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Lenormand Playing Card Inserts: Possible SourcesOctober 4, 2013 in Lenormand, Story in a Picture, Tarot History & Research | 4 comments

I’ve completed one session of my 5-

week Petit Lenormand course and can

hardly wait until the next session. I

have so much information to share. I

recently bought a very early 20th

century booklet on fortune-telling with

German-suited playing cards: Green

Leaves, Red Hearts, Bells and Acorns,

as found on the Spiel der Hoffnüng

cards. A friend is translating the bookfor me and, at first glance, it seems to

provide a key to the Lenormand suits.

In looking for images to illustrate these

old suits I came across an astonishing

double-headed version of a deck that

was popular in Germany, Austria and

Hungary. In it the Daus cards (2′s

which substituted for Aces) represent

the four seasons, but look at how the

pictures match the images on the

Pages:

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Lenormand Playing CardInserts: Possible Sources

What Every Newbie TarotReader Should Know

Madame Lenormand, the mostfamous card reader of all time

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Starting on the right: Wintery Acorns (Eicheln) are Clubs and both the Jack

and Daus feature birch rod switches.

Summer’s Bells (Schellen) are Diamonds and both cards show wheat being

harvested with a scythe.

The red Hearts (Röt Herzen) of Spring (same in both decks) are all about

hearts and flowers, the blossoming of love.

The green Leaves (Grün Laub) of Fall are Spades and show two children

pressing wine grapes, while the Jack of Spades depicts a child at play. The

Lenormand text for this Jack calls it is a card of goodness. Country customs often

turn grape stomping into a time of fun and frivolity. Fall is also the season when

children return to school.

A 1830 32-card set of German Fortune-Telling Playing Cards(Munich: Franz Josef Holler, made by Comptoir Industry of Leipzig)

I then found a webpage featuring German cards printed with fortune-

telling meanings. This deck falls right between the 1799 Spiel der Hoffnüng

game (the direct forerunner of the Lenormand cards) that is illustrated with both

German and French playing cards, and the 1846 emergence of the German

fortune-telling deck named after Mlle. Lenormand.

Carl Jung and Tarot

Suggestions for Becoming aProfessional Tarot Reader

TV & Movie Tarot Watch List

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mkg on Lenormand Playing CardInserts: Possible Sources

N. Furman on LenormandPlaying Card Inserts:Possible Sources

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Clairsentient1 on LenormandPlaying Card Inserts:Possible Sources

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While the individual card meanings don’t seem to match the Lenormand cards,

the suits do, and they show a fortune telling tradition that is quite different than

the English and French systems most of us are familiar with. I’d be very grateful

to anyone willing to translate some of the verses above into English. Please post

translations in the comments.

You can sign up anytime to access my Lenormand course or to order the DVDs

at Global Spiritual Studies.

While it’s hard to tell what beast is shown on the 10 of Acorns (Eicheln), we also

find a beast (Bear) on the equivalent 10 of Clubs. Both of them have envy as a

keyword. The original Lenormand instructions read: “Bear means happiness, but

it also indicates it is necessary to avoid discussions with an envious person.” 

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Did the Cathars invent Tarot?September 24, 2013 in Book/Story/Poetry Reports, Tarot History & Research | 2 comments

Want a good, medieval mystery to read? The Song of the Nightingale by Alys

Clare, sent this blogger, C. LaVielle, on a journey into the real life mystery of the

origins of Tarot. As she notes, a Cathar origin is not really feasible, but its origins

among “progressive Catholics who used existing Christian Apocalyptic art” is. This

is an excellent summary of that perspective. The photo above is a 15th century

fresco on the side of a Confraternity Chapel in Clusone, Italy. It depicts both a

Dance of Death and a Triumph of Death and includes several figures that appear

in the Tarot. Read the article at C. LaVielle’s Book Jacket Blog.

(Thanks to Mel Parsons for turning me on to the book and blog post.)

