Most of us have heard of Mlle. Lenormand, known for having read cards to make predictions for Napoleon and Josephine, but few know much more than this about the most famous card-reader of all time. She was born May 27, 1772 in Alençon, France and died June 25, 1843, having written over a dozen books. Look over her natal chart analysis by Elizabeth Hazel in the Comments (thank you, Liz). Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand claimed to have obtained her first deck of cards when she was 14 from gypsies who taught her how to read them. It wasn’t until two years after her death that a deck of cards called “Le Grand Jeu de Mlle. Lenormand” was first published by Grimaud. This 54 card deck was actually created by a Madame Breteau, who claimed to be a student of Madame Lenormand. The 36-card “Petit Lenormand” was published in Germany around 1845 and was actually based on a race game called the “Spiel der Hoffnüng” (“Game of Hope”). An overview of her life is available at trionfi.com. A short biography published 15 years after her death can be found here. Learn to read the various Lenormand-style decks here, here, here and also here. Get a computerized Mlle. Lenormand-style reading here. Several portraits are available here and card meanings here. Get the DVD or internet link to my webinar “Introduction to the Petit Lenormand,” which demonstrates how the deck is read. (More links at the end.)
Updated 5/22/2011
In the Sibyl’s Boudoir
You can imagine my delight in coming across this first-person account of a visit to Madame Lenormand made by Captain R. H. Gronow of the Grenadier Guards & M.P. for Stafford in his book Celebrities of London and Paris (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1865). Gronow probably met her during his 1815-1816 stay in Paris.
“One of the most extraordinary persons of my younger days was the celebrated fortune-teller, Mademoiselle le Normand. Her original residence was in the Rue de Tournon, but at the time of which I write she lived in the Rue des Sts Pères. During the Restoration, the practice of the “black art” was strictly forbidden by the police, and it was almost like entering a besieged citadel to make one’s way into her sanctum sanctorum. 
“I was first admitted into a good-sized drawing-room, plainly but comfortably furnished, with books and newspapers about, as one sees them at a dentist’s. Two or three ladies were already there, who, from their quiet dress and the haste with which they drew down their veils, or got up and looked out of the window, evidently belonged to the upper ten thousand. Each person was summoned by an attendant to the sibyl’s boudoir, and remained a considerable time, disappearing by some other exit without returning to the waiting-room. At last I was summoned by the elderly servant to the mysterious chamber, which opened by secret panels in the walls, to prevent any unpleasant surprises by the police. I confess that it was not without a slight feeling of trepidation that I entered the small square room, lighted from above, where sat Mademoiselle le Normand in all her glory.
“It was impossible for imagination to conceive a more hideous being. She looked like a monstrous toad, bloated and venomous. She had one wall-eye, but the other was a piercer. She wore a fur cap upon her head , from beneath which she glared out upon her horrified visitors. The walls of the room were covered with huge bats, nailed by their wings to the ceiling, stuffed owls, cabalistic signs, skeletons – in short, everything that was likely to impress a weak or superstitious mind. This malignant-looking Hecate had spread out before her several packs of cards, with all kinds of strange figures and ciphers depicted on them. Her first question, uttered in a deep voice, was whether you would have the grand or petit jeu, which was merely a matter of form. She then inquired your age, and what was the colour and the animal you preferred. Then came, in an authoritative voice, the word “Coupez“, repeated at intervals, till the requisite number of cards from the various packs were selected and placed in rows side by side. No further questions were asked, and no attempt was made to discover who or what you were, or to watch upon your countenance the effect of the revelations. She neither prophesied smooth things to you nor tried to excite your fears, but seemed really to believe in her own power. She informed me that I was un militaire, that I should be twice married and have several children, and foretold many other events that have also come to pass, though I did not at the time believe one word of the sibyl’s prediction.
“Madamoiselle le Normand was born in 1768, and was already celebrated as a fortune-teller so early as 1790. She is said to have predicted to the unfortunate Princess de Lamballe her miserable death at the hands of the infuriated populace. She is also reported to have been frequently visited and consulted by Robespierre and St Just; to have reported his downfall to Danton, at that time the idol of the people; to have warned the famous General Hoche of his approaching death by poison; to have foretold to Bernadotte a northern throne, and to Moreau exile and an untimely grave.
“The Empress Josephine, who, like most creoles, was very superstitious, used frequently to send for Madamoiselle le Normand to the Tuileries, and put great faith in her predictions; which she always asserted in after years had constantly been verified. But, unfortunately for the sybil, she did not content herself with telling Josephine’s fortune, but actually ventured to predict a future replete with malignant influences to the Emperor himself. This rash conduct entailed upon her great misfortunes and a long imprisonment; but she survived all her troubles, and died as late as 1843, having long before given up fortune telling, by which she had amassed a large sum of money.”
Danhauser: Neapoleon & Josephine with the Card Reader
Spellbound by the Prophetess
And from The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley (NY: Scribner’s Sons, 1912) we find that on July 4, 1816 Lady Shelley went to see Madame Le Normand:
“I was shown into a beautiful boudoir, furnished with a luxury which gave evidence of her prosperity. After waiting for some time, the prophetess appeared, and exclaimed “Passez, madame.” She then introduced me into a dimly lit cabinet d’étude. On a large table, under a mirror, were heaps of cards, with which she commenced her mysteries. She bade me cut them in small packets with my left hand. She then inquired my age—à peu prés—the day of my birth; the first letter of my name; and the first letter of the name of the place where I was born. She asked me what animal, colour, and number I was most partial to. I answered all these questions without hesitation. After about a quarter of an hour of this mummery, during which time she had arranged all the cards in order upon the table, she made an examination of my head. Suddenly she began, in a sort of measured prose, and with great rapidity and distinct articulation, to describe my character and past life, in which she was so accurate and so successful, even to minute particulars, that I was spellbound at the manner in which she had discovered all she knew.”
