The Book: meaning of Lenormand card 26

The card at a glance

The image on the card

In the Sol da Alma Lenormand, the Book is a thick volume, bound in reddish-brown leather with gilt bands on the spine and tooled corners, lying on a wooden table beside a window. It is closed; from inside it runs a red ribbon, the bookmark, which hangs down over the edge of the table. On the left, a blue-green curtain is held back with a gold tasselled cord; yellow light comes in through the window and falls on the cover. In the right-hand corner the edge of a second book can also be seen, with another red ribbon.

In the Engraved Lenormand, the Book stands upright, closed, seen at three-quarters: a brown leather binding with stitching all round, metal corner-pieces on all four corners and a studded metal clasp that fastens the cover to the body of the book. It rests on a kind of ledge, against a sky of pale clouds. It is the classic Lenormand image: a book that cannot be opened without first undoing the clasp.

The symbolism, detail by detail

The closed book

The secret, what is not yet known. While it stays closed, its contents belong only to whoever wrote them.

The metal clasp

In the Engraved Lenormand, a secret kept in earnest: protected information, discretion, something that requires a key or permission.

The red ribbon

In the Sol da Alma card, the bookmark: someone has already read that far. It is reading that has been interrupted, study in progress, the page where things will pick up again.

The leather binding

The value and permanence of what is written: knowledge that is preserved, archives, memory.

The window and the light

In the Sol da Alma card, the clarity that will one day reach what is hidden. The light already falls on the cover; it has not yet reached the pages.

The second book

In the Sol da Alma card, there is more than one volume: study is long, and one piece of knowledge leads to another.

The ten of diamonds

Diamonds, the suit of Pentacles in the tarot, is the suit of Earth, of what is built slowly; the Ten is the end of the cycle, what has been given in full. The Book is accumulated knowledge — the understanding gained through time and work.

The history of the Book

The Book is one of the thirty-six cards of ‘Das Spiel der Hoffnung’, the Game of Hope, published in Nuremberg around 1799 by Johann Kaspar Hechtel. It was a board game made of illustrated cards, each with a miniature playing card, and the same deck could be used to tell fortunes. In the Lenormand, the Book holds place 26, with the ten of diamonds.

The deck came to be called ‘Lenormand’ after 1843, the year of the death of Marie Anne Lenormand, the most famous fortune-teller in Paris, with no evidence that she ever used it. In Portugal and Brazil it is the ‘Baralho Cigano’, the Gypsy Deck, a popular name with no historical Romani origin.

At a time when books were expensive and few people could read, the closed book was the symbol of guarded knowledge par excellence — and many valuable books did indeed have metal clasps, like the one in the Engraved Lenormand, to protect them.

The meaning of the Book

The Book is what is still to be known. In a reading, it often says that there is hidden information: something the person asking does not yet know, something someone is keeping back, a matter that has not yet revealed its contents. It does not say whether the secret is good or bad — it says that it exists, and that the answer is not yet in view.

It is also the card of study and knowledge: courses, training, exams, research, reading, writing, everything that is learnt. It speaks of those who study, those who teach, those who work with books, archives, documents and records. In this aspect, it is a card of growth: knowledge gained through effort.

The Book asks for discretion. There are matters best kept quiet until they are ripe, and there are things that only come to light in their own time. Next to cards that open or that speak — the Key, the Sun, the Birds, the Rider — the secret comes out; next to the Fox or the Clouds, the hidden information may be misleading.

The Book in love

In love, the Book speaks of what has not yet been said: feelings kept hidden, a discreet relationship, someone who does not show what they feel. Next to the Heart, it is a secret love or an affection not yet confessed. In a relationship, it may point to things still to be told — not always serious ones; sometimes it is simply the part of the other person’s life you do not yet know.

For someone who is single, the Book says that the romantic future is still closed: it is not yet time to know. It can also speak of someone met in a setting of study. Next to the Fox or the Snake, it calls for attention to secrets that could hurt; next to the Key, it announces that what is hidden is about to be revealed.

The Book in work and money

At work, the Book is training, study, specialisation. It favours those who study, those who sit exams, those who work in teaching, research, publishing, law, archives, accountancy — anything that calls for knowledge and record-keeping. In a question about a project, it may say that information is still missing, or that something confidential is at stake.

With money, it asks you to read the accounts and the paperwork carefully: there are figures that are not in plain view. It can speak of money put aside, of investments that have not yet shown results, or of financial matters handled in secret. With the Fish, it is knowledge that earns money; with the Fox, watch out for hidden accounts.

The Book in health and wellbeing

In questions about wellbeing, the Book says that information is still missing: it is wise to ask, to find things out, to get to know your own body and your own habits better. The cards are no substitute for any consultation or any kind of health care — and the Book, more than any other card, is a reminder that answers should be sought from those who know.

The Book as a person

As a person, the Book is someone reserved and discreet, who keeps their thoughts to themselves — or someone cultured and studious, a teacher, a researcher, a writer. Next to a person card, it may say that the person is hiding something, or simply that they are hard to read.

The Book as advice

As advice, the Book says: find out before you decide. Study, ask, read what you need to read. And it also says: keep to yourself what is not yet ripe. Not everything needs to be said right away.

The timing of the Book

The Book does not say when: it says that it is not yet known. What it holds comes to light in its own time, often when a card appears that opens it. Next to slow cards, it speaks of a long course of study or of a secret that will be kept for a long time; next to fast cards, of a revelation coming soon.

In the Grand Tableau: house 26

In the Grand Tableau, house 26 is the house of the Book. The card that falls there shows what is hidden in the life of the person asking, or what they still have to learn. And the Book itself, wherever it falls, brings secrecy or study to the subject of that house: in the house of the Heart, feelings kept hidden; in the house of the Anchor, professional training.

Combinations with other cards

• Heart — A secret love, feelings not yet confessed.
• Key — A secret revealed, an answer discovered; study that provides the solution.
• Letter — A confidential document, a diploma, a contract still to be read.
• Tower — A school, a university, an institution of learning or an archive.
• Birds — A secret that gets told, gossip, information going round.
• Fox — Information hidden with bad intent, a deception, a trap.
• Snake — An intrigue, a complicated secret, someone who knows more than they say.
• Anchor — Professional training, a trade learnt over time.
• Sun — The secret comes to light; study succeeds, an exam that goes well.
• Clouds — Confusing information, something that cannot be made out; it is still too early to know.
• Child — The start of a course of study, a new course, learning; or news not yet announced.
• Fish — Hidden accounts, money put aside, or knowledge that earns money.