 

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Course in Reading the Lenormand CardsSeptember 15, 2013 in Uncategorized | 5 comments

 Taught by Mary K. Greer

Curious about what everyone finds so intriguing in the 36 card Lenormand deck?

Join me in this five-week online course from 1 October to 5 November (no

class on Oct. 22). On-line make-up sessions and getting the course in DVD form

for later study are also available.

Right from the first week you’ll be working with the traditional Grand Tableau

(“Big Picture”) that uses all the cards. You’ll explore the 36 cards via subject

groups that help you understand the cards and fix their meanings in your mind.

You’ll discover the secret of interpreting Lenormand through pairs and

combinations, the kinds of questions that work best, and how to use the playing

card inserts. Mary will help de-mystify the Tableau by discussing its basic

components and breaking it down into easy-to-understand shorter layouts.

Lenormand is an international language whose vocabulary is understoodeverywhere that the Petit Lenormand deck is found. We’ll be focusing on learning

that standard language. Yet, your intuition will be given a huge boost as you

start reading these cards immediately! Click here for more information. Join me

for a fun-filled course.

Facebook Support Group (optional) will be available to the live class members

for review of “homework.”. An optional certificate of “Competency in Lenormand

Level One” is available by taking and passing a test at the end of the course.

Session 1:

A brief overview of the origins and history of the Lenormand deck, including

recent discoveries by Mary K. GreerApproaching the cards by subject groups—the first subject group

The importance of interpretative nouns and adjectives and their use in card

combinations

An introduction to the Grand Tableau and establishing the theme of the

The Tarot Channel

The Tarot Connection

The Tarot Guild

The Tarot School

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Trionfi—Origins & History

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William Blake Tarot Readings

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also be a nod to the alcoholic haze they are all in.

.

 

• What is the central conflict?

T h e Ch a r i o t r e v e r s e d  , crossed by

D e a t h  .

This is war; a horrible end is always just

around the corner, the death of every

supposed victory cuts off one-after-another means of escape or reconciliation.

The play culminates with a fresh story,

concocted by George, the botched

novelist, in which he tells Martha that a

telegram has been delivered informing

them of the death of their son on the day before his 21st birthday. The Chariot is

often seen as the son of the Empress and Emperor (3+4 = 7). That the existence

of a son is just another game they play with each other doesn’t diminish the

agony of a mortal wound—the seeming death of another piece of themselves and

their relationship—that ultimately strips them down to the bare bones of who

they are.

I also drew five cards from the Petit Lenormand Deck asking for a description

of the plot, and I got:

Hea r t – Mou n t a i n – L e t t e r – B o o k – Man  

2 4 - H e a r t  : love and relationships

2 1 - M o u n t a i n  : blocks, obstacles, barriers

2 7 - L e t t e r  : written communications, documents

2 6 - B o o k  : secrets, knowledge, books

2 8 - M a n  : a man, the querent or significant other

This is the story of love (Heart ) that has insurmountable blocks (Mountain)keeping it hidden (Book ) and from being communicated (Letter ). George (Man)

wrote (Letter ) his biggest secrets (Book ) in a book that never got published

(Mountain – blocked by Martha’s father). The characters are continually sending

messages to each other, uncovering secrets in an attempt to touch on their true

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hearts that are unreachable behind the barriers they’ve erected in their

disfunctional lives. As I mentioned, George (Man) is the wordsmith who is

essentially composing (Letter+Book ) all the scenarios (the scripts-within-the-

script) to get at what is most deeply barricaded (Mountain) in each person’s

heart (Heart ). The Letter  is also central when George claims that a telegram has

arrived reporting the death of their supposed-to-be-secret son (Book+Man).

Finally, I added the numbers of these cards

together and got 126, reducing it to 9 - B o u q u e t  

(1+2+6=9). This stumped me at first. What could

the plot have to do with a beautiful gift orinvitation? Of course!—the play opens with

Martha having invited the other couple over for

drinks. But I was even more astounded when

George mockingly presents Martha with a bouquet

of flowers that he proceeds to throw at her, stem

by stem.

