Lenormand

How to read Lenormand

Core principles

Read cards as a sentence

Each card has a plain meaning, like a word. Cards placed together modify each other like a noun and an adjective, so the meaning comes from the combination, not from single cards. [11][14]

Near and far

The oldest rule, printed on the 19th-century cards themselves: cards near the querent's card act strongly; cards far away weaken or, for some cards, reverse. A distant Sun, for example, 'chills'. [1]

The influence of the Clouds

Several traditional card texts (2, 16, 18, 19, 22, 27, 30) change meaning when the card is 'surrounded by clouds', which makes the Clouds the deck's most important modifier. [1]

No reversals

Traditional Lenormand does not use reversed meanings; whether a card reads well or badly depends on its neighbours and position. [14][11]

The original instructions (c. 1895–1901)

Manière de placer les cartes
« Manière de placer les cartes » · BnF [1]

Shuffle the cards well, cut them, and make 5 piles: the first four of 8 cards each, the fifth of only 4. Lay out the first pile from left to right in a single row, and the same with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th piles; the last four cards go beneath the others, exactly in the middle, in the order shown.

The person who wishes to know their fate is represented as follows: by No. 29 for a lady or a girl, and by No. 28 for a gentleman or a boy.

Pay the greatest attention to these two cards, Nos. 28 and 29, for future happiness or misfortune depends on their position in the spread. All the other cards take their meaning from these two, their fate being fixed by how near or far they lie.

Original French

On mêle bien les cartes, on les coupe, et on en fait 5 tas ; les quatre premiers se composent de 8 cartes chacun, et le 5ème seulement de 4. On désassemble le 1er tas de la gauche à la droite sur une seule ligne, et ainsi de suite les 2e, 3e et 4èmes tas ; quant aux quatre dernières cartes on les placera sous les autres juste au milieu et dans l'ordre suivant.

La personne qui veut savoir son sort se désigne de la manière suivante : par le N° 29 pour une Dame ou une jeune fille, et par le N° 28 pour un Monsieur ou un garçon.

Il faut avoir la plus grande attention sur ces deux cartes N° 28 et 29, car de leur position dans le jeu dépend le bonheur ou le malheur futur. Toutes les autres cartes prennent leur signification de ces deux dont le sort en est fixé par leur plus ou moins de rapprochement.

Spreads

Line of three

Draw three cards, left to right. The middle card is the heart of the matter and the outer cards describe it. Read them as one sentence; good for everyday questions. [11][12]

Box of nine (3×3)

The centre card is the core of the situation. Read the rows, columns, diagonals and four corners to see how the cards act on each other. [15][11]

Grand Tableau

Lay out all 36 cards. The 19th-century French instructions give four rows of eight plus four in the middle below (today 4×9 is also common). Find card 28 or 29 and read what surrounds it: near and far, its row and column, diagonals and knight moves. [1][16][15]

Houses

In the Grand Tableau, positions 1–36 can be read as 'houses' carrying the meaning of the card with the same number; a card is read in the context of the house it falls in. This is a modern technique and is not in the 19th-century instructions. [15][16]

Knighting

From the significator, move in an L-shape like a chess knight. The cards reached (up to eight) often reveal hidden influences. [16]

A worked example

27. Letter27 Letter33. Key33 Key31. Sun31 Sun

Question: How will my job application go?

Letter + Key + Sun: a document (Letter) that is the decisive answer (Key) and turns out well (Sun). Together: 'a written reply that brings good news'.

This example was made up to show the method; it is not a real reading.