Abidance / to hold on / stability / focus / routine
About the meaning:
Anchors were
(and still are) used to make ships stay in a certain location. All the following meanings and sub meanings of the
Lenormand Anchor can be derived from this purpose.
Stop(up) / residence / abidance: Because of what anchors are for, the first and most
important dimension of the Anchor's meanings is anything that
has to do with "stopping". The Anchor can stand for stop(up)s,
for situations which make us pause, but also for long-term
residence, abidance, for sticking with something or someone. It can mean
that we have to stay put, or that we would like to.
To hold on / to be stuck or confined: Most types of anchors hold ships in position by hooking into the seabed. Thus, the Anchor can mean that we are holding on to something or that someone is holding on to us (too tightly, possibly). Sometimes, the Anchor says that we have difficulties with letting go, that we're unproductively trying to hold on to something which in reality is over. But the Anchor can also mean that we should hang on to something determinedly. Sometimes, an anchor gets stuck in the seabed and can't be lifted again. So the Anchor can also stand for situations in which we feel stuck. It can mean that we are being confined or held back; that we're metaphorically in fetters; even that we are being physically restrained.
Stability / foothold / solid as a rock: As I already mentioned above, an anchor hooks into the seabed. It gives the ship stability. Thus, stability is another dimension of the Anchor's meanings. Either a certain situation is very stable, or we feel stable because we have a good grip on the situation, a safe foothold. The Anchor can represent safety and security, too, firmness, and even a person who is "solid as a rock".
Centre (or focus) of one's life: Interestingly, anchors usually do
not actulally hold a ship in one exact place. Instead, the ship will "swing at anchor". This means that because of the changing winds and currents it moves around the anchor in a circular arch whose radius is determined by the length of the anchor chain. This is why I often interpret the Anchor as something or someone the querent's life is revolving around - as their present focus. Without context, this focus could be a productive or an unproductive thing - a helpful concentration of effort and attention, or an obsessive, limitingly narrow perspective.
Everyday life / routine: Staying in the same place, sticking with something, will eventually create routines. The Anchor to me represents those parts of our lives which are the same every day. The Anchor stands for what's normal, ordinary, mundane. It represents routines, everyday life, workday life. As with all the dimensions of the Anchor's meanings this dimension, too, can either be positive or negative. The routines in our lives give us foothold. They make life less complicated, they save effort because they make it unnecessary to figure everything out anew all the time. But if we have nothing but routines, if nothing new ever interrupts our mundane, everyday lives, our lives can also become bland, and we stop learning, and growing.
About the Image:
For me an anchor is an almost blatant symbol. So I felt no need to add anything much to the anchor itself in my illustration. But I decided to place my anchor on a beach, not underneath water, to make the "stay put" effect even clearer. An anchor out of the water definitely won't be lifted any time soon! Also, there is a fishing net tangled with it. This fishing net can be interpreted as anything that makes it necessary for us to stay, as anything which holds on to us or which we hold on to. And fishing is something very mundane. So the net also hints at the "everyday life" aspect of the Anchor's meaning.
