Discussion on Missing Topics and Overburdened Cards

[Doktor_Zeus]

I've been thinking of expanding my own personal Lenormand deck a little to include a few non-traditional cards. My main reason for this is that I think there are a few aspects of modern life that aren't well-represented because of changes in modern society, and a few cards that are overburdened with meanings that don't feel appropriate to the symbols they contain.

 

My main bugbear is that there isn't really anything that represents technology or invention, which is a large factor in modern life.

 

Can anyone else think of any concepts they feel are not adequately represented in Lenormand, or cards that have too many meanings that might be better split across two?

 

(* I hasten to add this was in a fictional context. I write stories, not predictions.)

[coinilius]

I feel like certain cards often feel like they have different meanings, or at least different 'obvious' meanings, depending on the imagery used - like the Birds card, there's quite a few decks that use an Owl or Owls as the symbol.  For me, seeing an Owl on the card gives me a very different first impression to, say, a couple of small birds on a branch twittering at each other.  The Birch Rod/Whip is another card where the pictures used can really lead your thinking down different paths... 

[Doktor_Zeus]

41 minutes ago, coinilius said:

I feel like certain cards often feel like they have different meanings, or at least different 'obvious' meanings, depending on the imagery used - like the Birds card, there's quite a few decks that use an Owl or Owls as the symbol.  For me, seeing an Owl on the card gives me a very different first impression to, say, a couple of small birds on a branch twittering at each other.  The Birch Rod/Whip is another card where the pictures used can really lead your thinking down different paths... 

 

one of my Lenormand decks has two ‘birds’ cards, one with the usual tweeting variety and one with owls. The official reasoning is that the former is The usual interpretation of ‘gossip’ while the latter means ‘good advice’ instead.

[coinilius]

1 hour ago, Doktor_Zeus said:

 

one of my Lenormand decks has two ‘birds’ cards, one with the usual tweeting variety and one with owls. The official reasoning is that the former is The usual interpretation of ‘gossip’ while the latter means ‘good advice’ instead.

 

Yes, I've seen/heard of decks that use both as well - that one came to mind straight away when you said about cards having meanings that could be spread out across multiple cards.  One of the issues with extra cards like that, though, and the extra man and woman cards, is that it interferes with the playing card inserts.  Where you going to look at the playing card inserts when creating new cards?  Like extend the deck to a 52 card deck and use the 2's to 5's?

[Doktor_Zeus]

7 hours ago, coinilius said:

Where you going to look at the playing card inserts when creating new cards?  Like extend the deck to a 52 card deck and use the 2's to 5's?

 

Some people do that, too. The 'Maybe' Lenormand is a full 52-card deck.

 

That said, you don't have to go that far. You can just go one card at a time and expand downwards from the 6's. I get that some people wouldn't like the symmetry of some suits having more cards than others, but if that feels wrong you can still extend in fours until you have enough. This also has the added advantage of making it easier when getting a deck printed because advancing in fours makes it easier to fill an entire sheet and not waste card stock. The Gilded Reverie (Expanded Edition) has eight extra cards, although for some reason they didn't see the need to assign playing cards to them even though they could have done so without unbalancing the deck, instead opting to put a generic 'all-suits' symbol in the corner to indicate that it's an addition.

 

Some people also don't like the fact that, if you expand the deck, you can't get every card into the Piquet (Grand) Tableau. 'Maybe' actually has its own Tres Grand Tableau just so that it can get all the cards in there. Personally, that doesn't bother me so much. I'd say that you can draw further conclusions from the fact that a specific card doesn't show up in your tableau at all, but that's only possible if you go beyond the traditional 36. For example, after laying out a tableau, you could use the remaining cards to make a second, smaller spread detailing 'the things that are missing from the querant's life right now'.

 

There's also the point that, if you expand it, the deck no longer mirrors traditional German and French suited historical decks, which would similarly have 32 and 36 cards, although the court cards were different. (The original 'Game of Hope' from which Lenormand was developed actually had both German and French card values for convenience.) This prevents people from using interpretations matching the 'folk' cartomancy traditions since the deck is either missing cards from the 52-card deck, or has extra cards with no assigned meanings compared to a 36-card deck.

 

Personally, I'm fine with expanding the deck, but though I do prefer the suits to be balanced, I don't think it's necessary to have all 52. The 52-card Maybe Lenormand is charming, but many of its extras do feel a little superfluous. I'd expand in fours, starting with a new '5' card for each suit.

