timtoldrum

19 February, 202127 June, 2026

A Pretty Bouquet

These three persons stood together on the hearth-rug, their eyes fixed on an extraordinarily large bouquet of crimson roses, with a knot of purple pansies at their base, that lay on the sofa where Madame Olenska usually sat.
Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence

Oracle cards* have never been a big draw for me. Consequently, I have owned less than ten that I can remember. In contrast, I know several gifted-diviners who employ only these decks. I say this as I want to stress I do not see such cards as inferior to the Tarot and other cards.

If you are a long-term reader of my work, you will know the L’Oracle de Belline is a firm favourite and a deck with which I would not part. The Oracle de la Triade is a favourite, too. However, today, we turn our attention to the Victorian Flower Oracle.

Part of my praxis has seen a reduction in spreads utilised. Rather than cultivating an extensive library of spreads focusing on a small pool of layouts does seem beneficial to me. As such I tend to stick to five but have a couple of others in reserve.

Recently, one of these was pressed into use.

La « petit question »

Colette Silvestre includes la « petit question » in several texts, but I first discovered it in Les Tarots. It is a simple three-card draw, designed to give a rapid answer – a yes or no draw, or le tirage du tarot oui non. Despite its genesis with the Tarot cards, the pattern works well with both l’Oracle de Belline and the Victorian Flower Oracle. In fact, it is with these two packs that I use this small draw.

Once the cards are shuffled and cut (however you prefer), you draw three cards. I lay them out as below. Madame Silvestre, however, chooses to place the third card between (and slightly lower) the first and second cards. It is up to you.

Although I use triples a lot (in lines, squares, &c), this differs to my normal practice as each position carries a signification. Ordinarily, I am not keen on positional spreads with less than seven-cards. But this is one I do recommend for its clarity and directness.

The positions signify the following:

The first card shows how the Querent faces the question.
The second card indicates the subject or question and how it stands.
The third card indicates the answer or outcome.

The Victorian Flower Oracle:

The Victorian Flower Oracle comes from the brilliant husband-and-wife team Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony. I love their work (Victorian Romantic Tarot, the Bohemian Gothic, &c). The designs for this pack came from J.J. Grandville’s Les Fleurs Animées. Sadly, it is out-of-print, and I will not part with it.

The langage des fleurs is ancient, but at the time Grandville completed his work it had seen a resurgence, especially in the form of tussie-mussies. Floriography allowed senders to encode messages into the arrangements. The Victorian Flower Oracle does tend to focus more on the illustrations rather than the traditional floral significations.

Eileen is a regular client of mine. She had worked for the same insurance company for 30 odd years. It is a job she said she loved. However, due to changes she had seen her role lost in a restructure and she was miserable. It had all changed. Her question was: Would things go back to how they were?

I shuffled, cut and draw three cards from the Victorian Flower Oracle.

The cards as they fell:

The first card is the Sweet Pea which leaves no doubt that Eileen does not feel sustained in her current role and working environment.

Interesting, the second card — Cornflower and Poppy — tells us once upon a time Eileen loved her role and workplace. Now, she no longer feels one of the team or valued. Something the Cornflower and Poppy tells us is essential for Eileen.

The answer comes in the form of the Orange Flower card. Eileen cannot reconcile her happy memories and the unsatisfying present; it is time to go. The Orange Flowers seems to sigh: “At least you have your memories.”

So the cards respond with a no. I text my response: No, that place exists now only in your memories.

As I went to turn over the final card, I had the strong sense Eileen had her resignation letter ready. It transpired that Eileen had. She just wanted confirmation that things would not go back to the way they were.

If we look at the cards as a line, we have a surreal tableau.

Cornflower and Poppy watch Sweet Pea wilting, desperately search for water as the Orange Flower looks on. It is almost farcical rather than sinister. In time Eileen might look back and see it. But for now, she must look for something else.

Thankfully, she had. The reading was done just before the autumn lockdown and Eileen is now happy in her new role.

When I first started writing in 2010, the dominant view was that the Tarot cards were for “higher” practice and spiritual and psychological in their pronouncements. Cards such as the Petit Lenormand or Cigány Kártya was for fortune-telling only. They could not be used for “higher” practice or in magickal practice. That view has softened in the last decade but it remains prominent in Anglo-Saxon communities.

It is not for the present author to pronounce judgement upon such stances. However, my view has always been that a deck’s usage and limitations rest solely with the reader. The Petit Lenormand can be spiritual, and the Tarot cards can and do predict future events. Oracle cards, such as the Victorian Flower Oracle, can give yes and no answers, too.

Stay well.

Cards: The Victorian Flower Oracle © Magic Realist Press 2006.

Featured Image: J. J. Grandville, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

*Oracle cards in the current vernacular seem to encompass all non-suited or Playing Card-derived (Tarot, Petit Lenormand, Sibilla, &c) decks. This is the definition used here. However, it is one the present author finds lacking. Technically, the oracle is the diviner and any cards in her hands are oracular.

