The Tower - Lenormand Card Combinations and Meanings

19. The Tower

“The first thing that an architect must do is to sense that every building you build is a world of its own, and that this world of its own serves an institution.”

- Louis Kahn

Keywords

• An Institution

• Bureaucracy

• An Organization

• Alone

• Formalize

The Tower Card Meaning

When I think of the Tower, I think of an old, stoic building that has been standing for centuries. Just like the above quote, a Tower should be built to last and to house an institution or organization.

In a work context, the Tower often represents a large institution or organization. It can also represent the bureaucracy or red tape that comes with a large institution especially when the Letters are nearby.

In a love or relationship context, the Tower can also symbolize solitude or isolation.

So did the Tower appear in your reading? Let me know what you got in the comments below!

The Tower Card Combinations

Did the Tower card show up in your reading? Check out the card combinations below. Please note, there are almost infinite meanings for Lenormand combinations. These combinations below are interpretations I have discovered over the years. The context can change EVERYTHING so use these meanings as prompts for your intuition to sing with the context of your question. I can't stress enough how important context is!

THE TOWER + (CHOOSE FROM BELOW)

• Rider (1) = Organizational activity

• Clover (2) = A lucky institution

• Ship (3) = A solo trip, organization transitioning

• House (4) = Alone in home matters, a homey institution

• Tree (5) = Growing organization, a hospital

• Clouds (6) = A gloomy or confused institution

• Snake (7) = Deceptive institution

• Coffin (8) = End to an institution, end of being alone

• Bouquet (9) = A beauty salon, positive organization

• Scythe (10) = Sharp cuts to an institution

• Whip (11) = Organizational conflict

• Birds (12) = Office gossip/communication

• Child (13) = A small or new institution

• Fox (14) = Place of work, a strategic organization

• Bear (15) = A strong institution

• Stars (16) = Organizational expansion/spreading, hopeful institution

• Stork (17) = Institution moving in a positive direction

• Dog (18) = A friendly/loyal organization

• Tower (19) = An institution’s loss, stability after loss

• Garden (20) = Workplace, social scene associated with an organization

• Mountain (21) = Institution is blocked

• Crossroads (22) = More than one institution, decisions about an organization

• Mice (23) = Institutional erosion, stressful organization

• Heart (24) = Single

• Ring (25) = Marriage, formal commitment

• Book (26) = Higher education, educational institution

• Letter (27) = Bureaucratic paperwork

• Man (28) = Phallic symbol, single man

• Woman (29) = Single woman

• Lilies (30) = An old organization

• Sun (31) = Happy alone, positive organization

• Moon (32) = Creativity in solitude, recognized institution

• Key (33) = Successful organization, success in solitude

• Fish (34) = Abundant organization, abundance in solitude

• Anchor (35) = Remaining single, a solid institution

• Cross (36) = A burdened organization, burden in solitude

Example Spreads with the Tower

QUESTION: 

What does my dating life look like over the next month?

Heart + Tower + Anchor

ANSWER: 

You are likely to remain single over the next month.

QUESTION: 

What line of work will my next job be in?

Tower + Book

ANSWER: 

Higher education or an educational organization.

What to Do When Your Reading is “Negative” - Your 3 Step Action Plan to Changing Your Fortune

All of us have been there. You sit down for your reading, you concentrate on your question, pull your cards and BAM! A dark, scary, mean card slaps you across the face.

Okay, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic…but whether you receive the reading from another cartomancer or you’re just pulling your own daily card, there is a doom gloom feeling that can wash over us when darker cards turn up. We can be tempted to gently put the cards away and go on with our day, putting on our blindfolds so we don’t have to see the scary stuff. Sure throwing the cards back in the bag would be the quick, easy way out…but you’re still going to encounter that situation either way.

So, what do we DO about this negative reading?

I got you covered. We’re going to cover a 3 step action plan to transforming your negative reading into your best reading yet. So whether you’re a Tarot reader, Lenormand reader, or both, this post is for you.

If you’re curious about the difference between Lenormand and Tarot, check out THIS POST.

I did a Facebook Live on this post and you can catch the replay, below. Not into live replays? Just skip the video and keep reading.

An Unfortunate Scenario

Let’s go through one of these challenging readings together. Let’s say we’ve been hard at work planning a party and we want to know how the event will unfold.

