Listen to the Animals: Rabbit

For this Tarot Notes feature, I pull one card each week from a different animal-themed deck to represent an important message from that animal.

From now until January 15 I am offering an “Animal Guide for 2014” reading for just $5. You can purchase this reading on my web site, along with many other types of readings:
http://zannastarr.weebly.com/purchase-a-reading.html

I also offer several types of readings through my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/zannastarr

Using the Animal Powers Meditation Kit by Monte Farber and Amy Zerner (One Spirit), let’s see who my Animal Guide is for 2014.

Hopping into view is the RABBIT.

Animal Powers Meditation Kit

Monte Farber writes that he and Amy Zerner chose the Rabbit to represent “Opportunity” because “they are very quick – one second you see them, the next they are gone.” Farber also mentions the Rabbit’s legendary ability to escape danger in seemingly miraculous ways.

Traditionally, the Rabbit (or Hare) commonly represents fertility, libido, procreation, cyclic rebirth, cunning, swiftness, vigilance and magical powers. Linked with the moon by the ancients, the Rabbit is seen as an augury of good fortune in some cultures.

All that being said, the Rabbit is a prey animal who must learn to survive constant threats and attacks. The Rabbit’s only defense is flight, as it most certainly would lose any sort of fight with a predator.

As a messenger in 2014, the Rabbit seems to advise me to be alert for both opportunities and threats so that I can seize the opportunities and avert the threats. I need to be observant and sensitive to my surroundings, keep my wits about me, and trust my instincts this year.

Below are some well-known rabbits. The first person to identify all of these rabbits correctly in a comment on this blog will receive a FREE Animal Guide reading for 2014!

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Review: Learning Lenormand

R E V I E W

Learning Lenormand:
Traditional Fortune Telling for Modern Life
by Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin
Paperback: 312 pages
Llewellyn Publications
ISBN 978-0-7387-3547-1

 

_About My Reviews_

TOP LINE (formerly Bottom Line)

I am a relative newcomer to the world of Lenormand. I do have several decks, and I am a member of the _Learning Lenormand Facebook group_. When I heard about the book Learning Lenormand, I decided it would be a good resource for me.

I love that the authors begin their Introduction with a reference to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The Golden Compass is one of my all-time favorite books, but I had no idea that the _Alethiometer_ used by the heroine, Lyra, displays the same number of symbols as the Lenormand cards and that many of these are the same as or similar to the symbols of the Lenormand Oracle. (How cool is that?!?!?!)

My favorite sections of Learning Lenormand are:

• Chapter One: A Tale of Two Cities – a fascinating history that includes information about Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand, the earliest Lenormand decks, the card games Piquet and The Game of Hope, and the use of cartomancy.
• Chapter Six: The Houses – a description of the houses of the Grand Tableau, including the “Master Method” introduced by Foli in 1903.
• Appendix One: The Game of Hope – description of a game published c. 1800 as a set of cards with instructions on how to play. A translation of the instructions is included in this Appendix.

I like the way the authors use exercises to gradually build toward the daunting Grand Tableau, which uses all 36 Lenormand cards. The book provides the individual meanings of each card, devoting up to a full page to each.

I enjoyed reading this book straight through, and I know that I will refer to it and use the exercises over and over again as I continue to explore my Lenormand decks.

THE PUBLISHER'S PRODUCT SUMMARY

Read the Lenormand cards to answer practical questions about romance, career, money, travel, and important life choices. With simple instructions for beginning readers, Learning Lenormand teaches easily accessible methods for using this simple thirty-six card deck. Providing fascinating historical research and proven techniques, renowned instructors Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin reveal everything you need to know:

Card meanings • The Grand Tableau • Accessing your inner Sibyl • Sample readings Working with houses • Basic layouts • Deck recommendations • The significance of facing cards • Lenormand and tarot • Diagonals, reflections, zones, and shadows

With fewer complex symbols than traditional tarot cards, the Lenormand deck is a key that unlocks the secrets of the future and uncovers deep personal insights

Marcus Katz

THE AUTHORS

Marcus Katz (England) is a tarot teacher and the director of Tarot Professionals, the world’s largest professional tarot organization. He has studied and taught tarot for thirty years and has delivered more than ten thousand face-to-face readings. He is the co-founder of Tarot Town, the social network for tarot readers, with thousands of members worldwide.

