Friday 15 February 2013

The Enchanted Lenormand Oracle

  
Look into my crystal balls. Let the Enchanted Lenormand Oracle tell your fortune!
 This has been my most recent commission- to illustrate a set of 39 divination cards in the style of the petit Lenormand method. It is named after the fortune teller Marie Lenormand in early 19th century France, who famously used it to give readings to Nepoleon and other notoriety of the time. Linked to cartomancy its popularity was widespread throughout Europe but has only recently become popular in the English speaking world. The appeal is in it's simplicity of use. Unlike the tarot where the cards are multi-layed and metaphorical in meaning, the symbols of the Lenormand are basic and can be interpreted in a more literal way. It differs from tarot in many other ways and there is plenty more information about it on the web if you'd like to know more.
The instigator of this project and expert on the Lenormand method is the marvelous Caitlin Matthews who has written a book that accompanies the cards explaining the method, its history and the meaning of each card. There are no other Lenormand decks on the market at the moment that can boast this.
 Here are a set of cards that I printed myself, spread out in numerical order along with close ups of a few of them 


Along with the cards and book there is a large diagram which has numbered places for the cards to be spread out on. I designed this intricately woven tableau so that when the cards are placed they all link up...

 like this-

I predict that The Enchanted Lenormand Oracle will be published by Watkins and released into the world in October. 

Happy divination!