Tarot and Oracle Deck Systems FAQs

No. Petit Lenormand is the familiar 36-card system. Dusserre’s Grand Jeu de Mlle Lenormand has 54 cards and combines several symbolic traditions, including astrology, mythology and the language of flowers. “Grand” here does not simply mean larger printing. Check the full deck name and its own instructions before using a Petit Lenormand reference book.

Further reading: Dusserre: Grand Jeu · Lo Scarabeo: 36-card Lenormand.

It is a layout using all 36 cards of a Petit Lenormand pack. It is not the name for a 54-card Grand Jeu deck, even though both names contain “Grand”. Lo Scarabeo also uses Grand Tableau as a product title. Learn an arrangement and its reading instructions rather than treating any large pile of cards as the same method.

Further reading: Lo Scarabeo: Grand Tableau.

In Tina Gong’s house method, positions follow the deck’s numbered order: Rider first, Clover second, and so on. Read the card dealt there together with that position’s theme. A house is therefore a position, not an extra card; the House card can appear elsewhere. These are interpretive associations, not verified facts about an area of your life.

Further reading: Labyrinthos: houses.

Both select pairs by position, but use different patterns. In Tina Gong’s five-card mirroring example, pair positions 1 and 5, then 2 and 4. Knighting uses a chess-knight shape in a grid: two places along a row or column, then one perpendicular. Read the starting card with each reachable card without moving them. These optional methods create interpretive connections; they do not reveal someone’s secret thoughts.

Further reading: Labyrinthos: mirroring · Labyrinthos: knighting.

It can, depending on the method. Anna.K suggests treating the left card as the topic and the right as its modifier, while allowing flexibility. Her example combination lists deliberately omit order, so a list entry is not necessarily a complete reading of your particular sequence. Record which card came first and follow your chosen method consistently. Do not assume that every online combination table applies the same rule.

Further reading: Anna.K: combining cards · Anna.K: example-list caveat.

No. Rana George’s Lenormand reference associates Tower with institutions, restrictions and isolation. The Rider–Waite–Smith tarot Tower instead depicts a lightning-struck building and falling figures. These belong to different symbolic systems, despite sharing a name. When changing decks, identify the system before carrying over an interpretation. Neither proves a future disaster.

Further reading: Rana George: Tower · Waite: The Tower.

Yes, in a creator’s system. Rana George’s 40-card Muree approach includes Market; she explains that when using it she removes the work context from Fox. That is more than adding another picture while leaving every association unchanged. If you use an expanded deck, check whether its author redistributes meanings as well as adding cards. Do not apply that author-specific change to every Lenormand deck.

Further reading: Rana George: Market.

No. Kipper is a separate German card-reading system, traditionally with 36 cards. Its named people, relationships and situations include subjects such as Marriage and Journey. The matching card count does not make its cards interchangeable with Petit Lenormand. Use a Kipper guide for its vocabulary and relationships between cards. A character label is not evidence about a real person.

Further reading: U.S. Games: Kipper.

It concerns how cards relate spatially, including what lies in front of or after a person card. U.S. Games illustrates this with Gift: before Main Male, it may suggest receiving; after him, giving. This is a convention within its explanation, not a universal rule for every deck. Follow your guide’s orientation instructions and preserve the layout when taking notes.

Further reading: U.S. Games: Kipper.

Not necessarily. Lo Scarabeo’s Sibilla Indovina, sold in English as Sibilla Oracle Cards, is a 52-card pack with illustrated scenes and phrases printed on the cards. It is not organised as that publisher’s ordinary 78-card tarot decks. Check the exact Sibilla edition and its instructions instead of assuming a tarot Major/Minor Arcana division or importing Petit Lenormand’s 36-card numbering. “Oracle” is a broad label, not a guarantee of one shared structure.

Further reading: Lo Scarabeo: Sibilla.

No. Dusserre describes Horoscope Belline as a simplified relative of Oracle Belline: it keeps the main themes in a 53-card oracle structure but omits the astrological planets. Its listed box contains 55 cards in total, of which 53 are oracle cards. The similar names and counts do not make every instruction interchangeable. Check which title you own before following a guide that relies on planetary symbolism.

Further reading: Dusserre: Horoscope Belline.

Minchiate is a historical Florentine tarot-game format with a larger picture-card sequence, not simply a standard deck with spare cards. The British Museum’s catalogue describes 97 cards, including additional virtues, the four elements and zodiac signs. Its sequence therefore cannot be matched to a modern 22-card Major Arcana list by number alone. Use a Minchiate-specific reference rather than treating every unfamiliar card as a printing error.

Further reading: British Museum: catalogue, p. 4.

Not merely because it has 62 cards. This historical game format omits the Two, Three, Four and Five from each of the four suits, as described in the British Museum’s catalogue. That differs from accidentally losing sixteen cards from a 78-card pack. Check the edition’s stated format and checklist before requesting replacements.

Further reading: British Museum: catalogue, p. 4.

The historical series called Mantegna Tarocchi is not an ordinary tarot pack. The British Museum describes fifty engravings arranged in five groups of ten, covering subjects such as human conditions, the arts and the cosmos. It also cautions that the traditional attribution to Mantegna is misleading. A reproduction of that series is therefore not a 78-card deck with missing cards. Check its own sequence rather than assigning ordinary tarot ranks to every image.

Further reading: British Museum: Mantegna Tarocchi.

That is a recognised feature of the Besançon pattern, not necessarily a modern deck-maker’s invention. The British Museum describes a complete 78-card example in which Juno replaces the Popess and Jupiter replaces the Pope. Recognising the pattern helps you choose a suitable reference. The substitution does not mean every interpretation of the replacement figures must match a modern High Priestess or Hierophant keyword list.

Further reading: British Museum: Besançon pack.

Not in every edition. U.S. Games says its Pierpont Morgan Tarocchi reproduces 74 surviving cards and recreates four missing ones: Devil, Tower, Three of Swords and Knight of Coins. A complete modern reading deck can therefore combine facsimiles with reconstruction. Check the publisher’s credits when studying historical imagery, especially those four cards, rather than treating every detail as evidence from an original surviving card.

Further reading: U.S. Games: Visconti-Sforza.

Yes. The French Tarot game uses a 78-card pack with those four suits, each containing fourteen cards, plus twenty-one numbered trumps and the Excuse. The court ranks include a Cavalier alongside King, Queen and Valet. It is not simply an ordinary 52-card pack, nor does it automatically supply Rider–Waite–Smith scenes. If you want a deck for a particular reading method, preview its faces rather than relying only on the word “tarot”.

Further reading: French Tarot Federation: cards.