 

One thing I practically insist upon in my working decks, though, is that they must at a minimum have extra flipped-gender cards for the Man and the Woman, so that readings can be done for same-sex couples. I went a step further with my own deck and added asexual versions too, just to cover as many bases as possible, or for when the gender of the 'other person' is not yet clear (i.e. a 'love reading' for a bisexual person). But extra man and woman cards are more commonly replacements to the originals to account for gender preferences, rather than true additions to the deck.

[coinilius]

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Some people do that, too. The 'Maybe' Lenormand is a full 52-card deck.

 

Yes, and the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Cards from US Games does the same thing, although it changes up the playing card associations compared to the Lenormand, as does the Retroracle deck.  Some decks don't even include the playing card inserts, so in those cases it's especially not an issue, although my personal opinion is that decks that don't have the playing cards are missing something important from the Lenormand experience.

 

You are right that the Maybe Lenormand and the GW Fortune Telling cards often feel superfluous when it comes to the extra cards, although I try to look at some of them as maybe 'drilling down' on certain topics.  Going back to your original question about missing topics or over burdened cards, I feel like it can be hard to make additional cards that don't just replicate or repeat existing meanings.

 

I'm interested to see what you come up with, though, for extra cards!  If you haven't seen it, you should check out the Retroracle Deck - it incorporates the Lenormand symbols into playing card pip layouts and is charming, but maybe a little too busy.  The extra cards are hit or miss, but that's kind of always going to be the case with extended decks since everyone has different opinions and preferences.  Some of it's extra cards are really nice though.

 

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One thing I practically insist upon in my working decks, though, is that they must at a minimum have extra flipped-gender cards for the Man and the Woman, so that readings can be done for same-sex couples. 

 

I'm gay myself, but for my personal preference I don't really like the extra man and woman cards, but they are so ubiquitous that even in a personal deck I am creating just for my own use I'm including them - in my deck, though, they are going to have Jokers as the playing card inserts, with the red Joker with the female and black Joker with the male, opposite colour-wise to the suits associated with the original man and woman cards.

 

Personally, I feel like there are plenty of other cards that can represent 'significant others' or 'persons of interest' - the woman or man could just be a woman or man who is going to play a significant role in someone's life, and there are men and women in everyone's life no matter your own sexual preferences or gender identity.  It could also mean 'male like figure' or 'female like figure' as well, at least as far as I'm concerned.  The surrounding cards would help clarify who the person may be/what role they may play. 

 

Having said all that, I've contemplated replacing the man and woman with a gender neutral 'the querent' card and a 'significant person' card, to further distance from the 'love' interpretations of the cards - what if you're reading for an asexual, for instance?

 

Sorry if that's going off-topic from your original post, just going through some different thoughts about the creative process behind Lenormand deck building.

[Doktor_Zeus]

Don't worry about going off-topic a bit, it's all interesting.

 

The Retroracle deck is probably lovely for most people, but I'm colourblind and find it very difficult to look at personally.

 

6 minutes ago, coinilius said:

I'm gay myself, but for my personal preference I don't really like the extra man and woman cards, but they are so ubiquitous that even in a personal deck I am creating just for my own use I'm including them - in my deck, though, they are going to have Jokers as the playing card inserts, with the red Joker with the female and black Joker with the male, opposite colour-wise to the suits associated with the original man and woman cards.

 

For me it's all about choice. I like to give people the option if they want it. If they want the traditional pairing regardless then that's fine too. I don't do many readings for others because I'm not a cartomancer in the strict sense of the word, but when I do I let them choose their own significators. I personally don't feel the need to change the playing card associated with alternative Man / Woman cards myself, since they are replacements rather than additions, but each to their own! I'm all for variety.

 

I only use the woman as a secondary significator if the querent is asking specifically about another person, or it is in a position that suggests this is what it is. Otherwise I tend to think of them as representing a person (paired with an appropriate card to indicate career or temperament as you suggest), or as an adjective, proactive / reactive or powerful / skilfull. I also occasionally use them as masculine / feminine rather than outright male / female, just as you do. The inherent sexism in such concepts bothers me though. It's difficult to decouple the modern conception of gender from the ancient and flawed 'idealisation' of gender roles.

