Grand Jeu De Mlle Lenormand (Grimaud)

Grand jeu de Mlle Lenormand. Grimaud, France. Bespoke divinatory deck, 55 single-headed cards + divinatory-meanings booklet. Size: 90mm x 128mm.

Deck make-up:
Cards: 1-52 + 2 consultant cards.
Extras: Frances Cartes advertising card.

Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand (1772–1843) was a French professional fortune-teller of considerable fame during the Napoleonic era. In France, Lenormand is considered the greatest cartomancer of all time, highly influential on the wave of French cartomancy that began in the late 18th century. Lenormand claimed to have given cartomantic advice to many famous persons, among them leaders of the French revolution (Marat, Robespierre and St-Just), Empress Josephine and Tsar Alexander I. She was active for more than 40 years. After Lenormand's death her name was used on several cartomancy decks including a deck of 54 illustrated cards known as the Grand Lenormand still used extensively today.

This deck is the big brother of the Petit Lenormand (see links at end of page), but the Petit Lenormand isn't a subset of this deck – none of the cards are common to both. This deck seems to be more classical and mythology based, whereas the Petit's imagery is more about the everyday.

Click on any card to explore the design.

(Comments or corrections, please e-mail: Click to see e-mail address.)

Card image size, below: Normal Bigger

Cards

Each card has five images to choose from, so the divinator is rather spoiled for choice (with this many options, you can see why fortune-telling "works", can't you?) The little white booklet enclosed does not enlighten us as to the meaning of the constellations shown at the top of the cards, or the letters shown top-right.
The final two consultant cards are simply used as markers to represent the querent (male or female) in a layout.