Lenormand Decks

Ah.. the Astrologisches! I haven't seen the backs on that deck, but I do like the images. I also like the connection to astrology since I've recently become interested in Horary.

I'll have to take a closer look at the Astrologisches.

Thanks guys,

Kaph

I'm getting ready to dispose of my Mystical Lenormand, and I thought it would be fitting to post a review of the deck before I kiss it good bye.

I have a love/hate relationship with this deck. Although I would never read with the Mystical Lenormand, I have to admit that some of the images are quite beautiful.

I particularly love The Ship and The Coffin-- although I have a problem with using an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus to represent The Lenormand Coffin. I see the sarcophagus as a symbol of eternal life, and endurance, more like The Anchor-- although that could just be my own personal frame of reference.



Another image I can't get past is The Whip. I look at that card and see self-discipline and self-inflicted injuries. These ideas are often associated with the symbol of the whip, but not in traditional Lenormand.

I always mistake the Mystical Lenormand Ring for The Birds. It took me a while to finally realize that there aren't two birds in the image-- the second bird in the background is actually an image of the first bird in a mirror-- way too confusing for me.

People rave about this deck, and I'll agree that some of the images are fantastic, but there is way, way too much going on in most of the pictures, and I just end up distracted. Perhaps I'm too much of a traditionalist to appreciate the Mystical Lenormand.



I think this deck would be ideal for someone wanting to read the Lenormand intuitively rather than based on the traditional meanings for Lenormand symbols. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but being a playing card reader primarily, that's just not my cup of tea.

Kaph

Hi Carly,

Yes, the Mystical Lenormand is rather romantic, and now that you mention it, I can see how it would work really well for love readings.

I have the French Cartomancy deck, but the size (let's not even talk about the cheapy looking backs) puts me off-- when I think Lenormand, I think tiny deck (I guess because my intro to the Lenormand cards was the Blue Owl deck). I do love the French Cartomancy images, and so the Dondorf is at the top of my wish list.

For some reason, I'm drawn to the older more traditional decks. For example, I think the Judith Bärtschi Lenormand is fun and whimsical, but I don't think I could read with it (although the dominatrix depicted on the The Whip does a nice job of supporting Sylvie's meaning of 'sexuality' for that card.)

I've been toying with the idea of taking a regular playing card deck, tossing away the 2's through 5's, and then drawing the Lenormand symbols on the appropriate corresponding pips with a black sharpie. You can't get more basic than that!

Kaph

stpcarly wrote:

Has anyone ever ordered Mario do Ventos Book The Game of Destiny? I've thought about it just to see what it says, but the price is pretty steep at 26€, a little high for a book I've never read any reviews for.

I took a look at the limited preview on google books, and decided it wasn't something I was willing to spend that much money on. You can check out the limited preview here: The Game of Destiny

stpcarly wrote:thanks Kaph I'll look at it. To be honest I'm not looking for new or different meanings than the ones I have with Sylvie and now the Treppner, what I'm looking for is combos, something that feels right. I haven't read through all the Treppner combos but it seems as if they are the same no matter which card is first and I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't feel right for all of them. And some of Sylvie's combo meanings really like someone else said, don't apply to use normal folks living outside of LA lol.

Do you have a section here with people sharing their combos? I would find that interesting.

Yes, I agree completely with your take on both the Treppner and the Steinbach combos. I'm not sure you'll find the Dos Ventos combos to be much more helpful since many don't seem to make any logical sense-- at least based on the card meanings I use.

I think a section for sharing combinations is an excellent idea!

Right now I'm working on translating lists of combinations from French that I found on Scribd. Since they're French, the combos are very compatible with Sylvie Steinbach's meanings for Bear as 'Cash,' and Fox as 'work.' I google translated the lists, but it is heavy with idioms and sayings that did not automatically translate well into English. Once I finish the manual translations, I plan to post the list here on the forum.

In the mean time, I'm going to set up a sub-forum for sharing Lenormand card combinations!

Kaph

stpcarly wrote:I would be really interested in that if you want to share the link. Maybe my husband can help us with things that didn't translate into french (if they don't make sense to me)

Sure, you can find the list here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/9000844/Lenormand-cartes

I ran it through the google translator, and I've been cleaning up the errors and the mistranslations. I've gotten as far as card 9 The Bouquet. I've learned some really good combinations from this list-- for example Fox + Whip = the cops, which was validated in one of my daily draws.

Kaph