Before the play, I also felt compelled to look at

two other cards contained within that sum of 126:

1 2 - B i r d s   and 6 - C l o u d s  . These were perfect to

describe a play that is all about conversations

(Birds) or, more properly, dialogs between two

couples (Birds can also mean two or a couple)

that play on deliberate misunderstandings, fears,

doubts, instability, sensibilities fogged with

alcohol, and confusion as to what is true and what isn’t (Clouds).

Decks: The 1910 (Pamela”A”) Rider-Waite-Smith deck. The Königsfurt Lenormand

Orakelspielkarten, based on the 19th century Dondorf Lenormand (borders cut off).

The Petit Lenormand TraditionJuly 21, 2013 in Lenormand | 14 comments

19th century Lenormand based on a deck from 1854.

The 36-card Petit Lenormand cards have taken the divinatory world by storm.

Two years ago only two classically-based

Lenormand decks were available in the U.S. Since

then there’s been a deluge of over 50 new decks

(most with creative designs and self-published).

Interest is supported by dozens of Facebook and

forum study groups and websites in English, plus

many more in other languages. Until this year,

only two English-language books were available

(compared to sixty or more in German, Dutch,

French, Russian and Portuguese). By early next

year there’ll be at least five or six new English-

language books.

Two things are essential to a Lenormand reading:

1) a set of cards containing the Lenormand

numbers, names and/or pictures, and 2) learning

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Fish-Kendra’s Vintage Petit

Lenormand

Dog-Liliac Dream Russian

Lenormand

House-Carta Mundi

Lenormand

the traditional Lenormand system. Certainly, a

person can use Lenormand cards as oracles:

making up their own meanings, projecting stories

onto them, and reading the images as symbols,

but that is not what is meant by a Lenormand

reading. One can use any object or image for an oracle reading; Lenormand

includes specific meanings and methods.

14 Reasons Why the Lenormand Deck and

Traditional System Are So Special:.

1. The images or ‘emblems’ on each card are simple,

everyday, iconic items: Dog, Fish, House, Path,

Clover.

2. The deck was first published in 1846 for fortune-

telling and came with card meanings and reading

instructions that were directly based on 18th

century ‘emblem cards’ and coffee-ground

meanings. For over 220 years decks have been

published with nearly identical images, instructions

and meanings.

3. Since the late 20th century original meanings have

been expanded and adapted to reflect modern life.

Even though variations exist, they are minor, such

that a traditional reader can understand the

interpretation of someone else, even from another

country.

4. Lenormand readings are extremely precise,

mundane, concrete, blunt and accurate.

5. The pictures are not read symbolically! The narrow range of meanings,

which are functional rather than symbolic, ensure there is little ambiguity

about their significance.

6. Intuition plays a major role in reading the cards, enhanced by knowledge

and experience.

7. While a few cards are similar to Tarot (Moon, Stars, Tower, etc.), they have

very different meanings.

8. All the cards are used in a standard layout,

the Grand Tableau (“Big Picture”). Modern

layouts provide shorter snapshots or

portraits of a particular issue.

9. In a reading, significance arises from card

combinations: House+Book can be a school

or library (a house of knowledge or secrets).

Cards are not read individually but in pairs

or larger groups.

10. Lenormand cards work well for answering

yes-or-no questions, describing past and

present life situations, making short-term

predictions, finding lost objects, and

describing people and their condition. They

can also address timing.

11. The cards are easily adapted to modern

situations as long as the integrity of the

whole is not broken. For instance, Stars

(like the nodes in a web) is the internet and,

along with Garden (the public), they

represent social networking.

12. One has to learn the basic meanings and to practice combining cards and

other interpretive techniques in order to develop one’s skill with

Lenormand.

