Advanced Techniques for Reading the Petit Lenormand Grand Tableau – Part 3
This is part of a series of articles that covers advanced techniques used to interpret the Petit Lenormand oracle. Here’s a small recap of the different techniques that we have covered previously:
– Advanced Technique #1 – Diagonals
– Advanced Technique #2 – Knighting
In this article, we cover mirroring. Mirroring is a technique which was actually described and used by Etteilla even before the Petit Lenormand Oracle was invented. On page 50 of his book: “Etteilla, ou la seule manière de se recréer avec les cartes, revue, corrigée et augmentée par l’auteur; sur son premier manuscrit” (Lesclapart, Libraire, Quai de Gêvres, Paris, 1773), Etteilla explains how this technique is used. The principle is actually quite easy and works rather well in string readings, as well as in a Lenormand Grand Tableau.
How Mirroring Works in a String Reading
Back when we first gave you Basic Guidelines for Reading with the Petit Lenormand, we briefly described how you go about reading a string. Given that this technique is best explained by example, we will now go through an actual 5 card string reading which focuses on one single question. The example I am using is from a reading I did for a female consultant who wanted to know if her publishing/writing project would bring her financial success. Here are the cards that came out:
In this example, we would read the string as we would normally: by pairing up the cards with each other, reading from left to right.
Dog + Book:
Dog (loyalty, dedication) + Book (writing, publishing, studying) could describe how this client is actually in a creative writing / publishing project. The Dog + Book are literally saying: “Stay dedicated to your publishing project.”
Book + Moon
The following pair would be Book (writing, publishing, studying) + Moon (fame, having the spotlight) which tells me that her publishing project (if she stays dedicated to it) will bring her fame and garner a lot of attention.
Moon + Lily
Good attention, as well as recognition for a dark haired woman (my consultant). This is supported by the Lily card which is all about “recognition”.
Lily + Snake
The cards are literally saying that there will be recognition for the Snake (or a dark haired woman – and she does have dark hair). In other words, if she keeps up her writing, she will be rewarded with fame and recognition. It does seem rather positive on the whole so far.
Now let’s now apply mirroring to this spread:
In order to mirror you have to take the first card and mirror it with the last card, and then repeat for the second card and the next to last card, etc…
So, in our example we have the Dog mirroring the Snake (in my notes I use the short form: Dog // Snake). This confirms that the Snake is a person and not a problem or argument about to arise. Next we mirror the Book and Lily (Book // Lily) which says that publishing brings recognition. It also seems to indicate that it may take a while for this success to come as the Lily is normally a slow acting card. It won’t be an overnight success, but it will be successful. Finally, we have the Moon card on it’s own, which speaks again of fame and success.
Will her publishing business bring her success? I do certainly think so, especially if she sticks to it..!
How Mirroring works in a Petit Lenormand Grand Tableau
Using this technique in a Petit Lenormand Grand Tableau is slightly different. For one, you don’t have to mirror the whole Tableau to get its benefits! Instead, you can simply choose the card you want to analyze, and see where the “reflections” fall. In order to keep things simple, let’s reuse the example we have been using throughout these articles:
Using the above example, if we wanted to know more about the lady, we could apply mirroring to add more details. Here’s how it would work:
Step 1: You find the card that you are interested in mirroring. In our case, we’re trying to mirror the Lady (card #29).
02-21-29-32-04-15-24-17-26
03-19-22-31-14-11-25-07-27
30-20-34-01-12-16-33-06-35
36-13-18-23-05-09-28-08-10
Step 2: Once you find your card, you have to recognize that it is the 3rd card from the left in the first row.
Once you establish that the Lady (card #29) is the 3rd card from the left in the first row, you can then say that she mirrors the 3rd card from the right in the same row, the Heart (card #24):
02-21-29-32-04-15-24-17-26
03-19-22-31-14-11-25-07-27
30-20-34-01-12-16-33-06-35
36-13-18-23-05-09-28-08-10
However, we’re not done! Since the lady is also 3rd in the first row, it goes to say that she’s also reflected in the 3rd card in the bottom row below! So in fact, she’s also mirroring card #18, the Dog!
02-21-29-32-04-15-24-17-26
03-19-22-31-14-11-25-07-27
30-20-34-01-12-16-33-06-35
36-13-18-23-05-09-28-08-10
Therefore, the Lady // Dog; Lady // Heart.
OBSERVATION: Interestingly, the Gentleman (card #28) also mirrors the Dog and the Heart..!! What kind of interesting information did this just find out? We’ll discuss it in more detail in Petit Lenormand Love Relationships – Part 3 (to come!)
In our next article on Advanced Techniques, we will cover the Petit Lenormand Grand Tableau’s House Technique in Advanced Techniques for Reading the Petit Lenormand Grand Tableau – Part 4. Stay tuned!
Thanks for the amazing info. I find these posts have a lot of material. I can’t wait to get a chance to impliment all of these. Thank you very much.
Hi Margaret,
I’m glad you like our posts on how to read the Petit Jeu Lenormand’s Grand Tableau..! I’ve just posted more information on the Petit Lenormand House system..! Hopefully you’ll find it equally informative.
Wonderful website! Just a question: do you find that the mirrored information has a different quality in any way from the info you get from pairs? As, for instance, diagonals expressing influences, knighting exposing hidden info.
Hi Valerie,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I find that mirroring is similar to pairs, giving qualities, descriptions, and small insights. For example, if the woman mirrors the snake, she has the same qualities as the snake – perhaps short, dark hair or someone who can’t be trusted. If stork mirrors horseman, it can represent a message that brings change or change caused by a young man.
Thanks!
Mirroring is described by Etteilla (although his book is hard to wrap your mind around, I will admit!); mirroring has also been used by other Lenormand readers (Treppner being one that comes to mind), and I’m also rather fond of the technique personally. Every technique that is posted on LearnLenormand are methods I have used and gotten good results with. Hopefully, you can recreate my success.. 🙂 Let me know, and happy learning! 🙂
Lily means recognition?? I had always read that Moon means recognition (& the other attributes you described), whereas lily can mean an older man, sex, peace, slow activity, etc., but I’ve never heard of recognition as an attribute of it…
Hi Kat! Good question!!
The Lily does indeed represent a figurehead (older man, father figured, etc), however in business contexts, it could represent your boss, etc, and that person bestowing a favor or recognizing your work. Moon would mean it is being given more public attention, whereas Lily would be more private (like a simple thumbs up), which might lead to moon like recognition.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
bonjour,
Merci pour ce site 😉
Hi Jen,
That all depends on who you’re reading for, but mirroring usually shows us how others see the person. So if a Man was mirroring they Woman, perhaps people see him as a caring and nurturing individual; if you’re reading for a man, perhaps the woman projects an aura of authority and tough love. You’d need to investigate the other cards that define the man/woman card you’re reading for.
Cheers,
LE