I am just getting started learning Lenormand.  I'm learning from the book The Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlin Matthews.  She has exercises for each chapter.  She said that the deck used should have the playing card insets.  My choice of decks are very similar The Lenormand Oracle (which is a larger format) and the smaller Grand Tableau Lenormand for larger spreads--the imagery is almost exactly the same so it shouldn't be confusing, in fact I thought they were the same decks at first only different in size.  Both decks are published by Lo Scarabeo I like the larger cards because I have big hands, but I realize that using them for everything wouldn't be practical.  I am not going to use an expanded deck right now.  I am sure I will having questions along the way.

 

One question I have is that in some Lenormand Decks there are either a birds card, or an owls card, or in expanded deck both.  What is the difference between owls and birds and are they interpreted differently?  I was just wondering because intuitively I get different interpretations for either birds and owls.  I'm just curious, I don't pretend to know everything and I have a lot of learning to do.  I have been asked to tarot readings at a couple of local metaphysical stores, so I though learning Lenormand would be a good thing to offer as either an alternative or as an adjunct.

 

Any advice you can give me is appreciated.

37 minutes ago, Tom said:

I am just getting started learning Lenormand.  I'm learning from the book The Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlin Matthews.  She has exercises for each chapter.  She said that the deck used should have the playing card insets.  My choice of decks are very similar The Lenormand Oracle (which is a larger format) and the smaller Grand Tableau Lenormand for larger spreads--the imagery is almost exactly the same so it shouldn't be confusing, in fact I thought they were the same decks at first only different in size.  Both decks are published by Lo Scarabeo I like the larger cards because I have big hands, but I realize that using them for everything wouldn't be practical.  I am not going to use an expanded deck right now.  I am sure I will having questions along the way.

 

One question I have is that in some Lenormand Decks there are either a birds card, or an owls card, or in expanded deck both.  What is the difference between owls and birds and are they interpreted differently?  I was just wondering because intuitively I get different interpretations for either birds and owls.  I'm just curious, I don't pretend to know everything and I have a lot of learning to do.  I have been asked to tarot readings at a couple of local metaphysical stores, so I though learning Lenormand would be a good thing to offer as either an alternative or as an adjunct.

 

Any advice you can give me is appreciated.

 

Hi Tom, great that you started with Lenormand. Lenormand is different to Tarot as you might have figured out already. In Lenormand we do not really read the images, but just the card's meaning. You could just write the words on an empty card, the meaning is the same. Birds just mean stress, anxiety and burden. It does not matter if the card depicts an owl or a bird. Hope that helps?

The Matthews book is not really the best to learn from, I have to say. Andy Boroveshengra would help you much more.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Andy-Boroveshengra-Lenormand-Thirty-Cards/dp/B00NBO5GVU

5 hours ago, Tom said:

One question I have is that in some Lenormand Decks there are either a birds card, or an owls card, or in expanded deck both.  What is the difference between owls and birds and are they interpreted differently?  I was just wondering because intuitively I get different interpretations for either birds and owls.  I'm just curious, I don't pretend to know everything and I have a lot of learning to do.  I have been asked to tarot readings at a couple of local metaphysical stores, so I though learning Lenormand would be a good thing to offer as either an alternative or as an adjunct.

 

They are the same card, Card 12. So the meaning is the same, even though different decks call it differently. Some decks have different names for the cards, but they mean the same thing. The important thing is learning the meaning of the symbol, not what the artwork is. I suspect the owls / birds thing came about because some European language names for the card use a common noun which covers both (for example French Oiseaux, which can cover Birds/ Owls/ Fowl).

 

Have a browse through the old Lenormand section FAQ, it's quite useful....

 

On 11/2/2024 at 12:26 PM, Tom said:

... One question I have is that in some Lenormand Decks there are either a birds card, or an owls card, or in expanded deck both.  What is the difference between owls and birds and are they interpreted differently?

Not an expert or anything, but my impression is that the German decks use euvlen [owls]. Personally I don't notice any difference in how I read #12. What is a dealbreaker for me is decks that only depict one bird. Since Birds/Euvlen is associated with pairs or multiples, I find having only 1 bird ruins the symbol for me.

 

Another card which sometimes makes a difference is #11 which might be a broom or a whip. I find that this card can literally reference house cleaning which resonates more with broom, while other times it can be pain, repetitive motion injury, or punishment which resonates more with Whip.