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The Astrology Center of America, 115 W 30th Street, Suite 402, New York, NY 10001-4010 Tel: 212-868-9220; Fax: 212-868-9221; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272 |
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Number of cards in deck: 36
Measurements: 2.25 x 3.5 inches; or 57 x 88 millimeters. Small.
Back of card: White with ornate gray-blue printing, looks like the back of an old-fashioned playing card. In the center, an owl. Can be inverted, but we don't think that's intended.
Booklet included: Yes, 16 pages, 2.05 x 3.35 inches, 53 x 85 mm. Notes by the tireless Stuart R. Kaplan.
Publisher: Muller & Cie, imported by US Games. Printed in Switzerland.
Comments: As the cards are small, we scanned them LIFE SIZE. So they look much bigger on the screen than they really are. As there are only 36 cards in this deck, we show four only. This is not a tarot deck. There are no suits, no major arkana, no minor arkana.
Mlle. Lenormand was a famous 19th century French woman who is said to have read for Napoleon. These are reproductions of the cards found after her death. The notes say she used these cards throughout her life. This is unlikely as cards wear out every few years & must be replaced. Since no experienced card reader needs cute rhymes (and printed messages are a positive nuisance when you're reading for a client), we wonder if her vision failed as she got older. Or perhaps an unknown friend added verses posthumously. There is a French version, a German version as well as a deck without verses, but we're not sure of availability.
In case you can't read it, here is the rhyme from card 29, which presumably describes Mlle. Lenormand herself:
"This charming woman with bouquet in hand,
As with the gentleman [card 28] her cards will command.
The fortunes revealed once the cards have been placed,
Unveil the concealed that destiny has traced.
Okay, so it's not Byron. Here are comments from one of our customers:
As far as the little poems, I learned a long time ago not to even bother with them since they really have little to do with the cards - for example over the years I look at #1 card as "The Man Of Importance" looking at his property - it also can mean a journey or travel of some time will take place in the near future. I also found tht this odd little deck is uncanny when it comes to dates, months, years, by simply following the numbers on each card - of couse some may be added to make sense of months, etc. How I was taught to lay out these cards was from a very talented old soul - and it has little to do with the booklet enclosed with the cards. (It also takes two of these decks to have proper signifier cards - but the end results is worth the sacrafice).
If you take #29 "The Woman/Creativity" and "The Young Man/Page" from one deck and blacken out the numbers - then add them to another deck, you now have two signifiers - male & female - for readings. Yes, it means sacrificing a deck, but it's worth it.
And here's a little something for you - a way to read them without signifiers - divide the deck into three stacks - take the top card of the first stack and lay it out above the first stack. Now take the bottom card of the first stack and lay that our below the first stack - follow this for the second and third stack. So you now have a total of six cards revealed - three on top and three on bottom - the cards "above" represent the non-physical plane - or as I like to call it "upstairs" - the cards on the bottom represent the physical plane. And you go on from there. Now if you look at the numbers it's amazing how patterns will start to take shape. However, reading the cards is another story. After the first round with six cards, you repeat this twice - for a total of 21 cards revealed. At first glance, they look very simple and charming, yet, the more you read them, the more detailed they become and "speak to you." Those that I have "taught" to read this deck say they (the cards) are amazing - that is once they learn to read them - but like all things it just takes time and practice.
Thanks to Stephen Viens for these notes.
The Astrology Center of America
115 W 30th Street, Suite 402, New York, NY 10001-4010
Tel: 212-868-9220; Fax: 212-868-9221; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272
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