cartomancy

Deck Review: Fairy Tale Lenormand

by Nefer Khepri, Ph. D.

The Fairy Tale Lenormand by Lisa Hunt is a delightfully charming deck. Stemming from Lisa Hunt’s long interest in fairy tales (The Fairy Tale Tarot is also one of her creations), she painted the delicately soft watercolor images and Arwen Lynch wrote the accompanying guidebook. Published by US Games Systems, Inc, The Fairy Tale Lenormand immediately joined the ranks of my favorite Lenormand decks.

Scenes are depicted in soft, yet bright watercolor paintings that are intricate and highly detailed. The style is long familiar to fans of Lisa Hunt’s tarot decks. Hidden faces in clouds and rocks, intricately latticed tree roots and branches, along with tremendous attention to the finer details makes The Fairy Tale Lenormand a feast for the eyes. The cards measure 3 1/2 x 2 1/4″ with a light tan border containing muted scrollwork. Card numbers appear in the upper left-hand corner. Card titles and playing card associations are centered at the base of the card.

Consisting of the traditional 36 Lenormand cards, The Fairy Tale Lenormand, like most modern Lenormand decks, includes an extra pair of male and female cards. This is done to accommodate same-sex readings; and, some readers may wish to include both sets of gender cards in order to address situations in which there are a number of people involved. Card titles hold strictly to tradition with the female card entitled “Lady” and the male card entitled, “Gentleman.”

The accompanying guidebook is the same size as the cards. As it is quite small one would expect just a simple LWB (Little White Book, basically a pamphlet often found with tarot decks), but instead we are treated to an actual Lenormand card-size paperback book with an actual spine. The guidebook contains 124 pages. The fairy tale that is the inspiration behind each card is briefly summarized. Keywords and a general meaning are provided for each card. The guidebook concludes with several spreads: several examples of a Fan Spread using a focus card plus 3 additional cards, a 12-card Crossroads Spread, a 16-card Tower Spread, and a 12-card Happily Ever Afters Spread. This guidebook does not go into the longer Grand Tableau spread due to space constrictions, but a discussion of the Grand Tableau can be found in any number of new Lenormand books out on the market.

The Fairy Tale Lenormand comes housed in a lovely tin box. Lisa Hunt created artwork specifically for the box, which is decorated on all six surfaces. This set of deck and guidebook make for a very lovely presentation. The tin box provided sturdy and completely secure storage for the cards that allows for ease of travel. It’s a lovely little kit that I am sure any Lenormand reader would love.

If you’d like to see every card, please click on my YouTube video review of The Fairy Tale Lenormand. This is my VERY FIRST video deck review. I also invite you to view the other videos on my YouTube channel and subscribe if you like. There is plenty more to come.

Recommended Books: 

Fairy Tale Lenormand by Lisa Hunt & Arwen Lynch

Lenormand Thirty Six Cards: An Introduction to the Petit Lenormand by Andy Boroveshengra (hard copy)

Lenormand Thirty Six Cards (2015 Edition): An Introduction to the Petit Lenormand by Andy Boroveshengra (Kindle Edition)

The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards by Caitlin Matthews.

Wishing you many blessings!

~ Nefer Khepri, PhD., R. M-T.

Tarot & Lenormand Readings, Spells, & Visionary Art

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Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this deck from the publisher to be considered for review. I only review those decks I consider to be of interest to my followers.

Review: Fin de Siecle Kipper by Ciro Marchetti

by Nefer Khepri, Ph. D.

Kipper is a young form of cartomancy that comes to us from Germany and is like Lenormand, but the reading method is a bit different. Fin de Siecle translates to “end of the century,” and by this, it is the end of the 19th century that lends its Victorian clothing styles, architecture, and the early inventions of the Industrial Revolution to the images depicted in the Fin de Siecle Kipper created by renown Tarot artist, Ciro Marchetti.

The cards measure 4 1/8″ x 2 11/16″. The finish is a high gloss that gives the images of the Fin de Siecle Kipper a lovely sheen. The cards glide smoothly against one another in shuffling and laying out spreads. I really enjoy the feel of this deck. The card stock of my copy was a bit stiff at first, which is common with a brand new deck, but it loosened up after about 10 – 15 times of rifle shuffling.

