lenormand – Serendipities

Lenormand Deck Review: Queer Lenormand

Deck: Queer Lenormand

Publisher: Self published

Writer & Artist: Mariana Andrade

Overall Rating: 10/10

Cardstock: The cardstock is on the thin end of standard, more like cards that come with a board game than something like a pack of poker cards. But they’re easy to riffle shuffle.

Artwork: The artwork is a digital illustration style with a low amount of shading that reminds me of old scum pop art. It’s vibrantly colorful, as one would hope! There are a rainbow of background options, each chosen to contrast the illustration.

People Cards: I’m adding a section for this, because where this deck really shines is the wealth of options available for Person cards. There are only two Child cards (one with light skin and one with dark skin), but there are five each of “Woman”, “Man”, and “Person” cards, with a variety of skin tones and presentations, as well as two “Drag Queen” and two “Drag King” cards, each with light skin or dark skin options.

Book: The book has a decent sized paragraph and a list of keywords for each card. The “Man” and “Woman” cards also invite the reader to think outside the box about femininity and masculinity, while the “Person” card explicitly refers to people outside the gender binary. The paragraph for the two drag cards talks about our ability to explore binary energy, no matter what our actual gender is, if we have one. The booklet also gives a couple of brief spread examples. I do wish it gave a little more info on the Lenormand system itself, though.

Likes: I love the art and I love the diversity of the people cards, it does make it a lot easier to read for more people, and for my clients to see themselves reflected in the cards

Dislikes: I do wish there was a third option of skin tone. The five options in the “Man”, “Woman”, and “Person” cards include two people with light skin, one person with light skin who seems East Asian, and two people with dark skin, but no medium tone. Still, it’s way more diversity than usual!

Overall Recommendation

This is the deck I most commonly bring with for reading in person. The artwork is colorful and engaging, and people enjoy selecting a card for themselves and their partner or whomever they’re asking about. The box is also two parts and pretty sturdy, so it travels well. I personally love buying indie decks, especially from queer creatives, and I’d recommend this deck to anyone – with the single caveat that if you’re new to Lenormand you might want to pair this deck with a book on the system itself, since it does read differently than either tarot or regular oracle cards.

Lenormand Deck Review: Under the Roses

Deck: Under The Roses Lenormand
Publisher: US Games Systems, Inc
Writer & Artist: Kendra Hurteau & Katrina Hill
Overall Rating: 9/10

Cardstock: The cardstock is fairly standard, like what you’d expect from a similar pack of poker cards. Easy to riffle shuffle, neither too matte nor too slick.

Artwork: The artwork is a digital illustration style that evokes a Victorian or Gothic aesthetic. Additionally, the backgrounds have subtle text featuring the meanings of the cards. There are two versions of each person card, with light skin or dark skin, and there is no Querent or non-gendered person card, but I’ve been using the title card for the Querent.

Book: This deck has a fairly standard Little White Booklet, with a list of keywords for each card, and descriptions of basic spreads, as well as a spread developed specifically for this deck. The booklet also explains how Lenormand is read in combinations, unlike tarot.

Likes: I like the artwork and aesthetic, and I feel like it’s neither too simple nor too busy. The instructions are fairly good, too – this was my first Lenormand deck (years ago!) and the LWB was definitely helpful in getting my head wrapped around this system.

Dislikes: I wish there were more people cards. That’s pretty much the only drawback, in my opinion.

Overall Recommendation

This is my go-to Lenormand deck most of the time, and at this point the box is starting to disintegrate because of that! I do sometimes have to add people cards from another deck (particularly the Queer Lenormand which has amazing diversity), but it reads well, and I think the imagery of the non-people cards is pretty evocative. It worked for me as a first Lenormand deck, but it might not be the best introduction for someone who’s entirely new to cartomancy.

