Cartomancy

When I was a child I had a deck of Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Cards, when I started to collect Tarot Decks, I bought an Gypsy Witch Deck again due to nostalgia. After some reading I found out that they are considered to be a Lenormand Deck by with 52 instead of 36. Are there other Lenormand Decks with 52 cards. The cards that are in the 36 card deck are also represented in this deck. I was just curious. When I was a kid I hadn't clue on how to read them. They have the playing card insets on them as well. Has any of you every read with this Deck? Can it be taken seriously although it varies from the stand Lenormand? Obviously it's not a good deck to start with at …

Cynocephaly traces letters on the ground. Does anyone know what the string is written as? It's not about Petit Lenormand.

These decks are going to be getting a lot of attention soon, since Bababarock is publishing one of their own and a restoration of an old deck, as well. And I found a video with card meanings that are basically sound. This is for the Art Deco cards, but that deck is closely related to the Zigeuner Wahrsagekarten and Biedermeier Aufschlagkarten. (Note: they are NOT interchangable with Kippers, French or Italian Sibilla.) So the video is useful for those cards, as well. I also want to add that this is not an endorsement of the guy who owns the channel, who is apparently selling Art Deco cards at his etsy shop for $74 (!) Anything more than about $10-12 for a Piatnik deck…

I am curious if anyone has any tips on traditional cartomancy books? There is a jungle out there on meanings on the cards. They seem to differ A LOT. So has anyone here any experience on the subject?

In my faux humble opinion, yes, I agree. About mind magic, that is. Still, Tarot and occultism are, for better or worse, so intertwined that many people have trouble separating the two. A number of occultists even class divination as a subset of magical practice. In fairness to them, the history of the divinatory Tarot could be seen as a long series of footnotes to 18th century occultism.

In some instances, I have read that Cartomancy refers (in general) to the use of cards for the purpose of divination. This presumably includes all categories of decks which are used for this particular purpose ; Tarot, Lenormand, Oracle, Playing Cards, Kipper etc. etc. In other instances, it is stated that Cartomancy refers solely to the use of Playing Cards for the purpose of divination. There is a similar crossover in the language which refers to Oracle Cards. Again, in some instances the term Oracle Cards refers solely to the less rigidly-structured system of picture-themed cards (Angel, Mermaid, Fairy, Unicorn, Energy, Cosmos etc. etc.) which a…

I am very new to tarot so please excuse my complete ignorance. For the last two months I've basically been playing around and just starting to get familiar with it. However, over the last week something happened at work. This is something that I completely screwed up and my boss is about to come back from leave and find out. The issue is that I've known about about the screw-up for some time and just kept putting off fixing it. Anyway, for the last three days I've been pretty stressed and concentrating on what's happened I've drawn a card from the major arcana to see what it says. And every single day it has come up the same: Death. I did it thi…

I ordered this deck because it particularly appeals to me. Has anyone here read with this deck. I know that reading Oracles is about trusting your intuition. The instruction booklet has only one spread. Is there any reason that I can used techniques form Lenormand card reading to this deck? Any ideas would be appreciated. I know there are also playing card correlations that are marked on each card--after the basics I think it might be helpful for me to read up on playing card meaning. In one video on YouTube the reader said that he likes to also use those to enhance his readings.

I found these items while packing. They were tucked away in my drawer. A consignment store find several years ago when I was first delving into learning to read tarot. The book is dated 1948, but the author begins by saying she started using this technique in 1935 and the playing board included is dated 1938. The pack of astrology cards are undated, published by Zolar. Both are well loved. Anyone familiar with either of these?

Hi all, I've started a blog series here https://fennario.wordpress.com/tag/series-on-the-grand-jeu/ If you have anything you'd like to see, post here and I'll certainly consider writing about it at some point in the series. While I do have a general structure in mind, I want to make this something that people find useful. So your questions and concerned will be addressed. It might not be right away - I'm starting with basics and gradually working through different aspects of the deck and how it's used. But I'll be bookmarking this thread and returning to it as I add to the series.

For a while I have been drawn to doing my own readings. I began once and got quite frightened. I chose to try again and protect my energy before and pray. I can’t really say I know what I’m doing yet as cartomancy is mega confusing. I’ve done 1 card questions, 3-5 card spreads? Can anyone help me here?

I haven’t found my cards to be really accurate, or I find the meanings really confusing with the playing cards. What’s the best way to ask questions?

In the book I'm reading, the author said that if you draw an Oracle card and it's upside down then you should leave it upside down. My understanding from what I'd read in other books was that you should read them right side up. She doesn't believe in reversals the way people read tarot cards reversed. It's something about flow of energy, I don't understand it. So is it okay for me just to turn the cards right site up when I pull them? To me that makes the most sense. So far in the videos, articles and other books I've read, she's the only one who suggested leaving them upside down.

