
Last night, I sat down with the Gilded Reverie LeNormand Deck (the original, non-expanded edition) and did a Grand Tableau lay-out with one question in mind: what was the first year of the Biden administration going to look like? Instructing the deck that the Woman card would represent the new Vice-President, Kamala Harris and the Man card would represent the new President, Joe Biden, I shuffled the deck using my favorite method, smearing it around on the table, face down, with both hands, then brought the cards all back together in one pile, and started dealing. The result is the picture you see above.
The Grand Tableau spread can be done one of two ways: four rows of nine cards each, or four rows of eight cards, then one row of four cards at the bottom. I prefer the former, for its simplicity of form. When reading the Grand Tableau, I prefer to start with the four corners. If a Grand Tableau reading can be seen as a wall poster, then the four corners are the ‘tape’ by which it is adhered to the wall. It gives a general sense of where the reading is going. The four corners are read in the order of lower left-hand corner, upper left-hand corner, upper right-hand corner, lower right-hand corner.
The four corners of this reading, in order, are the Tree, the Garden Park, the Bear, and the Anchor. The growth and health of the public, and their enduring stability and security, is the general framework in which this incoming administration is operating.
The next thing I pay attention to is the first three cards in the upper left hand corner, for they open the game and set the tone for the reading. The first three cards in this spread were, in order the Garden Park, the Star and the Cross. Phrased as a sentence, the new administration will seek to bring new hope and plentiful opportunities to a public which has suffered greatly the past year.
Or longer, since the card in the Cross’ own ‘house’ is the Anchor, which can represent a long-term, entrenched arrangement. This brings up the next-most-important tactic when reading the Grand Tableau—the ‘House’ system. Each card in the LeNormand deck is numbered, and in the reading, whichever card lands on a particular numbered spot is in that number-card’s own ‘house’, showing a link between the two. Drawing house relationships between the cards in the spread can give you a great deal of information.
The card in the Star’s own ‘house’ is the Split Staircase, the Crossroads card in the traditional LeNormand deck. This can mean that the Biden Administration will seek to present the public with many new options and opportunities, which will be making the public very happy, because the Sun card is in the Split Staircase’s own ‘house’. Interestingly, the Cross card occupies the Ships own ‘house.’ The Ship can represent travel abroad and commerce in general—it can also represent foreign entanglements. This hints that some of the suffering the U.S. public has been enduring comes from a business environment which has not been favorable to them, and just possibly, may have part of its origin in foreign priorities.
I then look at the Significator cards, for they’re what the reading is about. I started with the Woman card, since she’s in the top row of the reading. I was struck by the fact that the Woman card is staring right at the Fox card, and the Fox in turn is staring directly at the tip of the Scythe aimed directly at it. I do not feel confident for the Fox’s fate, for the card below the Woman is the Coffin. No-longer-Senate-Majority-Leader Mitch McConnell has been called ‘the Grim Reaper’ but this configuration of cards makes it plain to me that from here on out, Kamala Harris is going to be the Grim Reaper. The Fox occupies the Snake’s own ‘house’ and the Snake occupies the Whip’s own ‘house’. The Mice card, which represents embezzlement and pilferage, sits right below the Scythe card. Things aren’t looking good for either the Fox, the Snake or the Mice, because Kamala Harris is on the job.
I’m getting the clear sense from this reading that there is a well-defined division of duties between the new President and Vice-President. Kamala Harris is going to be playing ‘Bad Cop’ to Joe Biden’s ‘Good Cop’. It is going to be her job to go after the bad guys. Joe Biden, with his card being in the bottom row of the spread, is going to be focused on bringing the county back to a better state of physical, emotional and spiritual health, as well as seeking to heal the divisions in the country. I conclude this because the Tree card is occupying the Man card’s house, and the Heart card is occupying the Tree card’s own house. And he is going to be quite successful in this effort, for the card occupying the Heart card’s own house is the Clover, which is the card of luck.
Not to say this won’t be a great challenge for him to face, for the Tree card ‘knights’ to the Mountain card in two different directions. Mountains represent conflicts, obstacles and challenges, and also possibly again foreign matters. ‘Knighting’ is another technique for reading the Grand Tableau, that’s either a one-two or two-one move.
I like to look at where the Key card is in the reading, for the Key card indicates something important, a ‘key’ message contained in the reading. The Key card in this reading is in the Ring’s own house, which indicates Biden and Harris are making a solemn commitment to the U.S. today to clear away the clouds of anxiety, misinformation, confusion and doubt, and they’re going to do this quite decisively. (The card in the Key card’s house is the Clouds, which represent thoughts, doubts, hopes, fears, anxieties, confusion, obfuscation, misinformation, and the card in the Cloud’s house is our old friend, the Scythe).
The Ring is in the House card’s own house, which for purposes of this reading, represents the United States. It’s flanked by the Sun card on the left and the Clover card on the right, two of the best cards in the LeNormand deck. The Biden-Harris administration is going to be good for the United States.
Another interesting thing I observed in this reading is, some U.S. government documents which have been secret are going to come to light, and receive much public attention and comment. The book card, which represents secrets, is right above the Tower card, which represents the government. The Tower card occupies the Letter card’s house, the Letter card representing all kinds of documents, sits in the Sun card’s house, and the Sun card is right above it, in the Split Staircase’s house, which suggests there’s going to be a difference of opinion on what it all will mean, and what should be done with this suddenly-revealed information. Whew! The relationships between cards can get quite complex in a Grand Tableau reading. This is what makes the Grand Tableau such an excellent way of reading on a subject—it can provide the reader with a great deal of information they may not be able to obtain any other way.
There have been secrets kept from the U.S. public; that is clear, because the Dog card, which represents friendship and loyalty and is another one of my cards in this deck which represents the United States, is in the house of the Book card, which represents secrets. And the Book card? –Is in the Dog’s house! Sometimes you get this sort of thing with the LeNormand—two cards mutually intercept each other by occupying each other’s houses. In those cases, the joint message they convey is emphasized.
The Biden-Harris administration is going to act decisively on a number of fronts (the Scythe in the top row, and this is going to be a gift to the U.S. public, because the card occupying the Scythe’s house is the Bouquet card, which represents a gift. The Scythe’s action can be dramatic and unexpected, but in this case, the gift it will bring is the gift of greater stability and financial security for the U.S., because the Bear card occupies the Bouquet card’s house. (Um, another thing: the Bear card in this deck is also my Russia card. Just sayin…).
Donald Trump, in this deck, is represented by the Child card, and his post-presidential life will not be inert; there will be movement, and not in a healthy direction. The Child card is in the Woman card’s house; the Storks, representing movement, are in the Child card’s house; and the Coffin is in the Stork card’s house.
There is going to be a message to the U.S. public about either foreign or big-business-induced suffering on the country, and media’s (both social and traditional) role in promulgating the misery might be a part of it. This may or may not tie into the government documents which are made public.
So I’m going to wrap this up. Scan the reading above; you may see connections I didn’t mention. This is just a quick overview of what I see for the first year of the new Biden administration. Happy Inauguration Day!