Who was Mlle Lenormand, and why, more than 150 years after her death, are people still interested in her and the fortune-telling cards that bear her name?
Marie-Anne Lenormand (or, as the name is sometimes given, Le Normand) was born in 1772 in Alençon, which is - not surprisingly - in Normandy.
The young girl lost her father when only one year old, and then her mother when she was only five. She was sent to a convent school, and it was there that her powers of clairvoyancy were first noticed.
In 1786, at the age of fourteen, Mlle Lenormand moved to Paris, where she gradually entered circles of influential people. Some cynics claim that the only true test of a seer's ability is his or her personal wealth. By this measure, Mlle Lenormand must have been quite successful, as she lived quite well. Upon her death, on June 25th, 1843, she left a considerable sum of approximately 120,000 francs. She is buried in Paris' Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Mlle Lenormand was said to have given predictions, which turned out to be quite accurate, to the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. It is often claimed that she consulted with Napoleon as well, but there is less historical evidence to support this claim - it is possible, but not proven.
Mlle Lenormand used several methods of divination, including cartomancy. She did not use tarot cards, but preferred a deck of either 32 or 36 cards. Several fortune-telling decks have since been named after her, including the one illustrated above. This deck, manufactured in the EU, has 36 cards, and is a reproduction of an 1880 deck.
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