The cards were instead a direct copy of a German parlour game released in 1799 by a Nuremberg publishing house. The cards had been created by German card game manufacturer Johann Hechtel, (Hechtel also died in 1799). The game was called Das Spiel der Hoffnung (The Game of Hope), and the cards looked like this. This version is one that’s held at the British Museum. As you can see, the familiar Lenormand cards are directly based on this deck.
What Was In A Game of Hope card?
- The card number, from 1-36
- A simple image of the symbol, from the Cavalier (Rider) all the way through to the Cross
- Both German AND French playing card references.
How Was The Game Of Hope Intended To Be Played?
Was the Game of Hope originally intended primarily for serious divination?
NO!
Firstly, it was intended as a parlour game, for entertainment. Secondly, Hechtel, who was a card game manufacturer, actually designed the deck to be flexible, with multiple uses, rather than just for one purpose.
The gameplay on Das Spiel Der Hoffnung deck had three possible “modes”:
- Playing card games such as the popular Europe-wide 32-piece card game piquet, which used four suits and cards numbered from seven to Ace (or two in the German decks, which don’t have Aces). As you can see, the Game Of Hope cards show both the familiar French suits (Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds) and the corresponding German suits (Acorns, Hearts, Leaves, Bells).
- A board game played with a dice, counters and tokens, that works rather like Snakes & Ladders, and is the original “Game of Hope”, representing a “path through life”. This has a 6×6 layout, always laid in card order from 1-36, with players aiming to reach position 35, the Anchor (meaning Hope) to win the game. Landing on the other cards, each of which have their own little stories, involves either rewards or forfeits, depending on their meaning, so they can send you back or forward in the game.
- A fortune-telling game, involving the piquet 8 x 4 layout adding four cards, but using the images to play what the manufacturer’s instructions called “an entertaining game of oracles.” It is this third use of the deck which forms the basis of what we call the Lenormand Grand Tableau today.
We’re not going to play the piquet card game here, but let’s take a look at the two other modes of playing.
Option 1: The “Game Of Hope”: A Board Game About Life Paths
Number of players: 2+
You Need:
- Your Game Of Hope Deck, laid out in a 6×6 grid, with the cards in order, from 1-36, as above
- 2 dice
- A container that acts as a Money Pot
- Tokens/ Monopoly Money/Coins, whatever. Use 16 tokens per player, and have every player put 6-8 tokens into the money pot.
- One counter per player, to move around the Game of Hope ‘board’
The Game Instructions (My Adapted Original Version)
- Each player in turn rolls the two dice. The player with the highest number starts. Each player moves their counter round the number of places and then follow the instructions related to that card.
- Note that not all the cards are mentioned. The ones that aren’t should be taken as ‘neutral’ if you land on them. Each card is either favourable, unfavourable or indifferent.
Instruction Sheet (as per original instructions, except I have replaced “marks” with tokens)
(Taken from “The Primal Lenormand” LWB, but also widely available elsewhere)
If a player lands on:
No. 3 The Ship. The one who lands on the Ship will be happily taken by the ship to the Canary Islands, where the well-known beautiful Birds are at home, no. 12.
No. 4 The House. On entry in this House, two tokens have to be given up to the doorkeeper.
No. 6 The Clouds. The Thundercloud drives back to no. 2
No. 7 The Serpent. To stay safe from the bite of this dangerous Snake, 3 tokens have to be paid.
No. 8 The Coffin. The one who gets to this Coffin is deemed to be dead until another player comes to this card or until he casts a double, for when it is his turn to roll the dice, he is not excluded.
No. 11 The Rod. So as not to be castigated by this Rod, one pays two tokens. For this one can move forward two more cards, to the Lad on no. 13.
No. 14 The Fox. The cunning Fox leads the player astray and he has to find refuge in the Wood at no. 5
No. 16 The Star. Arriving at the Star of good prospects, the player receives 6 tokens.
No. 19 The Tower. To enjoy the pleasant vista from the Tower, one pays 2 tokens.
