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Premier Lenormand

Originally handmade in 2006 and sold on Etsy with a booklet and either a handsewn pouch or unique collaged altoids mint tin, this deck was my very first card project. It took a year to design, most of which was searching for public domain and fair use imagery that I worked into my collages. At that time, the internet had far less resources, so this was quite a daunting but exciting project.

This card set was born not only from my ongoing interest in cards as an art form and card oracles, but as an exercise in the language of symbols. I was especially interested in Jung and the emblems of alchemy at the time, so that influence is very apparent here.I consider my LVJ Lenormand to be a more mature deck, art and symbol wise, but I am still quite proud of this set.


The booklet for the Premier Lenormand is a set of jpgs and pdfs which I painstakingly updated and in some cases, reworded. The accordion booklet within the tin contain major keywords and phrases to assist with the reading of each card, so that the set itself is very compact and complete within the tin.

Premier Lenormand: Text
Premier Lenormand: Projects

I am very pleased to be able to make this deck available to all on The Gamecrafter.
Print on demand is a godsend for artists like me who didn't previously have an affordable way to publish art, cards and games.

If you are looking for some reading layouts and resources for this set, please visit the links section on my Les Vieux Jours Lenormand page for a few ideas to get you started.

Premier Lenormand: Text

Premier Lenormand Image Sources

These were all sourced in 2005-2006, so some sites are not even active or have changed over time. Nonetheless, here is my list.

The Heart

  • Woman: Heyjupiter collage image group, public domain CD- from PD postcards - Source unknown

  • Background: Liam’s Old Books- The Art of Illuminating As Practised in Europe from the Earliest Times by W. R. Tymms, with an Essay and Instructions by M. D. Wyatt, Architect. London. Published April 2nd 1860 by Day and Son, Lithographers to the Queen.

  • King and Queen: Karen’s Whimsy (scanned old books)

  • Heart:  my handcarved print

  • Butterflies: preloaded images in Corel Photopaint 9 image spray tool

  • Flames: preloaded images in Corel Photopaint 9 image spray tool

The Cavalier

  • Knight: Liam’s Old Books

  • Map Background: Liam’s Old Books- The Grammar of Heraldry, Kent, Samuel 1718

  • Cobblestone texture: Morguefile

  • Shield: Liam’s Old Books

  • Antique Letter: Takeabreak collage image group from personal ephemera collection

  • Stamps: Wikipedia commons, Bechuanaland 1891, Ireland 1922

The Fish

  • Lily pad and Flower: My personal photo from Chicago Botanical Gardens

  • Chinese Coin: personal scan of Chinese replica coin

  • Background texture: preloaded image from Corel Photopaint 9 textures

  • Shen sign: Dover Images Magic and Mystical Symbols

  • Chinese lettering: Morgue file

  • Red Fish: pdphoto.org

  • Yellow and Orange Fish: Public Domain Pics.Net from author: Sharee Basinger

The Book

  • Book Cover: lost and taken

  • Keys: CollagingKristen

      Brain: take a break- Intermediate Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene, Copyright 1887

  • 10: Collaging Kristen

  • Beowulf text: Wikimedia commons- Kip Wheeler's homepage at Carson-Newman College

  • Cretan labyrinth: Wikimedia commons- (2 KB)AnonMoos

  • German text: my book, circa 1850

  • Phrenology Head: Wikipedia Commons: Friedrich Eduard Bilz (1842–1922): Das neue Naturheilverfahren (75. Jubiläumsausgabe) von 1894

  • Tassel, Iolani palace dance card, 1887

  • Checker: take a break


The Clover

  • Clover:  my own scan of my own clover

  • Coin: Wikipedia Commons, PD US coin; original being from J.J. Teaparty and were photographed by Brian P. Cushing

  • Fish: Karen’s Whimsy from personal collection of old books

  • Bats: Dover Magical and Mystical Symbols Clip Art

  • Endless knot: Public Domain by Eichene Zeichnung

  • Celtic Background: Dover Celtic Clip Art Sample

  • Hand: Karen’s Whimsy from personal collection of old books; Human Anatomy for Art Students, copyright 1911. The text is by Sir Alfred Fripp and Ralph Thompson