Tali Goodwin

Tali Goodwin (England) is the marketing director of Tarot Professionals and co-founder of the Tarot Town social network. She maintains a popular tarot blog at TarotSpeakEasy.com.

BASIC INFORMATION / APPEARANCE, SIZE, QUALITY / ART

This 312-page high-quality paperback book measures 9 by 7-1/2 inches. Illustrations are black and white.

Table of Contents

One: A Tale of Two Cities
Two: Getting Started
Three: The Cards
Four: Reading the Cards in Context
Five: The Grand Tableau
Six: The Houses
Seven: Knighting, Counting, and Diagonals
Eight: Zones and Shadows
Nine: Card Layouts and Sample Readings
Afterword: Lenormand for Tarot Readers
Appendix One: The Game of Hope
Appendix Two: The Game of Picket (Piquet)
Further Resources
Glossary
Bibliography
Endnotes
Art Credit List

Holiday Update

Time flies when you have a major health scare in the family! I spent most of my time from December 19 to December 23 at the local hospital with my husband. He had a stroke and suddenly lost his peripheral vision and some of his forward vision in one eye, with minor vision impairment in the other eye.

Let's just say I think I now know the meaning of the Snake card that I pulled in my Lenormand line of three on December 16...

The oracle also held true in that my husband was discharged from the hospital on the 23rd and thus able to celebrate Christmas Eve and the rest of the holiday with our family. My husband's vision seems to be improving somewhat. Doctors say it may or may not return to normal in the future. But all things considered, the damage could have been much, much worse.

I hope to get back on track with Tarot Notes on January 1, 2014. Until then, I wish all of you a happy holiday season. Enjoy your friends and family!

Best wishes and brightest blessings,

Zanna Starr

Week at a Glance: Garden, Snake, Bouquet

Last week’s Lenormand pair – Choices (22) + Rings (25) – did not seem to relate to any actual event in my life, at least not that week. As an author, I do have book contracts with publishers, and I am married, so there is that “contract.” But I was not aware of any decisions or choices that needed to be made.

This week I am continuing my exploration of Lenormand style decks using Shaheen Mirro’s Tattered Nomad Oracle. (My spellcheck program insists that his name should be "Shaken Mirror"…)

I am drawing a line of three cards this time.

THE GARDEN (20). . . THE SNAKE (7). . . THE BOUQUET (9)
Okay, my very first reaction to the first two cards has to be the story of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, and the Snake (serpent)! Then we add The Bouquet, which goes very nicely with The Garden. Yet there is that Snake in the middle. I get a sense of a lovely setting filled with flowers in which something false or deceptive hides, waiting for a chance to cause trouble. Instead of a “snake in the grass,” it’s a “snake in the garden.”

Let’s see what Shaheen says about each of these cards:

• The Garden (20) – gatherings, celebration, meetings, social events, public property, creation
• The Snake (7) – deception, attach, difficulties, envy, wisdom, bad omen
• The Bouquet (9) – gifts, offerings, affection, encouragement, happiness aesthetic

Well, here we are in the holiday season, with Christmas just ten days away, certainly a time of gatherings, celebration, gifts, etc. A lot of that going on all around me. But there’s that Snake. What is he up to, exactly?

In The Secrets of the Lenormand Oracle, Sylvia Steinbach offers similar interpretations of my three cards:

• The Garden (20) – the general public, groups and crowds, parties, meetings, social activities
• The Snake (7) – difficulties, disappointments, jealousy, manipulations and tricks brought on by familiar people
• The Bouquet (9) – beauty, grace, joy, gift, strong positive vibrations

Sylvie also provides possible interpretations for card combinations:

• Garden + Snake = trouble makers, disturbances, gang
• Snake + Bouquet = positive turnaround, repairs, corrections
• Garden + Bouquet = happiness, contentment, bliss

I like the overall “vibe” of these cards because they give me the sense that even though trouble may lurk, it is not likely to overthrow the happiness and beauty of the week, and that any damage is probably going to be repaired.