We concentrate and ask the question “how will the party go?” With one eye open, we trepidatiously flip over our Lenormand cards:

Garden

Birds

Whip

Clouds

What does this mean?

 It’s clear from this spread that there will be arguing, potentially from gossip that leads to doubt, confusion, and unhappiness. Yuck!

 What do we do from here? Well we can throw in the towel and cancel the party all together or we can take a few action steps…

Your “Negative” Reading Rescue Plan

Step 1: Take a breath and think of yourself in the 3rd person

When negative cards are pulled, our instinct may be to freak out. Why do we freak out? Because we are WAY too involved in the outcome of our reading. If you’re not coming from a clear-headed space, you’re going to read the cards in a biased or in an emotionally heightened state. This state is NOT good for interpreting cards. If you find yourself in freak out mode, then it’s important that we take a step back. Close your eyes and take a breath.

We can begin to bring ourselves back to an emotionally neutral state by box breathing. This is where you breathe in for 4 breaths, hold for 4 breaths, breathe out for 4 breaths, hold for 4 breaths. Rinse and repeat.

Once you feel your heart rate go down a bit, then it’s time to pull back even more.

The next step is to think of yourself in the 3rd person. I know it’s a bit weird…but it works! If I were reading for myself, I would say, “okay, this is Emily’s reading.” It can have the impact of making it seem like the reading is for someone else, somewhat distancing yourself from the outcome of the reading, and therefore, you’re less likely to freak out.

Let’s head back to our party example. Now that we are in a cool, calm, and collected space, we can remember the INTENTION of the reading. Without intention, we cannot craft clear questions.

Our intention was that we wanted to see how the event would go and what we could do to have the best outcome possible. Now with our purpose clearly in mind, it’s time to make some magic happen and change our fortune. Our next step is to… 

Step 2: Ask the RIGHT game changing question

When negative card pops up in your reading, it is here to SHOW you something. It’s here to draw your attention to an area that needs a little tender loving care from you! So, rather than moping, doom glooming, or smackin down like whack a mole, let’s think about what we can we ask NEXT.

After all, our futures are not set in stone. I think of time like Dr. Who, “it’s wibbly wobbley timey-wimey stuff.” 

One of my Tarot teachers, James Wanless, talks about the idea of Fortune Creation. This is the belief that divination such as Tarot/Lenormand can be used to form the futures we want to have and when we get a negative card, there is some wiggle room or opportunity to develop or practice skills to improve upon our situations.

So, with the idea that time is flexible and that we can create futures, let’s see if there’s a way to change our fortune by asking some questions…but not just ANY ole question…we need fabulous, on point questions. 

I created THIS FREE GUIDE to help you craft the perfect question.

Here’s one example of a great next question: “how can I influence a more positive outcome?”

This question is great because it focuses on the querent. What YOU can do. Since we can’t control other people, this is what we need to be concerned about, ourselves,

 As this question would be for advice, I think a Tarot, or an Oracle card would be appropriate.

Let’s go back to our party example and we ask “how can I influence a more positive outcome?”

We pull the Six of Cups.

This card can mean reminiscing on warm memories, innocence, idealizing the past. With this advice we know a safe topic of conversation could be the good ole days, bringing guests together and starting sentences with a wry smile and with phrases like “remember the time we…” Perhaps this warm tone could set everyone in a gentler mood and influence a more positive outcome.

We can even ask a follow up question to this. We can ask, “if I focus on bringing up warm memories at the party, how will this impact the outcome?”

This question can show us how the future may shift a bit if we were to bring this warm energy to the party.

This is a pretty rosy scenario that we painted. If you feel the card gives you affirmative advice that it IS indeed possible for you to influence the external outcome of the event, then you are on your way to changing your fortune!

However, if for our advice card is less actionable, then what do we do?

Let’s say we drew the harsh 2 of Swords instead of the sweet 6 of Cups as our advice for our party scenario. The 2 of Swords can mean a stalemate is at play and we may feel like we are forced to pick a side when both sides are wrong. When we get another difficult card like this, it’s time to go deeper.

Although we may not always be able to impact the overall outcome of an event as a lone individual, we can ALWAYS impact how we, ourselves, handle, process, and use what we have learned from a situation in the future. When we come to this point in a reading, we are being asked to…

Step 3: Pull up your higherself pants and get ready for transformation

Once we’ve pulled our advice card(s) following our initial “negative” pull and we learn that there is not much we can do to change the outcome, we may be tempted to just throw the cards down and go eat a cookie, watch a terrible reality TV show, anything to get us away from THAT card pull.

