Starting with Lenormand

“Hi there! Welcome to the Starting with Lenormand Guide. My

name is Lisa Boswell and I am a diviner, fortune-telling teacher and
creator of this Lenormand guide!

I started reading Lenormand in 2014. Back then, there wasn’t many

resources to learn from and the online Lenormand community was
not what it is now. There was only a few small websites which had
Lenormand meanings and combinations, no books in English, and
tiny communities on Facebook. To learn how to read Lenormand, I
had to piece all of the little nuggets of information together in order to learn.

Now, things are different. There are many websites, courses, books, YouTube channels,
and online communities which can help you learn Lenormand. While this is great, too
many online resources has its downsides.

Sometimes, it is hard to know where to start when you’re an absolute beginner with Lenor-
mand. When I began reading Lenormand, where to begin was obvious, but now things are
a little more challenging.

Not only is there an overwhelming amount of Lenormand information out there, but it has
come at a time when adding additional cards to decks (both Lenormand and Tarot) is in
fashion. It is currently fashionable for deck creators to add extra Man and Women cards,
or to rename certain cards different things. This can be extremely challenging to beginners
who are brand new to Lenormand, who are not aware that these are not the traditional Le-
normand cards.

Do not worry, as this is something which we are going to cover in this guide!

Finally, if you want to get the most from your Lenormand journey, I recommend that you
also commit to working on your psychic and spiritual development. Lenormand will help
your skills evolve, and developing your intuition will help your Lenormand reading abilities
evolve.

But most important of all, don’t give up! Lenormand is an amazing system which, once
you master, you will never look back.

Good luck on your Lenormand journey and happy divining” - Lisa xx

1
 T he Basics

Lenormand is a card system which is influenced by a card game called The Game of
Hope. The Lenormand meanings are based on the meanings of the symbols in tasseo-
mancy, or tea leaf divination.

Lenormand is named after the French fortune teller Madame Lenormand. Madame Lenor-
mand was an historically famous reader who read many celebrities including Napoleon.
However, Madame Lenormand herself never read Lenormand cards. The system was
probably named after her to add mystique to the method.

There are 36 cards in a standard Lenormand card deck. While some decks include extra
cards, Lenormand readings are typically always performed with the 36 traditional Lenor-
mand cards.

Modern decks often include extra cards, which can be confusing. Not only that, but mod-
ern decks can also be heavily illustrated, have a lot going on in the picture, and be hard to
read. Also, a lot of modern deck creators have made Lenormand cards bigger which they
should not be; your deck should only have cards the size of a playing cards.

Therefore, I recommend that (if you’re a beginner) you stick to one of the more traditional
Lenormand decks such as:

• The Destroyed Dondorf Lenormand Deck

• Lenormand by Lo Scarabeo

• Lenormand, 36 Orakelspielkarten Mi Kartenbildern

• Lenormand Wahrsagekarten

You may be tempted to purchase decks which has cards that have the same dimensions
as Tarot, but I do not recommend this. A Lenormand Grand Tableau spread will require you
to use all of your Lenormand cards in one spread, hence why the cards are smallish.

Once you buy your first Lenormand deck I recommend that you form a relationship with it.
Carry your deck everywhere, handle it often, and go through the images. I also recom-
mend that you sleep close to your deck so that it can gather some of your energy.

2
To house your deck, you can keep them in a drawstring Tarot deck (silk is best) or in their
own special wooden box. If you’re into magic or crystal healing, you may want to put magi-
cal herbs, crystals or other items into your deck’s bag or box.

I also recommend that you do not let other people touch or play with your deck; your deck
is yours and yours alone. If I am performing a reading, I do not even let the seeker shuffle
the cards - I shuffle for them. Nobody else is allowed to touch my decks, but you do not
have to be as strict as I am.

If you do buy a deck which has extra cards, you can either just keep them in the box and
not use them, or you can have fun with them. Some readers I know use the extra cards
from their decks as bookmarks or use them for journaling; it is a personal preference.

It may take weeks or months for you to feel as though you have bonded with your deck.
However, don’t let this stop you from performing readings. You should start performing
readings with your deck straight away as this both helps you bond with your deck and
gets you used to using the Lenormand system.

Lenormand is not like Tarot in that there are hundreds of spreads or layouts. Lenormand is
most commonly read with only three basic spreads; Strings, Squares and Grand Tableaus.