Like a Virgin Druidess
Writing eleven years after her death, the great magician Eliphas Lévi had this to say about Mlle. Lenormand (his reluctantly ambivalent admiration shown only through a few left-handed compliments):
“Mlle Lenormand, the most celebrated of our modern fortune-tellers, was unacquainted with the science of Tarot, or knew it only by derivation from Etteilla, whose explanations are shadows cast upon a background of light. She knew neither high Magic nor the Kabalah, but her head was filled with ill-digested erudition, and she was intuitive by instinct, which deceived her rarely. The works she left behind her are Legitimst tomfoolery, ornamented with classical quotations; but her oracles, inspired by the presence and magnetism of those who consulted her, were often astounding. She was a woman in whom extravagance of imagination and mental rambling were substituted for the natural affections of her sex; she lived and died a virgin, like the ancient druidesses of the isle of Sayne*. Had Nature endowed her with beauty, she might have played easily at a remoter epoch the part of a Melusine or a Velléda**.” (Transcendental Magic: its doctrine and ritual by Eliphas Lévi, translated by A. E. Waite.)
[*According to Paul Christian, the Celtic hero Vercingetorix went to the druidesses of Sayne seeking oracles that would help him defeat Caesar. **There are many legends of Melusine, a kind of water nymph or mermaid who enchanted men, brought them great gifts and then would disappear if betrayed. Velléda was a prophet and virgin priestess whom the ancient Germans revered as a living goddess.]
The First Republic
One of the most fascinating stories of Mlle Lenormand is the account in The First Republic, or The Whites and the Blues (Les Blancs et Les Bleus, 1867-68) by Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers. This work is part of a series of Napoleonic romances that begin with the Revolution and end with the fall of the Empire. Volume 2 contains chapters called “The Seeress” and “The Occult Art” in which Lenormand reads for both Josephine and Napoleon (who have not yet officially met). Dumas, writing nineteen years after Lenormand’s death, claimed that what he wrote was not fiction:
“I can guarantee the truth of this scene, for these details were given me by the friend and pupil of Mademoiselle Lenormand, Madame Moreau, who still lives (1867) at No. 5 Rue du Tournon, in the same rooms as the famous seeress, where she devotes herself to the same art with immense success.”
It seems that one evening Josephine Beauharnais and her friend Therese Tallien decided to see the fashionable seeress, Mademoiselle Lenormand. They disguised themselves as waiting-maids or ‘grisettes,’ and, using false names, made their way to Rue de Tournon No.7. There they were shown into an inner salon to await their turn. A young man silently joined them as he waited for his turn to have his fortune revealed. Therese Tallien went first into the inner chamber and learned that she is to become a princess. What follows is from Dumas’s text:
“Mademoiselle Lenormand at this period of her life was a woman somewhere between twenty-four and twenty-nine years of age; short and stout in figure, and concealing with difficulty that one shoulder was larger than the other. She wore a turban adorned with a bird of Paradise, a fashion of the day. Her hair fell in long curls on either side of her cheeks. She wore two skirts. . . . Near her, on a stool, was her favorite greyhound, Aza. The table on which she did her marvels was a plain round table with a green cloth on top and drawers, in which she kept her cards. . . . Facing the sibyl was an arm-chair, in which the consulting person was seated. Between that person and the seeress lay an iron wand, which was called the divining-rod; at the end turned toward the consulting person was a little iron snake. The opposite end was made like the handle of a whip or cane. . . .
Mademoiselle Lenormand made a sign to Josephine to take the chair which Madame Tallien had just left; then she drew a fresh pack of cards from her drawer, possibly to prevent the destiny given by the last pack from influencing that of the present. Then she looked fixedly at Madame de Beauharnais.
‘You and your friend have tried to deceive me, madame,’ she said, ‘by wearing the clothes of servants. But I am a waking somnambulist. I saw you start from a house in the centre of Paris; I saw your hesitation about crossing my threshold; and I also saw you in the antechamber when your proper place was the salon, and I went there to bring you in. Don’t try to deceive me now; answer my questions frankly; if you want the truth, tell the truth.’
Madame de Beauharnais bowed.
‘Question me, and I will answer truly,’ she said.
‘What animal do you like best?’
‘A dog.’
‘What flower do you prefer?’
‘The rose.’
‘What perfume is most agreeable to you?’
‘That of the violet.’
The seeress placed a pack of cards before Madame de Beauharnais, which was nearly double the size of an ordinary pack. These cards had been lately invented, and were called “the grand oracle.”
‘Let us first find where you are placed,’ said the seeress.
Turning over the cards, she moved them about with her middle finger until she found “the consultant;” that is to say, the image of a dark woman, with a white gown and deep embroidered flounce, and an overdress of red velvet forming a train behind, the whole on a rich background. This card was lying between the eight of hearts and the ten of clubs.
‘Chance has placed you well, madame. See, the eight of hearts has three different meanings on three different lines. The first, which is the eight of hearts itself, represents the stars under whose conjunction you were born; the second, an eagle seizing a toad from a pond over which it hovers; the third, a woman near a grave. Listen to what I deduce from that first card madame. You are born under the influence of Venus and the Moon. You have just experienced a great satisfaction, almost equal to a triumph. That woman dressed in black beside a grave indicates that you are a widow. On the other hand, the ten of clubs pledges the success of a rash enterprise of which you are not yet aware. It would be impossible to have cards of better augury.’
Then, shuffling the cards, but leaving the “consultant” out, Mademoiselle Lenormand asked Madame de Beauharhais to cut them with her left hand, and then draw out fourteen of them, and place those fourteen in any order she like beside the “consultant,” going from right to left as the Eastern peoples do in their writings. . . .
‘Really, madame,’ she said, ‘you are a privileged person. I think you were right not to be frightened away by the fate I predicted for your friend, brilliant as it was. Your first card is the five of diamonds; beside the five of diamonds is [the five of hearts] that beautiful constellation of the Southern Cross, which is invisible to us in Europe. The main subject of that card, which represents a Greek or Mohammedan traveller, indicates that you were born either in the East or in the colonies. The parrot, or the orange-tree, which forms the third subject, makes me think it was the colonies. The flower, which is a veratrum, very common in Martinique, leads me to think you were born on that island.’
‘You are not mistaken, madame.’
‘Your third card, the nine of diamonds, indicating long and distant journeys, implies that you left that island young. The convolvulus, which is pictured at the bottom of this card, represents a woman seeking a support, and makes me suppose you left the island to be married.’
‘That is also true, madame.’
