Lenormand - qu’est-ce que c’est ?

[chiscotheque]

Can someone please explain what Lenormand is, exactly, and maybe what it is not? how is it different from reading with standard 78 card decks of historical form? what are its structures, history, and associations?

[Tag Jorrit]

That would require a very long post. However Mary Greer has a wonderful post on her Lenormand blog addressing your questions and much more in the form of an interview here .

It is read totally differently from tarot. Once you get into Lenormand, there's no going back.

[Nemia]

The book "Learning Lenormand" by Tali Goodwin and Marcus Katz has a very good chapter about the history of the Lenormand deck. It's impossible to squeeze into a forum post.

The deck has nothing to do with the historical fortune teller Marianne Lenormand; the name was just a marketing plot of the publishers. It developed from a game that was based on a deck of cards (with only 36 cards, i.e. without the smaller pips) but used like a board game. A bit like Snakes and Ladders, but instead of a board, the cards were spread out. The symbols on the cards (dog, house, anchor...) either let you progress or fall back.

Later, these cards with symbols were used for fortune telling, and each card was associated with different motifs: it could describe a person, a situation, a health problem, a number or a place. The Lenormand meanings are very circumscribed and precise, they function like words that can be combined with other cards, and their interpretation is not influenced by the art of a specific deck you're using. It's possible to make your own Lenormand deck by simply writing the key words on pieces of paper.

Some readers take the playing card information on each card into account, others do it only for the court cards (which then relate to persons), and others disregard them completely.

Some cards are interpreted differently by French, German, Belgian, British or American authors, but that's not a problem - just decide which "school" you follow and forget the rest. It's like learning a language.

There are different techniques to get more information from the reading. You combine cards and look for patterns.

I found that tarot spreads are not useful for Lenormand, I prefer to read them in small groups (3x3) or just three cards in a line for concrete, practical questions. But I'm not very good with Lenormand (although I started learning Lenormand many years ago - but you need to read the cards, not only the books, if you want to get better ).

Experienced Lenormand readers lay out the whole deck, look for the card that representes the querent (Lady or Gentleman) and start to look at the whole tableau like a map. They get an amazing amount of concrete information, from these cards. There are knowledgeable people around here who can explain it all much better than I can.

Most Lenormand decks are very cheap and easy to come by. Definitely worth a try! My personal favorite book is the one by Andy Boroveshengra btw but there are quite a lot of good books nowadays.

[Joan Marie]

Most Lenormand decks are very cheap and easy to come by. Definitely worth a try! My personal favorite book is the one by Andy Boroveshengra btw but there are quite a lot of good books nowadays.

Thanks for that nice intro to Lenormand.

I just ordered the Andy Boroveshengra book. I've been interested in learning it for some time now and all this discussion has my interest piqued.

[CharlotteK]

Most Lenormand decks are very cheap and easy to come by. Definitely worth a try! My personal favorite book is the one by Andy Boroveshengra btw but there are quite a lot of good books nowadays.

Thanks for that nice intro to Lenormand.

I just ordered the Andy Boroveshengra book. I've been interested in learning it for some time now and all this discussion has my interest piqued.

Me too. I have Andy's book and four Lenormand decks and I have yet to make a start. Hoping we can get some beginner practice going! Maybe a Lenormand reading circle?

[Joan Marie]

Me too. I have Andy's book and four Lenormand decks and I have yet to make a start. Hoping we can get some beginner practice going! Maybe a Lenormand reading circle?

A Lenormand Reading Circle for Beginners sounds really fun.

[Nemia]

Oh yes. With short questions and short answers and feedback.

[CharlotteK]

Oh yes. With short questions and short answers and feedback.

Yes! Keeping it simple sounds good to me. Perhaps working our way up to the Grand Tableau?

[BreathingSince72]

That would require a very long post. However Mary Greer has a wonderful post on her Lenormand blog addressing your questions and much more in the form of an interview here .

It is read totally differently from tarot. Once you get into Lenormand, there's no going back.

I purchased my first Lenormand deck the week before last (?) and another yesterday so I now have the BlueBird and the deck by Alexandre Musruck. The system seems pretty simple but I am completely incompetent in reading it...so far. I can’t say that I mind that much. I think I just need to dive into some tableaus and just work it out.

Prior to this, I had developed a passion for TdM so it honestly did not seem like much of a leap. Did I read correctly, somewhere around here that you gave your daughter the gameofhopelenormand website and that you own a different site? Which site is that? I have seen the gameofhopelenormand site and it is wonderful.

[Tag Jorrit]

Yes, I passed the gameofhopelenormand store to my daughter. Then, I decided to put up an Etsy store because so many people go to Etsy. But since Etsy takes such a pound of flesh to be there, I also opened another big cartel store, The Cartomancer that has better prices and has decks other than Lenormand.