Loving Lenormand

There’s nothing like the charm and mystique of old-fashioned fortune-telling!

Ahh yes, The Lenormand! I love the image it conjures up of old-time reading parlors from the 1800’s, draperies and table cloths of burgundy and gold, dark wood accents, old taverns and pubs in Europe, and maybe even New Orleans. There’s nothing like the charm and mystique of old-fashioned fortune-telling! I always get a little giddy when I imagine it.

I personally have fallen in love with using The Lenormand for fast and accurate readings. Where the Tarot and Angel Cards lend to the psychological and emotional, the Lenormand is quite literal and pragmatic, blunt and to the point!

Tarot of the 1800s Grows in Popularity Today

You won’t find too many card readers who read The Lenormand, but it is gaining more popularity of late. I prefer to stick to the Lenormand in a reading because it is quite swift in its answers and you can often address many issues or questions in a short amount of time. Occasionally I will add the Tarot or Angel Cards combined with it if I think it will add anything to the reading, but most of the time they are just perfect on their own. At the end of the session, I do like to draw an Angel Card to have a positive final message!

In addition to being read very differently from the Tarot, there are also not as many cards in the Lenormand. There are just thirty-six, compared to the Tarot’s 78. Reversals are not read in the Lenormand either. Why? Well, because the upright meanings are pretty straight on their own. It’s never been done that way and it would not be Lenormand otherwise.

Named for the French Fortune Teller

The Lenormand was named for Mlle. Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand, the French fortune-teller to Napoleon and his wife, Josephine. She was a “Sybil” of that era and read for many famous dignitaries. It’s fame spread quickly throughout Europe and is loosely based on the cartomantic style of the 1800’s, though there is no proof she actually used these cards. It has been hypothesized that she used a deck of Piquet cards and possibly drew symbols on them.

The earliest evidence of the Lenormand’s origins dates back to Germany in 1799 and a parlor game created by J.K. Hatchel. It was called “The Game of Hope”. His games were used not just for fun but also education. It was a way to teach morals and to encourage folks not to give in to the gambling frenzy of the day. The Game of Hope used symbols on the cards that instilled the values of a wholesome home and church life, such as the garden, the cross, the dog, the house, the bouquet.

Many of the symbols on the Lenormand are also symbols commonly observed in tea leaves or coffee grind readings. These symbols were well-known to card players from a game called the Coffee Cards. And so, over time, all of things these slowly emerged into this gift of the mystical Lenormand.

I hope you will give a Lenormand reading a try. I can assure you it will be a unique and informative experience.