‘Your fourth card is the ten of spades, and that indicates the loss of your hopes; nevertheless, the flowers of the saxifrage which are on the card authorize me to say that those griefs will pass away, and that a fortunate issue—a marriage probably—has succeeded those distresses which at one time seemed to exclude all hope.’ . . .
[Lenormand correctly divines that Josephine's husband died a violent death on the scaffold, that she has a son and daughter, and that the son is involved in an 'affair of the sword' but that hope will never fail him.]
‘And here, madame, is the eight of spades, which is a sure indication of marriage. Placed as it is next to the eight of hearts,—that is to say, near the eagle rising to the skies with a toad in his talons,—the eight of hearts indicates that this marriage will lift you above even the loftiest spheres of social life. But, if you doubt it, here is the six of hearts, which, unfortunately, seldom
accompanies the eight,—that six of hearts in which the alchemist is looking at his stone now turned to gold; in other words, common life changed to a life of honor, nobleness, and high employments. See, among these flowers, is the same convolvulus, which entwines a broken lily: that means, madame, that you will succeed, you who seek a support, you will succeed—how shall I tell you this?—to all that is highest and noblest and most powerful in France,—to the broken lily: you will succeed that lily in a new sphere; passing, as the ten of spades has shown, over battlefields where—see on that card—Ulysses and Diomed drive the white horses of Rhesus, placed under the guardianship of the talisman of Mars.’
‘When you reach that point, madame, you will have the respect and the tender regard of every one. You will be the wife of that Hercules strangling the lion in the forest of Nemaea; that is to say, a useful and courageous man exposing himself to all dangers for the good of his country. the flowers which crown you are lilacs, arums, immortelles; for you will combine in your own person true merit and perfect kindness.’
She rose, with a movement of enthusiasm, caught Madame de Beauharnais’s hand, and knelt at her feet.
‘Madame,’ she said, ‘I do not know your name, I do not know your rank, but I know your future. Madame, remember me when you are —empress.’
‘Empress! I? You are mad, my dear.’
‘Eh, madame! do you not see that your last card, the one that leads the fourteen others, is the king of hearts; that is to say, the great Charlemagne, who bears in one hand a sword, in the other a globe? Do you not see on the same card a man of genius who, with a book in his hand, and a map at his feet, meditates on the destinies of the world? And, lastly, see on two desks opposite to each other, the books of Wisdom and the laws of Solon; those books prove that your husband will be not only a great conqueror, but a great lawgiver.’
[Josephine cries, 'Impossible!' and immediately leaves. Meanwhile, the young man who has been waiting his turn in the salon has ignored all the efforts of Therese Tallien to discover anything about him. He, too, has tried to disguise his real persona, but Mademoiselle Lenormand sees through it. She offers him many forms of divination and he chooses a palm reading.]
‘Your hand is the most complete of any that I have seen; it presents a mixture of all virtuous sentiments and human weaknesses; it shows me the most heroic of all characters and the most undecided. . . . The enigma I am about to read to you is far more difficult of interpretation than that of the Theban sphinx, for though you will be greater than Oedipus, you will be more unfortunate.’ . . . [She describes his rise and fall and several injuries he will sustain.]
‘But,’ said the young man, ‘ this is the second or third time you have mentioned an alliance which will protect the first eight lustres [glories] of my life. How am I to know that woman when I meet her?’
[Lenormand describes the dark-haired Josephine. She warns Napoleon that eventually he will forget Providence gave him her as a companion, and that he will abandon that companion. Then his happiness will be destroyed by a second wife, who is fair and the daughter of kings.]
‘You will be Alexander, you will be Caesar: you will be more than that,—you will be Atlas bearing the world on your shoulders. . . . As success came to you through a woman, so it will leave you through a woman.’ . . .
‘It is Caesar’s fate that you predict for me.’
‘More than Caesar’s fate,’ she replied; ‘for Caesar did not attain his ends, and you, you will attain yours. Caesar only placed his foot on the steps of a throne, you will sit upon the throne itself. Only do not forget the dark-haired woman, who has a sign above the right eyebrow, and puts her handkerchief to her lips when she smiles.’
‘Where shall I meet that woman?’ he asked.
‘You have already met her,’ replied the sibyl; ‘and she has marked with her foot the spot at which the long series of your victories will begin.’
It should be noted that the deck of cards described in the text,”Le Grand Jeu de Mlle. Lenormand” is known to have only been created after the death of Mlle. Lenormand, although it was named after her in order to take advantage of Lenormand’s fame. The book that came with my deck is dated 1845.
Society Under the First Empire
Here are a few short quotes from The Court of Napoleon: or, Society under the first empire by Frank Boott Goodrich and Jules Champagne, (New York, 1858). [Thanks to Caitlin Matthews for passing this on.]
M’lle Marie-Anne Lenormand, the most distinguished sibyl of modern times, the counsellor of Robespierre, Napoleon, and the Czar Alexander, the confidante and biographer of Josephine, and who possessed the ability to subject the most brilliant and enlightened court of Europe to the authority of her shuffles of cards and perusals of palms, merits more than a passing notice. . . .
She rejected cartomancy, or the art of reading cards. It is true that she used cards, but this was merely cabalistically, for the sake of the figures upon them, and to aid her in numerical processes. . . .
M’lle Lenormand became, therefore, the protégée, and was, in a certain sense, the object of the affectionate consideration, of Josephine. Her cabinet was now crowded with the elite of Parisian society—priests, nobles, magistrates and soldiers. The visitor to the dwelling of the pythoness was shown into a room in which books, prints, paintings, stuffed animals, musical and other instruments, bottles with lizards and snakes in spirits, wax fruits, artificial flowers, and a medley of nameless articles, covered the walls, the table and the floor, leaving the eye scarcely an unoccupied spot to rest upon.
The furniture of the cabinet of consultation was in maple; the walls were adorned with portraits of the Bourbons, with a painting by Greuze of great value, and with her own portrait by Isabey. Her cards, which were of large size and covered with colored hieroglyphics, were painted by Carle Vernet. . . .