19 October, 201927 June, 2026

Burning Like a Silver Flame

She that fain would fly, she shall quickly follow,
She that now rejects, yet with gifts shall woo thee,
She that heeds thee not, soon shall love to madness,
Love thee, the loth one!
Sappho, Ode to Aphrodite.

Long-term readers will know that I have a preference for linear and classical carrés and stars over positional draws. However, from time to time, the cards will fall on my table in crosses, horoscopes, horseshoes and CCs.

Below I use two medium sized spreads that can be utilised for looking for love questions. Credit for the patterns go to Colette Silvestre[1] and Teresa Michelsen[2].

L’étoile de Vénus

This draw is designed purely for relationship development questions. The five cards are as follows:

1
2 3
4 5

The first card represents the consultant.
The second card represents the present influences.
The third card represents influences that can either support or oppose the consultant.
The fourth card is the consultant’s hopes.
The fifth card is the outcome.

In her many books, ranging from TdM to L’oracle de Belline and both the petit Lenormand and grand jeu de Mademoiselle Lenormand, Mme Silvestre focuses on giving concise answers and emphasises cards’ behaviour. In this reading, great weight is thus given to passivity versus activeness and help versus hindrance.

Reading:

The first question comes from a young man, in his early twenties, referred hereafter to as the cavalier d’épée. He is currently single, having parted way with a young woman recently, and wanted to know if he would meet someone ‘new’ soon.

The cards as they fell:

I replied: ‘Yes, if you’re prepared to be a gambler.’

The cavalier d’épée loftily stands to survey his domain (le monde), calm and collected (tempérance), but hesitant (l’ermite). He hopes for change and new encounters (the la roue de fortune). He can have this, but only if he takes a risk and seizes his opportunities (the le bateleur).

I often see the le bateleur card as ‘yes, but.’[3] Le bateleur knows success occurs when opportunity meets preparation. He is prepared to seize any opportunity, to take a risk. Is the cavalier limiting his opportunities in some way? The L’ermite says yes. Some cards, such as tempérance, are actively passive. To achieve perfect measure or understanding, and thus peace the the fruit of the virtue, she must actively engage in passivity. That helps, here. The l’érmite, however, challenges tempérance on whether she has found the right measure or moment.

We lay two pip cards over the l’érmite, to see what he’s contemplating: dix de denier and deux d’épée. failure, or the loss of success and he runs from this. But philosophers have always said abstinence is easier than temperance. I don’t think the Hermit knows there is no contingencies in affairs of the heart. You take a risk. Or you stop alone.

I think the cavalier d’épée will find himself surprised at the possibility that presents itself.

Looking for Love:

Teresa Michelsen outlined this spread in her book, Designing Your Own Tarot Spreads.

The first card describes why you have not yet found your ideal partner.
The second card tells you how to overcome issues expressed in the previous card.
The third card advises you on the most positive action you can take to find your partner.
The fourth card describes who will be the right person for you.
The fifth card tells you where you will find this person.
The sixth card tells you when you will find your partner.

Reading:

This question was posed by a divorcée hereafter referred to as the Queen of Coins. The Queen had a two-parted question, why she was unsuccessful in finding a partner and when this would change. You will see Teresa Michelsen’s layout beautifully addresses these factors.

The cards as they fell:

My answer is: her social circle is not conducive to a new relationship and this will change when she relocates and meets new people.

Despite her emotional stability, the Queen finds herself with indifferent and listless men (4 of Cups) and will need to destabilise and breakout from the status quo (the Fool). The most positive thing she can do is leave her coterie and cut ties with a crowd that does not serve her needs (6 of Swords).

She will find her ideal partner in a festive and lively crowd (4 of Wands) when she builds a new home for herself and feels revitalised (Ace of Cups).

Traditionally, when we see the 4 of Cups, we often talk about feeling secure, real emotional intelligence and fairness (being the sanguine, air suit). It’s also the home of friends. However, here, we see a man so secure that he is apathetic and inert and unresponsive to the Queen’s needs. In the face of this, the 6 of Swords tells the Queen to leave the party and sail away to the troubadours’ party in the 4 of Wands.

If we look at the 3 of Wands, as who will be right for the Queen, we say a man who has forsaken his white-tie for a red toga. He’s imaginative, probably musical, but keeps his bare feet on the ground. He balances reliability with inscrutability (both earth qualities), creativity and dint of effort. Whatta man, in the words of Salt-n-Pepa.

The Ace of Cups, in timing, can be read as the first week of autumn, that is the week commencing September 24. A change of residence is supported by both the 6 of Swords and 4 of Wands, and to a lesser extent the Fool. I thus favour a literal move rather than a figurative fresh-start. The Queen told me, after the reading, all her friends were attached. She is due to be rehoused by the local authorities in the summer. I wish her well.

