choice of decks...

kalliope

danieljuk said:
My first Lenormand deck I bought was Titania's Fortune Cards and they have the most basic pictures. Just an image of the card symbol and some of the colours are reversed. I really loved them at the start as my favourite deck.

Yes, the images in Titania's deck are unambiguous, I forgot about that one. The crazy neon bright colors aren't to everyone's taste, though! (I thought they were kind of fun.)

Chronata's Lenormand Stones (different to the crowstones) were amazing (there may even be some left). They came in different colours, I bought blue. This is an example of the black ones - they have numbers and the symbol on the stones http://cdn.iofferphoto.com/img3/item/518/299/235/lenormand-oracle-stone-set-6adf.jpg I have yet to use my stones but one day I shall!

Ah, thank you danieljuk! Exactly what I was thinking of with regards to MandMaud drawing tiny icon pictures. I'd forgotten about Chronata's Lenormand Stones since I only have the Crowstones. (I'm doing lots of forgetting, apparently... :grin:

)

danieljuk

I strangely loved Titania's minimalism! it was almost pop art but I feel almost like I have outgrown them!

This is an old thread about Chronata's Lenormand stones here if anyone is interested, sadly they are now all sold out. However the crowstones are still around, they are more of a "crow oracle" than the actual Lenormand decks :thumbsup:

Tag_jorrit

If you want small decks, here are 8 mini decks. The mini-size: 1¾" x 2½" and there a couple of them that are pretty minimalist. These are all reproductions of rare antique decks, unavailable anywhere else except for the originals on eBay for $300+.

kalliope

Tag_jorrit said:
If you want small decks, here are 8 mini decks. The mini-size: 1¾" x 2½" and there a couple of them that are pretty minimalist. These are all reproductions of rare antique decks, unavailable anywhere else except for the originals on eBay for $300+.

Hi Tag! You may want to double check your link above, because it's pointing to the LG website instead of your own!

But I did post a link to your minis earlier in the thread, so no worries.

Tag_jorrit

Arrrgggggh. Fixed. Thanks.

For posting the link, too.

MandMaud

kalliope said:
They've improved their shipping options!! You can pick from First Class Mail for $2.79, or Priority Mail for $6.19 or $6.40. So definitely not $20 anymore! When I got mine I went with the cheapest and it was fine. And no, it's not quite as pretty as the Silhouettes, but still cute.

But I'm in the UK.

kalliope said:
Chronata here on AT made them. I can't find mine at the moment, but if I do I'll snap a picture. It's a small oracle that has little picture icons on stones, so that's what I thought of when you mentioned the stone idea.

Sounds nice.

kalliope said:
Most mini Lenormands including the LEN are 1 3/4" x 2 1/2" -- so quite small. Smaller than the Weiss Eule, definitely. (That one is basically the standard size for Lenormands by the way, about 2.25" x 3.5" -- but technically about a mm shorter in both directions.)

I think i'd probably like a mini - though I've found it extremely difficult to predict what a deck will be like in my hands, no matter how "solid" I make it in my head from the measurements!

kalliope said:
I don't have the Dutch Lenormand (the one that is only black/white/red, correct?), but Lee does. Maybe you could ask him if the those cards are all easily distinguishable. But the McLoughlin (by Lauren) and the Madam Morrow (by TarotBySeven), which are the same deck being reproduced, seem to have a style that makes me think the star would be more like the Star cards in the photos of the Alte Deutsch, Stralsunder, and Mertz that I've posted below, which are easy to tell apart from the Clouds.

Thanks for all those pictures - yes, no way could that star be mixed up with the clouds! Nor the book/coffin either. Another pair I've managed to muddle is the book and letter, but again they're nice and distinct. Looks like I chose the wrong deck to begin with!

kalliope said:
I think the stones sound like a fun idea. Why not try it?

I may do, next time I'm in a garden centre selling decorative gravel.

Meanwhile I have much more food for thought with a choice of decks. I can't see me carrying a bag of stones around in my handbag the way I do my little Lenormand cards at the moment! But at home I like the idea.

Padma

I guess you did not see my post, MandMaud! Maybe you could paint the symbols on poker chips, or wooden discs? Or even pub coasters! :laugh:

Anyways, poker chips are small and portable - nothing as heavy as stones! (and then you'd have your "round" deck!)

