If you have read tarot for a while, you have probably heard of Lenormand. Both are card readings, but they have quite different personalities.
Different decks
- Tarot: 78 cards, 22 major and 56 minor. Pictures full of figures and symbols show feelings and the inner world in depth.
- Lenormand: 36 cards, each showing one everyday object or animal: the Rider, the Clover, the Ship, the House, the Tree.
The deck takes its name from Marie Anne Lenormand, a famous French fortune teller of the 19th century.
Different ways of reading
Each tarot card holds a deep story, so a single card can be a reading. Lenormand is read by joining two or three cards like a sentence.
- Rider + Letter: news arrives quickly.
- Ship + House: a move, or travel far from home.
- Heart + Ring: feelings turn into a commitment.
Think of the first card as the subject and the second as describing it.
Different kinds of answers
Tarot shows why you feel the way you do. Lenormand says, briefly and plainly, what is likely to happen. That makes it a good fit for concrete questions about messages, moves and plans.
Which one when
- When your heart is tangled and you want to know why: tarot.
- When you want a quick sense of how things will go: Lenormand.
- When you want one action to take now: runes.
Comparing all three on the same question is fun too.