 

23 minutes ago, coinilius said:

what if you're reading for an asexual, for instance?

 

Yes indeed, I completely agree, and that's precisely why the deck I made for myself has two asexual 'Person' cards, one facing in each direction, that can be substituted for man / woman.

[coinilius]

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Don't worry about going off-topic a bit, it's all interesting.

 

That's good, because this is definitely an interesting discussion!

 

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The Retroracle deck is probably lovely for most people, but I'm colourblind and find it very difficult to look at personally.

 

It certainly has a lot going on in it, which can make some of the cards hard to 'read' even when you're not colour blind!

 

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I personally don't feel the need to change the playing card associated with alternative Man / Woman cards myself, since they are replacements rather than additions, but each to their own!

 

I like it when the Ace of Hearts/Spades is at least swapped in the extra Woman/Man cards, so they are opposite to the original cards. 

 

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Otherwise I tend to think of them as representing a person (paired with an appropriate card to indicate career or temperament as you suggest), or as an adjective, proactive / reactive or powerful / skilful. 

 

Yes, more like a Yin/Yang kind of thing than a strict male/female.

[Doktor_Zeus]

9 minutes ago, coinilius said:

Yes, more like a Yin/Yang kind of thing than a strict male/female.

 

I'd say that's the mot juste.

 

The concept of yin/yang itself might even make for an interesting additional card, especially carrying the point that there's a little bit of yin in the yang, and vice versa. It could stand for complementation, balance, a perfect match, recognising oneself in others, or non-romantic friendship. Not sure how best to represent that though, as I feel the yin/yang itself clashes with the otherwise western atmosphere of the Lenormand oracle.

 

Perhaps scales, or is that too emblematic of justice? A cairn is also balanced, but carries unpleasant connotations of death since it's a common grave marker. A cromlech or dolmen is sort of balanced. None of these concepts really carry the yin/yang's message of unity within opposites though.

[coinilius]

I agree, the yin/yang would clash with the more western imagery of the standard Lenormand.  I agree Scales would be too associated with Justice, although I do think a cairn or similar image of balanced rocks could work.  I was toying with an image of someone carrying water using a shoulder carrying pole to represent balance once.

[Doktor_Zeus]

15 minutes ago, coinilius said:

I was toying with an image of someone carrying water using a shoulder carrying pole to represent balance once.

 

Like a milk yoke? I kinda feel that communicates more of a burden than a balance, and we do already have the Cross for that - although it’s one way you could replace the Cross for people who aren’t comfortable with biblical imagery.

 

 

[coinilius]

7 minutes ago, Doktor_Zeus said:

 

Like a milk yoke? I kinda feel that communicates more of a burden than a balance, and we do already have the Cross for that - although it’s one way you could replace the Cross for people who aren’t comfortable with biblical imagery.

 

 

 

Yes, that's the one!  I was thinking in terms of walking and balancing the water to not spill it, but yes, would also certainly indicate burden and could be an interesting image for a replacement Cross.  The Green Glyphs Lenormand uses the Albatross as a replacement for the Cross.  The problem with replacing the Cross, though, is that the Cross can also mean religious institutions, religion, and so forth.

[Chariot]

I found myself unable to really get anywhere accurate with Lenormand.

I've been using Ciro Marchetti's Gilded Reverie expanded deck, which at least has a few more useful cards (the double Birds, a compass, a well, etc.)  However, I got the idea to combine this deck with his Kipper deck, and that has really expanded the possibilities.

There are a lot more 'mundane meaning' cards in the Kipper deck.  There isn't a specific one for technology ...which would certainly be a useful adjunct ...but the extra stuff does help.  It's a good idea to go through and remove duplicate cards, though.  House, man, woman, coffin, etc ...a bit too many of those in the combined decks to be accurate enough.  But it's one way to work, I guess.  The cards are the same size and weight for both decks, so if you don't mind the different edging (one gold and one silver) and the different back designs, they are easy to combine in a shuffle.

There are 39 cards in Ciro's Kipper deck, and 47 cards in his Lenormand deck, which is only 8 more cards than a tarot deck.  Remove all the duplicates and you've got a very combine-able number of cards to shuffle.

These will never replace tarot for me, however.  I just can't get tarot's accuracy with Lenormand or Lenormand/Kipper. They are fun to use to make stories, though.  Maybe someday they will click for me.

