The Lenormand cards

Marie-Anne Lenormand. The great fortune teller of the 19th century.
Famous and infamous in 19th-century Paris, she began her career
as a small card reader in Alecon, France.
However, over the years she has advised the right, useful people.
This is how she became famous and years later advised the French royal family.

Marie-Anne Lenormand

Marie-Anne was clairvoyant from childhood and, as she grew older, became interested in card reading, necromancy, and all things occult. She also learned to analyze people based on their external characteristics. This allowed her to draw conclusions about a person's personality just by looking at them.
To do this, she analyzed the shape of his skull, his facial features, and the palms of his hands.
Astrology and Kabbalah were also no strangers to her. Her list of fortune-telling skills was long...She was a truly remarkable and very well-read lady.

But now things are getting exciting!

The Lenormand cards
are not by Mademoiselle Lenormand at all.

She herself laid out the Skat cards and the Etteilla Tarot deck. Two years after her death in 1845, the first oracle deck named after her was published.
But this one doesn’t have much in common with today’s 36 Lenormand cards.

The first "Petit Lenormand" with 36 cards didn't appear until 1850. However, the symbols on the cards date back to a parlor game from 1800.
This was called: The Game of Hope.
There are rumors that this parlor game was found in the estate of Mademoiselle Lenormand.

Imagination certainly played a role in people assuming she also used the deck for fortune-telling. There's no way to know for sure. But I'm convinced that Marie-Anne has been watching us from afar ever since and that she certainly thinks Petit Lenormand is fantastic.

My Lenormand deck also features the same symbols as the first Petit Lenormand. There are now more extensive decks with expansion cards. But for starters, I'll stick with the 36 symbols. They tell you a lot!

Every card has a vibration

Imagine it as a frequency. From this, you can read the meaning. If you're really familiar with the cards, then just by looking at a drawn card, feelings, thoughts, and even entire images will come into your consciousness. Like a kind of film.
And that is the actual card reading.

Lenormand mit Bedeutungen

But not at the beginning...

Especially at the beginning, you need a lot of information about what each card represents. You can't compare all of these emerging feelings and images with any knowledge or experience. It's the same process as learning an instrument, like the piano. First, you have to internalize which key produces which note. Then you practice playing them fluently in a specific sequence.
And at some point, you'll add your own artistic touch to the melody. It's the same when learning to read cards.

That's why I created the Lenormand flashcard deck —to make this start easier.

Here is a brief list of the basic meanings:

1. The Rider - Activity, positive message
2. The clover - happiness, contentment, brevity
3. The Ship - Longing, Journey, Hope
4. The house – basis of life, security, stability
5. The tree - health, roots, peace
6. The Clouds - Difficulty, Obstacle, Setback
7. The Snake - Complication, Detour, Guilt
8. The Coffin - Termination, Transformation, Mourning
9. The flowers - beauty, surprise, creativity
10. The Scythe - Danger, Unexpected, Harvest
11. The Rods - Conversations, Discussion, Argument
12. The owls/birds - restlessness, excitement, telephone call
13. The Child - New Beginning, Carefreeness, New Impulse
14. The Fox - Cunning, Falsehood, Cleverness
15. The Bear - Strength, Past, Courage
16. The Stars - Spirituality, highest happiness, clarity
17. The Storks - Change, Transformation, Development
18. The Dog - Friendship, Support, Loyalty
19. The Tower - Separation, Independence, Loneliness
20. The Park - Public, Encounter, Meeting
21. The Mountain - Blockages, Waiting Time, Frustration
22. The Ways - Decision, Turning Point, Solution
23. The Mice - Loss, Doubt, Worry
24. The Heart - Love, Gratitude, Help
25. The Ring - Connection, Repetition, Relationship
26. The Book - Knowledge, Subconscious, Secret
27. The letter - message, document, superficial
28. The Lord - the questioner, most important male figure, the rational
29. The Lady - the questioner, most important female figure, the intuitive
30. The Lilies - Harmony, Sexuality, Peace
31. The Sun - Success, Consciousness, Truth
32. The Moon - Feeling, Recognition, Mediumship
33. Key - Security, Success, Fulfillment
34. Pisces - Finances, Emotions, Imagination
35. The Anchor - Work, Strength, Addiction
36. The Cross - Fate, Burden, Test

Speak of hope

There are cheerful cards in Lenormand with a high-vibrating, joyful meaning,
And there are low-vibrational cards that speak more of unpleasant feelings or situations. All of them are part of our lives. And we've all encountered the themes of the cards in our lives.
Even if the answer isn't so positive, I always stick to the original title of the board game.
The Game of Hope. Always spread hope with the cards, never fear. The cards don't show us negative situations to bring us down. They show them to us so that we can overcome them and grow from them.

And yet I wish you
for your readings
always only the best cards. 🍀