The images of the Fin de Siecle Kipper are contained within a silver border and the entire card is set against a black background. I love decks with a black background. The black really helps the colors to “pop,” and in my opinion, make for a much greater visual impact than card decks that use a white background. There are no playing card inserts as with Lenormand and also the card images do not contain a short verse as many Lenormand decks do because Kipper, though somewhat similar, is really a different system that is also read somewhat differently from Lenormand. The card number appears at top of the image within a silver circle to match the frame of the image and the title appears in white against a black background centered at the base of the image. The card numbers and titles are completely non-intrusive. The Fin de Siecle Kipper gildingdeck has a lovely silver gilding that does NOT come off on your hands as it can with some decks. You can see in the simple photo here taken with my iPhone 6 how the gilding reflects the colors in the room. It also has a lovely iridescent quality to it.

The box measures 4 5/8″ x 3 1/8″ x 1″. The box has a flap that comes down over the spine on the right-hand side of the box. The flap closes magnetically so the box can be stored upright and will not fall open. The main illustration features Fin de Siecle Kipper boxCard. No. 4: Courtship. Three card images are featured on the rear of the box: Card No. 2: Main Female, Card No. 16 Thoughts, and Card No. 10 Journey. There is silver gilding along both sides of the front cover illustration and also around the deck creator’s name. It is a lovely compact package that makes it very easy to carry this deck with you for us card readers who are on the go or never leave home with out a deck.

The accompanying guidebook measures 4 1/8 X 2 3/4″ and is the same size as the cards. It contains 83 pages. There are NO Kipper books written in English except for the guidebook for the Fin de Siecle Kipper.  All sources are written in German. You may think due to its diminutive size that the guidebook does not have much to offer, but you would be VERY wrong. The introduction is written by Ciro Marchetti and includes how the deck came to be and his reasoning for changing the cultural setting of the card images from the original Bavarian environment to that of Victorian Great Britain. This includes a short discussion of the massive societal impact of the Industrial Revolution, which is evident in several card images. There are secondary introductions from two of three contributing authors, Kipper experts Fortune Buchholtz and Stella Waldvogel.  The third contributing author is Susanne Zitzl.  The co-authors come from different backgrounds and include a brief introduction as to the manner they use to read Kipper cards.

Card interpretations open with a tiny black and white image of the card next to each contributing author’s interpretation. Interpretations are presented in alphabetical order according to the first name of the contributing author.  The contributing author’s initials are noted at the end of each of their card interpretations, FB for Fortune Buchholtz, SV for Stella Waldvogel, and SZ for Susanne Zitzl. The guidebook also includes commentary by Ciro Marchetti for 13 cards, including 2 out of the 3 additional cards he added to the Fin de Siecle, which are entitled Poverty (Card No. 37), Toil & Labor (Card No. 38), and Community (Card No. 39). The card interpretations are very thorough and provide you with what you need to know in order to make good use of this Kipper deck. The guidebook concludes with two spreads: Stella Waldvogel’s Triple Pyramid Spread and Susanne Zitzl’s SOS Spread. It is unfortunate that the guidebook does not contain examples or a discussion of Kipper reading card syntax. It differs slightly from Lenormand, but do pay close attention to Buccholtz and Waldvogel’s brief comments about reading syntax on pages 17 and 20, respectively. I include resources at the end of my review should you wish to learn more specific information about this intriguing system of divination. Ciro Marchetti concludes the guidebook with a brief discussion of how he animated the card images. You can view animations of the cards by downloading Aurasama, a free app for smartphones and tablets that will animate the cards.

NOTE: Ciro Marchetti first published the Fin de Siecle Kipper himself. The self-published edition varies from the mass-market US Games, Incorporated edition in a number of respects. Firstly, the self-published edition was not housed in a box, but in a lovely handmade satin drawstring bag made by Ciro’s wife, Maria. The bag is lined in silver, the drawstring is also silver. My copy has a single black pony bead on each end of the silver drawstring to hold the knot in place. The front of the bag has a silkscreen image of The House card with the main elements from the Journey and Change cards. The deck title appears within a horizontal banner parallel and running along the drawstring. The reverse side of the bag has a silk screened image of the figures from the Main Female and Main Male cards superimposed over a background of the Pathway card. Ciro Marchetti’s logo appears in a banner parallel to the drawstring area.

