the right of the Sun, it overshadows it a little.

What is the last one that I have for you? The Coffin and Key. This is an interesting one. It is one of those that I sat and thought about for a little bit when I was building my card combinations dictionary some years ago.

I do not really see this combination as challenging or suggesting overcoming challenges.

Notice that with the Flowers and Whip or Star and Whip, and their reverse order, directionality matters because the card at the end of the line can suggest the outcome and whether we are able to overcome obstacles.

I find that directionality matters most when the cards have opposite meanings. This is something I have noticed.

With the Coffin and Key, it is not so much that there are challenges versus positive things happening, even though the Key is very positive, one of the brightest cards of the deck, fact.

But with the Coffin, what I see here is the idea of opening versus closing, which is a more neutral concept. It can be positive or negative either way. So this is where more cards or context are helpful.

So when I see the Key, on the other side of the Coffin, I feel this is an opening because the Key is what enables you to open something, whereas the Coffin is closed.

When the Coffin is on the other side of the Key, it suggests closing. So again, it is not so much about positive versus negative with this pair, but more about an action of closing versus opening.

It is very interesting how directionality can affect your interpretation of the cards. Let me know your thoughts about this.

COMBINATIONS WHERE DIRECTIONALITY DOES NOT MATTER

Let us now move on to combinations where I feel directionality does not matter so much.

What do I have here? The Scythe and the Garden.

The Scythe and Garden clearly point to the breakup of a group or separating oneself from a certain environment.

Of course, in certain contexts or with more cards, it can mean other things. The Scythe is one of those cards that can mean a few different things. I am not focusing too much on context here. I am focusing on a more general way of interpreting the cards for the sake of illustrating this concept of directionality.

So, the Scythe and Garden I feel point to a breakup or a separation from a certain environment. And I do not really see that it would be different if we had the Scythe and Garden or the Garden and Scythe. I think either way, it is pretty clear.

It is interesting because when we were looking at the Road and House, there is a parallel between these two combinations. There is the idea of a place that is represented by each of the House and Garden, and the Road and Scythe represent the concept of change.

However, I do not feel that the way the cards interact in combination is the same in both pairs. This is where different cards offer different nuances and where you want to become more refined with your understanding of the cards so that your Lenormand vocabulary is richer.

The House and Road in this order suggest leaving or parting from a certain place, and in the other way, they suggest the opposite. They point to arriving. But I do not see this idea applying to the Garden and Scythe, even though there is quite a lot in common between the Scythe and Road and the House and Garden. Do you see what I mean?

So, keep these nuances in mind and practice doing readings. Do some combination exercises and see if you are picking up directionality, and will you start developing these refinements with the cards. These are valuable exercises.

Let us move on to another combination where I feel the order of the cards does not really matter. Snake and Letter, whether it is in this order or the other order, I do not feel it matters.

And again, what I am picking up is that directionality seems to matter more when there is a clearer difference between the cards, where they seem to be opposite in energy. That is where I think directionality comes out the most. See if you notice this too.

So, in this combination, Snake and Letter, I feel it is a tricky message regardless of the order of the cards. It might be a secret.

A third example is the Bear and Ship. Interesting. Here is another movement versus no movement combination, like we saw with the Anchor and Road.

In my dictionary, the Anchor and Bear have a lot in common. They are both very strong cards. They stand strong on their ground, they are tough but can be stubborn. And the Road and Ship are two movement cards.

But again, I am not seeing that they mean the same thing.

I do not see the Bear and Ship as suggesting the same thing as the Anchor and Road, even though each of the Bear and Anchor on the one hand and the Ship and Road on the other, have a lot in common.

With the Anchor and Road, just like with the House and Road, there is the idea of picking up and leaving, and with the Road and Anchor are about arriving.

But with the Bear and Ship, I do not feel it is about arriving versus leaving.

The Bear is a card of strength and importance. It makes anything big. It has that sense of leadership and authority. And so when I see the Bear and Ship together, they can mean a very important trip, an important project, or suggest stepping up to some big venture. And I think this applies regardless of the order - Bear and Ship or Ship and Bear.

The trip, project, or adventure represented by the Ship is empowering. It opens doors, and the combination clearly encourages us to embrace the adventure that is represented by the Ship. It might also mean a big trip or maybe an expensive one.