This is because our surface level self LOVES instant gratification and wants everything to be easy breezy. The tricky cards we just pulled are in direct contrast to this. Since there isn’t an obvious solution to the problem, we can deem it totally inconvenient and uncomfortable so we want just avoid it.

But…it is sometimes impossible to avoid uncomfortable situations altogether. One of my favorite quotes is from Brooke Castillo, “discomfort is currency of our dreams.”

If we’re not willing to get uncomfortable, then we’re not willing to accomplish our goals and transform ourselves into the person we want to become. We are shaped by HOW we handle experiences and what we learn from difficult situations.

Now that we have pulled advice cards and discovered that we are not able to influence a positive external outcome, we are given an opportunity. Yes…an opportunity (even if we kick and scream our way to it). Our higher selves are asking us to transform, to evolve and this moment in question is the vehicle by which we can do so. We are being asked to look at the cards as the circumstance, understand what is happening without judgement.

In our example, people at the party are not getting along. That is the circumstance we are confronting. We don’t need to add drama to it by thinking things like, “I’m a terrible party planner,” or, “why do I even try?” or, “can’t things just be easy?!” Instead, let’s get into action by asking a very important question:

 What do we want to THINK about the experience?

What do we want to think about the fact that people won’t get along at the party? After all, everything is created within ourselves.

We get to CHOOSE how we think about, interpret, and experience the things in our life. Even if we can’t change the external circumstance, we can still change our fortune by choosing HOW we will approach and experience this “negative” experience.  

We are, in essence, being asked by our higher selves to transform and simultaneously, we are given the opportunity to become a better cartomancer.  Being a great cartomancer involves accepting the duality of life. The positive and the negative. Over time, it’s clear that the negative in life shapes the positive experiences. It is a symbiotic relationship that is crucial to living a full life.

When we accept this principle it’s time to ask, “what is this situation here to teach me?”

Often, there is an essential lesson that we need from that experience to carry forward and apply to other aspects of our lives.

If we pulled a card for our party scenario asking, “what is this here to teach me,” and we pulled the Queen of Swords, perhaps this situation is teaching us how to draw boundaries. This situation, may be the perfect testing ground for this new skill. We will put it to the test in this environment so we can level up and put it to the test in a new, more challenging environment later.

The Key to Fortune Creation is in the Question

As you can see, your ability to ask clear questions is essential to getting clear answers and to flip the script on your “negative” reading. This is why I created my Free Ask Clear Questions, get Clear Answers Guide. This FREE, simple, step by step guide walks you through crafting the perfect question so you can act with clarity and confidence.

I hope these tips help you when you pull your next “scary” card!

 Divinely,

The House - Lenormand Card Meanings and Combinations

4. The House

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” – Robert Frost

Keywords

• HOME

• FAMILY

• A HOUSE

• SAFE

• COMFORT ZONE

The House Card Meaning

Close your eyes, and picture home. What do you think of?

Do you think of the place you physically live? Or, perhaps you picture your family. Your parents, your kids, your partner, or extended family. Maybe you picture the house you would love to buy, or the home you long to create.

The House card encompasses all of these meanings. The house is home. It is your comfort, it is refuge, it is the physical structure you call home, it is your family. Wherever the House appears in your reading, look to the context of the question to determine which form of home the House card assumes.

The House Card Combinations

Did the House card show up in your reading? Check out the card combinations below. Please note, there are almost infinite meanings for Lenormand combinations. These combinations below are interpretations I have discovered over the years. The context can change EVERYTHING so use these meanings as prompts for your intuition to sing with the context of your question. I can't stress enough how important context is!