On one occasion M’lle Lenormand was summoned by Fouché to his cabinet. He reproached her for the aid and comfort she had given to the Bourbons by her late predictions. She paid no attention to his complaints, being engaged in shuffling a pack of cards, and muttering from time to time, “The knave of clubs!” He then said that he intended to send her to prison, where she would probably remain a long time. “How do you know that?” she returned. “See, here is the knave of clubs again, and he will set me free.” “Oh, ho! the knave of clubs will set you free, will he? And who is the knave of clubs?” “The Duke de Rovigo, your successor in office.” . . .
One of the biographers of M’lle Lenormand has remarked, witch or no witch, a certain share of admiration will always be due to her, for having contrived to be believed in an age which neither believed in God and his angels, nor in the devil and his imps. . . .
In detailing the incidents of M’lle Lenormand’s life, we have sufficiently described the sate of the art of fortune-telling in France and the consideration with which it was regarded, during the period of her professorship. Her success does not seem to have been derived from any previous credit accorded to the art of necromancy, but was the result rather of her remarkable skill and the tendency of an atheistic age to fill the void it had itself created, with superstitious dreams. She estabished a faith in astrology and chiromancy, for a time; they fell, however, into disrepute at her death, being afterwards exercised only by acknowledged charlatans, and obtaining support only from the ignorant and the credulous.
More Lenormand-style deck resources (see others in the intro paragraph at top):
- Examples of historic decks can be found at the Lenormand Playing Card Museum.
- Overview of spreads and meanings. Bio, tutorial & meanings.
- A brief overview of material from the highly regarded Treppner course.
- Here’s a book and a forum discussion with its author.
- A Lenormand blog with videos.
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the tarot world, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and reviews. Contact me
37 comments
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February 13, 2008 at 3:49 am
peacepixie
This was so great to read! Thanks so much for posting this mary
…. Fascinating stuff
February 16, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Paul Nagy
Yes, it is great to get a sense of local color from these memiors. Of course what an interesting treasure it would be to find the memoirs of a magus who could give a studied account of occult particulars.
February 19, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Jodie
Dear Mary. Where did you find your info on Mlle LeNormand? Ive been trying to find english print of her books or biographies but to no avail.
I am a descendant of hers and even for me this is difficult. Unfortunately I do not speak french, although a tarot reader and clairvoyant medium, I still cant locate anything other than basi information. Kindest Regards jodie
March 2, 2008 at 12:12 am
marygreer
To Jodie -
I found all this information on the web. Try searching on all variations of her name and use google’s translation feature for the French sites.
Also, there’s a very informative site at:
http://www.victorianhalloween.com/ml/lenormand01.shtml
To Paul Nagy -
I’m sure you’re familiar with the works of Eliphas Lévi and Paul Christian (both available in translations from the French). For more modern works there’s Crowley’s autobiography, _The Zelator: A Modern Initiate Explores the Ancient Mysteries_ by Mark Hedsel, and, for biography, my book, _Women of the Golden Dawn_, among many others. But, perhaps you mean something different. These aren’t particular to tarot or divination, although they are included in all the above works.
Mary K. Greer
April 13, 2008 at 5:43 pm
claudia
hi mary
your web site is so interesting!
i live in london at the moment ..too far from you. would it be possible for you to email me the name or contact details of a very talented tarot-card reader in london?
in my life i only met once somebody very good who was able to say something very real of my past and something which really happened later on.
it is also my intention to start taking classes here in london -just for my knowledge- but have not too much information yet.
well, many thanks in any case
claudia
April 14, 2008 at 3:18 am
marygreer
I don’t know anyone in London in particular but your best best is to check with one of the metaphysical bookstores like Atlantis or one of the others or go to the website of the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI)—in my links—and see who they recommend. There are many different kinds of tarot readers. People who give accurate details of your past and future are often working psychically. Such a reading can be very impressive but doesn’t necessarily help you make your own decisions based on insights into your higher purpose, goals and range of choices. Other readings focus on the meaning of events and what you can learn from whatever happens.
Mary
June 7, 2008 at 12:41 am
Chanah
if you read French, Juan has links to some of her books over at his site – the New Lenormand – http://www.thenewlenormand.com/page1/page1.html
I wish I still had the mail, but Guido Hesse wrote to me with a description of how La Lenormande had a client from Germany – wish I could remember his full name, but the first name was Karl, and he was a financier – who was boht a client and corresponded with her. I’m wondering if this might be part of the German connection, because the Petit Lenormand cards seem so much more German than French, and as far as I know, were first produced in Germany – but I could be wrong about that. I’ll see what I can find out, though.
And then there’s the connection with JJ Grandville, which has always intrigued me because he’s my favourite artist. Amongst other things, Grandville was the draftsman for the Sibylle des Salons (The Parlour Sybil, a/k/a Mme Lenormand) deck, though he was forced to sign over the copyright to his uncle, Mansion, since Mansion was giving Grandville room and board at the time. But the name, and the date (the deck was done in the 1820s if memory serves), are a little too coincidental, and I know our heroine liked to hang out with artists.
Mary, have you talked to Ron Decker? It occurs to me that he gave a talk about Mme Lenormand at a tarot conference last year, so he may have more information as well.
Interesting stuff, and a very nice post. Thank you.
June 7, 2008 at 1:27 am
marygreer
Chanah – Thank you for the link and the information on the decks. I love all those details. Lenormand-style cards are becoming more and more popular and lots of people appear to be fascinated by this woman.
I wasn’t able to attend Ron’s workshop at WATTS because I was needed elsewhere. Obviously Lenormand deserves a major study, although it would be almost impossible to undertake without reading French. That’s one reason why I so enjoyed finding these accounts of her by British tourists. They answer the question – ‘what would it have been like to have gotten a reading from Madame Lenormand herself?’ I’m just happy to contribute that one little piece.
January 28, 2009 at 7:33 pm
alkines
I get your blog today. I’m new in tarot. But I like to study. Now I can read someone just a little. Your web is my best place to learn
January 30, 2009 at 12:14 pm
mkg
alkines -
I’m so glad to hear that my blog is helpful to a beginner. I try to include some of the basics – like the post on the varieties of three-card spreads. Let me know if there is something else you’d like to see.