No. 21 The Mountain. On this steep Alps, the player has to remain until another arrives to release him or he has to cast a double
No. 22 The Paths. Unnoticed, this path leads around the mountains right back to the Garden at no. 20.
No. 24 The Heart. Whoever wins this Heart will immediately offer it to the Young Gentleman at no. 28 or the Young Lady at no. 29. That is to say, if the player arriving at the card 24 is a woman, she will move up to 28, if it is a man, to 29.
No. 25 The Ring. Whoever finds this Ring gets 3 marks.
No. 26 The Book. Whoever reads in this Grimoire will by a hex therein be forcefully returned to the Garden in no. 20
No. 27 The Letter. Whoever receives this Letter has to pay a fee of 2 tokens for the bearer.
No. 28 The Gentleman. This Young Gentleman leads on to the brilliant Sun of hope in no. 31. However, for those who got here by way of the Heart, no. 24, this does not happen. They wait here for the next turn.
No. 29 The Lady. The Young Lady leads on to no. 32, unless one has come here through the Heart.
No. 33 The Key. On reaching this Key, one receives 2 tokens.
No. 34 The Fish. Reaching the Fish, one has to pay 2 tokens.
No. 35 The Anchor. This is the most important card of the whole game, insofar as the one who comes to stay on this picture of Hope has one the game and draws the whole money pot or deposit
No. 36 The Cross. So near to the luckiest field, the player is cheated as against his will, he has to advance one step too far to the figure of the Cross, where he has to remain until another player takes this burden off him or he throws a double.
If a player throws a number which leads over the 36 cards he has to count back as many numbers as he would move beyond the 36. Also it’s not possible to win the money pot by counting back but only by advance movement.
Also, you can see a very silly modern adaptation I did involving UK weather, Piers Morgan, Youtube, snake-whisperers and zombies a while back here:
Demystifying the Lenormand: Playing The Game Of Hope
Want to try the fortune telling version instead?
No problem.
Option 2: “Spin A Jocular Tale”: Using The Game Of Hope For Fortune Telling
So what instructions were given regarding fortune telling with this deck?
Complicated directions regarding cards above, below, behind or before and what that meant?
Techniques like ‘knighting,” counting, mirroring, or “near and far meanings” and “Houses”?
Detailed instructions over how to combine cards “correctly?”
Nope.
Absolutely NONE of that was present in the original Game of Hope instructions at all. All of that stuff was added by other manufacturers and readers later.
So what were the original instructions?
- To shuffle and then lay the cards out in a piquet 8 x 4 layout with four additional cards laid out at the bottom, as in the example below. This deck, by the way, is the Primal Lenormand, which, as you can see, has been taken as a direct copy from the deck held in the British Museum. Even down to the stains!
- You then, according to the instructions, “spin a jocular tale” from the cards around and near to either the Gentleman figure (Card 28) or the Lady figure (Card 29). This, the instructions say, “will bring much entertainment to any merry company.”
That’s it. Yes, really!
Given that the instructions also didn’t include specific card meanings either, we must assume that players were expected to see the images themselves as fairly self-explanatory. Similar images had appeared in earlier oracle decks, but they were largely universal and fairly easily-understood symbols
So no deep mysticism, no serious divination; just a parlour game intended purely for fun and entertainment for those playing it to while away the hours. Always worth bearing that in mind!
So take a look at the image above for yourself. If you were playing this game, what “jocular tale” do you think you might tell about the Gentleman in the reading just based on the cards around him and close by? And what about for the Lady? Without trying to look anything up or use complicated techniques, what elements do you think each “fortune” would contain?
Have a look for yourself, then see below.
Here are my initial thoughts:
For The Gentleman
For The Lady
Want To Learn More About The Grand Tableau?
Coming Soon!
Release date TBC, most likely Winter 2023/24. This will be my final Lozzy’s Lenormand course, with plenty of tailored practice, quizzes, the customary worksheets and videos to help you REALLY understand how to read the Grand Tableau!
In the meantime, why not check out the FREE Grand Tableau resources here?