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Clover-Ciro Marchetti’s Gilded

Reverie Lenormand

Paths-Foster+Paris’ 

Lenormand Revolution

13. There are many layers involved in learning the cards, such that one can

learn enough to get started after only a workshop or presentation, yet it will

take several years to gain proficiency and handle all the layers of 

significance.

14. You can combine Lenormand with Tarot and other modalities, calling on

each for its area of strength. For instance, Lenormand is great for

describing the plot of a story or movie, whereas Tarot is generally better at

describing theme, character conflict and motivations (see examples here

and here).

Bonus: Lenormand is fun!

A Curious Account of a Reading withMlle Lenormand July 13, 2013 in Lenormand | 11 comments

I found a long and ultimately very disturbing account of Mlle Lenormand, written

only a month after her death in the summer of 1843, and by someone who

seems bent on portraying the great fortune-teller in the worst possible light for

purposes of entertainment and as a warning against the perils of prophecy. It

begins well enough.

It is said that out of the myriad thousands of esprits forts in Paris, but few

could be named who have not at one epoch or another of their lives sought

aid and counsel of Mademoiselle Lenormand.

Though quite a girl at the

time of the first

revolution, yet had she

already acquired such

celebrity in the art of 

divination, that many of 

the poor trembling

marquises of the ancient

regime flew to consult her

upon their place of refuge, ere they dared

take wing like frightened

birds at the approach of 

night. . . . She used to

say that Robespierre

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himself had trembled,

when upon seeking her in

disguise, unknown as he

imagined, she had

revealed to him her

knowledge of his state and station. She would even laugh with malicious

glee when telling how very pale his hideous countenance had turned, when

at each shuffle which he gave the cards, the “Grand Pendu” [Hanged Man]would turn up, telling an awful tale of blood and violence.” 

The author, a long-time resident of Paris, identified only by the initials “G.C.,” 

despite the disturbing stories he had witnessed (and recounted earlier in the

article) of the great fallen low and the low rising just as predicted by Mlle

Lenormand, sought her counsel one damp February day. But let’s let him tell the

story.

It is now four years ago since I myself was led into the same folly, which I

had ever been accustomed to condemn so much in others, and being in a

sad dilemma. . . . I resolved to waive all responsibility, vis a vis de moi-

meme, and go and consult Mademoiselle Lenormand. …

After waiting for nearly two hours while a storm raged outside and listening to a

young woman and her elderly companion in the inner sanctum as they cried out

against what must have been a fearful fate, our author entered the room of 

the celebre devineresse for his consultation:

She was, with astute knowledge of the part she had to play, seated in deep

shadow, while the full light of the lamp was turned in the opposite direction,

where stood the chair ready to receive the pale, eager consultant. This

circumstance, and the sombre hue of her attire, certainly did contribute to

throw a degree of mystery over her whole person, and it was some time

before my eye, getting accustomed to the dim atmosphere, could succeed in

tracing her outline with distinctness.

I was surprised to find in the powerful and dreaded adept, a person of short

stature, and of immense bulk, doubtless the consequence of her sedentary

life; and yet in spite of this, at the very first glance, it was easy to perceive

that she was not a person of ordinary or vulgar aspect. Her face was round

and flat, yet full of meaning, and there was a cunning restlessness in her

bright blue eye, which seeming never to fix on any point, yet lost no one

peculiarity of the ” consultant,” turning the blush of timidity, the stern gaze

of defiance, or the smile of incredulity, equally to her own profit ere the

divination began, and who, knowing well how very far events are ruled by

temper and disposition, drew her own inferences therefrom, and foretold

such wondrous possibilities, that timidity would listen all aghast, and

incredulity disbelieve no longer.

On the table at which she sat were spread in awful mystery the Grand Jeu!