April 5, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Lorrie Kazan
Hi Mary: You’re always such a font (sp) of information. Loved this one and will read some of the french! Look forward to seeing you at RS09. Lorrie
April 22, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Janine Le' Normand
oh my :O this is realy weird.. im realy related to this woman.. well sort of lol .. i think anyways lol
January 3, 2010 at 12:56 am
Delmaree Jones
Thankyou for this interesting site. I have a couple of questions regarding M lLe Normand,you may or may not know the answers. Was M le Normand a mademoiselle, or a madame ? If she was supposed to have died a virgin then how could she possibly have direct descendants asJodie claims to be a descendant she must have had brothers or sisters.If so do we know anything about them? Thanks again yours faithfully, Delmaree Jones.
January 3, 2010 at 7:04 pm
mkg
Delmaree –
Lenormand was supposedly never married, however she’s been referred to both as mademoiselle and madame. Several people have claimed to be “great nieces,” etc. I don’t know enough to say whether this is true or not.
Mary
March 22, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Heatherleigh Navarre
How wonderful to learn that I share a birthday with this historical figure!
April 22, 2010 at 7:01 pm
shell
hey i wanna know if there is a place that i can buy the tarot lenormand tarot cards. if anyone knows of a place lemme know.
June 9, 2010 at 11:49 am
Elizabeth Hazel
Mary,
Love your blog on Mdm Lenormand!
Her birthday is confirmed on the Astrotheme site, where Lois Rodden’s database was shifted after her death. I tentatively rectified to 10:44 am, chart attached, which gives her a 28 Leo rising. The Ascendant conjunct Regulus and Sun at 6 Gemini conjunct Aldebaran connect her with aristocrats & military men. Papus & Cagliostro have similar fixed star placements showing highly placed clients. The Sun is in the 10th with Uranus on the Midheaven conjunct Mercury retrograde. (Uranus was discovered shortly after her birth, I think around 1781).
Uranus is conjunct Algol, giving her the appearance of the Medusa or Gorgon (MC is public appearance) and perhaps the ability to turn people to stone. Uranus is associated with the occult, and with unusual branches of it like phrenology and crystal balls, and also with mesmerism. The Scorpio IC/4th house equates with her strange occult décor and hidden passages. Saturn in Leo is in the 12th, consistent with jail time. Saturn is in joy in the 12th, but suffers by being in Leo, sign of its fall. Secrecy and fear were her stock-in-trade, but she was vulnerable. Her knowledge of famous clients would make her prone to hidden enemies – a 12th house matter.
In some older astrology books, the 9th house is associated with divination, and more particularly with a person’s tendency to get accurate or bad readings (see Avraham ibn Ezra “The Beginning of Wisdom” circa 1200 CE). Mars in Aries is conjunct the South Node in the 9th with the Moon in Aries, too. She had a gift for giving readings, and for seeing the past (the south node). Putting the North Node in her 3rd indicates making a living by speaking or communicating.
My guess is that she’d had her chart done early in her life and knew that she wouldn’t prosper in marriage. Sun squares Jupiter in her 7th, and Jupiter also rules her 5th house of children, so spoils her outlook for children. With her 12th house Saturn, she was aware of the possibility of imprisonment, attempted to prevent it, and prepared for it just in case. Given the kinds of astrology done at the time, an astrologer would have warned her about sticking tightly to her principles and integrity with her Sun conjunct Aldebaran. Lots of benefits but many temptations there. George Bernard Shaw also had a prominent Aldebaran contact, and lived by strict principles.
In any case, she had some enviable aspects: Uranus trine Pluto (wow!), Mars trine Saturn, Venus sextile Uranus/opposite Pluto. Mars and Jupiter are both in rulership. If the rectified time is fairly accurate, Jupiter in Pisces in her 7th house (clients) is trine the Part of Fortune in Cancer in the 11th house of society and acquaintances. This would also improve her prospects of making money through social and political connections.
At the end of your short bio, you noted that even though she went to jail she’d stashed away a pretty good pile of loot. In this rectified chart, Mercury rules the 2nd house – its retrograde, so no one was aware of how much money she had hidden away or where it was, but it enabled her to skedaddle to a safe haven after she was released.
Btw, Valleda and Melusine are mentioned in “Annals” by Tacitus, and I think that’s where Vercingetorix’s connection with a Sybil is mentioned, too. McCullough includes them in her Great Men of Rome series.
Elizabeth Hazel
Whispering Tarot/Tarot Decoded
http://www.kozmic-kitchen.com
“Though my soul may set in darkness it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night.”
~Sarah Williams
June 9, 2010 at 12:05 pm
mkg
Liz – Thank you so much for the astrological analysis of Lenormand (and for rectifying her chart!). This is really great information and an example of how fixed stars and other classical perspectives can be used.
Mary
August 19, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Lilith Neri
Dear Mary: I’m a mexican girl who likes Trot so much, but I’m not a professional reader. I’ve my first when I was 15 yo. (now I’ve 37) and only try to “play”, but with the time, I read different info and now, with web I’m lookin’ for more. Your web really give a lot of hope to try again to listen to my differents kind of Tarots. Last year I buyed a Melle. Lenormand pack and I never listen before about her, so, thanx so much 4 your existence!!!
I send you a lot of hugs and bless you.
August 19, 2010 at 10:32 pm
mkg
Lilith -
It is difficult to find information about the deck pictured above. But, if it speaks to you then use it – make it your own. Welcome.
Mary
September 23, 2010 at 1:39 am
Y YO ME PREGUNTO….. « LAS CARTAS LENORMAND
[...] con una de las paginas con mas solera y con mas información que puede haber en internet, Mery Greer K. que para mi es una de las mejores en tema [...]
December 26, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Lucy
I definitely found the information about Mlle. Lenormand interesting, particularly her astrological information. Using her deck has always been a challenge and sometimes feels more cryptic than illuminating, particularly with the tarot card meanings. Thanks for giving such a wealth of information on a very noteworthy character in the history of prognostication!
April 7, 2011 at 11:42 am
Arwen
I’ve just learned that U.S. Games is now carrying the Mlle Lenormand Blue Owl deck. I have the Mystic Lenormand (and love it). I sometimes use it to drawa a clarification card on personal spreads. Fascinating post.
