The Lenormand deck combines traditional German cartomancy with pictorial symbolism. In Vier Farben and The Fox and the Snake I explored its cartomantic origins. In The Spaewife: I spy I explored its pictorial symbolism, the origins of which can be traced back to earlier coffee grounds symbolism and dream symbolism, and compared symbol meanings for one particular card. Here I flesh out the Lenormand family tree by comparing these symbol meanings for each card in the four main families: Grün (also known as Green or Spades), Roth (also known as Red or Hearts), Eichel (also known as Acorns or Clubs) and Schellen (also known as Bells or Diamonds).
A♣ (Ring):
1737 (dreams): Ring means marriage, or a child; ring with stones, promises profitable work: Iron ring, heavy and useful work; to break or lose a ring, means damage and loss of servants, or subordinates.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Ring. Signifies marriage; if a letter is near it, it denotes to the person that has his Fortune told, the initial of the name of the party to be married. If the ring is in the clear, it portends happy and lucrative friendship. Surrounded with clouds, designs that the party is to use precaution in the friendship he is about to contract, least he should be insidiously deceived, but it is most inauspicious, it the ring appears at the bottom of the cup, as it forebodes an entire separation from the beloved object.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): To give or receive a ring indicates loss.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Ring, to the right of the person announces a happy marriage with a brilliant dowry, but removed and to the left it announces a broken engagement or separation of two lovers.
K♣ (Clouds):
1737 (dreams): Yellow clouds, mean unhappy progress of undertakings: Black and hazy clouds mean anxiety and distress.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Clouds. If they be more light than dark, you may expect a good result from your hopes, but if they are black, you may give it up. Surrounded with dots they imply success in trade, and in all your undertakings, but the brighter they are, the greater will be your happiness.
1798 (coffee): Clouds, illness.
1805 (dreams): Clouds. If they are clear, good luck, if they are dark, the opposite.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Clouds, when their clear side is turned towards the person, is a happy sign, but if this is the obscure side, some trouble will not delay arising.
Q♣ (Snake):
1737 (dreams): To be challenged by snakes, means danger, hostility, imprisonment, illness or death.
1769 (coffee): Snakes mean unfavourable enemies.
1796 (coffee pack): The Serpent. Always the emblem of falsehood and enmity, is likewise here a general sign of an enemy. On the top or in the middle of the cup, it promises to the consulting party the triumph which he desires over his enemy. But he will not obtain it so easily, if the serpent be in the thick or cloudy part. By the letter which frequently appears near the emblem, the enemy may easily be guessed, it makes the initial of his name.
1798 (coffee): Snake, envy.
1805 (dreams): Snake that winds and turns, means imprisonment. Snakes, mean unfavourable enemies.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Snake, is a sign of misfortune, that is ruled by whether the card is close to or far from the person, but it always brings along hypocrisy, treason and loss.
J♣ (Whip):
1737 (dreams): Not listed.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Rod. Shows differences with relations about matters relating to legacies; in the thick, illness.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): Not listed.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Rod, means discord in the family, domestic sorrows, dissension between spouses, fever or extended illness.
10♣ (Bear):
1737 (dreams): Lions, mean mighty and powerful people; to see wild lions, means fear, sickness, disgrace, or fire hazard: To see tame Lions, means mercy from the authorities, or body strength.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Lion, or any Other Ferocious Beast. At the top in the clear, it signifies all kind of prosperity with people of quality. At the bottom it warns the consulter to shun all such intercourse, as he will at all events find persons who will envy him his fortune, and not see it with indifference.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): To strike a lion in a dream and defeat it, indicates that you will overcome a powerful enemy.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Bear, means happiness, but it also indicates it is necessary to avoid discussions with an envious person.
9♣ (Fox):
1737 (dreams): Fox, means a cunning and sneaky enemy.
1769 (coffee): Foxes mean deceitfulness of other people, who are false.
1796 (coffee pack): Not listed.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): Who sees a fox, or fights with it, has to deal with a crafty enemy. Foxes mean deceitfulness of people, who are false.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Fox, if this card is close, it is necessary to beware of those one is in contact with, because someone seeks to fool us, in the opposite case there is no danger.
8♣ (Mountain):
1737 (dreams): To climb up mountains means fear, danger and adversity.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): Mountains. If it represent only one mountain, it indicates the favour of people of high rank, but several of them, especially in the thick, are signs of powerful enemies, in the clear, they signify the contrary, or friends in high life, who are endeavouring to promote the consulting party.