Several worn and tattered volumes, looking dim and cabalistic enough, were

scattered here and there, and from a red morocco case beamed and smiled,

in matchless beauty, the miniature portrait of the Empress Josephine, the

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gift of the imperial lady herself. A chased gold cup given by the same royal

hand stood near, destined to receive the gold pieces left there by her

visitors, as the price of the fortune which she had awarded them. …

One end of the table was completely covered by piles of silver crowns

displayed in long rows—rather ostentatiously methought. A large black cat

was seated on the elbow of the chair, with blinking eyes and purring

murmur, but to do the lady justice this was (saving the cards), the only

token of witchcraft I could see around. …

She had already shuffled the cards and placed them before me, and beggedme in a quick sharp tone to cut them with the left hand. She then again

shuffled them, and while they passed rapidly through her fingers —for long

habit had given her an agility I had never seen rivalled by the most keen

card-playing old dowagers—she asked me the usual questions.

 “What was my age—what animal I loved best, and what was my favourite

flower?” 

I observed that while she spoke her eyes were cast down, but while wailing

for my answer she glanced at me with sidelong inquiry.

In nine cases out of ten the questions came upon the “consultant” 

unawares, and it was evident that this was the moment of hesitation uponwhich she reckoned for examining unobserved the expression and

physiognomy of the credulous listener.

Her skill from long experience was such that it is verily believed she seldom

or never erred in her judgment of the “consultant’s” station, character, or

reasons for coming to consult her, and she was thus enabled to lay bare the

past, the present, and the future, with such wonderful precision, that the

thunderstruck victim would listen in open-mouthed astonishment. …

I shall never forget the impression conveyed by that deep voice as she

spoke in low whispering words, rapid and monotonous, the decrees of Fate

which stood revealed in the painted pictures she fingered with such

marvellous dexterity.

It was a curious study to behold this woman play in mere sportive malice

with the heart’s most tender sympathies, and I could imagine the thrilling

effect which that whispered torrent of words might have upon the trembling

maiden seeking her, perhaps by stealth, to confide all her misery to that

willing ear, or ask counsel of the Powers of Darkness, when heaven and

earth seemed to have abandoned her. And then the trembling suspense too

with which the pale listener would await the sentence !—to her the decree of 

life or death— and yet murmured forth by those cold wrinkled lips, without

change of tone or manner, without hurry or delay, merely as the sentence

pronounced by the cards, and with which she herself, save as the

interpreter, had nought to do. Of small import to her was it whether the

decree brought weal or woe, bright dreams of happiness or grim visions of despair. …

The conference lasted for about an hour, during which time she ceased not

speaking—her eyes half-closed, and bent upon the cards she held before

her. I had the curiosity to lean across the table and gaze upon the set which

she had lain down upon my entrance. They were sinister and hideous, well

calculated to strike terror into the heart of the over-curious “consultant.” 

There lay in foul array the grim figure of the “Grand Pendu,” the blood-

stained visage of the ” Supplice,” and the pale, livid face of the ” Suicide.” 

The cards were of about twice the dimensions of the ordinary pack—the

cross-bones and skull formed the aces, and the hearts and diamonds were

simulated by drops of blood! . . . The cards were ragged and worn by

frequent use, until some of the figures were well-nigh obliterated.

She told me with much mildness, and with a degree of conviction which, if 

not real, was certainly admirably counterfeited, that this was the pack from

which was drawn the measure of men’s lives, but added, it was a fearful

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search—that she never pressed it, but the “consultants” were ever eager to

solve that one dread problem, either for themselves or for others near and

dear. She said she advised me not to try, for they had already been shaken

but a short time since; and told me that the extra charge was fifty francs. . .

.

Choosing not to discover his ultimate fate, our author takes his leave.

It is at this point that the account assumes the character of a classic 19th century

horror story, for G.C. finds on the street an elaborate gold snuff box left by the

young woman and old lady whom he had heard sobbing as Mlle Lenormand told

their fate. The box contains a portrait of a handsome young man. He endeavors

to discover the names of these women and learns they are impoverished nobel

women, the Marquise de Keradec and her grandchild, Solange. He seeks them

out to return the snuff box. He finally finds them in a mean hovel, dead via some

powder that they had burned on the coals, and, next to them, the following note

written by the elder woman:

 “It is the eleventh hour of the night!—he comes not—neither will he come.