Cards: The Prediction Tarot (Peter Richardson), Aquarian Press 1985; The Victorian Romantic Tarot (Alex Ukolov & Karen Mahony), Magic Realist Press 2006.

Featured Image: Fresco from Pompei, Casa dei Venus, 1st century AD. Unknown ancient Rome artist, photo of Stephen Haynes [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Title: Venus, by Shocking Blue.

Notes:

[1] Silvestre-Haéberlé, C. (2001). Les 12 meilleures méthodes pour tirer les tarots. 1st ed. Paris: Grancher.
[2]Michelsen, T. (2003). Designing your own tarot spreads. 1st ed. St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications.
[3]Of note, he takes this precise meaning in the different versions of le tirage immediat sometimes called the rapid response.

16 August, 201927 June, 2026

9 to 5 With the Fox, Bear, Tower, Fishes or Anchor: It’s Enough to Drive You Crazy If You Let It

Last month one of my friends asked me for a reading. Despite several promising interviews, her son had been unable to secure a job. The financial strain of supporting him, since leaving university in 2018, was now causing friction between my friend and her partner.

Interestingly, her question was not whether her son would find a job soon. Instead, her inquiry was why he had thus far been unsuccessful. Even more intriguing was the cards’ response: three so-called work cards and not one meant work!

Over time, employment readings have been a divisive topic for the Anglo-Saxon Lenormand communities. Much vitriol was spat over what card ‘means’ work and thus perpetrating schools’ apocrypha. Sadly, the hostility such discussions provoked were unnecessary.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Lenormand Oracle does not have a card of work (or job, or employment, or career). If one looks through all thirty-six cards, this is perfectly evident. There is no ‘le travail’ card or ‘9 – 5’ card, et cetera.

A Brief Lesson on Master-Cards

The concept of specific cards for work stem from the cartes maîtresses, or thematic/topical significators. However, when a diviner states a card ‘means’ work, she confuses essence (card meaning) and application (master card). There is a secret: THERE IS NO WORK CARD(S).

If we consider some of the so-called ‘work’ cards, we see that these cards connect to one’s career solely on a representation level vis-à-vis their nature:

The Fox is an opportunist who will compete, sabotage and steal to survive. The Bear is a habituate who prefers his routine but will assert his dominance if needed. The Moon reflects any role, activity and status we hold to others. The Anchor tethers and keeps one in place until it’s raised.

All one has done, here, is progress the essential nature of each card on a functional level. That is, read the card at the first indexical level of semiotics. We can do that for every card; and in a work reading, you do. If the consultation is about work, then every card dealt is about the profession.

Such an indexical reading is the basis for the conventional distinction between salaried and freelance employment that was common to late-twentieth-century literature. For example, my French mentor used the Fox and the Anchor for temporary and substantive roles, respectively. The issue, here, is that a freelance is often concerned with security, which functionally, is an Anchor-issue.

The master-card for work is a function fulfilled solely in readings that require a pre-selected significator: opening of the key, lost man, no layout, star of destiny, GT. In my experience, it should be the card that shares the most significant relationship with the specific circumstances. For that reason, there cannot just be one card. If you’re concerned about competition it is the Fox; job security the Anchor; an interview, then it is the Moon (as it relies on looking the best to others), et cetera.

Outside of using a significator, no card should be read as simply being ‘work.’ Its house, in the grand tableau, also never means work. The lines of five or nine, 3 x 3, Russian cross, la méthode des treize, astrological wheel, et cetera, never need a master card.

A Line of Five

Let us then return to the query; although my friend posed the question, it about her son’s attempts to find work. The Lord card is the significator. It remains in the pack.

Question, “Why hasn’t the Lord been successful in securing a job?”

The cards as they fell:

So, which card is work: the Bear, the Fox, or the Lilies? None. Correct! If we impose such signification on any of them, we will lose valuable information.

If we scan the cards, we see three are from the clubs’ suit. These cards emphasise toil, challenges and effort. Now, if we look closely, we can see that person-card (roi de pique, the Lilies) ends the line, too. A person-card at the end often acts as an arbitrator, which makes sense in interviews.

Now, we can see why the Lord has not been successful. The roi de pique doesn’t think the Lord is as good as other candidates in this harsh environment. The Lord pursues highly competitive roles (the Bear and the Fox), overreaching himself (the Fox and the Road) as he lacks the commonality and calibre (the Road and the Ring) the hiring manager desires (the Lilies). Ouch.

Had I read either the Fox, the Bear, or the Lilies card as just being work, I would have been forced into a banal and pedestrian interpretation. A line has a definite starting pointing point and focus, rendering such significators equally redundant. Trust your cards; they will always answer you, you just need to look and read what is there and not what you are told.

Have a good weekend.