I'm taking you along with me as I create a new card deck for myself. I will create it with an American Indian theme as I did once before. What is Lenormand? - check out my previous article.
Card 7 - Poison Ivy
This is another card where I had to take significant "artistic licence." The original card is the Snake, but alluding to the venom - especially as poison, a "woman's weapon" - with the meaning being quite significantly female.
However, as I read about American Indian mythology and symbols, I discovered very quickly that their snakes didn't mean this at all! Although they highly respect the snake (even poisonous ones), they do not fear them for their poison. Rather, they see them as you might see a deity who was in charge of both life and death - with reverence and respect, but not as a means of death necessarily. They also see the shedding of snake skin as a sign of rebirth and as the creature can often be construed into a circle, it's also seen as a symbol of reincarnation. Hardly appropriate for my card - which carries none of those meanings!
However, in most parts of the North American continent, the "natives" had to deal with poison ivy, poison oak and/or poison sumac. Poison ivy is a funny plant, it's pretty (especially in the autumn), it's shiny, it's tempting... And though it's not actually deadly, just seeing a picture of it is enough to make me start itching! It's also a very quiet plant, easily hiding in its earliest stages - enough that even seasoned wilderness experts will get into it without knowing it from time to time. So, I felt this insidious nature of poison ivy fit this position perfectly.
When we think of the snake, we tend to think of:
- a false woman
- treachery, deceit, lies, a forked tongue
- poison - including what the tongue can do.
I think when we think of poison ivy, we can think of:
- suffering, itching caused by treachery.
- pretty, shiny, tempting...
- sneaking, undermining, taking advantage
So, we evolve the meaning a little, but most of it is still there, pretty much as it was - just a different image now.
For more information on what this card means, check out Lenormand1's interpretation - for combining the (CARD) with any other card, check out the site: Learn Lenormand
Note: use your intuition this time - the card has evolved quite a bit, so it may change some of the combo interpretations accordingly.
For my new card, For my new card, I hit Google Images search, looking for something with CC0 (Creative Commons 0) licensing meaning that I don't always have to remember to credit someone - essential if I were to start doing paid readings with these cards.
I also had to find out which traditional playing card is associated with this card. So, here is my result:
(Base image source: Pixabay - sorry for the hotlink, the other wasn't working.)
Note: Readings are entertainment only (legally). You are in charge of your own destiny.
Previous cards: 1 Rider; 2 Dreamcatcher; 3 Canoe; 4 Tipi; 5 Medicine Wheel;
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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
verified author on Goodreads
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also on: Whaleshares, WeKu
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