[Doktor_Zeus]

@Chariot were it not coincidence, I've been talking about combining Lenormand and Kipper in another thread. I've got a cheap Kipper deck coming in the post today so I can investigate that possibility. I've also been tempted with the 'Siren's Song' combined Lenormand and Kipper deck, but I find the artwork difficult to read because of all the detail.

 

I can understand people liking the Tarot, but it's always left me cold. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I find Lenormand more adaptable because each card can have so many meanings, and expanded layouts like the Grand Tableau open up a lot of techniques that go beyond simply what position a card appears in. But it is a very different beast from Tarot and requires a different approach.

 

But then, my purposes are probably not your purposes. I write stories using the cards as inspiration, and Lenormand (with its sentence-structure-like readings) seem to be really well-suited to that.

 

Since you've looked at both, though, maybe you can suggest a few Tarot cards that aren't represented in Lenormand? It's a big deck and I don't recall much of it.

[Chariot]

@Doktor_Zeus - As you say, the two systems (Lenormand/Kipper and Tarot) are very different indeed.

 

Supposedly Lenormand/Kipper are more 'obvious' as to meaning, while tarot can mean just about anything connected to the concept ...which is often an abstract one, as opposed to the Lenormand/Kipper which is supposedly a lot more concrete. This sounds as if Lenormand is easier, but for me it's not.  There isn't just 'one meaning' it turns out.  There are umpteen meanings.  I mean, the Fox can be 'work' or 'sneakiness.'  ???  Ummm...big difference.  Coffin can be anything from somebody's death, an end to something—or a box.  Having it appear next to Mice could mean worrying about dying, or anxiety about losing something valuable in small increments—or mice chewing a hole in your box.  Which isn't very helpful to me, when I'm trying to pin down an issue that has yet to unfold.  The Death card in Tarot means something has come to a natural end and won't be returning.  The other cards in the spread should make it clear what that something is.  I find that a lot more straightforward.

Just had an idea ...would it be possible for me to do Lenormand/Kipper readings for something that has already happened?  In other words, I would already know the issue and the outcome.  I'm wondering if the reading could give me an accurate history of the situation, so I can see how the cards interact, without having to guess at what they were referring to.  Might be worth a try, eh?

 

Tarot can also use reversals (I use them) which give a positive/negative slant to the interpretation, depending on the reader's intuitive connection with the card.  For example, Death upright is positive, when something you need to get rid of is actually gone—however, clinging to something that should be gone and resisting necessary change (Death reversed) is stressful, and usually futile.  

In short, it would be pretty much impossible for me to suggest tarot cards that aren't represented in Lenormand.  Probably all of them!  But I'd leave that up to somebody who is more adept at both.  I love looking at Lenormand/Kipper cards, and I can construct stories with the layouts, no bother. But when it comes to connecting with the issues that concern me, not only are my readings off base, but often totally wrong.  As in ...what it predicted didn't happen at all, not even close.  Whereas I nearly always get an accurate reading from tarot.

[akiva]

3 hours ago, Doktor_Zeus said:

Perhaps scales, or is that too emblematic of justice? A cairn is also balanced, but carries unpleasant connotations of death since it's a common grave marker. A cromlech or dolmen is sort of balanced. None of these concepts really carry the yin/yang's message of unity within opposites though.

Interesting that you mention scales as Robert M Place did an expanded lenormand (52 card) and the 4's in his deck represent archetypes, Hermes (4♠️), Justice (4♣️), Cupid (4❤️) and Fortuna (4♦️)

 

While scales does have legal connotations, I think it represents the balance of opposing forces quite well. It could mean both, justice doesn't just have to be about legal things but righting wrongs and restoring balance to a situation. 

 

17 minutes ago, Chariot said:

Just had an idea ...would it be possible for me to do Lenormand/Kipper readings for something that has already happened?  In other words, I would already know the issue and the outcome.  I'm wondering if the reading could give me an accurate history of the situation, so I can see how the cards interact, without having to guess at what they were referring to.  Might be worth a try, eh?