Strings are strings of Lenormand cards which use two, three, five, or seven cards. Cards
are laid out in a line and read from left to right (some readers read from right to left but I
recommend you read from left to right as it is easier to form a story this way).

Squares are sometimes called nine card spreads. To perform a square all that you must do
is make three rows of three with nine Lenormand cards. You then read the cards as a story
by reading the rows from left to right, and then the columns from top to bottom.

Grand Tableaus are performed by using the entire Lenormand deck. To create a Grand Tab-
leau, you will place down four rows of nine cards. Each positions in the spread is called is
‘house’ and they have their own special meanings. You will read each house position in re-
lation to the card which lands there. For example, Snake symbolizes enemies, so if the
Snake lands in the House of Letters you might receive a letter from an enemy.

Lenormand cards are always read in combinations. To read Lenormand, you will have to
add the meanings of two cards together to form a prediction.

For example, the Bouquet card can symbolize gifts and the Child card can represent chil-
dren. If you pull a string of two cards and receive Bouquet and Child, this can predict that
there will soon be a gift for a child in the future.

Finally, I recommend that you record your predictions in a journal so that you can test out
their accuracy in the future, remember your readings and refer to them later on.

3
 Lenormand Meanings

Below is a run down of what every Lenormand card means. This is how I interpret these
cards, but other readers may interpret them different depending on the tradition which
they learned Lenormand from at the start of their journey.

I have also included some alternative names for each Lenormand card. Again, based on
the tradition or system which they learned Lenormand from different readers may call
these cards different things.

1. The Rider/The Cavalier/The Horseman: Messages, information, delivery people, visi-

tors, sporty people, young man, active, approach, coming, going, progress.

2. Clover: Luck, fortune, small amounts of money, grass, easy, humorous, playful, not seri-
ous, small, gambles, risks, positivity, good results, chance.

3. Ship/Boat: Travels, holidays, voyages, transport, journeys, boats, ships, foreign, exotic,
strange, far away, immigration, emigration, international, trade, trading.

4. Home/House: Home, house, close family members, surroundings, where you feel safe,
shelter, homely, familiar, comfort, safety.

5. Tree: Health, healing, genetics, extended family, ancestors, origin, roots, sturdy, stabil-
ity, boring, growing, woodlands, forests, trees, nature, oxygen.

6. Clouds: Confusing, confusion, the weather, clouds, rain, negativity, negative thinking,
doubtful, cloudy, ambiguous, complications, air of negativity, difficulty.

7. Snake: Enemies, secret enemies, cheaters, infidelity, seduction, lies, a young woman,
clever, complex, manipulative, twisted, jealous, devious, sociopathic, reptiles.

8. Coffin: Being put to rest, boxed, closed, slow endings, drawn out endings, declining, de-
pleted, illnesses, sick, depression, death, completion, forgotten, a coffin.

9. Bouquet/Flowers: Appreciations, beauty, happiness, gifts, presents, an invite, joy, tradi-

tional values, flowers, decorated, beautiful, surprising, happy, charming, artistic.

10. Scythe: Quick endings, quickly, sudden, cuts, dangerous, dangerously, accidents, acci-
dentally, cut out, the unexpected, surgery, warning, death, scissors, a scythe.

4
11. Whip: Things which happen repeatedly, multiple, pain, painful, arguments, critical, dra-
matic, strife, discord, abuse, abusive, punish, physical, sports, practice, whips.

12. Birds: Gossip, small talk, communication in real time, chatter, verbal communication,
social networking, social media, texting, curious, curiosity, twins, an older couple, birds.

13. Child/Children: Children, little, small, childish, innocence, innocent, inexperienced,

new, naive, trusting, vulnerable, fresh starts, beginnings, youth.

14. Fox: Job, work, slyness, flyness, trickery, competitors, cunning, originality, creativity,
fraud, con artists, predators, predatory, street wise, in the know, woodland animals.

15. Bear: Authority figures, bosses, parents, personal finances, strength, strong, big,
power, powerful, large, heavy, lifestyle, force, bears or places where bears are common.

16. Stars: Hope, hopeful, wishes, dreams, progress, improved, improvements, optimism,
blessings, blessed, clarity, clearly, celebrity, inspiration, looking up to others, stars.

17. Stork: Pregnancy, babies, change, alterations, migration, emigration, movement from
one location to another, the seasons, periodically, seasonly, metamorphosis, storks.