The cards of the self-published edition have a matte finish. Edges are not gilded. They vary in size from the US Games, Incorporated mass-market edition only in being a hair wider. They are the same length, 4 1/8″. Card stock is flexible that contributes to the ease of shuffling. The only difference in image between the self-published edition (below, on the left) and the US Games Systems, Incorporated edition (below, on the right) is that the image of the mass-market edition appear to be ever so slightly brighter when examined closely. Ciro Marchetti had the option of having the card backs personalized for those who purchased the self-published edition, which was a lovely touch.

Fin de Siecle Kipper comparison

Additional Resources to learn the Kipper System

Frances Buchholder has her own YouTube channel called “Fortune’s Fool” and she has devoted an entire section to Ciro Marchetti’s Fin de Siecle Kipper here.

There is also a Kipper 101 course taught periodically by The Card Geek, otherwise known as Toni Puhle. She offers courses through her World Lenormand Association; and yes, you can also sign up to learn how to read Lenormand cards there as well.

Blessings!

~ Nefer Khepri, PhD., R. M-T.

Tarot & Lenormand Readings, Spells, & Visionary Art

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Email: IsisRaAnpu@gmail.com

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Full Disclosure:

I purchased the self-published edition direct from the author as soon as it became available. I recently received a copy from the publisher to consider for review. I only review those decks I feel make a valuable contribution and that I feel my followers will also enjoy.

 

 

The Turtle Lenormand

by Nefer Khepri, Ph. D.
The Turtle Lenormand, collage of card images. (C) Nefer Khepri, 2015. Self-published. http://turtle-lenormand.com
The Turtle Lenormand, collage of card images. (C) Nefer Khepri, 2015. Self-published. http://turtle-lenormand.com

My latest deck creation is The Turtle Lenormand.  It is a traditional Lenormand, but has at least one turtle depicted on every card. Some turtles are realistically rendered while others are whimsical. The cards are all traditionally titled and work well with the traditional Lenormand interpretations.  Directionality in reading the Clouds, Scythe and one version of The Book card have been maintained. I created The Turtle Lenormand simply because I have always loved turtles.

Gamera, from the original B&W film, "Gamera" (1965) taking out the Japanese military in fine turtle-y fashion.
Gamera, from the original B&W film, “Gamera” (1965) taking out the Japanese military in fine turtle-y fashion.

I had two turtles when I was little whom I assumed were a boy and a girl so I named them Mickey and Minnie. I’ve always really resonated with turtles and the neighborhood kids’ nickname for me was “Turtle.”  I think it was seeing Gamera when I was 9 that really cinched my love of turtles.

 

If you have never seen a Gamera movie, treat yourself sometime. They are done in the same vein as the Godzilla movies (kaiju). Yes, they are cheesy and somewhat campy, but they’re so much fun. Gamera is a giant prehistoric turtle in hibernation under the arctic ice when he is awoken by atomic blasts. Thus begins a movie franchise that has culminated in 12 films with rumors of a 13th film in the works (please, please, please!).

Gamera using his jet rockets to fly through the air.
Gamera using his jet rockets to fly through the air.

What kid wouldn’t love a flying turtle (yes, Gamera is so awesome that he FLIES and he has jet rockets!!). In addition to flying, Gamera can breathe fire and he loves children. One of his official titles is “Friend of All Children.” He’s a good guy. No wonder I have always loved turtles!

My cat checking out The Cat card of my "Egyptian Lenormand" (Schiffer Books, 2015).
My cat checking out The Cat card of my “Egyptian Lenormand” (Schiffer Books, 2015).

My first Lenormand deck, The Egyptian Lenormand, combined my two great loves: the ancient Egyptian civilization (a love that began also when I was 9 ~ coincidence??) with the Lenormand system of cartomancy. I figured for my second foray into deck creation why not combine my love of Lenormand with my love of turtles? Plus, I wanted a deck of nothing but turtles for myself, just as I had wanted an Egyptian-themed Lenormand for myself.

