The Whimsy Lenormand
Pepi Valderrama
Self-published, 2013
Collector’s Edition: $35 + $12 Shipping
Normal Edition: $25 + $12 Shipping
Pepi is a mixed-media artist who has created a number of card and oracle decks. She also offers art e-courses and a magazine through her site. Her e-courses focus on art journaling and using art as a method for healing.
The Whimsy Lenormand is just as the title implies – a whimsical deck that is created via mixed media (Copic Markers, Caran D’Ache, colored pencils, black marker). It is characterized by lovely bright colors and every card has got a whimsical looking pair of eyes looking back at you. Pepi anthropomorphized all cards, so even cards such as Clover, Tree, Flowers, Clouds, Moon, and Sun have a face that looks back up at you. This adds a great deal of charm to the deck as a whole. Eyes are soulful and large ,done in the manga art style.
The cards are poker size and measure 2 1/2 X 3 1/2″. The deck comes housed in a clear plastic box with scalloped edges. The Collector’s Edition (which is what I have) comes with a title card that includes the number of the deck you have received. Also included is a thank you card personalized with your name printed on it and signed by the artist. The Collector’s Edition also differs from the Normal Edition in that it includes a total of four extra cards: The Cat, Goddess, Mirror and Rainbow. The Cat can substitute for The Dog for those who love cats and are loyal only to them. The Goddess represents a counter to The Cross without the association of burdens. It can represent one’s spirituality in a reading. The Mirror represents superficiality. The Rainbow symbolizes homosexuality or can be used to represent happiness, fun, and unexpected surprises.
I enjoy this deck due to its lovely bright colors and whimsical nature. I find it to be as accurate as any other Lenormand deck I own (and I own over 30, most of which are self-published). This deck provides down-to-earth and practical readings containing good advice. It is not “fluffy” at all, despite the whimsical art style. Card meanings are held to the traditional meanings and can be downloaded for free from the artist’s website.
Sample Reading:
My 15-year-old daughter recently developed anxiety issues about high school. Her main issue revolves around the over-crowded hallways when it’s time to change classes. She gets jostled and has even seen other kids get trampled on the stairs. At about the same time she told me about the situation she also came down with a bad stomach virus. I figured I would take her to the pediatrician and discuss both issues with him. Since my daughter has never had an emotionally-based issue before I was completely unsure as to how the pediatrician would approach the issue and was hoping he would at least be open-minded and perhaps offer some good advice or perhaps a referral to a psychologist.
My question was: What can I expect from my daughter’s visit with her pediatrician in terms of help or advice he can offer regarding the anxiety issue?
I received the following cards:
Stork, Panda (Bear in other decks), Child, Anchor, and Clover.
I pre-selected Child as the significator since the question revolved around my daughter and her pending medical visit. When I pre-choose a significator I place it back in the deck, shuffle, and then I search for my chosen card. When I find it I will choose the two previous cards and the two cards that follow it. This then creates my Line of 5 reading . What I found very intriguing was that while searching for my significator from the top of the deck on down it was the third card. So my Line of 5 was pulled directly from the top of the deck. For all the Lenormand readings I have done this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I took it as a good sign that the reading would end up being very accurate.
Stork is about changes and high school is definitely a huge change for any child. Panda (Bear) represents strength, and while my daughter left middle school at the top of the student “food chain” with many minions, she was now in high school at the bottom of the “food chain” with no minions and few friends. This was a huge change for her and it was affecting her overall well-being signified by Panda.
The Child represents my daughter. Panda + Child indicates that her stomach was an issue. She did have a severe stomach virus (which she later kindly shared with me!) so the cards were diagnosing her physical problem. Child + Anchor indicated that not only was there a physical issue, but also an issue involving her stability. In this case her emotional stability was in question since her other symptoms she suffered in the hallways (claustrophobia, shortness of breath, chest pains) all seemed to be tied to anxiety and perhaps a panic attack. Her emotional stability was clearly a major issue I also needed to discuss with her doctor.
Anchor + Clover told me that stability in the form of good advice would be forthcoming from her doctor; and that, overall, her doctor’s visit would result in a healing for her, hopefully on a number of levels. We left for her doctor’s appointment with me feeling quite optimistic about it.
As it turned out , as usual, the Lenormand were totally correct on all counts. He examined her first regarding the stomach virus, diagnosed the virus and told me what could be done about it at home. I then broached the subject of anxiety with him and he was quick to say anxiety among high school freshman is very common and there are ways to deal with it. He offered to draft a letter asking the school nurse to issue my daughter a permanent hall pass so she could leave every class five minutes early in order to avoid the worst of the hallway crowds. He said in many cases that alone is all that’s needed. Since she also began suffering from insomnia he also recommended melatonin for her & suggested a visit to a psychologist may also be helpful in order to learn some coping mechanisms. We left with good information and a list of six referrals. The doctor’s visit went exactly as the Lenormand had indicated and really exceeded my expectations.
I did end up taking my daughter to a psychologist who used to work at her high school so she is very familiar with the school and teachers there. She helped my child immensely and they both hit it off right from the start. My daughter is scheduled to see her again shortly after the new year and she came home armed with coping mechanisms she was able to put into practice immediately. They are helping her and now she has her doctor’s note, once she returns from winter break the nurse will issue the hall pass and hopefully avoiding the over-crowded hallways will take care of the rest.
I was really impressed with how well The Whimsy Lenormand addressed my daughter’s dual-issue and how well everything has worked out for her. This spread proves that when you are going into a doubtful situation the Lenormand can really help you to learn what you should expect.
I enjoy using Pepi Valderrama’s Whimsy Lenormand. The images are enjoyable, the card meanings remain true to tradition, the additional four cards help to being a new level of meaning to readings, and of course I have always been a sucker for bright colors and artwork that is created completely by hand, as is the Whimsy Lenormand. I highly recommend this deck and would also like to point out it would make for a GREAT starter deck for children who may be interested in learning Lenormand divination. The images are bright, colorful, fun, and non-threatening. They would really appeal to a child’s imagination and I am sure they will appeal to the inner child in you, as well.
The Magickal-Musings of Nefer Khepri, PhD 