18. Dog: Friends, friendly, loyalty, loyal, faithful, respect, respectful, confidants, confiding,
followers, following, comply, conform, dependent, dependable, trust, trustful, pets.

19. Towers: Authority, government, legal, legality, official, politics, political, organizations,
standing out, standing alone, isolation, lonely, independence, ambitious, buildings, towers.

20. Garden: Parties, barbecues, socializing, your circle, your social standing, the public,
meetings, networking, society, celebrations, open, out in the open, made public, obvious,
not secret, no longer secret, actual gardens, gardening.

21. Mountain: Long-term problems, challenges, obstacles, blockages, impassable, the

long-term, mountains, for the foreseeable future.

22. Crossroads/Roads/Paths/Ways: Choices, choose, decisions, decide, paths, walking,

options, plans, planning, tracks, an actual crossroad, roads.

23. Mice: Stress, anxiety, deterioration, annoyances, toxicity, inconvenience, disease,

something eating away at you over time, infected, infectious, spoilt, theft, rodents, loss.

24. Heart: Love, loving, passion, passionate, relationships, care, caring, priorities, what
you care about, where your heart lies, affection, attraction, desire, hearts.

25. Ring: Commitments, committed, proposals, engagements, promises, relationships,

contracts, bindings, rings, cycles, circles, connections, jewelry.

5
26. Book: Secrets, secretly, education, informed, knowledge, research, what is revealed,
what is hidden, an expert, wise, wisdom, discoveries, books, and bookcases.

27. Letter: News, emails, packages, letters, faxes, invoices, certificates, documents, pa-
per, private or direct messages, communicate, contact, email, write, advise, mail, record.

28. Man/Gentleman/Masculine: The seeker if they are male. If the seeker is female, Man
symbolizes their boyfriend, partner, husband, or future lover.

29. Woman/Lady/Feminine: The seeker if they are female. If the seeker is female, Man
symbolizes their girlfriend, partner, wife, or future lover.

30. Lily: Purity, sex, sexuality, peace, peaceful, calm, discreet, serene, older men, maturity,
age, antique, retirement, contentment, signs and messages from spirit, winter time.

31. Sun: Success, successful, achievements, accomplishments, confidence, confidently,

triumphs, nice weather, masculine, holidays, summertime, daily, warmth, enlightened.

32. Moon: Recognition, reputation, influence, fame, honor, spotlight, cycles, emotions, psy-
chic ability, intuition, magic, creativity, manifest, the moon, the ocean, monthly, nightly.

33. Key: Significance, that which is important, what needs to be paid attention to, that
which is urgent, what needs to be opened up, what needs to be locked away, keys.

34. Fish: Finances, money, investments, resources, business, sales, alcohol, rivers, lakes,
fish.

35. Anchor: Stability, security, lack of worry, consistency, long-term, steadiness, stuck, an-
chors, the beach.

36. Cross: Burdens, struggles, suffering, crosses we bear, pain, sacrifices, religion, symbol-
ism, fate, destiny, the cross.

*The House/Home card should not to be confused with Lenormand Grand Tableau Houses
(spread positions). Kind of confusing, but one is a card and the other is a name for spread
positions.

6
Performing a Basic Lenormand Reading

Reading with Lenormand is super simple once you get the hang of combinations. To make
a combination, all that you must do is add two card meanings together to form one inter-
pretation.

There are two ways to combine with Lenormand. One is the way which I recommend, and
that is to just say the first thing which comes to your mind. The initial impression which
you get from your Lenormand cards is the one you should go with.

For example, let’s say I am reading about my business and I pull a string of Clover and
Fish. The first thing which comes to my mind is ‘luck in business’ because Clover symbol-
izes luck and Fish symbolizes business. These two cards are also good money card, so I
would read them as fortunate. This is a rather intuitive way to read and it is accurate.

However, there are more traditional ways of combining with Lenormand, and that is to take
the first card as representing the ‘thing’ and the second card to be the card which de-
scribes that thing.

In our example, Clover would represent something such as ‘fortune’ and a describing word
for Fish would be ‘flowing’. Therefore, my prediction is ‘money will be flowing’.

An easy way to remember this, is to imagine that the first card is a thing such as a shape
block. The second card is a describer such as a color. So, the second card (the color) tells
you more about the first card (the shape block).

