HOW TO INTERPRET THE DIAMOND LAYOUT
[EDITED VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION]
Hello and welcome back to the channel. If you're new here I'm Layla, the Lenormand Reader and you want to tune in because we do all sorts of wonderful readings using the amazing Lenormand deck.
Now, in this video, I want to tell you about what I have in mind for our monthly readings for 2020. A while back I asked my community to tell me what they wanted to see for our monthly readings and I gave three options in the survey.
I proposed the portrait, the hourglass, or something new, and I got an overwhelming response for something new, I got 44%. I got only 24% for the portrait, but I got a good 32% for the hourglass. So I think the hourglass is pretty popular.
Now, I think the reason the hourglass is popular is because we were able to use the three astroclock cards and put them in the middle of the hourglass and then build on the hourglass using additional cards. And I think this method really helps keep the annual readings and the monthly readings in a cohesive continuity - which is something that the portrait doesn't have.
I decided that it's best to continue with the approach where we can get the three astroclock cards and put them in the middle of the layout, and then for the monthly reading we would build on top of them. So I designed what I call the diamond layout and I'm sure someone has done it somewhere but I've never seen it.
There are three versions of the diamond: The small, the medium, and the large, and the one that we're going to use for our monthly readings is the medium one.
Now I want to walk you through each of these three layouts and I also have a guide for you, a free guide that you can download right away, so you give these layouts a try.
Now, I want to show you these three layouts and I want to walk you through the logic of why I'm not selecting either the small or the large diamond for our monthly readings, and why I'm focusing on the medium one instead. It’s mainly because of the idea that we just talked about, that we can take these three astroclock cards, put them in the middle, and then draw additional cards a bit like the hourglass. But it's a different configuration. So with this said let's head over to Lenormand Reader’s table, and let me show you these three diamond versions.
SMALL DIAMOND
The first layout we're going to start with is the small diamond. So I'm just going to draw the cards for the sake of example. We have one, two, and three cards in a horizontal, one above the central cards and one below.
I like to lay them out in this way, but you might like another way. You might want to start with the central card, then draw two cards on either side, and then the top and bottom, or any other way you like. It really makes no difference. This layout also looks like a cross.
We have a central column and a horizontal line. And there's also the diamond around the central card, so that's why I consider it as one of the diamond versions, and this is the small version.
The central card, card 2, gives us the key theme or the key focus for the reading, and it can also represent the outcome - it’s up to you. You might like to think about how you want to interpret the cards a little bit beforehand.
Now the next line is the horizontal line. So we've got cards 1+2+3, and they go from left to right. It's natural to read them as a past-present-future or as a progression of events at some point in the future.
If you're going to read them as a past-present-future, then keep in mind that the central card would be the present. So it's possible then that the one on the right can be the outcome, but again that's up to you. Or you might not read them as a progression or a past-present-future at all, and might just read them as a key storyline instead. That's also totally fine.
The vertical column has one card above and one below the central card. And that's also a key storyline of the reading. Sometimes, the top card is read as intentions, ambitions, or aspirations, and the bottom card has to do with what manifests, what we are grounded on, or our foundations. So in this sense, you can look at how the story unfolds from intentions to manifestation. That's also a possible way to read them.
But again you don't have to, you can just read them a story line, in addition to the horizontal one, and together the cross is basically the key storylines with the central card connecting both.
In addition to these lines, we have the outer diamond. So we have four cards that surround the central card, cards 4+3+5+1. Some people might read them in a zigzag order, or you might read them in one direction or another. Again it's up to you. I feel that these details don't really matter for a reading, what does is that the cards sort of tell you how best to read them at the time.
The diamond tends to tell us about the forces acting on the situation and they also tell us of the visible events that surround the situation. So that's for the small diamond.
Now, I'm not going to use this small diamond for our monthly readings because, for one, I think it's too short for a monthly reading - or for the monthly readings that I want to do. I also want to be able to put the three astroclock cards in the middle of the diamond. And if I were to put the three astroclock cards as the horizontal line, then we would just have two additional cards for our monthly readings, and again that's too short.
The small diamond is a nice spread for doing a quick reading or maybe a really focused reading with just a few details even if it's an important question.
Now let's move on to the next level of the diamond and I'm going to skip over to the large one and you're going to see why in a bit.
LARGE DIAMOND
The large diamond builds on the small diamond like so.
Again you might want to lay out your Lenormand cards in any order that you like. You could start with the horizontal, the vertical, or at the center. And then, I suggest that you add the surrounding cards or the corner cards here.
So this is the large diamond you can see there are many more cards and we have many more sentences and structures that we can put together.
Obviously, the first line that jumps out is the horizontal and then the second key line is the vertical. And the central card remains central in the sense that it ties everything together. So again you can see it as the outcome or possibly the key theme or focus that brings the reading together.
The horizontal line would be a key storyline, and again you can read it as a progression of events from the earlier phases to the later phases, or as a past-present-future. So cards 1+2 would be the past, cards 4+5 would be the future, and we have card 3 as the present card in the center, which intersects the vertical.
And when it comes to the vertical, cards 6+7 can represent your intentions and ambitions, and cards 8+9 can represent your foundations or the actions that help bring out the outcome of the reading. These are optional ways of interpreting the cards and are very similar to the small diamond.
The main story lines give you a lot of details because there's five cards in the horizontal and five cards in the vertical, and together they put the main storylines together.
