Let’s Talk About Decks, Baby! I: Commercial Decks

Which is your favourite Lenormand Deck?

Are you a traditionalist, a modernist? Do you like beautiful artwork or are do you take more of a minimalist approach? Do you go for 18th/19th Century European or more modern designs? Do you like your decks to have playing cards, verses or not?

These are all considerations when you’re choosing your deck or decks. And also which turns out to be your favourite.

(If you’re not sure which is for you, take a look at my previous article below, which should help you decide!)

Choosing A Lenormand Deck: 7 Questions To Ask

And if you’ve got a new deck, this post might interest you!

How To Bond With A New Deck

 

Things To Remember About Lenormand Decks

• The design of a Lenormand Deck doesn’t EVER change the core meaning of the cards. Yes, even if it has ‘extra interesting stuff’ in. Lenormand isn’t Tarot; the symbols are quite straighforward.
• Some readers, however, like to take note of designs on eg the Clouds card, as the ‘light side’ and ‘dark side’ are said to influence other cards in a spread differently.
• That said, you might find some decks’ design sensibilities appeal to you more than others and seem to work ‘better’ for some kinds of readings than others.
• Some decks have extra cards. Sometimes additional people, sometimes additional ‘themed’ cards. I wrote about the issue of whether you should use them or not previously here: Using Extra Cards In : Yes Or No?
• Careful when you’re doing GTs in these cases! I’ve had many times  now when interpreting a reading when a crucial card is missed out or double men and double women appear. sometimes deliberate, sometimes not so! It doesn’t always, but it can screw up a reading quite substantially. It’s always best to stick to the traditional 36 with Grand Tableaus’

 

Although I’ve written about decks before, I find it often helps to see some of the actual cards themselves ‘live’, rather than just the pack cover to get a ‘feel ‘for them.

To that end, I’m using this week’s What’s Coming Up For Me?  5 card spread as an example.

Don’t forget, if you’re unsure how to decipher 5-Card Spreads, you can find resources here!

5-Card Spread/Line of 5 Resources

 

6 Commercial Lenormand Decks & The Advantages/Disadvantages of Each

 

Ciro Marchetti “Gilded Reverie” deck

Advantages: Beautiful, appealing design. Additional cards, man and woman but also some extras which are great, in my opinion, for more ‘psychological’ readings. Ciro Marchetti has always designed an oft-used Kipper deck, the  Fin de Siecle, which I’ll be covering in a post very soon. Cards are sturdy

Disadvantages: Cards very large and “slippery”, and you need a lot of space if you’re doing a Grand Tableau! Do make sure you put the additional cards aside if you don’t want them showing up in a reading!

 

Under The Roses

 

Advantages:  Again, a truly beautiful deck, this time with Victorian/Edwardian sensibilities. Just look at that Sun! This also has additional Gentleman, Lady and Child cards. The cards are a good playing card size, they’re matte and easy to handle. They also have keywords in the background of the cards.

Disadvantages:  The only disadvantage of this deck is the renaming of some of the cards (as you can see above with “The Locket” – which is the Heart card) which sometimes seems to alter the meaning slightly. The Book has been replaced with the Journal, the Tower with the Clock Tower, and the Coffin with the Grave. They are still the same cards, but some may find that offputting.

 

Celtic Lenormand

Advantages:  A Celtic-themed deck, with several additional cards—three different Birds cards, two different Tree cards, two different Snake cards, a Cat alternative to the Dog card,  two Women,  Man and Child cards, and a pagan/spiritual sensibility. Cards are sensibly-sized, matte, easy to handle, come with a great little booklet and have lovely designs. I always somehow feel right at home with this deck, and you can adapt which versions of the cards you use to fit with your particular sensibilities.

Disadvantages: The only disadvantage is that some of the designs are a little unclear and unfocused on the central image. For example, the Heart card above is not immediately clear what it is; likewise, the Stars: you need to be familiar with the card numbers in case of doubt! I love the Celtic version of the Ring card (hands shaking/bonding) but may not be easy to work out at first glance which it is.

 

Blue Owl Lenormand

Advantages: An old-fashioned classic version of the cards.Easy to handle, images are clear, 18th/19th century style, with clear playing card insets.

Disadvantages: None really; designs may be a little bland for some sensibilities, but these are decent quality cards and a great start for beginners.

 

Blue Bird Lenormand

Advantages: Another 18th century style deck, with lots of insets of Ladies/Gentlemen of the era (you may recognise one or two!) As well as playing card insets, each card also contains a verse explaining the (usually) ‘traditional’ meaning of the card. Good size and easy to handle, and good for those who prefer their decks to have a traditional look.

Disadvantages:  I tend to find the verses a distraction, personally, and the style isn’t really me. They’re decent enough but I also am not all that sold on the quality of the deck. But! It’s all horses for courses, I supposes…

 

Rana George Lenormand

Advantages:  Love, love, love this deck! Lebanese-inspired richly-designed artwork,  with gold lettering and edging, but with the advantage of being a lovely, easy to handle little deck. There are some additional cards – such as the Bed to deal with the tricky ‘sex’ question, the Marketplace for business, Spirit and Incense for more spiritual matters. There are also Middle Eastern and Western versions of both Man and Woman cards. Also comes with a great little booklet.

Disadvantages:  Can’t really think of any, except I’m not overly keen on the design of the Bear card, for some reason. it’s a bit ‘meh.’ But that’s a mere quibble.

 

Other well-known commercial decks

Lo Scarabeo

Piatnik

Dondorf

Mystical Lenormand

 

You may also be aware that there’s ANOTHER “Lenormand” Deck: The Grand Jeu De Mademoiselle Lenormand. This is NOT the same as any of the decks we’ve been discussing, and is a completely different set of cards. You can read about that one here:

The Grand Jeu de Mlle Lenormand vs The Petit Jeu. What’s The Difference?

 

You may also be less interested in commercial decks and more in more personal artist’s decks. I will be covering some of these in a later post.