Lenormand Deck Review: Bluebird

Deck: The Bluebird Lenormand
Publisher: US Games Systems, Inc
Writer: Stuart R. Kaplan
Artist: Various historical artists, artwork is all in the creative commons
Overall Rating: 5/10

Cardstock: The cardstock is fairly standard, like what you’d expect from a similar pack of poker cards. Easy to riffle shuffle, neither too matte nor too slick.

Artwork: The artwork is in an illustration style with muted colors to mimic the paintings that are paired with each person card. All the paintings are from the 1700s I believe, and they’re all portraits of white people as one might expect, but the Lady and Gentleman cards do have two options, one older and one younger. One interesting thing about these cards is that they also each feature a little snippet of poetry, which hints at the meaning of the card.

Book: This deck has a fairly standard Little White Booklet, with a list of keywords for each card, and a few descriptions of spreads. The booklet also includes a short biography of Mademoiselle Lenormand, who created this system in the late 1700s.

Likes: I like the little bits of poetry and the illustrations are well done, but this deck doesn’t really draw me in – I don’t find myself reaching for it very often.

Dislikes: I’m not sure the portraits really add much beyond a certain historical flair. Between the portraits and in-set cards and the poetry, half the card face is taken up with things other than the illustrations, and to me it looks a bit cluttered and makes it a little harder to focus on the reading.

Overall Recommendation

While this deck doesn’t particularly speak to me, I imagine for people who like in-set cards or who are coming from a cartomancy system that uses poker cards, this would be an excellent deck to learn on. I was already familiar with the system before I bought it, and I bought it more as a historical curiosity (as it’s a reprinted vintage deck). I do tend to use this one as my second deck when I’m using a spread with Houses, though, because of the clear card titles I can let peek out from under the primary deck.

A Demo Lenormand Reading

August 16, 2016
by Alexandra

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10-Card Lenormand Reading for @hedgefae!

Overview of the Spread

Everything in this spread is organized according to the position of each card relative to the significator, which is located in the center. Things in the column to the right indicate the future; things to the left indicate the past; things in the same column as the significator indicate the present moment. Things in the row above the significator indicate things that you know and/or have control over; things below indicate things you don’t know and/or do not have control over; things in the same row as the significator indicate things that you have some (but not complete) knowledge of, and/or some (but not complete) control over. Card meanings are read in their position and in their relation to each other.

10 Card Spread

1: Storks

This card symbolizes transitions and progress, and located here in the “past” column and the “in your knowledge/control” row, I believe this represents a change you deliberately made. This is the “arriving” part of what is probably a long transition.

2: Ring

This card symbolizes contracts and commitments, and located in the “present” column and the “in your knowledge/control” row, it seems to be alluding to some sort of offer or negotiation you could take or are taking – if that reminds you of something, you should probably make that commitment.

3: Snake (Shedding)

This card symbolizes transformation and healing, and located in the “future” column and the “in your knowledge/control” row, this is the result of the previous two cards. You arrived, you committed, and now that you’re in a safe place, it’s time to transform, to transmute, to become a better version of yourself. This isn’t always an easy process, but it’s always worth the effort. (If you need help, you might try looking into resources for Shadow Work, learning to delve into your own Shadow side.)

4: Scythe

This card symbolizes cutting ties and reaping harvest. Situated in the “past” column and in the “somewhat in your knowledge/control” row, this likely indicates a situation in the recent past where you weren’t responsible for the sudden change, but you made the most of what you were given. Getting laid off would be an example of the kind of situation I’m talking about, or suddenly leaving school for financial reasons. This echoes the card above it – here was the push to leave where you were in the past, before you arrived wherever you are now.

5&6: Sun & Boat

There are two cards here because I decided to put you significator in a “house” to use the tenth card. Lenormand spreads can also be done “in houses”, which normally applies to the Grand Tableau, where you lay out all the cards, and then lay a different deck down on top of those, but here I’m just using it as an extra little nugget of information. The Boat card, your significator for this question, symbolizes freedom and travel. It is in the House of Sun, which adds themes of luck and growth and optimism. Together, they symbolize a need to find new energy, to find a new path that will lighten you and give you more opportunities for growth and development, and that doing so will increase your happiness and help you achieve greater things. It’s time to move up in the world. So whatever door just closed, one that’s a lot better should be opening right about now. You just need to find it. This is very likely to require some sort of contract, echoing the card above.