She who knows all things, foretold that if he came not now, we should

behold him no more. He is gone before us doubtless, and it was her kindlymanner of giving us this warning. Oh, what a fool was I to hope even for

that single instant!

 “He who first enters here, must search the chamber with great care; he will

find a golden box, which, by some evil chance, I have mislaid since

yesterday. Let him who finds it, remember that I have wanted food and

raiment, and yet have kept that bauble through all the penury which has

been mine, because it was all that remained to me of my gallant boy, whose

brave spirit gushed forth in the cause of life and liberty amid the green

valleys of our loved Bocage.

 “It would have soothed my death now to have had his image on my bosom;

but even this poor consolation is denied me. I myself have sought it until Ihave grown weary. My brain is troubled, and my sight is failing. Ha! the

clock of the Carmelite tolling the half hour !—that single stroke!—it is like

the summons to eternity !—it is well that I am ready—there—let me kneel

and pray—ay, it is well to pray—for” 

The pen had dropped from her hand, for there was a large blot upon the

paper which hid the meaning of the concluding words. She had died while

yet her prayer was on her lips. Let us hope that it was heard at the bar of 

heaven and not refused.

Our author gives his report to the authorities and, just as he is leaving, happens

upon a clerk who recognizes the name, saying that a young man had just

recently tried to find these women. The author finds the man and learns that heis the brother of the young woman. He had gone to Argentina to try to revive the

family fortunes. Because some letters had miscarried and the women had moved,

he had been unable to find his sister and grandmother. In fact, he had tried and,

on account of the storm, had failed to get their address from the clerk at the

exact hour that Mlle Lenormand had told the women: ”The principles of good and

evil are struggling at this very hour. If you see him not to-night you will behold

him no more.” This presentiment has proved true because, in despair, they killed

themselves that very night.

I am told that with the restlessness of woe, armed with my information

concerning Mademoiselle Lenormand, he went, before his departure, to seek

her, full of reproach and bitter accusation, declaring that it was doubtless

her hard prophecy which had driven the weak and credulous mind of the

marquise to despair.

The “devineresse” listened with composure and in silence, as if overcome by

the justness of his reproaches. She then turned thoughtfully to the large

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volume wherein she inscribed at times her “Oracles,” and after remaining for

a few moments buried in deep calculation therein, she raised her eyes

flashing with delight, and exclaimed joyfully,

 “The combination then was just. It was my first trial; and since that day I

have not dared to use it, for it was a fearful risk. Why came you not before?

Could I have known that it would have proved so correct as this, I might

have made discoveries yet more important. Leave me now, I pray you,

while the inspiration is yet upon me, that I may recall, if possible, the means

by which I had arrived at such important ends. Blame not me, young man, I

but read the book of fate as it was unfolded to my sight, nor sought todeceive with false words or to betray ; and,” she paused a moment, and

added with a self-satisfied smile, “See you, I have met with my reward, for

the combination cannot be denied!”

He concludes his account:

For myself I never again sought the sorceress, nor dabbled in her magic

lore. The lesson had been too strong a one to pass unheeded by. I even

resisted the invitation conveyed to me through a friend to visit her once

more, for I thought of the Marquise de Keradec, and of the sweet Solange,

and remembered that they both might yet have lived honoured and happy,

had they but left to Providence the disposition of their fate, nor sought with

rash and guilty mistrust of His divine mercy to forestal His all-wise decree.

Given the tone of the piece and the magazine in which the account appears, I

can only hope that this story contains as much fiction as it does fact.

From T h e N e w M o n t h l y M a g a zi n e a n d H u m o r i st  . 1843 (Part the Third). (London: Henry

Colburn, Great Malborough St.).