Final drawing of The House card for "The Turtle Lenormand," copyright Nefer Khepri, 2015. Self-published. Available at http://turtle-lenormand.com.
Final drawing of The House card for “The Turtle Lenormand,” copyright Nefer Khepri, 2015. Self-published. Available at http://turtle-lenormand.com.

Hence, The Turtle Lenormand was conceived. The images first took form as a bunch of badly scribbled sketch-ideas I drew late one night when I was suffering from insomnia, and now those ideas have taken final form into drawings and card images.

All images contained within The Turtle Lenormand are created on mixed media card stock. It’s a slightly heavier card stock than bristol smooth or bristol vellum and better allows for the blending of watercolor pencils without paper warp. I use a variety of artistic mediums ranging from polychromos pencils, watercolor pencils, Caran D’Ache watercolor crayons, to Copic Markers, acrylic paints, and fine line black Copic and Sakura drawing markers. I prefer to have a variety of artistic mediums at my disposal because each gives the piece a different look and feel.

The Turtle Lenormand is available for immediate shipping worldwide. It is is a Special Limited Edition consisting of ONLY a 50 copy print run. Once these are gone I have no plans to reprint. Currently, only 28 copies remain in stock.

Turtle Friends. Polymer clay turtles created by Susan Keen Krontz exclusively for "The Turtle Lenormand" by Nefer Khepri (2015, self-published).
Turtle Friends. Polymer clay turtles created by Susan Keen Krontz exclusively for “The Turtle Lenormand” by Nefer Khepri (2015, self-published).

The Turtle Lenormand is accompanied by additional cards (Dedication Card, Artist’s Bio Signature Card, and an extra version of The Rider, Clouds & Book). The Special Edition  also comes with an extra turtle-ly surprise created specifically for my project by polymer clay artist, Susan Keen Krontz. The surprise is your own Turtle Friend that comes in its own pouch. There is one Turtle Friend per deck and no two are exactly alike. The deck is housed in its own pouch as well.

The Turtle Lenormand is an Art Deck. What that means is this: every image was created by hand. Drawn by hand, colored by hand, and then tweaked by hand. The only time a computer becomes involved in the process at all is in the final scanning of the images into my computer so I can then send the images off to the printer. Each image requires AT LEAST 10 hours of combined research and drawing time. The process of coloring each image ranges with the complexity of the image. For example, The Tree card took me about 10 hours to complete because it’s a pretty simple design; however, The Clover card, which is more complicated, took me several days that combined for a total of 43 hours.

In retrospect, as I think back to my childhood of watching the Saturday afternoon Creature Feature shows, and later while still growing up in the Chicagoland area, watching the Son of Svenghouli, I’d like to thank both of these shows for airing those old cheesy Japanese monster movies. We all are very familiar with the great Godzilla, but if it weren’t for the odd airing now & then I never would have heard of Gamera The Great. Any turtle who has rocket jets that allow him to fly through the air at great speed requires “The Great” as his epithet, wouldn’t you agree?

Thank you, Gamera. Without you this turtle and Lenormand mash-up never would have occurred.

To order my Turtle Lenormand, please visit: http://turtle-lenormand.com. If you’d like to see Beth Henry’s video review of my deck, please visit her YouTube channel.

I also have signed & activated copies of my Egyptian Lenormand (Schiffer Books, 2015 edition) available at http://egyptianlenormand.com. By “activated” that means I take your copy through the Activation Ceremony (which is fully explained in the accompanying guidebook) so that your deck arrives ready to be used not just for divination, but also for healing and magical manifestation, which makes my Egyptian Lenormand unique among Lenormand decks.

Thank you for following my blog & feel free to leave comments.

Wishing you all many blessings!

~ Nefer Khepri, PhD., R. M-T.