7: Moon

This card symbolizes emotions, intuition, and things like your reputation, how others feel about you. In this location, in the “future” column and the “somewhat within your knowledge/control” row, it likely indicates a period of introspection, and a need to make sure that people understand you for who you are. This echoes the card above it, which is focused on personal transformation.

8: Mountain

This card symbolizes obstacles and blockages. In this position, in the “past” column and the “out of your knowledge/control” row, it is the background for the cards above it, elucidating how difficult your previous situation was, and how infertile it would have been to stay there. A cliff is not a good place to sow seeds. Better to cut your losses and leave for greener pastures.

9: Lilies

This card symbolizes harmony, and support. Located here in the “present” column and in the “out of your knowledge/control”, it indicates support from behind the scenes. It is the guiding light for your boat, and the water that holds you buoyant. Someone or something is guiding your way and watching out for you as you make your transition. It is not necessarily the same person/entity/thing that you must make a commitment to – the Ring sounds more like a mundane thing, and the Lilies appear to be referring to either fate itself or perhaps a god or guardian spirit.

10: Dog

This card symbolizes loyalty and reliability. Situated here, in the “future” column and the “out of your knowledge/control”, it may be referring back to an entity supporting you, symbolized by the Lilies. If it is just the force of fate, it’s still something you can rely on, as you complete the work of the cards above, delving into your own shadow and emotions to become you better self.

Overall:

Changes aren’t just coming: they’re here. What you need to focus on is really making the most of it. Aim high and aim for freedom. Find that open door, and once you go through it, commit to the path and don’t turn back. You may have some growing pains, but you’ll get through it and it will be worth it, because you’ve got support along the way. Good luck!

[[Hedgefae’s response: “This is a beautiful, beautiful reading! Thank you so much! This confirms a lot of suspicions I’ve had about where my life is headed and what my next step is meant to be. This is everything I was looking for and more!”]]

As I get more comfortable with Lenormand, expect to see listings showing up in the Etsy shop. This particular reading spread will probably cost about $30.

Trying to Uphold Justice in an Injust World

July 12, 2016
by Alexandra

Today, as part of a group of pagans of color, I did some divination on how I can uphold justice in an injust world. I decided to use Lenormand, seeking mundane answers to my question. As I shuffled, I called upon my patronesses: Bast and Sekhmet, Eyes of Ra and Protectors of Ma’at.

I used the “Under the Roses” Lenormand Deck (images copyrighted by the publisher, US Games Systems, Inc) and pulled the following cards:

I use the title card in this deck to mean the querent: in this reading, me. The rest of the cards (left to right, in descending rows) are: The Bouquet, The Clouds, The Gentleman (the darker skinned of two possible options in this deck), The Letter, The Lady (again, the darker skinned option), The Child (the lighter-skinned option, this time), The Tree, and The Grave (traditionally The Coffin). I’ll go through the meanings of the cards in order, and then comment on the overall themes.

1: The Querent. Well, this is me, located in the “Past” column and the “In My Control” row. I am interpreting this to be validation that injustice has already been on my radar for some time, and also a reminder that (white-passing as I am) racially motivated injustices are not about me – I am a supporter and an ally, not a victim (potential or by proxy). Also, the fact that my significator is in the “In My Control” row means that I can control my own actions and reactions moving forward, which is important to remember.

[[This perhaps reflects my own ambiguity about my racial identity… I feel that – for at least me, personally – while I am native, that is more of an ethnicity or a culture than a race, similar to how “hispanic” is often divorced from race on surveys, and is a separate category. I feel like it is probably easier to be “hispanic AND white” or “native AND white” or possibly even “native AND black” than it is to be “black AND white”, when it comes to being racially “read” by others. That is to say, I think more strangers would acknowledge the first three identities as valid and/or notice that the person was mixed, but dismiss “black AND white” as just black. I personally identify as both native and white, and I acknowledge the privilege that passing as only white affords me. I feel like the term “multiethnic” describes me better than “multiracial”. But I know that others have different opinions, and I am not trying to say that mine are better – I’m just explaining where I’m coming from, in order to better contextualize this reading.]]