MandMaud

danieljuk said:
My first Lenormand deck I bought was Titania's Fortune Cards and they have the most basic pictures. Just an image of the card symbol and some of the colours are reversed. I really loved them at the start as my favourite deck. I have bought more decks since and I find them different like tarot, they have different art. As my lenormand skills increase I really love artwork now. I want a picture to interpret! I use them for different things and they do give different readings.

I guess numbers on stones or just numbers on cards, begs the question, how do you define a lenormand card? just numbers starts to turn into divination or numerology. People like different decks for how they want to use the system, like people do cartomancy with the playing card inserts on some. I need more than basic now.

Chronata's Lenormand Stones (different to the crowstones) were amazing (there may even be some left). They came in different colours, I bought blue. This is an example of the black ones - they have numbers and the symbol on the stones http://cdn.iofferphoto.com/img3/item/518/299/235/lenormand-oracle-stone-set-6adf.jpg I have yet to use my stones but one day I shall!

I guess the question can be compared Maud to tarot. Why do we just not have "king of cups" written in blank pen ink on a blank white card, instead we like different versions of the same card. Different Lenormand decks have slightly different themes of the same card, always provides slightly different intriguing readings. We all use Lenormand in slightly different ways and like different styles for that

That's a good point, a reason beyond mere aesthetic differences.

But I thought the point with Lenormand, the big difference between it and Tarot, was that we're not supposed to interpret the pictures? So that whether the child is holding a bunch of flowers (as in my Weiss Eule) or something else, or nothing, isn't relevant to interpretation... whereas on a tarot card the character's expression or the colour of the flowers or the weather in the background may be relevant.

I do get that this is not the same point as what you say about preferring different styles because some harmonise with our personal "take" (when more experienced than I am! lol) more than others do.

ps. I like the luminosity of the Titania cards, pretty intense.

MandMaud

Aster Breo said:
There are so many decks available, it's hard to imagine you couldn't find one that works for you. Try searching Etsy, as well as simply googling.

My favorite deck is the Zingdoodle deck by Rootweaver, available on Etsy in a standard size (don't remember if it's bridge size or poker size) and in mini size. I think the symbols are very easy to read. But I also prefer a more contemporary style.

For more traditional, I think the Game of Hope reproduction decks are great.

It also depends on if you want playing card insets and/or verses, or just the symbols. There are so many options.

For super simple, you might also like the NOW Lenormand deck, although I don't think it comes in a mini size. (I found it via Google.)

I like the poker chip idea someone suggested. You could do the same thing on those wooden disks they sell in craft stores, or even on buttons. It would be fun to experiment with casting Lenormand symbols (like runes or ogham staves), as opposed to using them in lay outs.

I'm sure there's one out there, it's finding it!

Yes, I'll try Etsy. I'm thinking not necessarily traditional, but not necessarily non-traditional.

When I first tried out runes (years before I began to believe this divination lark works

), I read instructions and cut up some thick card, used a marker pen and then "varnished" the squares with glittery glue. Very basic and at the time I assumed it wasn't "sacred" enough to do things that way

but I got fond of them anyway, for a while.

I do like the idea of casting "non-card cards" instead of shuffling, because I'm having trouble shuffling these days, but that's a step further; I was only thinking of drawing them from the bag one at a time instead of drawing from the deck, but laying out in the normal way. Hm...

ps. While I may want inserts in the future, for now I'm having enough difficulty mastering the "plain" meanings so I've decided to do without the frills for the time being!

MandMaud

Tag_jorrit said:
If you want small decks, here are 8 mini decks. The mini-size: 1¾" x 2½" and there a couple of them that are pretty minimalist. These are all reproductions of rare antique decks, unavailable anywhere else except for the originals on eBay for $300+.

Thanks! I do like the Dutch Deck. But being overseas it comes to rather more than I'm hoping to spend at the moment... I'm still deciding whether to "commit" to Lenormand (unlike tarot, which has me firmly in its paws

) so still just playing around... For the time being...

choice of decks...

kalliope

danieljuk

Tag_jorrit

kalliope

Tag_jorrit

MandMaud

Padma

MandMaud

MandMaud

MandMaud