What's your favorite Lenormand deck and why?

tatsi

Lenormand clone differences / Which is your favorite and why?

There are many Lenormand deck clones out there, with some distinct differences. Some include the inset playing card pictures, others the little poem instead, some have both, and some have neither. Figuring out which side has the dark clouds on the Cloud (#6) card can be either easy or difficult to ascertain. I am curious about the Lenormand decks you have, so I pose the following questions.

How many and what versions of the deck do you have?
Which is your favorite and the one you would recommend to others and why?
Which side are the dark clouds on in the Cloud (#6) card? Was it easy to determine which side was which?

I have four Lenormand decks. These all have 36 cards and are in English.

TITANIA'S FORTUNE CARDS
Size: The cards are similar to standard Tarot sized cards, which is larger than the standard for this deck. This is the only deck I’ve seen with this size cards.
Description: This deck uses negative photographic images, which gives it a more modern feel. The more I look at these pictures, the more I’m drawn to them. The cards contain only the image of the symbol.
Cloud (#6) card: It has the same cloud coloring on both sides. The LEFT has slightly more clouds, so I consider that the dark side. FYI: Traditionally, the dark clouds are on the RIGHT.
BONUS:D: This comes as a deck and book set only. Yes, you read that right I said *book*. It is nearly impossible to find a Lenormand book in English, most are either in German or in French.
Conclusion *:)*: This is the deck I would suggest people get and use for study groups. Unlike most Lenormand decks, this comes with a book, instead of the LWB.

FRENCH CARTOMANCY (Lo Scarabeo)
Size: The cards are taller than bridge sized cards, which is taller than the standard for this deck.
Description: This deck has muted coloring, an authentic old-time look and feel traditional pictures, which have some depth to them. They may not be crisp images, but they really resonate with me. The cards include the card number and the inset playing card.
Cloud (#6) card: It has the same cloud coloring on both sides. The RIGHT has slightly more clouds, so I consider that the dark side. FYI: Traditionally, the dark clouds are on the RIGHT.
BONUS:D: This comes as a deck only and in a mini-kit (deck and book set). The book in the mini-kit is slim and only so-so. However, it is nearly impossible to find a Lenormand book in English, most are either in German or in French.
Conclusion *:)*: Due to its size, this is a great deck for on-the-go. The pictures are lovely enough to study with and to do readings for others. Deck only comes with the LWB. The mini-kit comes with a slim book AND the LWB.

MLLE LENORMAND (Piatnik)
Size: The cards are slightly smaller than bridge sized cards, which is the standard for this deck.
Description: This deck has vibrant coloring, slightly-modern traditional pictures, which have some depth to them. They may not be crisp images, but they really resonate with me. The cards include the card number and the inset playing card. The court cards are black and white drawings, but are the most beautiful court cards I’ve seen.
Cloud (#6) card: You can easily tell that the LEFT side has the dark clouds. FYI: Traditionally, the dark clouds are on the RIGHT.
Conclusion *:)*: Due to its size, this is a great deck for on-the-go. The pictures are lovely enough to study with and to do readings for others. This comes with the LWB.

LENORMAND FORTUNE TELLING CARDS (Carta Mundi)
Size: The cards are slightly smaller than bridge sized cards, which is the standard for this deck.
Description: This deck has simple, boring, flat, ‘pale’ traditional pictures. These images left me cold. This deck seems to include everything. On the cards you will find: titling, card number, inset playing card, and a poem!
Cloud (#6) card: You can NOT tell which side is supposed to be the dark side. Actually, the card doesn’t even look like it has any clouds! I had to read the LWB to find out the dark clouds were on the RIGHT side. Even, then I didn’t see it -– I’m just taking the booklet's word for it. FYI: Traditionally, the dark clouds are on the RIGHT.
Conclusion *:( :(*: Even though it has all the titling and such on the cards, I can NOT recommend this deck. The pictures are very basic and dull. Also, the cardstock is rather thin. I could only recommend this as a crude cheat-sheet deck. These are just not something you want to do readings from or to study with. This comes with the LWB.

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On-the-go I would use:
French Cartomancy (Lo Scarabeo)
Mlle Lenormand (Piatnik)

In a study group, I would mainly stick with:
Titania’s Fortune Cards

For my personal study, I use:
Titania’s Fortune Cards
French Cartomancy (Lo Scarabeo)
Mlle Lenormand (Piatnik)

Even though traditionally the dark clouds are on the RIGHT (and would be my preference if I were to assign a dark side meaning), I tend to use the modern approach and interpret the Cloud (#6) card as a whole, as does the Titania’s Fortune Cards. It’s a personal choice. It really comes down to the consolidation of Lenormand knowledge, your intuition, and being consistent.

tatsi
 

Rusty Neon

My two favourite Small Lenormand decks are:

  • Jeu Lenormand (published by Lenormand [per the box] - current publisher/distributor Carta Mundi)

    Titles, numbers, pictures, French poems

  • Petit Lenormand (published by Grimaud)

    No poems but the cards have the titles, names, and numbers of the cards to correlate with the French poems of the Jeu Lenormand. A big attraction of this deck is that it has as its images the images drawn from the corresponding cards of the Grand Lenormand (52 cards plus) deck. Thus, for what it's worth, it provides a bridge between the poem-driven Small Lenormand deck and its mother (or big sister) the Grand Lenormand. :) This is also convenient as I have a really good book in French by Carole Sédillot on the Grand Lenormand.
 

tatsi

Various commerically available small Lenormand decks

Thanks for the information. I'll check it out.

tatsi
 

Rusty Neon

Commercially-available

In Quebec general bookstores (big or small stores, big or small towns) one nearly always sees the Petit Lenormand (Grimaud) deck for sale, and sometimes also the Jeu Lenormand (Lenormand - Carta Mundi).