Tarot & Lenormand Readings, Spells & Visionary Art

The Egyptian Lenormand: signed & activated copies available ONLY HERE

The Turtle Lenormand: my most recent self-published deck. 28 copies out of 50 remain

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Deck Review: Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand Deck

by Nefer Khepri, Ph. D.
Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand Deck
Lynn Boyle
Aquarius Wellbeing
Self-published
$38.00 AUD
Purchase Here

 

The Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand is both a Lenormand and a Gypsy divination deck. Gypsy2The first 36 cards of the 70-card deck are the traditional cards of the Lenormand system, numbered 1 – 36.  Cards numbered 37 – 70 correspond to cards that traditionally comprise decks known as “gypsy” cards. The cards measure 3 ½ X 2 ½” individually and when stacked on top of one another, the deck measures 7/8” high. Although this is a thick deck, due to its small playing-card size it remains easy to shuffle.

You have three options when using this deck, based upon my own experimentation. The Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand works great when using the traditional 36 Lenormand cards. You can then use the remaining Gypsy cards to draw extra cards for additional clarification, especially when reading a Grand Tableau. Due to using all 36 traditional Lenormand cards for the Grand Tableau spread it is usually not possible to draw extra cards for additional clarification unless you are using a second deck.  Another deck is not necessary with the Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand since there are an extra 34 cards when using the first 36 cards as a traditional Lenormand deck.

The second manner of use focuses on using only cards numbered 37 – 70. This provides you with a 34-card oracle deck. I have gotten very clear readings for myself using only the Gypsy cards of this system. Readings are concise and to the point, as they are with the traditional Lenormand cards numbered 1 – 36.

The third use of this deck is as a 70-card oracular system. The traditional 36 Lenormand cards and the additional 34 Gypsy cards work very well in tandem together. The two systems play quite nicely and readings are thorough and easy to understand, even for a novice.

Card interpretations are provided printed out Gypsy1 onto four sheets of typing paper, size A4. Pages 1 – 3 are printed on both sides while page 4 comes to nearly half a page of printed interpretations, thus providing deck users with nearly 6 ½ pages of card interpretations. Interpretations for the first 36 cards of the Lenormand follow traditional Lenormand card interpretations while interpretations of the 34 Gypsy cards combine Gypsy interpretations with some Tarot (Empress, Emperor, Wheel, Lightning as the Tower, Doorway as Judgment, Hermit, Fool, Oracle as the High Priestess, and World. The Gypsy cards also include four cards that correspond to the four seasons, which are great if they appear in a reading concerned with the timing of an event or situation.

Images are photographed with some of them being within the public domain. The actual image area measures 2 7/8 X 1 15/16” surrounded by a mottled purple border that measures at top and bottom 3/8” and along the left and right the border measures ¼” wide. Due to their darker color the borders are not obtrusive. Usually, such wide borders bother me as a reader, especially when reading larger spreads, but that does not apply to the Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand deck.

I enjoy using these cards very much. I have been working with them for a few months now and I have used a wide variety of spreads, some specifically designed for use with Lenormand decks, some designed for Tarot, and a few I have made up myself. The Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand deck lends itself well to every spread I have tried. Readings are clear, to the point, and easy to interpret.

As a result, I would definitely recommend the Aquarius Gypsy Lenormand to beginners and advanced readers alike. There is a great deal of enjoyment to be had with this deck and Lynn Boyle has succeeded in creating a lovely contribution to the field of self-published Lenormand and oracle decks.

Wishing you & yours many blessings,

Nefer Khepri, PhD., R. M-T.

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Days 8 – 10 of Pepi’s Lenormand Challenge

by Nefer Khepri, Ph. D.

I cheated day before yesterday and included Day 7 because I knew I was going to be blogging about meeting Ernie Banks for yesterday’s blog, so now I’m back with Day 8.  You can visit Pepi’s Blog for the entire 30-Day challenge.

  • Day 8. Which is your favorite card? (Artwork + Meaning)

Well, that would depend on the deck. I now have 23 Lenormand decks. Yep!  Just counted them all yesterday & shocked myself!  Currently, my favorite Lenormand deck is The Gilded Reverie Lenormand, by Ciro Marchetti (self-published, 2012) so let’s stick with that one in order to discover what my favorite card is from that particular Lenormand deck.