THE HOUSE + (CHOOSE FROM BELOW)

• Rider (1) = A houseguest, activity at home, news regarding your home

• Clover (2) = A lucky home, blessed home

• Ship (3) = Moving house, a family vacation

• Tree (5) = A growing family, family roots, planting roots

• Clouds (6) = Uncertainty at home, anxiety

• Snake (7) = Problems at home, someone in family not being honest, danger to family

• Coffin (8) = Ending time at a house, family resting

• Bouquet (9) = Home decorating/beautifying home

• Scythe (10) = Danger to house/family, family separating

• Whip (11) = Arguing/fighting at home, cleaning house

• Birds (12) = Family discussions/communication

• Child (13) = A new house, new beginning for family, a child in the family

• Fox (14) = Working from home, manipulation at home

• Bear (15) = A mother figure in family, family finances

• Stars (16) = Future of a family, family goals

• Stork (17) = Positive progress for family, family moving in right direction

• Dog (18) = A loyal family

• Tower (19) = Feeling alone in family, isolation

• Garden (20) = Home environment, a house party/gathering

• Mountain (21) = Stagnation/barriers at home, family is blocked/facing challenges

• Crossroads (22) = Family decisions, decisions about a house

• Mice (23) = Stress at home, family bonds deteriorating

• Heart (24) = Family love

• Ring (25) = Family commitments, a family cycle

• Book (26) = Family secrets, unknown information about a house

• Letter (27) = News/invitation regarding family, documents relating to a house (especially selling/buying)

• Man (28) = A man related to family, landlord, homeowner,

• Woman (29) = A woman related to family, landlord, homeowner

• Lilies (30) = An old house, a laid back family

• Sun (31) = A happy family, happy home

• Moon (32) = Dream home, emotional home

• Key (33) = Success at home

• Fish (34) = Family cash flow, family abundance

• Anchor (35) = A secure home, stable family

• Cross (36) = Family burdens, a burdensome house

Example Spreads with the House

QUESTION: 

I’m thinking about moving. What may I experience if I was to move to a new a city? (The querent is female)

House + Garden + Woman + Tower

ANSWER:

You are likely to feel alone in the new city.

House + Garden = Home Community

Woman + Tower = Alone

QUESTION: 

What does my home life have in store over the next month? (Man charged as her husband, Fox charged as work)

House + Man + Fox + Crossroads

ANSWER:

Your home life is likely to be dominated by your husband’s work decisions.

Question:

I just accepted a new job offer. What will I experience in the new position?

Ship + Mice + House + Cross

Question:

Your job will require travel which will be stressful and it will become burdensome on your homelife.

Back To All Lenormand Card Meanings

Give your Intuition an Oxygen Mask

You heard me right. 

I believe we all have this gorgeously dark, shadowy, glittering intuition. It does so much work for us on the daily, grabbing and storing all the minutiae of our lives deep within us.  It parks all this knowledge in our subconscious, where it burrows down, like a squirrel preparing his cache for winter.

Our minds are mines of these intuition diamonds.

These knowledge gems hibernate within us, until we are faced with an experience that requires our intuition. As Mary Greer says, intuition is knowing something without knowing why we know it. We are aware when these diamonds have been excavated because we have this knowing hit to our gut and cannot explain where this feeling came from.

Our intuition is constantly gathering little gems of observation and storing it deep down. For instance, when talking to a stranger, you may know they are newly in love. Maybe it’s their subtle glow, the shimmer in their eye, the over exaggerated hand movements. All of these nuances were picked up by your subconscious long ago and unearthed at the right moment, so you could clearly see the love emanating from her round cheeks, her shimmering eyes.

Since we live in a chaotic world, we are in many environments throughout the day. Meaning, our intuition is constantly in overdrive. It picks up minutia, at the store, at school, at work. It’s constantly burrowing and excavating these intuition diamonds, busy, busy, busy. Especially around the holidays, we have even more responsibilities than we do the rest of the year. It is just that many more things for our intuition to comb through and store.

Here’s my hypothesis: we need to give our intuition a place to breathe. A place where it doesn’t feel the need to constantly search and dig down deep. We need to give it a still place, where there is less stimuli. Put the oxygen mask on your intuition so it can rejuvenate, and serve you when you need it most.

But…we are so busy! Where the heck can we have a place to breathe?

A suggestion. Your home.

Looking around my home right now, my mind needs to process so much. Right now, my mind is processing items in front of me: plate, pen, paperwork, watch, phone, plant leaves, old broken printer that doesn’t work.  It just keeps going and going because what is supposed to be my refuge has too much crud, too much to process.

What if, we just got rid of half of that stuff. That means, your intuition is freed up, to perhaps plant and mine for deeper diamonds. Gems that have long been forgotten that can turn up at the right moment.