This would work great, and would be an amazing way to learn how to read the cards. When I first started I also read on TV shows, books, films, anything that gives a short return on feedback so you don't have to wait forever to verify your readings. 😊

[Doktor_Zeus]

@Chariot well, Lenormand cards are intended to be read in pairs or as sentences, and in a larger context. It's true that each card has many meanings, but you can narrow things down by looking at the other cards around it, and at the context of the question being asked. It's all about the context. Personally I've never bought the line that Lenormand is more 'concrete' than Tarot anyway. It has less esoteric imagery certainly, but it's no less complex. The complexity just arises from a different source and requires different techniques to deal with.

 

Incidentally, Tarot's 'Death' card is little different from Lenormand's 'Coffin'. Both can mean an ending or change rather than a literal death. What Tarot achieves by reversal, Lenormand does by card combinations. So one thing to remember is that sometimes an equivalent to a particular Tarot card may actually be TWO Lenormand cards read as a pair. (Incidentally, I've heard some people use reversals in Lenormand - I don't find them necessary personally though, and the idea was clearly cribbed from Tarot.)

 

But it'd be a boring old world if everyone was the same, and of course you should use what works for you.

 

@akiva Doing readings for things that have already happened to 'test the accuracy' doesn't seem like that great an idea to me, but I'm the wrong person to comment on that. I'm a storyteller, not a prognosticator. I don't actually believe you can predict anything with any deck of oracle cards, I just think they provide good inspiration to help your own brain do the real work. I'd be too tempted to approach such an experiment scientifically. 'Predicting' the past is very open to confirmation bias. You'd never know if you didn't already know the answer subconsciously before you started, and if you DID know, your brain would very likely see what it expected to see, thus artificially increasing your chances of a good 'match'. And if you're already predisposed to dislike a particular system, you might (again subconsciously) miss features that would provide a more accurate prediction.

 

I've read and spoken to a fair few cartomancers and all of them say, don't do the same reading twice.

 

Also it would take a massive number of different attempts to provide an adequate sampling, plus then you've got to find a suitable researcher to conduct double-blind testing, work out a suitable scale against which to measure 'accuracy'... I just don't think it would turn out to anyone's satisfaction, it's all so subjective.

 

[akiva]

7 minutes ago, Doktor_Zeus said:

akiva Doing readings for things that have already happened to 'test the accuracy' doesn't seem like that great an idea to me, but I'm the wrong person to comment on that. I'm a storyteller, not a prognosticator. I don't actually believe you can predict anything with any deck of oracle cards, I just think they provide good inspiration to help your own brain do the real work. I'd be too tempted to approach such an experiment scientifically. 'Predicting' the past is very open to confirmation bias. You'd never know if you didn't already know the answer subconsciously before you started, and if you DID know, your brain would very likely see what it expected to see, thus artificially increasing your chances of a good 'match'. And if you're already predisposed to dislike a particular system, you might (again subconsciously) miss features that would provide a more accurate prediction.

It's surprising to see someone who doesn't read predictively use lenormand 😉

 

You seem to be focusing on the fact the reader knows the answer, but they should know the answer, it's the past. It's already happened.

 

I never said reading the cards on past events was to "test accuracy" nor is it about "predicting the past". It's to learn the card meanings in context to situations the reader already knows the answer to. If you have a point of reference to go from it helps ingrain the basic meanings of the cards in your brain, without having to wait for feedback. You learn when coffin is a box, or an end/financial losses for example. 

 

Once you understand the basic card meanings in reference to familiar situations you can then read the cards for future situations with less chance of getting muddled readings. 

Of course the reader will miss things (whether they like the system or not) while they're learning, that's the point of having short return feedback. To correct misinterpretation as quickly as possible. This is also why reading on TV shows/books etc is valuble practice. 😊

 

I see it the same as learning a musical instrument by practicing past music, once you're proficient in that you can then create your own music. 

[Chariot]

@Doktor_Zeus - I think you may have picked me up wrongly.  I don't want to 'test' the Lenormand's accuracy by doing a reading about something I already know. My object would be to see if I can follow what the cards say.

My problem at the moment, trying to do Lenormand, is that I lay the cards down, and then have no idea what they're on about.  Mainly because I've been asking questions I don't yet have the answer to.  Whatever I'm doing, when it comes to interpreting them, I'm doing wrong.

I was hoping this might be the kind of exercise that would allow me to see how the cards should be read.

[coinilius]

I haven't looked into Kipper Cards, but this discussion has gotten me interested in exploring them more!