Hmm …  I’m thinking ….  still thinking …. looking through the cards ….  gosh, this is difficult!!   Still looking ….  uh …. well ….

The Moon, from The Gilded Reverie Lenormand, copyright Ciro Marchetti, 2012.
The Moon, from The Gilded Reverie Lenormand, copyright Ciro Marchetti, 2012.

After a great deal of deliberation, I have now narrowed it down to just ONE card, which I didn’t think was possible.  This only took me about 10 minutes.  My favorite card from The Gilded Reverie Lenormand is The Moon.  What I like about is, firstly the color scheme.  I love the interplay of the blue and pewter.  I love the imagery with the phases of the moon and the tattoo effect on themoon’s face.  I also love the deeply reflective expression on the moon’s face.

I also like the meaning of The Moon.  Like Tarot, the Lenormand Moon can indicate emotions, however, for the Lenormand The Moon has a whole other meaning.  The Moon can indicate recognition or fame for work or something you have done.  The Moon indicates having your work or productivity appreciated by others.  It also represents creativity, and so since I am an artist I tend to gravitate toward The Moon card in all of my Lenormand decks.

Now I’ll move on ahead and also answer Day 9’s challenge, which is:

  • Which card do you dread pulling the most? Why?

Oh, that’s an easy one!  The Cross, of course!  The Cross represents burdens, things being very difficult, it can even represent grief.  I never like to see it come up in readings for myself or for clients.  Luckily, it’s only come up twice for clients so far and

The Cross, from the Under the Roses Lenormand, copyright Kendra Hurteau & Katrina Hill, 2012.
The Cross, from the Under the Roses Lenormand, copyright Kendra Hurteau & Katrina Hill, 2012.

about ten times for myself.  When it does appear in a reading for me it usually means whatever card precedes it is going to come to a full stop, which normally isn’t good for me since the preceding card is always a good card.  For example, the last time I received The Cross in a reading was on January 10th.  I was asking how my business was going to be for the month of January in terms of income.  The card that preceded The Cross in that reading was The Fish.  The Fish represents prosperity and it is THE money card of the Lenormand.  Suffice it to say, I was NOT happy about this particular card combination.  To make matters worse, things came to pass exactly as the Lenormand had predicted.  January was slow in terms of orders for Enchantments (candle work), however, I received a few orders for my most involved readings, the Tarot Annual Forecast (which can be done any time of year, not just with the new year) and the Past Life Karmic Tarot Reading., plus an order for a Soul Portrait, and those take me several weeks to do.  I also received an order for a Manifestation Mandala.

So, although the quantity of orders had dropped off significantly, in terms of my overall income level I was okay, but not great.  It could have been better, plus I had many people email me saying they really wanted to order, but due to the holidays they had no extra income, but would order in February.  So I’m looking forward to February being a good month for me regarding my income.  We shall see.

Since the question for Day 10 is an easy one for me, I’ll go ahead & answer that one as well.

  • Day 10. Which card do you pull more often when you read the cards for yourself? Do you think it matches your personality? Why?

I tend to pull the Moon a lot, now that I think about it, and that is also my favorite card in most Lenormand decks.  So it’s a good thing I like it so much since I see it often in my readings.  When I ask about my artwork or creativity in general or my business  it often appears.

On Monday I’ll be blogging Day 11 of Pepi’s Lenormand Challenge and will be posting my review of The Gilded Reverie Lenormand on Tuesday.  I meant to do that this week, but I’ve been busy filling orders, all of which I greatly appreciate.

Days 4, 5, 6 & 7 of Pepi’s Lenormand Challenge

by Nefer Khepri, Ph. D.

I had a busy weekend (I met my hero Ernie Banks yesterday, former short-stop for the Chicago Cubs, more to come about that!!!) & focused on my art so I didn’t have time to blog.  Today I am making up for a bit of lost time with Pepi’s Lenormand Challenge.  You can find her blog here.

Gilded Reverie Lenormand, copyright Ciro Marchetti, 2012
Gilded Reverie Lenormand, copyright Ciro Marchetti, 2012

 

Day 4:  Which is your favorite deck & why?