April 7, 2011 at 12:22 pm
mkg
Arwen – Thanks for the info. It’s good to know that it will be more easily available in the U.S.
October 10, 2011 at 7:32 am
Saida
Dear Mary, what a wonderful and complete site. And so much valueable information. I love it! I just started to write information about Madame Lenormand and the reading cards in Dutch. My blog is developing and I hope it’ll be that interesting as yours! Thanks a lot for sharing.
November 14, 2011 at 10:53 am
Jodie LeNormand
Ah, it’s great to see the memoires translated, I can’t read French, so this is really helpful
January 16, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Valentina Kaquatosh
My whole life I have been fascinated with this legendary reader! I even created my own card deck inspired by her. I should post it one of these days. Thank you for updating this! It means a lot.
February 9, 2012 at 3:14 pm
ted
Great stories, Mary. Love the history lesson, especially the account by Dumas… no I have to take a look at those decks…
February 11, 2012 at 3:14 pm
terry
Very interesting, indeed. ;I would like to recommend for german speaking readers the biography: Marie-Anne Lenormand: Portrait einer berühmten Seherin by Kornelia Igges. – A very good description of her life and work, also the more “secular” doings of Ms. Lenormand – the biographies she wrote, the magazine she edited, the publishing company she ran, her salong and dinner-parties, her friendship with Josephine etc.
I beneath also give a report from the famous and influential Duchess de Dino’s autobiographical journal, of her meeting with Ms. Lenormand. Perhaps not as impressive as that of Gronow, but still valuable:
A SORCERESS’S PREDICTIONS
One had to fix the day and the hour beforehand and this I
arranged through my maid giving a false name and address. She gave me an appointment and on the day named I went with my maid in a cab, taken at a distance from my abode, to the Rue de Tournon where the sorceress lived. The house was of good appearance and the rooms clean and even rather pretty. We had to wait till a gentleman with
moustaches had left the chamber where the Sibyl delivered
her oracles. I made my maid go in first and my turn came
next. After some questions about the month, day and hour
of my birth, and about my favourite animal, flower and
colour, and about the animals, flowers and colours which I
particularly disliked, she asked whether she should make the
great or the little cabala for me, the price being different.
At last she came to my fortune and told me what follows.
I may have forgotten some insignificant details but I give
the main part of what she predicted, and I have since
repeated it to several persons, my mother and M. de Talley-
rand among the number.
She said that I was married, that I had a spiritual bond
with an exalted personage (my explanation of this is that
the Emperor was my eldest son’s godfather), that after much
pain and trouble I should be separated from my husband,
that my troubles would not cease till nine years after this
separation, and that during these nine years I should
experience all manner of trials and calamities. She also said
that I should become a widow when no longer young but
not too old to marry again which I should do. She saw me
for many years closely allied with a person whose position
and influence would impose on me a kind of political position
and would make me powerful enough to save some one from
imprisonment and death. She said also that I should live
through very difficult and stormy times, during which I
should have very exciting experiences, and that one day even
I should be awakened at five o’clock in the morning by men
armed with pikes and axes who would surround my house
and try to kill me. This danger would be the consequence
of my opinions and the part I was destined to take in
politics and I should escape in disguise. I should still be
alive, she said, at sixty-three. When I asked whether that
was the destined end of my days she answered, ” I don’t say
you will die at sixty-three, I only mean that I see you still
alive at that age. I know nothing of you or your destiny
after that.”
The leading circumstances of this prediction seemed to me
then too much out of the probable course of events to cause
me any anxiety. I told my friends about it as a sort of
joke, and, though the most improbable parts of it have come
true, such as my separation from my husband, my prolonged
troubles, the interest in public affairs which M. de Talley-
rand’s concern with them has imposed on me, I confess that
unless some one has mentioned some similar matter, I think
very rarely about what Mile. Lenormand told me, and very
little of herself though she was a remarkable person. She
seemed to be over fifty when I saw her. She was rather tall
and wore a loose, black, trailing gown. Her complexion
was ugly and confused, her eyes were small, bright and
wild ; her countenance, coarse and yet uncanny, was crowned
with a mass of untidy grey hair. The whole effect was
unpleasant, and I was glad when the interview was over.
I thought of her prophecies in July 1830, when I was
alone at Rochecotte surrounded by conflagrations, and was
receiving the news of what was happening in Paris, and
when I saw General Donnadieu’s regiments marching past
my windows on La Vendee where it was thought Charles X.
would go. I heard some denouncing the Jesuits whom they
were silly enough to accuse of setting fire to their houses
and fields, and others crying out against ” malignants ” such
as I. The Cure came to my house for refuge and the
Mayor asked whether I did not think that the soutane,
which according to him reeked of brimstone, should be
turned out of the commune. Already I saw myself sur-
rounded by pikes and axes, and escaping as best I could
disguised as a peasant. I escaped then, but I have sometimes
said to myself that it was only a postponement and that I
should not get off in the end.
February 12, 2012 at 8:01 am
terry
One more historical reading from Mlle. Lenormand, this time for Karl August von Malchus, the minister of finance in perussia. I think this reading is very interesting, especially so because von Malchus was very much a man of “the real world” of politics and also an intellectual and a sceptic, much like – or even more than – captain Gronow. He has written tractats on economics. (Please find beneath the german Wikipedia article on von Malchus. )
von Malchus explicitly says he wanted to put Mlle. Lenormand to the test when he went for the reading. The account for the meeting is here taken from a digitalized irish university magazine from the 1840-ties. I give you the link for the magazine also, so you can check for mistakes in my transcription. A couple of places I did not exacltly understand Mlle Lenormand’s french comments – french I do not master.
The article in the magazine also extends before and after the Malchus-record – clickable chapters are given down to the right – and I think some readers also will find the other parts amusing, though not as importaint/convincing as the Malchus part.
Terry
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_August_von_Malchus
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/jun–co-william-curry/the-dublin-university-magazine-volume-30-goo/page-87-the-dublin-university-magazine-volume-30-goo.shtml
Malchus was at length prevailed on
to visit the divineress ; the following
is his account of the visit which we
give in his own words :—
“All this at length overcame the re-
pagnance I felt towards a sibyl of this
species, and I determined to go, intend-
ing however to put the reality of her
miraculous knowledge to every test in
my power. – I was glad to find that the street
in which she lived, and even the quarter
of the town in which it was situated,
was one in which I had never been. I
put on a threadbare cast-off surtout,
and a very shabby old hat, got into a
facre, and drove to the Faubourg St.
