Pet peeves in Lenormand decks

[Marina]

What are some characteristics that really bother you in Lenormand decks? Like, deal-breakers. 

 

Personally, I am kinda bothered when the Clouds card don't have a brighter and darker side, because positioning is so importante to me in a spread. Also, when the "people" cards (Man and Woman) are facing ahead, so they can never be looking towards or away from each other. It kind of kills the potential for "narrative", in my opinion.

 

I'm curious if other people are bothered by such things or if I'm just awfully nit-picky.

[katrinka]

Titles. That's a BIG one. I don't need a label telling me that an image is a dog or a house.
Glyphs instead of insets. It's not the Thoth, you don't need to shove the playing card assignment in a corner and showcase the art.
Towers that are the wrong kind: bell towers, office buildings, etc.
Female Riders and Riders on bicycles, motorcycles, etc.
Verses with bad information, like in the Blue Bird.
Non-working Dogs.
Attempting to "paganize" the deck by substituting another image for the Cross. The Cross is a bad card in Lenormand - the deck doesn't proselytize.

Most themes - 99% of the time, they're poorly done.

There's more, but those are what comes to mind at the moment. No deck is perfect, and I'll overlook some things if it's a good deck otherwise. But those things are difficult or impossible to overlook.

[Panda]

Adding extra cards really, really gets up my goat. Plus as Katrinka said, changing the image for the cross. Stupid. Just stupid. Mucking about with the images to make them more like Tarot cards. They're not. Just leave them as originally intended. Gggggrrrrrr!

[Marina]

2 hours ago, katrinka said:

Titles. That's a BIG one. I don't need a label telling me that an image is a dog or a house.
Glyphs instead of insets. It's not the Thoth, you don't need to shove the playing card assignment in a corner and showcase the art.
Towers that are the wrong kind: bell towers, office buildings, etc.
Female Riders and Riders on bicycles, motorcycles, etc.
Verses with bad information, like in the Blue Bird.
Non-working Dogs.
Attempting to "paganize" the deck by substituting another image for the Cross. The Cross is a bad card in Lenormand - the deck doesn't proselytize.

Most themes - 99% of the time, they're poorly done.

There's more, but those are what comes to mind at the moment. No deck is perfect, and I'll overlook some things if it's a good deck otherwise. But those things are difficult or impossible to overlook.

 

I agree with your whole list, to be honest. I didn't even know there were Lenormand decks with titles, but everything is possible under the Sun.

 

I don't like it when they try to put the deck in a certain theme too. Here in Brazil it's VERY common for them to attempt to transform every Lenormand into a gypsy oracle, so the whole deck becomes filled with gypsy imagery. I have yet to see a Pagan Lenormand, but if it's like most of Pagan-themed tarot decks then it's probably a waste, lol.

 

The only Lenormand deck I have nowadays has glyphs instead of the inset playing cards. I don't like them, because I often confuse the glyphs with the number of the card, but... the rest of the images are rather decent so I use it.

 

Now, what is non-working Dog? It's like... a toy dog?

 

45 minutes ago, Panda said:

Adding extra cards really, really gets up my goat. Plus as Katrinka said, changing the image for the cross. Stupid. Just stupid. Mucking about with the images to make them more like Tarot cards. They're not. Just leave them as originally intended. Gggggrrrrrr!

 

Yes, why mess with perfection? The deck works fine the way it is, it doesn't need improvement. 

 

What extra cards have you seen being added? I have a deck here in which we have two cards for the Man and two for the Woman, in case you need extra "people" card for some reason. But I never saw different, unrelated card being added to the Lenormand. Is it a thing now? 

[katrinka]

18 minutes ago, marinaoracles said:

Now, what is non-working Dog? It's like... a toy dog?

 

Yes.
The old decks show hunting dogs - bird dogs, lurchers, etc. The idea is that it's a dog that helps you put food on the table. I think a working farm dog, like a herding dog, would also be a good fit. But those things are too much for a Pug or a Pomeranian.