Now, what's interesting is that we have two diamonds in this large version of the Lenormand Diamond: We have the inner diamond and the outer diamond. You can see the outer diamond is large with plenty of cards to interpret.
So when we have two diamonds, I take the inner diamond to represent the hidden influences on the situation, as in what is not seen, what's going on behind the scenes, or what needs to come through the surface at some point. And again you can read them either sequentially in a diamond shape or in a zigzag order. It's up to you or maybe you let the cards guide you.
As for the large, outer diamond, I take it to represent the observable or outer influences on the situation. It can also represent what’s visible around the situation. So events that we are observing or will observe about the issue at hand. And you can see there are plenty of cards here. And because it’s so large I would say it's a good idea to read them sequentially. It's not so much amenable to a zigzag reading order in the way the small diamond is.
In addition to these two diamonds, we have more in this layout: We have the corner cards 10+11+13+12. What's interesting about them is that they are part of the square and also part of the outer diamond. So I like to read these corner cards not only as influences on the issue at hand, or as forces affecting it, but also as the transition between the inner and outer diamonds. So, how we’d go from inner intentions to outer manifestation. These cards can tell us how to go about this transition. So we might like to focus on the corner cards or read the whole square.
Now of course, you've noticed that this square here is a nine-card portrait. So you can read a lot of other lines in it as well, mainly the two diagonals (10+3+13 and 12+3+11) which I take to mean the key advice that we can take away from this reading. You can also read the left and right columns, with the central one being part of the main vertical. Similarly, you can read the top and bottom rows with the middle one as part of the main horizontal.
And because these rows and columns are part of a square, you can either read them separately or as a sentence. Now I don't really interpret these middle cards as I would a nine-card portraits simply because I feel that, in that case, there's no need to draw these four additional cards (1, 6, 5, and 9). A portrait would be enough. So I prefer to stick with the diamond energy that's coming through this configuration, and focus on the diamonds and the key advice given by the two diagonals.
So that's a pretty amazing spread and you can do a lot with it. It has a lot of details. Give it a try. Download the guide and give it a try. Now the reason I'm not going to take this layout for our monthly readings is because, even though I can insert the three cards from the astroclock in the middle (at cards 2, 3, and 4), I don't really like the fact that there are two additional cards on either side. I don't feel it is ‘standalone’ enough, so to speak.
I prefer the hourglass approach where we have just three central cards, which we take from the astroclock, and then we add around them more cards. So I wanted to find a diamond version that would accommodate this idea. And that is the medium diamond.
MEDIUM DIAMOND
For the medium diamond, I'm going to take back the cards and I want to show you how I prefer to lay them out.
What's interesting is that the medium diamond is a little different from the small and large. The small and large have very similar configurations, but the middle diamond, as you're going to see, is a little bit different. So here we go, assuming these are the three astroclock cards, I would then add cards like so, and that is the medium diamond that I have in mind for you for the monthly readings.
So we'd have the three Astroclock cards in place of cards 1, 2, and 3, and we add six cards: Three above and three below. What's interesting is that I feel that this shape of the diamond is not really amenable to being laid out like the other diamonds. I like it better when I overlap the cards because I feel the layout has more visual appeal this way and helps us put together the lines a bit differently.
So again, the three astroclock cards would be the main line, and we've got two additional cards for the vertical: One above the central card and one below. And the horizontal and vertical can be read together as the central cross of this version of the diamond.
And again, the horizontal can be read as a progression or as past-present-future, although I don't typically read the monthly readings in these ways because I do them for the month ahead, so it’s all in the future.
Additionally, we have two diagonals, the square, and the diamond. So there is plenty to read in this version of the diamond. And on top of that, we have these mini diagonals that we can read in pairs or triplets, like cards 1+4+2.
And what's nice is that they sort of all add up or down to the next level, so I feel that there is these above and below energies that bring the card indication into the central cards of the horizontal line.
So I think it's really interesting configuration and I feel that it's a little bit different from the small and large diamond versions.
How would I read this medium diamond?
Like I said, these are the horizontal and vertical are the key storylines, and I would read the square’s cards as the forces acting on the issue, which is captured by the central card. And then I would also read the top and the bottom cards as our intentions and our foundations, and how we're bringing them together through the vertical. This is the transition from intentions to manifestation. It’s how we build on what we have to manifest what we desire. It’s also how we act on our intentions so they can materialize. These are all interesting ways to read these cards.
Furthermore, we can read the square (cards 4+5+7+6) as connecting these forces together. Now for the diamond, I would read it as another key storyline in the context of the medium diamond. And the reason I want to do that is because we have the square that helps tell us about the forces that are acting on the issue. So the diamond around the central card can give us more indications about what's going on.
And that's how I would want to focus on it for the monthly readings. I have additional suggestions in the guide. Another thing is the key advice that we can take from these two diagonals, as it’s always good to take away some advice. And then we can also look at these details that come through these small diagonal pairs and triplets.
So for the monthly reading, we have plenty that comes through this medium diamond. And I foresee that different cards are going to guide the interpretation a little bit differently. Sometimes certain details might come through. Sometimes they're not as important as the other structures like the square or diamond. So really, I feel it's going to depend on the month. And as we move through the monthly readings, we'll discover the different ways we can interpret the cards in this configuration.
Download the Diamond Layout guide to give it a try right away.
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