Although the second combination is more traditional, I feel it takes away the intuitiveness
of Lenormand because you have to actually think about forming an interpretation instead
of just taking what jumps out at you. I recommend that you always use the interpretation
which pops up for you first, but use the second method if you’re really stuck.

That’s it, you now know how to perform a basic Lenormand reading!

7
 Performing a Square

After two or three card strings, Squares are the next type of spread/layout which Lenor-
mand readers learn. These spreads are a little more complicated than string readings.

For Squares, you must ask a question and lay your cards out as shown. You will then inter-
pret the lines, and then interpret the columns. All three cards in each row or column are in-
terpreted in relation to each other in a way which flows easily and makes sense.

Let’s pretend we have a woman called Monica who wishes to know how she can grow her
Instagram following. Monica has receive the above cards. First, we will interpret the rows.

We can say that Monica (woman) will see success (Sun) on social media (birds). Her
growth (Tree) will be both long-term (mountain) and seasonal (Stork). However, her follow-
ing (Dog) will come to an end (Scythe) if she doesn’t commit (Ring).

Next, we interpret the columns. Monica (Lady) will grow (Tree) her following (Dog). Success
for the foreseeable future (Mountain) will happen suddenly (Scythe). The current state of
her social media (birds) will change (Stork) but only if she commits to it (Ring).

As you can see, I read all cards in combination to each other in a way which forms a story
and makes sense with regards to the question. If the question was different, I would have
interpreted this reading a completely different way, so asking the right question is very im-
portant for the accuracy of your reading.

8
 Performing a Grand Tableau

Although the Lenormand Grand Tableau (as pictured above) looks intimidating, it is really
not so bad! If you know all of the card meanings, chances are you already know how to
read a Grand Tableau, without even realizing it!

Each position - known in Lenormand as houses - of the Grand Tableau corresponds to the
card of the same number. So, the first house (which, in the example, Garden has landed in)
is The House of Rider. The second house (which Book has landed in) is The House of Clo-
ver). The tenth house (which Whip has landed in) is The House of Scythe. The thirty-sixth
house is The House of Cross, and so on.

The meaning of each house also corresponds to each house. Therefore, The House of
Rider predicts news you will receive, The House of Clover predicts where you will find luck,
The House of Ship will contain information about holidays and so on. It is that simple!

So, let’s look at our example. We can say that our seeker is going to receive news about a
part because The Garden is in their House of Rider. Due to the fact that their Heart is in
The House of Ship, they may also experience a holiday romance. Yes, it really is that easy
to read a Grand Tableau, you can now perform these readings!

9
 Lenormand Dictionary

While I have gave you all you need to know to begin reading Lenormand cards, there will
be some words which will creep up on you during your Lenormand journey. Therefore, as
an added bonus, I am going to give you my ‘Lenormand Dictionary’ below which you can
refer to if one of these words pop up.

Before you read through this dictionary, I should point out that it is not essential to know
these things if you want to read Lenormand. However, it I am going to cover them here so
that, if they do pop up, you’ll be prepared!

Ancestral Work: For your Lenormand readings, you can work with your ancestors just as
you would with spirit guides. I recommend ancestral work over other forms of spirit work.

Cartomancy: Cartomancy is the name given to divination using cards. Playing card divina-
tion, Tarot, Lenormand, Oracle and Kipper decks are all forms of Cartomancy.

Charging (Deck): Some Lenormand readers believe that leaving your deck under the full
moon or in a box with crystals charges the deck and makes it more powerful.

Crystals: Crystals are believed to attract certain things into your life. For example, Rose
Quartz is believe to attract love and Lapis Lazuli is believe to increase psychic develop-
ment. Some readers keep crystals near by so that they can strengthen their readings.

Diagonals: Diagonals is an advanced Lenormand technique. Readers who use diagonals

read what is diagonal to a card in a Grand Tableau for more information.

Diviner: Diviner is the name for a person who practices divination, fortune-telling and/or
seeks the advice and assistance of spirits during readings. Diviner is another name for a
reader or fortune teller.

Ethics: Most readers develop their own code of ethics for their Lenormand readings. For
example, some readers will not read people who are not present, but some will. Some
readers will not read pregnant women, but some will. What your ethics are depends on
your personal preferences and what you value as a reader.

Game of Hope: A 18th century game of chance which Lenormand fortune-telling cards
are said to be based on.

10
General Reading: A general reading is a reading which is performed without a question.
General readings look at the seeker’s life in general as opposed to a reading with a spe-
cific question.