A New Lenormand Deck DiscoveryJuly 12, 2013 in Lenormand, Tarot History & Research | 25 comments

I have spent the past two years obsessed with the Petit Lenormand cards, a deckof 36 fortune-telling cards created in Germany in 1846, based on an earlier

multi-purpose game called the “Die Spiel der Hoffnüng” created by Johann

Kaspar Hechtel in Nuremburg in 1799. The Petit Lenormand appropriated the

name of the Parisian Mlle Lenormand, the most famous fortune-teller of her age,

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who died in 1843, shortly before the newly incarnated deck appeared. I’ll write

more about these cards later.

I am announcing here for the first time that I have found an earlier set of 32

fortune-telling cards that are the undoubtable forerunner of both the “Spiel der

Hoffnüng” game and the Lenormand cards. My source is a 1796 book in English

in the British Museum entitled: “ L es Am u s em e n t s d e s A l l em a n d s , or T h e  

D i v er s io n s o f t h e C o u r t o f V i e n n a , in w h i ch t h e M y s t e r y o f Fo r t u n e -  

T e ll i n g f r om t h e G r o u n d s o f t h e C o f f e e - Cu p i s u n r a v e l l e d , a n d T h r e e  

p l e a s a n t Gam e s , v i z .: 1 . Fo r t u n e - t e l l in g f r om t h e G r o u n d s o f t h e C o f f e e -  

Cu p . 2 . Fo r t u n e - t e l l i n g b y l ay i n g o u t t h e c a r d s . 3 . T h e n e w I m p e r i a l  Ga m e o f n u m b e r s a r e in v e n t e d .

The work is based on an Austro-German set of cards from 1794. An introduction

to the book states:

“These entertaining games first made their appearance at

Vienna, in 1794, where they still are the favorite amusement

of the Empress of Germany, and the Imperial Court. They

have since been diffused through all the fashionable circles in

that country. The Editor, therefore, has to hope that, in a

country where the liberality and curious discernment of its

inhabitants is so conspicuous as that of Britain, they will not

 be held in less estimation.”

While there are only 32 cards, most of them are exact forerunners to Lenormand

cards. The few variations, like Lion, have close replacements as their Coffee-

ground meanings indicate. For instance, “Lion, or a ferocious beast” has the

same meaning as the Lenormand Bear.

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It’s been thought for several years that the Lenormand images were derived fromCoffee-ground fortune-telling or Tasseomancy. This work is the missing link that

proves this theory. It has been curious that several of the Lenormand images

were not found in the old lists of coffee-ground emblems, but now we know that

several cards were added to the original set. The reason for the expansion of the

deck to 36 cards probably came about when Hechtel decided to combine “Le s 

Am u s em e n t s d e s Al le m a n d s  ” with the German 36-piece playing card deck,

which was then more popular than either the 32-card Piquet deck or the 52-card

deck.

The Empress, for whom these were a ‘favorite amusement’, was probably Maria

Theresa of Naples and Sicily (1772–1807), the last Holy Roman Empress, first

Empress of Austria and mother of nine. She was described as:

so jealous that she does not allow him [the Emperor] to take

 part in social life or meet other women. Vicious tongues

accuse her of being so passionate that she exhausts her 

consort and never leaves him alone even for a moment.

Although the people of Vienna cannot deny that she is gifted,

charitable and carries herself beautifully, she is disliked for 

her intolerance and for forcing the Emperor to live isolated 

from everyone. She is also accused of interesting herself in

unimportant matters and socializing exclusively with her 

lady-companions. With them she spends her evenings singing,

acting out comedies and being applauded.

Could the “unimportant matters” mentioned above include her use of fortune-

telling cards?

Here is the full British Museum description of the book:

A sequence of 32 playing-cards bound (at the British Museum) as a small book,

having on them emblematic designs of various character, and below moral

apophthegms to which the designs have reference. Each piece has a number at the

upper left-hand corner answering to certain explanatory and descriptive tables

given in a book of directions which accompanies the cards. The title page of thisbook of 31 pages bears the following lettered inscription: “Les Amusements des

Allemands, or The Diversions of the Court of Vienna, in which the Mystery of 

Fortune-Telling from the Grounds of the Coffee-Cup is unravelled, and Three

pleasant Games, viz.: 1. Fortune-telling from the Grounds of the Coffee-Cup. 2.