The House

  • House: Liam’s Old Books; Knight, Charles: “Old England: A Pictorial Museum” (1845)

  • Butterflies, karen’s whimsy- The Nature Library: Pictures of Butterflies by W. J. Holland, copyright 1904

  • Pink roses: karen’s whimsy-victorian scraps

  • Yellow flower: karen’s whimsy-victorian scraps

  • Strawberries: Dover clip art

  • Man: Lib of cong, American fashions, The Jno. J. Mitchell Co., c1899

  • Basketweave: CG texture

  • Clouds: CG texture

  • Ledger page: Takeabreak collage image group from personal ephemera collection

The Star

Star background- Wikimedia commons, Camille Flammarion, L'Atmosphere: Météorologie Populaire (Paris, 1888


Cosmographical clock- Beinecke, Carte, John. 1700]


The Lilies

  • Woman with Bird: abovethemark.com, public domain vintage image

  • Woman with lilies: Dover

  • Background lady : Dover

  • Lilies: Dover

  • Column: Dover

  • Glass texture: Morgue file

  • Fleur de lis: Dezignus.com

  • Crown: doublem2

  • Fleur de lis- Art by heather, 1902 sears catalog page

  • Lilies in hair: Henry John Elwes: A monograph of the genus Lilium; illustrated by W.H. Fitch. Taylor and Francis, London 1880 walter hood fitch 1890?

The Coffin

The Tower

  • St Louis- Wikimedia commons, Bob Krusen

  • Scratchy Texture: Cg textures

  • Lightning- gimp savvy, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  • Moon- morgue file

  • Veiled person – Lib of cong, Central Asian women's adornment and clothing. Camisole (head cover), between 1865 and 1872]

  • Graveyard- my photo

The Letter


The Dog


The Clouds

  • King: Knight, Charles: “Old England: A Pictorial Museum” (1845)

  • Sword: Wikipedia, Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the Wikimedia Foundation

  • Monsters: cornell, Ulyssis Aldrovandi. Historiæ Serpentum et Draconum. Bonon : Marcus Antonius Bernia, 1640., Johannes Ionstonus. Historiæ Natura. Francofurti : Hæredum Merianoru, 1755. Page 0.52, Plate 10.

  • Hand: cornell, Claude Paradin Chanoine de Beaujeu. Devises Heroïques. Lion : Ian de Tournes et Guil Gazeau, 1557. Page 255.

  • Clouds: via plaisanter, The follies of science at the court of Rudolph II, 1576-1612 (1904), Tabula Smaragdina ("The Emerald Tablet"), illustration in Daniel Mylius’ book Opus Medico-Chymicum, published in 1618

  • Clouds, cg textures

  • Cloud circle: vintage vectors, Amoris Divini Emblemata Studio Et Aere Othonis Vaenii Concinnata", Antwerpen, Officina Plantiniana (Balthasar Moretus), 1660,


The Stork

  • Stork: lib of cong, Andō, Hiroshige, 1797-1858, artist

  • Seal: dover

  • Tickets: take a break, personal collection

  • Map: lib of cong, Map of Nagasaki. Japan : Yamato-ya, 1801 of Kyōwa era.

  • Leaves: take a break, personal scans

  • Nest: vintage moth

The Cross

  • cross: namaqua art, personal scan

  • nun: Wikihard, Paul Hoecker, 1897

  • heart: Wikimedia, gray’s anatomy, 1918

  • Sword: Wikipedia, Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the Wikimedia Foundation

  • Angel: dover

  • Hand: jerseybarb, Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine

  • Old letter photoshop brush by shiranui

  • Text: take a break- personal scan, Ars Grafik photoshop brush


The Anchor

  • Anchor : via arminuzz, Printers mark  of Aldus Manutius

  • Shell: karen’s whimsy

  • Samurai:, lib of cong,

  • Background: lib of cong,

The Moon

Premier Lenormand: Text
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