Lenormand is, at its heart, an oracle deck. Its origins can be traced back to 1800, but its popularity has only recently peaked. Lenormand is comprised of a set of thirty-six pictorial symbols that can be used to tell a story and offer insight on the future. The Grand Tableau, which incorporates all thirty-six cards in the deck, is where the genius of Lenormand lies. Reading the Grand Tableau can take several hours, as you will have to spend time stringing the symbols together and weav.ing a story. It can tell you so much from so many differ.ent angles that you can easily get lost in the intricacies. It may sound intimidating now, but once you become familiar with the meanings of the symbols, you will find it incredibly intuitive. Lenormand works best when ask.ing about specific events in the future, but can also be used to give you a general overview of what’s to come. 

If you haven’t looked through the cards yet, pick up your deck and look at each one closely. You’ll notice a few things on each card: a name, a number, a glyph, an image, and an inset playing card. In the following pages, I answer a few questions that may have just popped into your head.

Lenormand’s true origin is still not entirely known. It was partially inspired by the Game of Hope, a German card game, but also was found to have links to the symbolism found in coffee ground readings. The name “Lenormand” is actually somewhat of a misnomer. Although the cards were named after Marie Anne Lenormand, a prominent diviner that read for royalty in the late eighteenth century, she never  used  this specific set of symbols.  

The best way to sum up the difference is that Tarot is used to offer insight on the subconscious of the inquirer, while Lenormand is more useful in telling past and future events and laying out a story. Tarot tells us what we didn’t think we wanted to know, and Lenormand tells us what may come to be and what has happened to get us here. In Tarot, cards are read based on their positions in a spread. For example, in a Celtic Cross, the card in the second position will stand for your challenge, but Lenormand cards are read based on their proximity to each other. While each card in Lenormand has associated symbolism, no card can really be read on its own.  

Lenormand is all about combinations. You can read cards in pairs or triplets or in groups. It can be an exquisite tool for storytelling and will keep your creative wit fresh. 

One major advantage of Lenormand is that the symbolism and meanings of each card will be the same throughout every deck. Regardless of “Book” being represented by a bible or a novel or a magazine, the meaning is the same throughout all decks: secrets, knowledge, or literally a book. Therefore, it’s crucial for Lenormand cards to be kept simple and clear.