Reasons We DON'T buy certain Lenormands

My current deal breakers are:

Playing cards inserts. Big or small, doesn't matter. I just find a distraction as I don't read playing cards. A discreet SYMBOL in a bottom corner is fine tho. That I barely notice.
So no matter the deck, if it has playing cards on it, I pass.

Any non-traditional of the 36 cards. For example, renaming one, totally making up one, or straying from pretty much any of the traditional meanings. IF I can't look at a Lenormand card and tell what it is supposed to be, if there is a tiny snake hidden in a big scene, for example, I'll likely pass.
EXTRA cards are just fine. I personally don't use them in readings, but think it's great if someone wants to add more to give readers choices. But PLEASE give me the traditional 36 first!

Non-cohesive decks with styles all over the place. Photos, paintings, drawings, different periods. It feels like several decks instead of one.

Those are basically my "I'll Pass" deal breakers. Anyone else?

Morning, GD!

Images that are not instantly recognizable.

The Art Nouveau Oracle, for instance. Some of the cards look like a game of "Where's the Lenormand symbol?" They show Mucha-like woman after Mucha-like woman, and you have to strain your eyes to find a clover, or a bird, or a ring somewhere.

Lenormand is hard enough for me as it is.

FLizarraga said:

Images that are not instantly recognizable.

The Art Nouveau Oracle, for instance. Some of the cards look like a game of "Where's the Lenormand symbol?" They show Mucha-like woman after Mucha-like woman, and you have to strain your eyes to find a clover, or a bird, or a ring somewhere.

Lenormand is hard enough for me as it is.

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Unfortunately, I have to agree. When I started experimenting with Lenormand, I was drawn to decks with cards that were visually complex/interesting, but I quickly discovered that all of the detail disrupted the reading process for me. Now I almost exclusively use the Postmark or LS French Cartomancy--simple, clean presentations of symbols. I keep my Tattered Nomad, however, because I think that someday, when I'm more well-versed in the system, I'll be able to use the more complex images in simple 3-5 card spreads.

Six Degrees, interesting you mentioned that deck!

I watched the video for the Tattered Nomad more than once, thought it was charming....BUT I looked at some of the cards and it didn't instantly register WHAT they were supposed to represent. Still pondering that one with the big perfume bottle. Don't get me wrong, thought it was a delightful deck, just not a reader. Like I would have to MEMORIZE which card some were. Not what I was looking for for a three card, for those who do GT's, I can't even imagine...

If I see a card where the traditional symbol is missing or hidden, or made tiny compared to some other visual element, my interest in the deck falls to zero. For me, decks in this category include the Mystical and Under the Roses, as well as the forthcoming Celtic.

I agree with FLizarraga - this stuff is hard enough without having to play Where's Waldo!

Smiling at the Where's Waldo? comment

Tarot and oracles I think have a lot more "wiggle" room. What makes Lenormand to me isn't how a reader may choose to read the images, even among traditional readers, there are different systems. Lenormand is having 36 images that I can easily identify no matter how I read. If one reader reads one way, another another way, we're generally all still looking for a clear Book, Key, Sun, etc.

I think PART of the issue stems from some designers who don't read Lenormand, are not that familiar with Lenormand. They don't get the significance of having something easily recognizable. They may see it as they would a smaller tarot deck where more artistic license can be taken.

greatdane said:

Tarot and oracles I think have a lot more "wiggle" room. What makes Lenormand to me isn't how a reader may choose to read the images, even among traditional readers, there are different systems. Lenormand is having 36 images that I can easily identify no matter how I read. If one reader reads one way, another another way, we're generally all still looking for a clear Book, Key, Sun, etc.

I think PART of the issue stems from some designers who don't read Lenormand, are not that familiar with Lenormand. They don't get the significance of having something easily recognizable. They may see it as they would a smaller tarot deck where more artistic license can be taken.

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Yes. I personally lean toward Tarot decks with busy, rich imagery that set off my intuition, so in the beginning I looked for the same thing in Lenormand decks, not realizing that they are completely different systems. With Lenormand, the intuition leap does not come from the images themselves, but instead on how to apply the present combination of them to a very specific situation, sometimes very literally. It's a lot like math, and like math it calls for spare formulation.

SixDegrees said:

Unfortunately, I have to agree. When I started experimenting with Lenormand, I was drawn to decks with cards that were visually complex/interesting, but I quickly discovered that all of the detail disrupted the reading process for me. Now I almost exclusively use the Postmark or LS French Cartomancy--simple, clean presentations of symbols. I keep my Tattered Nomad, however, because I think that someday, when I'm more well-versed in the system, I'll be able to use the more complex images in simple 3-5 card spreads.

Click to expand...

One way or the other, you just enabled me....

Dang! Hard to read, yes, but WOW.

1) Lacking playing card designations. I prefer the full card for quickly seeing the courts, but will make do with small designations if I love the deck, and it doesn't have the problem below (which so far, for me, is only the Satono).

2) Images that aren't immediately recognizable, as FLizzarraga said. I originally thought it couldn't make that much difference as long as it was a traditional deck, but beyond 5 cards, I need clean, very obvious images, or I start to hit a wall trying to make connections. No 'Where's Waldo,' as Lee said.

Images that are too over-the-top busy, like the Gilded Royale (I know people love it) or anything too rococo.