 

35 minutes ago, marinaoracles said:

Yes, why mess with perfection? The deck works fine the way it is, it doesn't need improvement. 

 

THIS. ☝️

[Panda]

54 minutes ago, marinaoracles said:

 

I agree with your whole list, to be honest. I didn't even know there were Lenormand decks with titles, but everything is possible under the Sun.

 

I don't like it when they try to put the deck in a certain theme too. Here in Brazil it's VERY common for them to attempt to transform every Lenormand into a gypsy oracle, so the whole deck becomes filled with gypsy imagery. I have yet to see a Pagan Lenormand, but if it's like most of Pagan-themed tarot decks then it's probably a waste, lol.

 

The only Lenormand deck I have nowadays has glyphs instead of the inset playing cards. I don't like them, because I often confuse the glyphs with the number of the card, but... the rest of the images are rather decent so I use it.

 

Now, what is non-working Dog? It's like... a toy dog?

 

 

Yes, why mess with perfection? The deck works fine the way it is, it doesn't need improvement. 

 

What extra cards have you seen being added? I have a deck here in which we have two cards for the Man and two for the Woman, in case you need extra "people" card for some reason. But I never saw different, unrelated card being added to the Lenormand. Is it a thing now? 

I'm stuck at the moment using a deck which I don't particularly like because my other decks have been packed, waiting to move (The Enchanted Lenormand by Caitlin Matthews). It has the extra male and female cards but also a card called "Diviner". I don't even know what it's supposed to mean as I never use it. There's a couple of other decks that also have different cards but I can't recall what they are. I just think it's pointless. 

[katrinka]

1 hour ago, Panda said:

I'm stuck at the moment using a deck which I don't particularly like because my other decks have been packed, waiting to move (The Enchanted Lenormand by Caitlin Matthews).

 

Yeah, I passed on that one. The Whips/Birchrods is a broom. And THAT can go on my list, too - it's an utter deal killer. Caitlin surely knows better, I have no idea why she allowed that to happen.

Whips and birchrod bundles are instruments of punishment. Brooms are for tidying up, obviously - two completely different functions.

 

1 hour ago, Panda said:

It has the extra male and female cards but also a card called "Diviner". I don't even know what it's supposed to mean as I never use it.

 

She didn't explain it?
All I can think of is that around the time that deck was published, "Sibyl" cards were trending. Not Sibyl decks, but a single Sibyl card included in Lenormand. I think the idea was that the reader could use it in place of their regular significator. Fads tend to be boneheaded.
 

1 hour ago, Panda said:

There's a couple of other decks that also have different cards but I can't recall what they are. I just think it's pointless. 

 

I always take them out. They make good bookmarks.
The only ones I ever left in were Rana's Market, Bed, Spirit and Incense. I don't need them, but they're usable. The others just get in the way.

[Panda]

18 minutes ago, katrinka said:

 

Yeah, I passed on that one. The Whips/Birchrods is a broom. And THAT can go on my list, too - it's an utter deal killer. Caitlin surely knows better, I have no idea why she allowed that to happen.

Whips and birchrod bundles are instruments of punishment. Brooms are for tidying up, obviously - two completely different functions.

 

 

She didn't explain it? It would be in the book that came with the deck. But to be honest, I didn't look at her book. I've been trying to remain consistent using Andy's book. I just had a look and it's supposed to represent Ms Lenormand herself. "Divination offers a snapshot of conditions seen projected from the present moment but not the entire picture as it will be". Yeah, that's as clear as mud. Hahahaha. "Prediction, uncanny, supernatural, farseeing, the unknown ..." etc, etc. It's staying in the box. 
All I can think of is that around the time that deck was published, "Sibyl" cards were trending. Not Sibyl decks, but a single Sibyl card included in Lenormand. I think the idea was that the reader could use it in place of their regular significator. Fads tend to be boneheaded.
 

 

I always take them out. They make good bookmarks.
The only ones I ever left in were Rana's Market, Bed, Spirit and Incense. I don't need them, but they're usable. The others just get in the way.