✴ Lenormand
Quick Answer

How Many Cards in a Lenormand Deck?

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A standard Lenormand deck has 36 cards. Here's the full breakdown — what's in the deck, why some have more, and how it compares to other systems.

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The Short Answer

A standard Lenormand deck has 36 cards. This is the Petit Lenormand — the version sold by every modern publisher and used by every modern reader. When someone says "a Lenormand deck", they almost always mean these 36 cards.

Some modern decks include a few extra cards, and a much rarer 54-card system called the Grand Lenormand also exists, but the default is 36.

The 36 Cards

Every Lenormand card has a number, a name, and a playing-card association. The numbers run 1 through 36 in a fixed traditional order:

  1. The Rider
  2. The Clover
  3. The Ship
  4. The House
  5. The Tree
  6. The Clouds
  7. The Snake
  8. The Coffin
  9. The Bouquet
  10. The Scythe
  11. The Whip
  12. The Birds
  13. The Child
  14. The Fox
  15. The Bear
  16. The Star
  17. The Stork
  18. The Dog
  19. The Tower
  20. The Garden
  21. The Mountain
  22. The Crossroad
  23. The Mice
  24. The Heart
  25. The Ring
  26. The Book
  27. The Letter
  28. The Man
  29. The Woman
  30. The Lily
  31. The Sun
  32. The Moon
  33. The Key
  34. The Fish
  35. The Anchor
  36. The Cross

You can browse all 36 cards on the site, each with its full meaning, playing-card association, and combinations.

Why 36 Cards?

The number traces back to the deck's actual origin: a German parlour game called Das Spiel der Hoffnung ("The Game of Hope"), published in 1799. The game used 36 numbered cards because that matched a piquet deck — a 36-card playing-card deck used widely across continental Europe (Aces, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings in four suits = 36). Each Lenormand card was paired with a piquet card, and that pairing has stayed fixed ever since.

When the cards were repurposed as a fortune-telling deck a few decades later, the count and numbering came along untouched. Read more about the deck's origin in What Is Lenormand?.

Decks with Extra Cards

Some modern Lenormand decks include extra cards beyond the standard 36. The Gilded Reverie Lenormand Expanded Edition by Ciro Marchetti is the best-known example — it adds optional alternative cards for shades of meaning the traditional 36 don't quite cover. Other modern decks add a Time card, a Compass, a Bridge, or similar.

These extras are always optional. Readers who want the system pure simply set them aside; readers who want to experiment can deal them in. The traditional 36 always work on their own.

Petit Lenormand vs Grand Lenormand

A larger 54-card Lenormand system also exists, called the Grand Lenormand or Grand Jeu Lenormand. Its cards include astrological symbols, mythological figures, and more elaborate scenes. It's a separate tradition with a smaller modern following, and it's not interchangeable with the Petit Lenormand — different cards, different reading conventions.

If you're learning Lenormand today, you're almost certainly learning the Petit. The 54-card Grand is a specialist system most readers never encounter.

Lenormand vs Tarot Card Counts

Tarot has 78 cards, split into the 22 Major Arcana and the 56 Minor Arcana (four suits of 14 cards each). Lenormand has 36 — fewer cards, simpler structure, no major/minor split, no court cards in the tarot sense. The compactness is part of why Lenormand is more direct: there's less to memorise and less to layer.

For a fuller comparison, see Lenormand vs Tarot.

Where to Go Next

If you're new to Lenormand, start with What Is Lenormand? for the broader picture, then Lenormand for Beginners for a practice plan. Or jump straight in with a 3-card spread.