1798 (coffee): Mountain, obstacle.
1805 (dreams): Not listed.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Mountain, close to the person, warns about a powerful enemy, but when distant one can count on powerful friends.
7♣ (Mice):
1737 (dreams): Mice, means household (servants).
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Mouse. As this animal lives by stealth, it is also an emblem here of theft or robbery; if it be in the clear, it shows that you will get again what you lost in a wonderful manner, but if it appears in the thick you may renounce this hope.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): A mouse indicates theft.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Mice, is a sign of theft, if it is near, one will recover what is taken, if it is far away, the loss is irreparable.
6♣ (Cross):
1737 (dreams): Not listed.
1769 (coffee): A cross means vexation, sickness, danger and sometimes death.
1796 (coffee pack): The Cross. Be it one or more, it generally predicts adversities. Its position varies, and so do the circumstances. If it be at the top, and in the clear, it shows that the misfortunes of the party will soon be at an end, or that he will easily get over them, but if it appears in the middle or at the bottom in the thick, the party must expect many severe trials; if it appear with dots, either in the clear or the thick, it promises a speedy change of one’s sorrow.
1798 (coffee): Cross, to receive a stranger.
1805 (dreams): To see a cross means vexation, sickness, danger and sometimes death.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Cross, is always a bad omen, nevertheless if it is very close to the person, it is likely that the misfortune will not be long-term.
All symbols:
1769 (coffee): The higher the signs are, the sooner the events will manifest; and where they are lower and closer to the bottom, one also encounters numbers, which mean days or months.
[Image: Modern Minimalist Lenormand by Melissa Haney licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License]
References:
1737 (dreams): Der wohlerfahrne Wein-Gärtner und sorgfältige Wein-Schenck, ostensibly a book about wine farming published in Esslingen in 1756, contains a Traum-Büchlein ("Dream book") listing 222 dream symbol meanings on pages 516–536. I also found an earlier source dated 1737 containing the same symbol meanings, see pages 414–432 of Anleitung zu denen curiösen Wissenschaften.
1769 (coffee): Abhandlung der Physiognomie, Metoposcopie und Chiromantie (Treatise on physiognomy, metoposcopy and chiromancy) by Christian Adam Peuschel, a Lutheran pastor, published in Leipzig in 1769 includes an appendix titled Das Caffeeschaalengießen listing over 30 coffee grounds symbol meanings on pages 389–396.
1796 (coffee pack): Les Amusemens des Allemands; or, The Diversions of the Court of Vienna, British Museum number 1982,U.4637.1–32 (see More views for card images and booklet)
1798 (coffee): Ausführliche Beschreibung der Sprachmaschinen oder sprechenden Figuren (Detailed description of speaking machines or speaking figures) by Heinrich Maximilian Brunner, a doctor of medicine and philosophy, published in Nuremberg in 1798 contains a list of over 80 coffee grounds symbols including some very brief meanings on pages 146–150, which the author says is needed in order for humans or machines to explain the figures.
1805 (dreams): Ganz neu aufgelegtes Traumbüchlein aus den Papieren einer alten Frau, daraus ein jeder Lotto spielender Liebhaber seine Träume untersuchen und darauf in der Lotterie sich glücklich machen kann. Durch erprobte Erfahrung verbessert und auf’s Neue in Druck gebracht. (Brand new issue of a dream book from the papers of an old woman, from which every lottery enthusiast can explore their dreams and make themselves fortunate in the lottery. Improved through proven experience and newly printed.) contains an appendix titled Anhang und Auslegung der Träume, nach Art der Egyptier, nebst den Nummern der Lotterie, die solche bedeuten ("Appendix and interpretation of dreams, according to the method of the Egyptians, together with the corresponding lottery numbers") listing over 200 dream symbol meanings on pages 52–63. An 1861 edition published in Augsburg, Bavaria, is viewable online (linked above). I found online references to earlier editions, including one published in Augsburg in 1805, and it was listed as a banned book in Bavaria in 1844. See footnote on pages 96–97 of Ideen über die Bildung eines freien germanischen Staaten-Bundes (Leipzig, 1814) and page 15 of Index librorum prohibitorum (Jena, 1845).
1846 (Lenormand deck): Helen Riding (June 2012), "Book communicates a secret"
