Many people hearing of Lenormand cards are intrigued, but if you’re not a card reader – generally you wont know what we’re talking about.
Lenormand cards are originally a reduced pack of playing cards with a picture and title associated with each card. It is a modified full deck (52 cards) – having removed the 2 pips to 6 pips which means it contains 36 cards. (Unless it’s German decks where they replace the Aces with the Twos.)
Originating in Germany as “The Game Of Hope” (Das Spiel der Hofnung) it was created by Johann Kaspar Hechtell who made it circa 1790.
Johann Kaspar Hechtell
Mademoiselle Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand
The Cards as we know them are named after Mademoiselle Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand. On her passing in 1843, 36-card decks appeared with the same symbolic imagery as “Das Spiel der Hofnung” and were attributed to her.
Wikipedia does not have much to say about her:
According to them: She born on 27 May 1772 in Alençon, Normandy, to Jean Louis Antoine Lenormand, a draper, and Marie Anne Gilbert.
Lenormand was orphaned at the age of five and educated in a convent school. Lenormand left Alençon for Paris in 1786.Mademoiselle Lenormand claimed to have given cartomantic advice to many famous persons, among them leaders of the French revolution (Marat, Robespierre and St-Just), Empress Josephine and Tsar Alexander I. She was active for more than 40 years.
Lenormand cards are a cartomantic system have just started their global revival within the last few years. There is a recent trend towards traditional European card reading systems, and the Lenormand revival is one facet of that.
If you’d like to learn more, why not click on one of these pictures. These are a few of the astoundingly talented people practicing cartomancy:
(Just a note: There is absolutely no affiliation with any of these readers, they are just respected leaders in their field)
Donnaleigh de LaRose
Mary K Greer
Tali Goodwin
Marcus Katz of the Tarosophy Tarot Association
Camelia Elias from Denmark
Malkiel Rouven Dietrich A German Card Reader who also does English language videos
Black Knight 