I am just intrigued by how the playing cards were chosen for the inserts. Was it random in the Game of Hope--a pre-divinatory deck--or was there a system? Naturally, one can always come up with their own system (though in my case the one I already use for playing cards would not work for the Lenormand inserts).
It's mostly an academic consideration. To your point, one should read however works best for them.
As most people notice right away, the French and English meanings for the playing card insets do not go with the Lenormand images/meanings.
This is because the correspondences are based on a German system. Because Germany was made up of a lot of little territories with their own rulers and dialects, the meanings of specific cards vary, but the suits are fairly well defined.
Here are the traditional German playing card suit meanings. Note: the Aces stand outside these definitions. I've listed the pips for each suit: 6 to 10.
Grün (Green Leaves/Spades): The best suit! Friendship, hope, trust. With other cards: attractiveness, desirability, satisfaction, fulfillment. Also, travel. When neg: sadness, melancholy. (The life of the nobility.)
Tower - Letter - Garden - Anchor - Ship. (Tower originally indicated a long and happy life.)
Herzen (Red Hearts/Hearts): The love and romance suit. Good cheer, happiness, love, marriage, family, romantic interests. With other cards: youth, happiness, love, joy. Neg. fickleness, unfaithfulness.
Stars - Tree - Moon - Rider - Dog.
Schellen (Yellow Bells/Diamonds): The suit of risk. Luck and prosperity. With other cards: wealth, position, luck, joy, money. Profit through speculation, inheritance or lottery; opportunity. Negative: anxiety, loss. There is a strong element of risk and fluctuating fortunes with this suit. (Hunting falcons wore these bells.)
Clover - Birds - Key - Coffin - Book.
Eicheln (Black Acorns/Clubs) The worst suit! Sickness, death, betrayal, falsity, unhappiness, bad influences. With other cards: age, unpleasantness, sorrow, grief, misery, illness, pain, hardship. (Acorns were the food of starving peasants!)
Cross - Mice - Mountain - Fox - Bear. (Remember Bear can be envy and jealousy.)