This is the classic Lenormand deck for the 21st century, now reissued with a fresh design to showcase the amazing hand-painted card illustrations that guide the diviner in solving problems, learning what the future holds and developing intuition. The traditional deck has been updated to make it as relevant as possible to contemporary readers, including in the LGBT community: the deck offers, for example, an extra Man card and an extra Woman card to allow same-sex relationships to appear in readings. Another extra card, the Divinator, allows the diviner themselves to appear in a spread. Other updates to make the cards feel more relevant today include reducing the original deck's reliance on Christian imagery, for example by changing the name of the Cross card to the Crossing, and replacing its crucifix artwork with a beautiful image of bird wings over a bridge. Much used by the Roma, the Lenormand cards are named after Marie-Anne Lenormand, a famous clairvoyant of the 18th and 19th centuries who read for Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte. Fascinated by this evocative oracle, cartomancer and Lenormand expert Caitlín Matthews commissioned simple yet profound artwork to capture the authentic flavour of the antique decks. The card illustrations are all hand-painted (rather than created as digital montages), allowing each card to express its own character. The accessible guidebook is suitable for a complete beginner to card divination, but also offers new perspectives to existing Lenormand users. There are detailed profiles of each card, as well as practical advice on using layouts to ask for guidance on a specific problem or to look at the bigger picture and discover true purpose in life.
