As I mentioned in my introduction to Lenormand spreads Single Card readings are not common for Lenormand. For if
you limit your interpretation of the individual cards to a few keywords each (which many Lenormand
readers do!), Single Card readings can but sorely lack significance. However, if you are
willing to look at an individual card in depth, Single card readings can lead you to astonishingly
profound insights. I recommend them especially if:
• You are a beginner and in the process of getting to know the individual cards' meanings.
Single Card readings are extremely useful for this process, as they make you familiar with
one card's meaning at a time. • You are interested in the archetype(s) a card is addressing. • You like philosophising about yourself and life. • You want a very condensed, focused answer.
For interpreting the single card you've drawn, you can do one or several of the following::
1. Identify the keyword that fits: Go through the card's keywords and identify the one (or two or
three!) that fit, that give you the inspiration you were looking for. Quite possibly, keywords alone
won't be fully satisfying as an answer though. Especially if this is the case, proceed to 2 and/or 3.
2. Philosophise; and take the advice: You needn't limit yourself to a card's keywords only.
You can go to my website and read my longer interpretation of the card for more philosophical/
psychological input. And if you believe in and trust your own wisdom, your own intuition, your
own insights, you can also do some philosophising or research of your own. What else does the
symbol on the card you've picked mean in your culture and in other cultures? What does it mean to
you personally that my interpretation, or the traditional, one maybe hasn't mentioned? And what
feelings, thoughts, and images come to you when you look at the card, and why do they come up?
How do they all relate to the question you asked?
Most importantly, identify those parts of the card's meaning which are problematic, and the
ones which represent positive things. They can be understood as advice - respectively, what you
should try to prevent from happening, and what you should aspire to. You can take some time to
meditate on why it would be useful, what would change, if you followed this advice. How would
your own life, or other lives, become better?
3. Identify first steps: And finally, when you have ascertained what advice the card is giving
you, what goal it sets for you, you could meditate on what strategies would be useful to reach
this goal. You could identify (and resolve to actually take) the first one or two steps that lead
towards it.
Example A&B Question: "What is an important issue I need to deal with in the new year?" Card drawn: Fox
Querent A ... is a person who is always busy caring for others. They feel tired constantly. 1. The keyword that fits: To Querent A, the "right" keyword seems to be self care. But they already know they need to take better care of themselves! 2. The advice: Reading the longer interpretation of the card they realise that they have
internalised their family's narrative that someone looking after their own needs well is being selfish - and that this is the reason why taking care of themselves is so difficult for them! They also start suspecting that they would profit from caring less about what other people
think in other areas of their life, too. Suddenly they feel an
emotional connection with the often vilified "chicken thieving" fox. 3. The first steps: Querent A decides that an achievable first step towards better self care
in the new year would be to finally take the sorely needed vacation - alone, without
the family, just for themselves.
Querent B... is a person who is very nervous, often afraid. 1. The keyword that fits: Querent B picks the conglomeration of three keywords as the
issue they should deal with in the new year: self-defence, suspiciousness and caution. 2. The advice: When they saw the keyword "self-defence" they realised that they are
constantly on the lookout for danger to themselves - thus, no wonder they are always
nervous! They note that in their own mind there is no difference between suspiciousness
and caution - but that there really is. They suddenly understand that being cautious, being
not-naive, and assessing risks realistically, is not the same as automatically assuming
things are dangerous, automatically suspecting other people's motives. 3. The first steps: Querent B decides that an achievable first step towards being less
defensive, nervous, and afraid, is to every evening write down three things which went well
during that day - good things someone else said to or did for them, or things that made the
world seem a friendly place.