THE MOON, BEAUTIFUL...

THE MOON, BEAUTIFUL! THE SUN, EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL...!

Today I thought I’d take a look at some of the cards in my forthcoming “Marginal Lenormand” in a bit more detail, and, specifically, compare some that have direct parallels in Marseille Tarot with their counterparts in my earlier “Dinosaures de Marseille” deck.

We’ll be looking at the Sun and the Moon, the Wandering Stars that appear in both decks (if you already have “Les Dinosaures”, you’ll know that I expanded this category within that deck to include an entire week’s worth of Planets, but we’ll just be working with the traditional cards for the moment).

First of all, you’ll probably notice that, although bearing the same titles and apparently presenting the same subjects, Sun and Moon in Lenormand and in Tarot de Marseille are NOT the same cards.

There’s a core of commonality between Marseille Sun and Lenormand Sun, in that both cards deal with intense and predominantly positive energies, but there is a subtle difference between them in terms of emphasis and inflection. If pulling a Marseille Sun indicates that the Querent is “Making It”, the Lenormand Sun could be better expressed as “Crushing It”. Marseille Sun is often associated with the idea of Construction – hence the wall we see behind the wrestling figures in many decks, here translated into the built-up layers of geological time, exposed by the forces of seismic activity and tectonic drift. The playfully martial figures that appear in both cards derive from the Medieval Astrological characterisation of the joyfully sparring Children of the Sun (all of us being born under the influence of one of the Classical Planets, and sharing certain characteristics derived from our specific Guiding Star) – more innocently playful, perhaps, in the Marseille version, as the rather alien tribal figures who feature in the Marginal Lenormand reflect another aspect of Lenormand Sun – it can refer to Travel, Discovery, Domination, and of course, Colonisation, and we can see those themes in the weirdly shaped persons of the “Others” who were generally supposed to inhabit strange far-away lands in the Medieval world picture – monstrous Blemmyes and Sciapodes, Cynocephali, and the Cannibals or Anthropophagi of all conceivable kinds.They remind us that Solar energy is a powerful force that is not always friendly or easily controlled.

The Moon in Tarot, however, is so different to the Moon in Lenormand that it often causes trouble for readers coming from one system to the other. The Tarot Moon is significantly more sinister in every respect; the twin towers, or here, snowcapped volcanic peaks, suggest borders, barriers, and obstacles before a gateway to the unknown; the howling beasts recall the folk description of the “Hour Between Dog and Wolf” (or Reptile and Mammal!), the time of day when close discernment becomes difficult, and poor apprehension can lead to possibly fatal errors of judgement. I have re-named this card “Extinction” to remind us that the evolutionary cycle also encompasses endings – and sometimes Dead ones, at that. The ancient armoured creature arising from the ocean depths in the foreground of the card – a lobster in the traditional deck, a trilobite in “Les Dinosaures” – represents the Alchemical phase of Nigredo – Blackening or Putrefaction – the breakdown of matter that has to happen before new shapes can be formed, and can also reference the Resurrection in Christian iconography. (The ability of certain invertebrates to regrow limbs, as well as their regular habit of shedding an external skin to reveal new shell underneath, may be the basis for this symbolic association).

The Moon of the Lenormand deck is not the deceptive and occulting luminary of the Tarot, though. “Luminary” is actually a good word for this card; it acts like a stage spotlight, bringing recognition, focus, and attention of a far more welcome kind. In the Marginal Lenormand, we see a sporting Creator using a recently invented tennis racquet to add extra impetus as he launches the Celestial body into orbit. A little more Power to your Elbow, cries out this card, success and acknowledgement are yours if you will but reach for them, and the trajectory of that success should be – not meteoric, as that’s the way to crash and burn, but Stellar in a more sustainable and repeatable fashion.

Have fun with both decks, but try to remember the distinctions!

“Les Dinosaures de Marseille” are available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1111074850/dinosaures-de-marseille-tarot-deck-2nd

(Also from the Tarot Museum in Tokyo, Japan, and Salon des Arcanes in France)

“The Marginal Lenormand” can be pre-ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marginal-Lenormand-Irreverent-Medieval-Marginalia/dp/0764370928/

And here: https://www.amazon.com/Marginal-Lenormand-Irreverent-Medieval-Marginalia/dp/0764370928/

Or ask your local vendor of decks and tools for the discerning Mage!