Well, I have a few, but if I had to narrow it down to just ONE, well, it would have to be The Gilded Reverie Lenormand by Ciro Marchetti.  I won’t say too much about it, other than it’s stunningly beautiful and a fine testament to the talent of the artist.  I will be reviewing the deck in an upcoming blog post later in the week, so do keep an eye out for it.  This image comes from the blog of my good friend, Den Elder.  Do check it out.  The deck can be ordered directly from the artist at http://www.ciromarchetti.com

Day 5:  How long have you been reading the Lenormand?

I began over 20 years ago, but had nothing but the 4-page pamphlet that came with my first deck, so I gave up after much struggle & frustration.  I went back to it when I joined the Lenormand Cards Study Group on Facebook.  It’s funny how sometimes your brain just isn’t ready to digest information.  When I picked it back up it all came to me so easily.  I guess for me, the time to delve into Lenormand and to really learn a system (there are different schools of Lenormand & it’s best to choose one and stick to it rather than try to learn them all as it’s just way too confusing and some of it is somewhat contradictory).  I then began reading for myself and some friends and now I offer readings to clients as well.

Day 6:  What do you like the most reading (or with which do you feel better reading): the Tarot, or the Lenormand?

Oh that’s a GOOD question!  First of all, I have been reading Tarot since 1976.  I have been reading tarot professionally since 1993 and professionally at my site since 1998.  I don’t do well with oracle decks (most of the time) so I have stuck with Tarot all those years until I thought to try my hand at Lenormand once again.

I found the simplicity and straight-forwardness of the card meanings to be a welcome change from the deeply spiritual aspects of the Tarot.  The Lenormand opened up my intuition even further, which has helped me to expand upon my reading abilities.  Thus proving, no matter how old or stuck in their ways a person becomes, there’s always room to learn new techniques that add to the already existing skill set.

As for which I prefer, both have their strong points.  I use both for myself still.  I love the deep symbolism of the Tarot and how that sparks my intuitive abilities. However, I also love the simplicity of the Lenormand.  Conversely, the uncluttered Lenormand cards also spark my intuition as sometimes I need to fill in the gaps of a reading so all of my intuitive training with the Tarot really comes in handy for my Lenormand readings.  Although many frown upon mixing intuition with the Lenormand as many rely only upon the card meanings, what the card combinations mean, and nothing else.  That’s fine for them, but that’s not me.

At this time I find both methods of divination very useful and insightful.  I really cannot choose a favorite, but if someone were to put a gun to my head and scream, “CHOOSE!”  I would have to stick with the old standard and choose Tarot.  But two seconds later I would probably change my mind, being a typical Gemini.

Let me cheat and do Day 7’s Challenge as well, which is:

Day 7:  What was the first (Lenormand) spread you learned?

An example of the Grand Tableau using Britta's Lenormand, copyright Britta Kienle.
An example of the Grand Tableau using Britta’s Lenormand, copyright Britta Kienle.

I jumped in with both feet and tackled the 36-card Grand Tableau in a reading I did for myself (the image here is an example & not the reading I did for myself) . The reading spoke of a trip coming up and my family was planning at the time to go on a cruise.  The cards told me a few things to expect while on the cruise, all of it lovely.  I was amazed, actually.  When we went on the cruise the trip unfolded just as the Lenormand had predicted and we all had the time of our lives.  Now, I did not strictly learn how to read the Grand Tableau for that first reading.  There are MANY patterns to look at in a Grand Tableau spread.  What I did for that every first one was to only read the cards from right to left, all 4 rows, and the final 4 cards, known as the Destiny Cards.  A great deal more goes into reading the Grand Tableau than that, which merely scratches at the surface, but it was enough to show me that the Lenormand really knew what they were talking about.  My favorite spread is the Line of 5, though, because it’s short, to the point ,and provides you (most times) with an immediate answer to your question.   Plus, the Line of 5 is a LOT easier on the brain 🙂

So, that’s today’s four day’s worth of Pepi’s Lenormand Challenge. Day 8 will be coming up in a couple of days.  Meanwhile, I do have some other things I will be blogging about, so stay tuned.