The Lenormand Grand Tableau & Game Of Hope: A Reminder Of Its Storytelling History

A Look Back At The Original Instructions For The Game of Hope & The First "Grand Tableaus"

I’ve posted this (well, broadly) before but I thought it was timely to repost while we’re on the topic of Lenormand. After all, Le Petit Lenormand is a deck that gets SO much of a “complicated” press about which is the “correct” way to read and which isn’t (I mean, it’s even worse than with Kipper cards!) that it’s easy to get overwhelmed with it all.

And no more so than with its “ultimate” spread, the 36-Card Grand Tableau.

Now, the Grand Tableau does tend to intimidate new readers, and while many complications and so-called “rules” have been added into methods of reading it over the years, it’s just worth me reiterating I think that it started off as being a pretty simple game as far as “fortune telling reading” goes.

So this post is going to take us back to those origins as a parlour game used purely for entertainment: the cards created by Johann Hechtel and known as the Game of Hope (see cards below)

Das Spiel der Hoffnung (Game of Hope) cards, 1799 design, in 6x6 gameplay layout

So what are they and what were the original instructions?

Read on to find out more…