Fortune-telling by laying out the cards. 3. The new Imperial Game of numbers are

invented”, and “London: Printed for Champante and Whitrow, Jewry-Street,

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Aldgate, and may be had at every Booksellers and Toy Shop in the Kingdom,

1796.” Engraving and letterpress Backs plain (according to Willshire) 1796.

Bent Sorensen has offered this list of the 32 Emblematic Fortune-Telling Cards,

according to the numbers found on the cards:

1. Crossroads/Fingerpost

2. Ring

3. Clover

4. Anchor

5. Snake6. Letter

7. Coffin

8. Star

9. Dog

10. Lily

11. Cross

12. Clouds

13. Sun

14. Moon

15. Mountain

16. Tree I – Labor, Pains, Long Effort

17. Child

18. Woman

19. Man

20. Rider

21. Mouse

22. Birchrod/Whip

23. Flower

24. Heart

25. Garden

26. Bird/Turtledove

27. Fish

28. Lion

29. Tree II – Money (the result of one’s labor)

30. Worms or Vipers (“Bugs”)31. House

32. Scythe

Reminder: Webinar TomorrowJanuary 23, 2013 in Uncategorized | 8 comments

Thursday: Tarot Webinar with Mary K. Greer – Secrets of the Rider-Waite Smith Minor Arcana, part 1Join me as I present the most exciting work I’ve done in Tarot in the past few

years. Tomorrow’s class will cover the suit of Cups and Wands – the Grail and the

Lance. You’ll never see the Minors in the same way again. Bring your cards!

Class begins at 9pm EST and 6 pm PST. Or you can pre-order the recording.

Sign up for it HERE.

Those interested in the Masonic influences on the Minor Arcana will definitely

want to attend next week’s class, Part 2. Please pass on the information toanyone you know who might be interested.

January 3, 2013 in Book/Story/Poetry Reports, Secrets of the Occult Tarot, Tarot History & 

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Research | 9 comments

I’m proud to announce that T h e T ar o t o f t h e M a g i c ia n s   by Oswald Wirth

(RedWheel/Weiser), with an extensive introduction by me, won the Award for the

Best Book of 2012 from TarotProfessionals . This is a classic work by one of the

great French occultists of the late 19th and early 20th century that should be

read and re-read by all serious Tarot students. The book also contains the firstreproduction of Wirth’s original 1889 Tarot (only 350 produced), on fine card

stock—ready to be cut out and used. If you get only one tarot book in 2013, it

should be this. Please share your impressions of this outstanding book.

Webinar: Secrets and Sources of the Rider-WaiteSmith Minor ArcanaJanuary 2, 2013 in Uncategorized | 11 comments

Join me for a two-part webinar with Global Spiritual Studies

Live: January 24 and 31, 2013 or available to view later or purchase as a DVD –

info here.

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PAGES

BIO

Who actually designed the Rider-Waite Tarot cards? Did A. E. Waite unfairly take

too much credit for the deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith? In this two-

part webinar we’ll examine the evidence. It seems pretty clear that Waite had

something very specific in mind for the Major Arcana, so are the Minors

exclusively Smith’s?

It turns out there may have been a specific purpose behind the illustrations to

the Minor cards. We’ll closely explore a couple of stories that show an uncanny

resemblance to Smith’s Minor Arcana and determine where the Minor Arcana

images and meanings came from. But mostly we’ll see how the stories behind

the Waite-Smith Minor Arcana can inform your own readings and cardinterpretations.

Join me for a bit of historical detective work as we seek to make the cards richer

and deeper. This pictorial journey through the cards and peek into the lives of 

Waite and Smith will increase your own appreciation of the deck and enhance

your work as a tarot reader.

Older posts

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