Let us move on to the fourth example, the Rider and Mouse.

Now here is where there can be potentially opposite energies. The Rider is quite an enthusiastic card, and it has quite a bit of momentum. The Mouse is a bit negative, and it has a draining kind of energy. So these two cards are pretty opposite in their meaning and energy.

The Mouse can also be a slower card. I have seen quite a few authors who take the Mouse to mean something speedy, but I cannot really see that in the Mouse because the Mouse is more typically associated with challenges.

So I tend to see it as representing obstacles and speed bumps and things getting in your way. This probably means that it is going to slow you down because you have to stop and fix these things.

But with the Rider and Mouse, in either order, I am not seeing that there is too much of a difference. The Rider and Mouse can point to challenges or speed bumps ahead. And with the Mouse and Rider, they suggest something similar: the idea of having to slow down or things are dragging a little.

Alternatively, you could see this order as suggesting overcoming an obstacle and now moving forward. Whereas if you have the Rider and Mouse as in the first order, you are about to have to deal with an obstacle or slow down.

I guess you can read directionality in this pair if you want to. I do not feel it comes out as strongly as with some of the other combinations I read earlier, but it is still possible. You might want directionality to matter in such a combination.

So these are my suggestions for combinations where I feel directionality matters and does not matter.

ADDITIONAL COMBINATIONS

Let us now draw a few of them randomly.

I am going to take a third deck just because all the cards are in there. Let us draw a few examples at random that we did not cover. Here is one, and here is two: The Mouse and Star.

The Mouse is not as strong as the Star in terms of positivity versus negativity. The Star easily overcomes the challenges of the Mouse. Even if we had the Star before the Mouse, I do not think the Mouse is strong enough to mess up the positive energy of the Star.

Therefore, I would read this combination as suggesting that we will be able to overcome any challenge that comes our way. The challenge is smaller than what we are capable of accomplishing, and we have a much stronger optimism than the negativity of the Mouse.

I also think the combination might advantage us in a way. The Mouse is a bit challenging, but it does have some positive aspects, such as being cautious, being good with details, and picking out the smaller things. The Star can help bring out the positive aspects of the Mouse as well.

Let me know your thoughts. What do you think of such an interpretation?

Let us try another example. Here is the Garden and the Lily.

This is a very neutral combination. As I said, when there is a clear positive versus negative aspect between the cards in the pair, that is where directionality seems to come out the most. When the cards are more on the neutral side, it does not seem to matter all that much.

With the Garden and Lily, it is not really about directionality or what is happening. It seems to be pointing to a place. The Lily and Garden can suggest the workplace. I have come across authors who interpret it as a hospital. This is also possible. The pair can also suggest networking with your professional environment.

So again, it is not positive or negative. It is just a dynamic or a representation of a place, whereby the Lily qualifies what kind of place the Garden is.

I do not feel that the order of the cards matters here. But again, let me know what you think.

Let us move on to a couple more combinations. There is the Child, which is typically positive and represents new beginnings, and the Sun.

So here it is, a positive-positive pair, so directionality is not going to matter.

The Child and Sun is a beautiful new beginning. It is great for children. It is a very abundant combination, with a sense of openness. Again, I do not feel that it matters if we had the Sun and Child in the other order. It is pretty obvious that there is no directionality in this pair.

And the last pair: the Road and Clover. Here, we see a neutral-positive pair.

Obviously, this is a wonderful journey and a very happy path ahead. It can be a coincidence like bumping into something on the way. But again, I do not see that it makes a difference whether it is Clover Road or Road Clover. The idea is to move ahead.

The Clover is very encouraging of the path ahead, for making changes, making a choice, and pursuing the path ahead. The pair is obviously a happy combination thanks to the Clover.

So these are my thoughts for you. I have shared some examples of directionality where I felt it mattered and where I felt it did not matter. I have also applied these ideas to a randomly drawn pair.

Let me know your thoughts about this. Let me know if you apply this concept to your reading practice. Where do you think it applies most strongly? Are there times when you see it and times when you do not see it? I would love your feedback and I always look forward to your comments.

I hope this was helpful and that it will help you look at the cards with a bit more refinement and nuance.

Very best of luck with your journey. Be sure to keep me posted about where you are at. And until next time, thank you for watching and take very good care of yourself.

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