In my classic Lenormands, card #11 is the Whip. In German decks sometimes it's the Rod. In my newer French deck it's a broom. In some decks it's both a broom and a whip.

 

With the Jack of Clubs association, the card will always be somewhat malefic. We understand the essence of the card remains the same.

Yet I feel that the Broom image emphasizes the repetitive nature of the card whereas decks which show a whip or rod reinforce the argumentative or aggressive nature of the card. I've not read enough LN to prove or disprove this theory.

 

What do you think?

Have you noticed #11 is slightly modified by which deck and which image it uses?

Edited July 17, 20242 yr by Misterei

Same here, I am a classic Lenormand reader and do not like decks showing the Rod/Whip as a Broom. In my opinion it is not the deck images that modify the meaning but rather the way the reader sees the card.
However, I can not really prove or disapprove your theory as I can not stand decks that use very modern imagery moving far away from the original meaning.

I'm with @joy here - not a fan of the Broom. In fact, I think Whip/(Birch) Rod themselves convey repetitiveness really well - what's whipping/birching if not repetitive? The thing is, the way I read Lenormand isn't really modified by the image, anyway. I have a faux Renaissance style Lenormand phone app that has Castle for House and Scepter for Whip/Rod. Doesn't change a thing.

13 minutes ago, dancing_moon said:

I'm with @joy here - not a fan of the Broom. In fact, I think Whip/(Birch) Rod themselves convey repetitiveness really well - what's whipping/birching if not repetitive? The thing is, the way I read Lenormand isn't really modified by the image, anyway. I have a faux Renaissance style Lenormand phone app that has Castle for House and Scepter for Whip/Rod. Doesn't change a thing.

I'm actually ok with Broom. However, a deck that shows one bird for Birds is a dealbreaker. I follow your method with a deck that shows one road for Crossroads. I *know* it means a choice even if the illustration shows a single road.

 

Back to Broom vs. Whip, it subtly change the card for me. I adore my Horeus deck but I'm aware when using it that I will have a kinder, gentler #11 that may even reference house cleaning when taken literally. Housecleaning can be punishing repetitive work, so Whip might also convey that. But my decks with Whip definitely feel a bit more edgy and Horeus a bit more kind and domestic.

 

I don't know if it's quite at the level of Tarot where I pick different decks for different people and different topics---but I may get to that place with Lenormands as I learn them more.

4 minutes ago, Misterei said:

However, a deck that shows one bird for Birds is a dealbreaker. I follow your method with a deck that shows one road for Crossroads.

 

These two, absolutely. And Clouds that have no discernible light/dark side 👿

 

4 minutes ago, Misterei said:

Housecleaning can be punishing repetitive work, so Whip might also convey that.

 

Agreed 🤣

 

4 minutes ago, Misterei said:

But my decks with Whip definitely feel a bit more edgy and Horeus a bit more kind and domestic.

 

I can understand that. Maybe, it's the way Lenormand will read for you, even if only with regards to this one card.

 

4 minutes ago, Misterei said:

I don't know if it's quite at the level of Tarot where I pick different decks for different people and different topics---but I may get to that place with Lenormands as I learn them more.

 

It's not impossible. I'm used to treating various Lenormand decks more like fonts/scripts: if the word's the same, it doesn't really matter if it's in italics, or Times New Roman, or whatnot. Tarot is more like separate languages, sometimes ones from totally alien worlds.

18 hours ago, dancing_moon said:

... I'm used to treating various Lenormand decks more like fonts/scripts: if the word's the same, it doesn't really matter if it's in italics, or Times New Roman, or whatnot. Tarot is more like separate languages, sometimes ones from totally alien worlds.

Brilliant way of putting it. Lenormand is always the same *words* just in different typfaces or styles. Whereas Tarot is so symbol heavy if you change the symbols you might change the meaning.