Or, if you wish to use your intuition for readings or other forms of divination, it could be well rested, and willing to kick into overdrive when it is most desirable, when you have a querent in front of you.  

If you’re thinking, Emily, my house is a hot mess, I’m allergic to getting rid of junk, and there is NO way I’m gonna clean things right now.

I get ya darlin. I am one messy witch. If you’re not Mr. Clean, there is something else you can do.

Close your eyes for me after you’ve read this. And just be. Let your intuition finish what it’s burying, and let it polish that gem its working on. Just be a person in the world that possesses this magical mechanism. Breathe in for it. Exhale for it.

I hope you’ll find your readings clearer, your mind sharper, and most importantly, you’ll see those deep intuitive diamonds manifest, right in front of your glittering, magic eyes.

Divinely,

Emily Rose

The Ship - Lenormand Card Meanings, Combinations, and Example Spreads

3. The Ship

“It is better to travel well than to arrive.” - Buddha

Keywords

• MOVEMENT

• TRAVEL

• DISTANCE

• CHANGE

• TRANSITION

• VACATION

The Ship Card Meaning

Whether positive, negative, or neutral, I know wherever the Ship appears, there is about to be a journey. The journey can be as small as a family vacation or as large as a career change. The cards surrounding the Ship let us know what kind of journey we may be in for and perhaps, where the destination is. Always look to the right of the ship for what may be experienced during the trip, transition, or move.

The Ship Card Combinations

Did the Ship card show up in your reading? Check out the card combinations below. Please note, there are almost infinite meanings for Lenormand combinations. These combinations below are interpretations I have discovered over the years. The context can change EVERYTHING so use these meanings as prompts for your intuition to sing with the context of your question. I can't stress enough how important context is!

THE SHIP + (CHOOSE FROM BELOW)

• Rider (1) = Rapid/fast travel, a quick trip

• Clover (2) = A blessed trip, lucky trip

• House (4) = Moving house, typically to a new home, family vacation

• Tree (5) = Growth/personal journey, trip for health purposes

• Clouds (6) = Misfortune on a journey

• Snake (7) = Travel plans not going as expected, destination not what was expected

• Coffin (8) = Trip ending, movement stops

• Bouquet (9) = A pleasant trip, a gifted trip

• Scythe (10) = Accident, a cancelled trip

• Whip (11) = Moving toward conflict, disagreement over direction/distance

• Birds (12) = Transformation regarding communication, discussion of a change

• Child (13) = A new journey

• Fox (14) = Planning a trip, a work related change

• Bear (15) = Change in leader, a financial change, traveling with a mother or boss figure

• Stars (16) = A future trip

• Stork (17) = A positive trip, change for the better

• Dog (18) = Traveling with a friend

• Tower (19) = A solo trip, a change regarding an institution/career

• Garden (20) = A travel destination, exploring a social scene

• Mountain (21) = Travel/movement is blocked, delays

• Crossroads (22) = Coming upon a decision,

• Mice (23) = A stressful transition/trip

• Heart (24) = A romantic trip, a transition in love

• Ring (25) = A commitment to transition, a cyclical change (a change that keeps happening)

• Book (26) = Discovery during change, a secret trip

• Letter (27) = Travel paperwork/logistics

• Man (28) = A man affects travel

• Woman (29) = A woman affects travel

• Lilies (30) = A leisurely trip

• Sun (31) = A very happy journey

• Moon (32) = A romantic trip

• Key (33) = A smooth/successful transition/trip

• Fish (34) = Many trips, cash on a trip, an abundant journey

• Anchor (35) = Staying put (putting down your anchor)

• Cross (36) = A difficult/painful transition

Example Spreads with the Ship

QUESTION: 

My current home has a lot of issues. What is my best plan of action when it comes to this home?

House + Coffin + Ship + Key

Answer:

Count your losses and move. (House + Coffin) show to put an end to where you currently live. (Ship + Key) shows that there is success in moving on.

QUESTION: 

There’s talk of changes happening at work. What may I experience over the next few weeks?

Bear + Ship + Clouds

answer:

There’s likely to be some transitions in terms of leadership which causes uncertainty and anxiety.

question:

I’m about to go on the trip. How will the travel go?

Ship + Mountain + Sun

Answer:

There will be some challenges/delays but ultimately, these will be cleared and your trip will be positive overall.

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