2: The Bouquet. This card is located in the “Present” column and the “In My Control” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Good Fortune, Generosity, Gifts. I am called to share what I can with those in need, and to use my comparative privilege to help others. Based on the location: this I already know, and am beginning to do.

3: The Clouds. This card is located in the “Future” column and the “In My Control” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Setbacks, Delays, Uncertainty. It seems I will need to face my own doubts and fears, moving forward, and this is also a warning that there is no clear path, but I will have to continually find my way forward.

4: The Gentleman. This card is located in the “Past” column and the “Progression” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Male Significator, and Outward Focus. I believe this stands in for the black men who have died at the hands of police, whose deaths gave rise to #BlackLivesMatter, and as “outward focus” it perhaps refers to the BLM movement at large.

5: The Letter. This card is located in the “Present” column, and in the “Progression” row. It is also located in the absolute center, and is the heart of the message. The meanings that jump out at me are: Correspondence, Communication, Information. This means talking about what is happening, shedding light on it, sharing information. Listening and reading as well as speaking and writing.

6: The Lady. This card is located in the “Future” column and in the “Progression” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Empathy, Inward Focus, Subconscious, Friendship. I do not think this car signifies an actual person. I think it is a call to become more aware of my own biases and internalized biogtry, and to move forward in empathy, holding space for my fellow travelers.

7: The Child. This card is located in the “Past” column and in the “Out of My Control” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Childhood, Innocence, Learning. I believe this card is meant to indicate my own childhood, and the messages I unconsciously picked up from society as a child – many of which I now know to be wrong and hurtful. Most of us have internalized racism, misogyny, and other kinds of bigotry simply because we were steeped in it, and it takes a lot of effort to change those nasty little voices in our heads telling us that we’re “too X” or “not Y enough”.

8: The Tree. This card is located in the “Present” column and in the “Out of My Control” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Spiritual Beliefs, Groundedness, Growth, Legacy. I believe the Spiritual Beliefs meaning is a reference to my work with Bast and Sekhmet as Eyes of Ra, guardians of Ma’at – I began the work in a different lifetime, and continue it in this one, though I did not seek it out, did not “choose” it, though I have fully embraced it. The Groundedness is a reminder that things may be triggering – I may become ungrounded at times, and I will need to seek my stillness again. The Growth is both my own personal growth, and that of society at large, I think, which I must contribute to: because I am intending on having children, I must learn how to pass on the respect I feel for all peoples – so that it will become my legacy.

9: The Grave. This card is located in the “Future” column and in the “Out of My Control” row. The meanings that jump out at me are: Transformation, Death. I believe this means that while we will see some positive transformations in our society, all the changes I wish to see will not occur within my lifetime. That is why leaving a legacy of people who will push for change is so important.

The Past Column: I’m reading these cards from out of my control, rising into my control. My childhood innocence and lack of discernment has been shaped by my awareness of injustice, making me into the person I am today, and shaping who I become as I move forward.

The Present Column: I’m reading these cards from out of my control, rising into my control. I must build my legacy by contributing to the spread of information, and supporting others as best I can.

The Future Column: I’m reading these cards from out of my control, rising into my control. Transformation of society will come through empathy and friendship, but the path forward will not be linear. There will be pushbacks, setbacks, and delays.

Overall: It seems that my role is primarily one of support, but that fits well with my life-path generally. I need to improve myself, and hold space for fellow travelers. The change we seek will come if we keep striving, keep helping each other and communicating and spreading information – but it may not be achievable in our lifetimes. We need to focus on our legacy, on building a good foundation for the generations to come.