Pixie's Astounding Lenormand

Super cute little Lenormand deck. It arrived on time and in perfect conditions. I have never like the centennial edition of the RWS tarot. But this deck is just perfect. I don't know if it's because is vintage but I felt the connection to it as soon as I opened it and started to look at every card. The booklet is also very informative and useful, and anyways if there is something else you want to know about the Lenormand deck you can look for it online.

I love the art on these cards. The art on this deck is based on the art from Pamela Colman Smith, so if you like the art on the Rider-Waite Smith deck, you'll like these too. I appreciate that these cards don't have any writing on them, so they don't distract me while reading at all. Size is perfect for Lenormand. Easy to shuffle as well.

I am thoroughly please with this Lenormand deck. The cards are not too small like you might expect from a tin. They are approximately the same size as regular playing cards. I haven't directly compared, but they are a decent size, I would not call them large cards. This deck captures Lenormand perfectly. I think "Pixie" would be pleased. The book that comes with it is not paper stapled, it is bound. However, it is not very big which makes the pages not stay open as well, but I have encountered worse. I was able to open the book fully with little difficulty or creasing, so I don't find it to be a fault. But some people may, so I thought it was worth noting. The artwork is beautiful, very Rider-Waite. In fact, I ordered it with the Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck in a Tin, and I recommend that deck as well. This product is great for beginners and experienced Lenormand and Tarot readers. If you travel with your cards a lot, I recommend this deck, especially in combination with the Smith-Waite Centennial in a Tin. And the shipping was rapid. They both arrived the day after the next. I couldn't be more pleased.

As someone new to cartomancy (and more specifically the Lenormand), I really wish this deck had been my first Lenormand. Incidentally, it's my second, so it's not far off! All of my familiarity with cartomancy is based entirely on the RWS tarot, so going through and learning with Pixie's Astounding Lenormand was like meeting RWS's younger, spunkier sister. In regards to quality, the booklet is a very informative foundation text for Lenormand first timers, and just a fun read for deck collectors who want to know the stories and the artist's creative flow behind each card. The cards themselves are of standard quality, sturdy enough to withstand a light rifling shuffle. They have a more matte satin finish that suits the vintage look of the art. The art itself is phenomenal. Everything is sourced from the works of Pamela Coleman Smith, usually in a collage form that anyone familiar with the RWS tarot would recognize, though a good number of pieces are sourced from her other less familiar works. It truly is a remarkable tribute to Ms. Smith.

This deck is great in so many ways. I've always loved Pamela Coleman-Smith's art and it's wonderful to have it in a Lenormand deck. Many of the card images are just perfect: the Clover, the Tree, the Clouds, and the Child are some of my favorites. They are beautiful and give the deck a perfect, old-fashioned feel. Other choices are puzzling. For example, the Garden looks too much like the Ace of Cups from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, with no explanation for why the upside-down M is retained here; it's a distraction and clients ALWAYS ask about it, but it has no meaning here. On the Crossroads card, the road does diverge into two, but these 2 roads run so parallel to one another that the two roads almost look like they have the same destination. And it's not a true Crossroads; the roads do not cross, rather, one road diverges into 2, both going almost the same way, altering the meaning of the card. A few other cards are actually ugly, in my opinion. Or shall I say, strange. The Dog is a bit odd, kind of a shapeless blob. The Fish card is very strange and not at all pretty. The Ring is composed of a hodgepodge from various of Pixie's Tarot Card illustrations, including wings and the 8-pointed star from the Star Card, till it hardly looks like a ring but more like some esoteric symbol, not true to Lenormand which needs clear, simple images. They Key incorporates the Wheel of Life symbol and some random Yods. The Lady card is OK, but I wish the Gentleman had not been depicted in short, puffy pantaloons. This is just personal to me-- but I have a hard time using this card to represent a possible partner. Lastly, the tin box is much too big for the cards and they rattle in it noisily, making them less portable. All of that said, there are many wonderful images here, and it's just plain amazing to be able to work with more Pixie images in a different form of divination.

The artwork is so remarkably similar to the Rider-Waite it's uncanny. I appreciate the similarity, since I've been reading Tarot for over twenty years but never have taken up Lenormand with any seriousness. I find Lenormand easy, however, because I learned to read cards with playing cards, and Lenormand has some similarities with that style, even if this particular deck does not have the litle playing card inserts many of these types of decks have. But the images are clear and focused, and the deck is just plain pretty. And it looks like a fortune-telling deck, which I think is psychologically useful. It took a few tries before I got comfortable with this deck, and part of the issue is the cards are extremely petite and difficult to shuffle, especially since the deck is "thinner" than a Tarot deck. I've dealt (ha ha, see what I did there) with many odd sized decks over the years, however, so what I do is take the cards and deal them out in three stacks, put them back together, deal again, etc., until it feels right. Seven times is usually when I stop, gather them, then cut them and lay them out. If you're new to Lenormand I'd definitely recommend. The little booklet that comes with is nice-- I've been using Rana George's book "The Essential Lenormand", however, and the booklet is very small so since I'm not using it consistently I can't say how easy it is to use.

I got my first Pamela Colman Smith tarot deck soon after the USGS version came out in the early 1970s. I had had a 1JJ since the late 1960s and already had a book illustrated with the PCS drawings. I wasn't entirely impressed with the deck, and soon developed a strong adverse response to the unfortunate colors and the design foolishnesses. So while something about this Lenormand recycling of the PCS design elements appealed to me, I hesitated about buying. I was wrong. It is an absolute delight. The colors are very good, and the elements work much better without Waite's over-serious silliness. And it might well be the most usable Lenormand of the plethora recent releases. I wish it came in a useful tuck box instead of the unwieldy tin, but I've made my own tuck boxes for dozens of older decks, and I can do it again. I've even gotten my old RWS tarots back out and am able to see more of Waite's contribution as acceptable goofiness rather than serious yuckiness (my motto in recent years has been "goofy but sincere"), so I will be taking a look at the allegedly color-rescued Centennial Edition of the tarot. This Lenormand, in any case, is a must have.

I read tarot and Lenormand. I read them differently, but to me it is up to everyone how THEY wish to read. I LOVE Pamela Colman Smith's artwork, her Commemorative deck by US Games is my favorite tarot deck. I love the other drawings I have she did that had nothing to do with tarot. While I read tarot one way and Lenormand an other, the fact that some of her tarot images are in the Lenormand deck doesn't throw me. All I require of a Lenormand is that I can clearly see the 36 images associated with Lenormand (the Heart, the Sun, etc). Normally, I like just ONE Lenormand image in a card, so the LETTER could have felt a bit "off" to me, but as I am familiar with that particular image, the woman reading a LETTER, it doesn't bother me. I LOVE the card stock, the images are easy to see, and the tin is a nice touch, although I wish the tin were a bit smaller. The cards sloosh around a bit in the tin. I may put the deck in a small fitted case instead, but the tin is lovely, even if a bit big. All in all, I have to give it five stars as all the Lenormand images are there to be read, it's Pamela's artwork, the cardstock is grand and it is a great addition to my Lenormand collection.