Germain, alighted before turning the
comer of the Rue Toumon, and pro-
ceeded to her house on foot.
On my ringing, the door was opened by a little
girl, who might be about fourteen years
of age. I asked for Mile. Lenormand,
and received answer that she would
scarcely be able to speak with me just
then, as she was extremely busy. “Very
well,” said I ; “ask her when I may call
again ?” After a few moments, the child
returned with the answer, ‘ Next Satur-
day, any time after twelve o’clock.* I
expressed my wish that she would ap-
pomt the hour herself, as I had, I said,
abundance of leisure, so that it was
equal to me at what time I came, and I
was anxious that her reception of me
should interfere with no other engage-
ment. The little maid disanpeared, and
presently there came out of the adjoin-
mg chamber a woman advanced in years,
and, I must confess, not without some-
what witch-like in her appearance, her
eyes elancing about her not exactly
with nre, but still with an expression
of uncommon intelligence and subtlety.
Coming straight up to me, and giving
me no time to speak, she put a cara into
my hand and with the words, “Sanedi,
trait hewres, monsigneur,” (?) disappeared again
into her cabinet : she hardly saw me half
a second, and I had not opened my lips
in her presence.
*Saturday came, and I was there
(in the same dress) punctually at three
o’clock, was again received by the little
maid, and requested to wait a few mo-
ments, as somebody was just then with
Mile. Lenormand. About ten minutes
might have passed, when the door of the
cabinet opened, and a voung woman,
supported by a man under the middle
age, came out, weeping so excessively,
that one could literally have washed
oneself in her tears, and giving utter-
ance to the most heart-piercing lamen-
tations. Her companion did everything
possible to assuage her grief, reminded
er that the thing, after all, had not
been infallibly declared, that the ques-
tion still remained, whether it would
really come to pass,’ and so on. There
must something terrible have been told
to the poor soul.
‘* I was now ushered in, and made to
sit down near the sorceress, at a table
that stood by the sofa. As I had heard
that, when asked only for the petit jeu
(which cost two napoleons), she left out
many details, in her sketch of the past,
the present, and the future, I at once
signified my desire to have the grand jeu
of which four napoleons is the price.
« She then asked me —
*l. The initial letter of my Christian
name.
* 2. That of my surname.
” 3. Of my country.
* 4. Of the place of my birth.
*5. My age — to be given with as
much exactitude as was m my power :
it so happened that I could state it even
to the hour, and did so.
* 6. The name of my favourite flower.
* 7. The name of my favourite ani-
mal.
* 8. The name of the animal to which
I had the greatest repugnance
* Upon this, she took, in addition to
some seven packs of cards which already
lay on the table, seven packs more, mak-
ing in all fourteen packs. They were,
however, of very different kinds; for
instance, Tarok-cards, old German
cards, whist cards, cards marked with
the celestial bodies, cards with necro-
mantic figures, and I know not what all
besides. – She now shuffled one pack
after another, giving me each pack, after
she had shuffled it, to cut. Naturally, I
was going to do this with the right hand,
but she prevented me, and said, “Jax (?)
main gauche, monsieur,” To try whether
she said this merely to mystify me, or
would seriously make a point of it, I cut
the second pack with the left hand, bat
took the right again to the third ; but
she interposed instantly, and repeated,
“La main gauche, monsigneur,’ Out of
each pack, after cutting, I had to draw
(still with the left hand) a certain number
of cards, prescribed by her ; not the
same number out of each pack, but from
one more, from another less : from the
Tarok cards, for instance, twenty-five ;
from another pack, six ; from a third,
ten ; and so on. The cards thus drawn
she arranged in a certain order on the
table : all the rest were put aside.
* She then took my left hand, and
surveyed it very attentively, taking par-
ticular notice of all its lines and mter-
sections. After a little while, she com-
menced oountine the lines upwards and
downwards, and from side to side, pro-
nouncing at the same time the names of
the heavenly bodies. At length, she
opened a great necromantic book which
lay near her, and in which were drawn
an immense variety of hands, with all
their linear marks : these drawings she
compared carefully, one after another,
with my hand, till she found one that
was marked in a similar way. Then,
turning to the cards arrays on the
table, she studied them with great in-
tentedness, went from one to another,
numbering and calculating very busily,
till at last she began to speak, and to
tell me, out of the cards before her, my
past, present, and future destinies.
She spoke very rapidlv, and as if reading
out of a book ; and I observed that if,
in running on, she happened to revert a
second time to any thing already men-
tioned, she stated it in the very same
words as at first — in short, exactly as
if she were reading it again out of the
book.
*Of my past history, she told me, to
my infinite astonishment, much that I
myself had almost forgotten, which,
probably, there was no one in my own
country that knew or remembered, and
which most certainly was known to no-
body at Paris. Among other things, she said —
“You have more than once been in
peril of life; in particular, within your
first five years, you had a narrow
escape of drowning.” – Who told her that
in my fourth year I fell into the great pond at
Schwetzingen?
“More than once vou have been in
danger of losing your life by fire.’
” This, too, is true”.
“You were born in circumstances
which did not offer you the prospect of
high station in the world ; nevertheless,
you have attained it. Very early in life
you began to labour for distinction of
some sort : you were not yet five-and-
twenty when you first entered the ser-
vice of the state, but it was in a very
subordmate position.”
How did she find out that I received
my first official appointment- at nineteen?
Then she proceeded to reckon up to
me a multitude of particulars of my past
life, in particular placing the different
sections of it before me in so definite and
distinct a manner, that I begun to feel a
kind of horror creeping over me, as if I
had been in the presence of a spirit.
With respect to the last section but
one (my taking office in Westphalia),
she remarked, that it had not at first
appeared likely to become very brilliant,
but that circumstances had soon oc-
curred, which had given it such a cha-
racter. Of the present she spoke with the
same accuracy.
