IheartTarot
The Petit Lenormand deck is based on a regular playing card deck that has been reduced from 52 cards to 36 cards by removing the 2, 3, 4 and 5 pip cards in each suit. The cards are illustrated with various symbols and traditionally also include a miniature of the playing card associated with each symbol. Little seems to be known or understood about the significance of the playing cards, other than that the court cards can serve to describe people in a reading (I have posted my own personal theory on my blog post titled "Lenormand suits"). There are also regional and personal variations throughout Europe in the card meanings.
Several decks named after the French cartomancer Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand (1772-1843), including the Petit Lenormand popular today, were published after her death. However, the Petit Lenormand appears to have been modelled on a deck of cards published much earlier as part of a game of chance:
[You can see a complete set of these cards on The British Museum website here.]
Recent research into this game will be included in Tali Goodwin's book to be published in May 2012, The New Lenormand. I understand that the book will include an English translation of the original game booklet which should help us to understand the original meanings of the cards better.
Caitlín Matthews has also been researching the game for her upcoming book and deck set The Enchanted Lenormand due out in September 2013.
Several decks named after the French cartomancer Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand (1772-1843), including the Petit Lenormand popular today, were published after her death. However, the Petit Lenormand appears to have been modelled on a deck of cards published much earlier as part of a game of chance:
"Detlef Hoffmann has shown that their prototype can be clearly traced back to a lovely little pack of fancy cards, called 'Das Spiel der Hofnung (sic) / Le jeu de l'espérance' (The Game of Hope), published around 1800 by G.P.J. Bieling in Nuremberg."
A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot (1996), Ronald Decker, Thierry Depaulis and Michael Dummett
[You can see a complete set of these cards on The British Museum website here.]
Recent research into this game will be included in Tali Goodwin's book to be published in May 2012, The New Lenormand. I understand that the book will include an English translation of the original game booklet which should help us to understand the original meanings of the cards better.
Caitlín Matthews has also been researching the game for her upcoming book and deck set The Enchanted Lenormand due out in September 2013.