Hi I thought I would just share these beautiful Italian cards gifted to me. It is only 52 cards without the major arcana. They were gifted to me before someone really dear to me past away. The deck is called I Misteri Della Sibilla. They have beautiful pictures. I tried to upload pictures to share the pictures or the Italian Amazon link to show the pictures, but I was unable to. I am still new to the forum and trying to familiarize myself 😊

Do you know Le Petit Cartomancien? It's a French deck of 36 cards. I have it, don't use it much (my bad!), but it could interest people. The meanings of the cards are written in French on the cards (there is a meaning for the card upright and also reversed). It's short so you can type what is written and have a good translation with google translate since the sentences aren't complicated. The LWB is actually just one leaf, in French only for the edition that I have. Very simple, nothing more about the meanings concerning the cards (nevertheless there is a list of combinations when you pull 2,3 or 4 Kings/Queens/Jacks/ etc.) but an explanation regarding the …

I have a couple of Lenormand decks (Mystical and Gilded Reverie), don't think I have a Kipper. What's the difference between them in use? On the surface they appear very similar, but obviously I've not used the Kipper at all and I've only tried out the Lenormand a couple of times. And can anyone recommend a Kipper?

This is a thread for decks that have cards in common with Lenormand, but aren't Lenormand decks. One of my favorites is the 1855 Zauberkarten from Vienna: I just found my deck a little while ago when I was organizing some stuff. It's a fun deck. I've moved it to the table with the decks I'm currently using. You get some images in common with Lenormand, like the Dog, Key, Clouds, Ring, Snake, Child, Lilies, and some others. But you also get images like these: Shackles, a Trap, Man Holding Up a Clenched Fist, Old Coffee Sister Man Moving a Big Rock Uphill, Woman With a Baby Passing A Note To a Man, Beggar, Knight …

Since we have a Lo Scarabeo Anima Antiqua Line in the tarot sub-forum, I decided that it could be nice to have the same for their new line of historical reproductions of cartomancy decks: Antica Cartomanzia! The first decks are to be released in October 2021, and February 2022 in North America, but I think they are already available on Lo Scarabeo's website. While their tarot decks are limited to 2999 copies, there is no mention about them being a limited edition for this line. I love their Anima Antiqua line, because I love historical decks, so I'll definitely add these to my collection! Antica Cartomanzia #1 - Folk Cards of Destiny Based on …

I actually did find something interesting about that lately. The book which is said to be the first example of the Russian tradition was published in 1899. I had thought the Russian tradition was older than that, but that is not the case: ”The Russian system is a late bloomer, compared to its French or German competitors – the first appearances of what we could call a proto-Russian method can be traced to mid-XIX century (before that, the books published were translations of the German and French sources). In 1899, a booklet called “The Friend of the Yearning” was published in Saint-Petersburg, marking one of the first documented appearances of the spread that…

I'm really curious about the name of the spread on the cover of this French cartomancy book and how it's read. It is identical in layout to one I created - having never seen this one - for the purpose of missing-person tarot readings. ETA: I just realized this isn't a Lenormand book, so this post is probably in the wrong section. https://www.dropbox.com/s/kz9ay5wf44526er/Train to Nowhere Spread.pdf?raw=1

Fée Mirais est-elle une fée célèbre ? Pas Fée des Maraïs. Connaissez-vous quelqu'un?

The recent thread on 52 Card Lenormand Decks got me thinking again about the GW Deck and how to approach reassigning Playing Card inserts for the extra cards in that deck, to make an extended deck that follows the Lenormand pattern for numbering and card inserts. There are 17 extra cards in the GW deck, compared to the Lenormand: The Rapiers The Pig The Eye The Roses The Shepherd The Amor The Bride The Money Safe The Lion The Flames on the Hearth The Broken Glass The Railroad The Lightning The Order The Wine The Cats The Hand in Hand Which is actually 1 more card than is necessary to bring the Lenormand'…

Using reversals with oracles (especially the kipper and the lenormand) After I had just brought my lenormand deck and did a reading exchange with my friend who had the lenormand as well. So we were getting started and she said now this card is reversed and I was like what you use reversals ? and she said yes , I use them in the tarot why not the lenormand:? And that blew my mind for I was content to use the reversals with the tarot for in the books I had when I first started out had reversals. And I realized the shock I had was what tarot purists must have had when the new generation at the time started using reversals. (assuming marsielles purists didn’t use reversals…

When do the books I have been reading, had suggested that if I read Oracle cards for others, then I should not allow them to touch the deck. When I read tarot cards, I always let the seeker shuffle the cards and divide them into three piles while concentrating on their question. is there any reason that any of you can think of that I shouldn’t treat oracle decks like tarot decks? The only time I pick cards out of the deck for other peoples readings has been by remote read via video chat. If I have the person present, I would like to have them shovel and think about the question.

I post a link (below) toward a video-interview with Dmitry Korolev about Russian cartomancy: "the Babushka Way". Here it is a general presentation concerning what is Russian cartomancy, but it is a clear and lively presentation. I tried to find this video on YouTube but apparently it only exists on Facebook (for now at least). Dmitry Korolev is young but quite knowledgeable! In a few words, Russian cartomancy is folk cartomancy, and traditional. There are definite meanings (not too much) for the cards, and definite spreads to deal with a Russian deck of 36 playing cards. It's really interesting and Russian cartomancy seems easier than French car…