Of the future, some things that she
said were characterized by a true Sibyl-
line obscurity, or might have been com-
pared to that Pythian utterance, ‘ If
Croesus crosses the Pbasis, a great king-
dom will falL’ Some things, on the other
hand, she expressed in a clear and
unambiguous manner, and they have
proved true. For example, she said, “You are in
great anxiety about your family ” — which
indeed I was, for I knew that my wife
and children had got in safety as far as
Elsen, but whether they had got happily
to Hildesheim, and if so, how matters stood
with them there, I knew not — “but,”
proceeded the sorceress, “you may be
tranquil on this score, for in eight days
you will receive a letter, which will in-
deed contain various things not agree-
able to you, but will relieve you of all
uneasiness on your family’s account.”
In effect, by the eighth day I re-
ceived a letter from my wife, which
aquainted me that she and the children
were well, but of which the remaining
contents were by no means of a charac-
ter to give me pleasure.
Within the next eight days I should
four times successively obtain accounts
of the state of things in my native coun-
try, and on one occasion should hear
very minute particulars respecting my
family. – This was said on the 28th of March.
Two days after, the allies entered Paris,
an event the most unexpected to all its
citizens. About six days after, I went
to walk on the Boulevards ; a person in
the uniform of the Prussian artillery
came eagerly up to me, and to my asto-
nishment I recognized Monsieur N.,
who had lived with us a short time be-
fore at Compiegne, had then returned to
Hildesheim, and joined the Prussians,
and was now come direct from Hildes-
heim to Paris, consequently had no end
of things to tell me about my family
whom he had’seen and spoken with. A
little after, I met Monsieur Delins, for-
merly prefect of Gottingen, and, in
short, I really, in the course of eight
days, had news from Germany just four
times.
She proceeded — “Tou will not re-
main long in France, but will return to
your own country, where you will at
first have to encounter a host of annoy-
ances, some of them trifling, some grave.
You will be arrested, but speedily re-
stored to liberty.” – All this took place here in Heidel-
berg.
She now said very distinctly, that
before the 23rd of November, 1814, I
should receive an important decision,
but one very unacceptable to me. In
effect, on the 21st of that month, I re-
ceived the letter of the Hanoverian mi-
nister. Count Munster, conveying to me
the determination of his government on
my claim to the estate of Marienrode :
the purport of this determination was,
that my claim was rejected, but the ap-
peal, which I spoke of, to the Congress
of Vienna, left open to me.
“Your destiny,” she added, “will,
for the next three years, be but preca-
rious and unstable; and you will not
find yourself in prosperous circumstances
again until 1817.”
When she had completely finished,
I wished to have the whole written down
(this costs a napoleon more), as it inter-
ested me too much to allow of my
trusting the retention of it solely to
memory. “Much,’ said I, “of what you
have said to me, respecting my past life,
has put me in no small astonbhment.”
“Ak”, replied she, drily, “c’est bien
fait pour celaJ” (?)
She had no objection to write it all
down for me, but assured me that she
had more to do than could be told, and
must, therefore, request of me three
things. First, that I would write down
for her the three answers above men-
tioned ; secondly, that I would not re-
quire her to go into the past and the
present at such length as she had done
in her verbal communication ; and,
thirdly, that I would give her three
weeks’ time, before coming for the
paper. “That will be the easier for
you to do,’ said she,” as you will remain
two months longer at Paris.” This
struck me much, because, in the posi-
tion I then occupied, and under the
political circumstances existing, I could
not engage to be at Paris three days.
“Surement,” repeated she, as she ob-
served my perplexed looks ; “vou$ res-
terez encore deux mois a Paris.”
And in this also she was right.
I remained at Paris Just two months
longer, and no more.
After three weeks I revisited the
bouse of Mile. Lenormand, but found
her engaged, and heard from the little
maid that, with the best will in the
world, she had not yet been able to
make out time to write what I wished
for ; but, if I would come again in four
days, it should positively be ready.
I was glad of this delay ; the test,
I thought, would be all the severer,
whether she really read the same things
in the cards, this second time, that she
did three or four weeks before, or whe-
ther she only recalled, by an effort of
memory, what she had said to me on a
former occasion. I therefore quit the
house with pleasure, and returned after
four days. Mile. Lenormand was gone
out. The little maid excused this on
the score of urgent business, begged me,
in her mistress’s name, to enter the ca-
binet, and, opening a drawer, showed
me a paper intended for me, but which
was not yet quite finished. I read it
through, as far as it went, and found
that It already contained about two-
thirds of what the sorcerees had said to
me orally. Errors there were none,
and the little variations from what I
had heard near four weeks before from
her, were of the most inconsiderable
nature.
In four days more, the little maid
assured me, the manuscript should, with-
out fail, be ready. In effect it was so,
and corresponded accurately with what
she had spoken more thim four weeks
before. Yet how many nativities might
she not have cast in the interval I think
many men’s destinies must have thrust
mine out of her recollection.
I went purposely, from the time of my first
visit to her till my departure from Paris,
into her neighbourhood several times,
and always found one or more carriages
standing before her house, which had
brought persons desirous of learning
their destiny at the lips of Mlle. Lenor-
mand.
February 14, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Mlle. Lenormand: A Puzzle « andybc: card reader
[...] The two comments on Greer’s blog come from Terry (thank you, Terry), posted on February 12, and I therefore cannot reproduce them here. Please read here. [...]
April 27, 2012 at 9:49 am
Caitlin Matthews
I have been researching the origins of the Lenormand deck. These will be appearing in my Enchanted Lenormand Oracle, which will be a Lenormand deck and book. See http://www.hallowquest.org.uk for more details. Also see http://caitlin-matthews.blogspot.com/
October 5, 2012 at 6:00 am
скеле
Tremendous things here. I’m very glad to look your article. Thank you a lot and I’m having a look forward to contact you.
Will you please drop me a e-mail?
October 5, 2012 at 9:34 am
mkg
There’s a contact form found at the top of my blog. Please state specifically what you are interested in talking about. Thank you for your interest.
November 14, 2012 at 2:11 am
clairvoyant chris
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February 16, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Marie Anne Lenormand – chart study | morganesky
[...] Mary Greer [...]
April 17, 2013 at 3:52 am
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