Grand Tableau: A thirty-six card spread used in Lenormand divination.

Houses: A house is another name for a spread position in a Lenormand Grand Tableau
spread. Each house corresponds to, and has the same meaning, as the cards numbered in
Lenormand. For example, house one is called The House of the Rider and card number
one in Lenormand is The Rider card. Both represent news and messages.

Interpretation: In divination, the term interpretation is used interchangeably with the term
meaning, but they are different. A card meaning is what the card symbolizes on its own,
but technically an interpretation is what a card means when the meaning is combined with
the spread position. However, do not stress too much about this as everyone uses the
word interpretation to mean a meaning, and it still makes sense!

Journaling: A divination journal is like a Witches Book of Shadows but for divination. In
your journal, you can record your readings. When recording your readings, you can include
the date of the reading, the spread used, where the reading was performed, the time of the
day, what you question was, which incense you burned, candles used, spirit petitioned,
your interpretation, the deck you used, any important astrological information, pretty much
anything you think makes a difference to the accuracy of your readings.

Kipper: Kipper is a German method of Cartomancy. A Kipper deck includes thirty-six

cards and depicts matters of life; there are Marriage and Illness cards, for example. Kipper
is a different system from Lenormand and it is not essential to read Kipper to read Lenor-
mand, but it is good to know that they are different and not the same thing.

Knighting: Knighting is an advanced Lenormand technique. Knighting reveals someone’s

subconscious thoughts, feelings, and motives. You can only knight when using a Grand
Tableau spread. To knight, you must read the cards which appear around a card in the
same positions you would if you were to move a knight on a chessboard.

Layout: A layout is another name for a spread, but spread is more common.

Madame Lenormand: Madame Lenormand was a French diviner during the time of Napo-
leon. While Lenormand cards were named after her, she never personally used them.

Mirroring: Mirroring is another Lenormand technique which is used to get more detail out
of one card in a spread. To mirror a card, you combine it with the card which is exactly op-
posite and mirroring it. For example, in a five card string cards one and cards five mirror

11
each other, and cards two and cards four mirror each other. Card three is in the middle so
it mirrors none.

Playing Card Inserts: Some Lenormand decks have playing card inserts (pictures of play-
ing cards) in the corner. Some Lenormand readers who can read playing cards for divina-
tion also like to take the playing card meanings into account. However, I do not recom-
mend you use playing card inserts as their meanings can be contradictory.

Querent: The querent is another word for seeker. The querent or seeker is the person who
is getting the reading. If you’re reading your own fortune using your Lenormand cards, you
are both the reader/diviner and the seeker/querent.

Seeker: The seeker is the person who is getting the reading from the reader. If you’re read-
ing cards for yourself, you will be both seeker and reader.

Self-Published Tarot Deck: A deck is self-published when the creator publishes them
themselves without a contract from a major deck creator. Often, these decks are crowd
funded through Kick Starter or Indigogo, but not always.

Significator: A significator is a card which signifies a particular person. In Lenormand, the

Woman card signifies the seeker is she is female or, if the seeker is male, the Woman signi-
fies the most important woman in his life. The Man card signifies the seeker if he is male,
or the most important man in her life, if the seeker is female.

Signifier: A signifier is another name for a significator.

Spirit Guides: Spirit guides are guides which the reader feels helps them with their read-
ings. Spirit guides can be ancestors, people who once lived on earth, Gods, Goddesses,
mythical beings, animal spirits or any spirit which is supernatural in nature.

Spread: A spread is a design for the way which you lay out your Lenormand cards. In Le-
normand, there are three main spreads; Strings, Squares and Grand Tableaus.

Strings: A String spread is a two, three, five, or seven card spread in Lenormand. It is typi-
cal for strings to answer specific questions.

Squares: Squares are nine card readings in Lenormand. Squares can be used for general
readings, but it is more common for them to be used for specific questions.

Tasseomancy: Tasseomancy is the correct name for divination using the shapes which
you see made by tea leafs in tea cups. It is believe that the symbolic meanings behind the
Lenormand cards are derived from tasseomancy meanings.

12
 Further Reading

Thanks for reading my Starting with Lenormand Guide! Don’t forget to

follow Read Lenormand on Facebook and Instagram for more Lenor-
mand goodness.

Read Lenormand’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/lenormandreading/

Read Lenormand’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/readlenormand

13