Most of the published books in French on the Small Lenormand are on the Jeu Lenormand (Lenormand - Carta Mundi).
 

WolfyJames

My LeNormands:

- Jeu Lenormand, by Carta Mundi, with french poems.

It is the first LeNormand I got, and it was a gift from my mother who bought it a decade or two ago and forgot it in a drawer. I don't like decks with modern looks so this one has that old look, makes me feel in another century. This deck is also very traditional. I heard the french poems were badly translated in other languages. The cards are small and easy to shuffle.

http://www.intuitive-soul.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=18


- Gypsy Lenormand Oracle, by Bruno Bieri, and published by AGM AGMueller.

This is another gift I got. This deck is pretty with a gypsy style. A bit modern but keeps being romantic with the Gypsies. The colors are darker and vibrant. The deck follows closely LeNormand but a few cards are different, to suit gypsy traditions, but keep similar meanings. The Rod becomes the Sword, the Birds the Owl. There is no poem, for those who find the poems annoying. There is no playing card symbols on the cards or names, just the numbers. There are added simple symbols on the cards, circle being good, triangle being bad, etc. The cards are bigger than Jeu LeNormand, make the deck more difficult to shuffle. The LWB is more complete than Jeu LeNormand's LWB. This is the deck I use, I keep Jeu LeNormand for study and senimental reasons.

http://www.intuitive-soul.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=17
 

purple_scorp

Hi tatsi,

I have Titania's Fortune cards, as well as Lenormand (Piatnik) 194115. I am wondering if that's the same cards as your 1941???

I prefer to read with Titania's cards because, I think some of the Piatnik cards are a bit confusing. For example, when I first saw 6 Clouds, I thought it was the Ship, because it has a boat sailing on an ocean, under clouds. When you look at 3 Ship....it is quite clearly the ship though.

Other cards in this deck that confuse me are:

16 Star - it has clouds in it and the countryside....
28 Man - because he's looking at a letter....
29 Woman - because she's holding flowers....
32 Moon - because it's hiding behind clouds, and has a road that leads to a tower in the background....

I know that the more familiar you become with the cards, the less confusing but, I mainly bought this deck to see how far Titania had come from the original design, and also so I could see which playing cards represented which card (just in case I wanted to read with a plain playing card deck).

purple_scorp
 

tarotlova

Mine are Titanias, I had a shot at using the Lenormand deck and I hated it! I found it such a negative deck full of gloom & doom! Blessings
 

tatsi

Lenormand clones have

purple_scorp said:
Hi tatsi,

I have Titania's Fortune cards, as well as Lenormand (Piatnik) 194115. I am wondering if that's the same cards as your 1941???

I prefer to read with Titania's cards because, I think some of the Piatnik cards are a bit confusing. For example, when I first saw 6 Clouds, I thought it was the Ship, because it has a boat sailing on an ocean, under clouds. When you look at 3 Ship....it is quite clearly the ship though.

Other cards in this deck that confuse me are:

16 Star - it has clouds in it and the countryside....
28 Man - because he's looking at a letter....
29 Woman - because she's holding flowers....
32 Moon - because it's hiding behind clouds, and has a road that leads to a tower in the background....

I know that the more familiar you become with the cards, the less confusing but, I mainly bought this deck to see how far Titania had come from the original design, and also so I could see which playing cards represented which card (just in case I wanted to read with a plain playing card deck).

purple_scorp

It looks like we do have the same Piatnik deck.

Even though I prefer Piatnik's images, I prefer to use the Titania's Fortune Cards because the cards are larger, the interpretations are modern (so it's less confusing) and more balanced (positive and negative).

tatsi
 

Asher

I have 2

One is a small deck published by AG Muller in 1970 (LWB by Stuart Kaplan of US Games):
36 cards
Simple illustration in lower center of each card
Poem (English) in upper center of each card

My other one id the Grand Jeu de Mlle. Lenormand published by Grimaud:
52 cards, large, 3 1/2 by 5

Cards have the playing card inset at the upper left corner, a letter of the alphabet inset in the upper right corner, and what appears to be a constellation illustrated between the insets. There is a large illustration in the center of each card, and 3 small illustrations in the bottom third of the cards.
Also, the illustrations bear no resemblance to those of the small Lenormand deck. The LWB explains that these cards are divided into 5 categories: The Conquest of the Golden Fleece, The Trojan War, Hermetic Knowledge, The Unexpected, and the Signs of the Zodiac.

No poems

LWB has 31 pages of instructions in English (also in French), which explains the playing card inset and all the illustrations. Also includes several spreads.

I have not used either one; I simply have them for historical interest. But I definitely prefer the Grand Jeu ("Great Lenormand").

Asher