 

@Doktor_Zeus My main approach to both Lenormand and the Tarot is more story driven/imagery driven, as I mainly enjoy the art history and symbolism of the cards in both systems more so than doing actual readings.  I'm more inclined to do readings for myself using Lenormand, though.  I've gifted a couple of decks to a friend of mine who isn't into the 'fortune' reading aspect, but he was fascinated by the images on one of my Tarot decks, and I introduced it to him through the idea of telling stories using the cards, and seeing what connections they make in your own mind.

 

@Chariot I find it's best to start small, doing three-card readings to begin with and keeping the questions or topic areas as clear and focused as possible.

 

@akiva I've got that deck of Robert M Place's as well, the Hermes Playing Card Oracle.  If anyone is interested, you can see all the cards on his website.  He has done other Lenormand/Lenormand like decks as well, although that is the only one with extended cards.  He derived the extra card symbols from symbols appearing in other historical Oracle decks.

[Chariot]

4 minutes ago, coinilius said:

 

@Chariot I find it's best to start small, doing three-card readings to begin with and keeping the questions or topic areas as clear and focused as possible.

 

Thank you for that suggestion.  I started out with the 9-card spread (3 rows of 3 each.)  Maybe that was too complicated.  When you do the 3-card reading, which one is your starting card?  The left, or the middle?  

Edited November 30, 2023 by Chariot

[coinilius]

5 minutes ago, Chariot said:

Thank you for that suggestion.  I started out with the 9-card spread (3 rows of 3 each.)  Maybe that was too complicated.  When you do the 3-card reading, which one is your starting card?  The left, or the middle?  

 

Different people have different methods, but I found at the start it is easier to read cards 1 and 2 first, then cards 2 and 3, then I read 3 and 1, as combinations first, then look at them as a whole and how they all relate.  You can also read like a sentence, with Subject as Card 1, Verb as Card 2 and Adverb/Adjective as Card 3.

[Chariot]

Thanks again @coinilius.  As a former English teacher, the subject/verb/adjective progression makes a lot of sense to me.  That's probably what I'll try first.

[DanielJUK]

Personally I have never had this issue. One of the joys of these systems is learning the traditional meanings per card and then making the combinations. It's really fun when they come up in wild ways as a combination. Working out how they fit in a modern context is fun!  The Letter can represent emails, internet conversations. The Garden might represent us here, an online space. Birds can be zooming, birds and mountain someone is on mute 😉 .Storks can represent innovation and a start-up. Book is scientific discovery.

When you know the basic idea of the card, you can take it to modern meanings because it's always about the underlying meanings for all contexts.

 

Lozzy from Lozzy's Lenormand has done numerous posts on her blog about modern takes, it's worth reading through them all.

 

I am not sure how adding more cards helps the situation, it's about working with what you have to make them fit what you want. Lenormand and Kippers are different cartomancy systems, I would recommend not mixing them. I do readings where I use multiple systems but I keep the cards separate, maybe tarot and lenormand. I did readings here for people in the past with Lenormand and Kipper but I took 3 cards from each and interpreted them separately and then got a combined message.

[akiva]

6 hours ago, Chariot said:

My problem at the moment, trying to do Lenormand, is that I lay the cards down, and then have no idea what they're on about.  Mainly because I've been asking questions I don't yet have the answer to.  Whatever I'm doing, when it comes to interpreting them, I'm doing wrong.

I was hoping this might be the kind of exercise that would allow me to see how the cards should be read.

This is why reading on the past, or on subjects with easy feedback is a great exercise for beginners (or just for practice). It allows you to view the card meanings in context, and you'll feel less like a fish out of water, so to speak! Once it 'clicks' it becomes second nature. 😊

 

Also have you checked out Andy B's book and website? He has a section on card meanings, and a section on building combinations with the cards. It's very useful for learning how to read cartomantically. He covers the noun-adjective analogy really well (he might of been the one who started it). It's in the building combo's section under the title "specification". 

 

4 hours ago, coinilius said:

@akiva I've got that deck of Robert M Place's as well, the Hermes Playing Card Oracle.  If anyone is interested, you can see all the cards on his website.  He has done other Lenormand/Lenormand like decks as well, although that is the only one with extended cards.  He derived the extra card symbols from symbols appearing in other historical Oracle decks.

It's a great deck isn't it? For a while it was my working deck, but I eventually ended up going back to the standard 36 card Lenormand. It's easier on the brain! 😂