4. House – Meaning
Safety and comfort. What is under your own roof. Security.
This card is a mix of feelings, survival categories and … an actual building.
The House is where you live, what’s under your roof. It can mean family, but only those that live with you, at your home. (For family members who don’t live with me, I use 5. The Tree card). The House means safety, comfort, security, feeling protected; the place we can nourish ourselves and regroup, domesticity. It can also mean the ‘everyday’. The regular that is close by us and to be expected. And traditions we celebrate or enact in the home.
Some readers have this card to mean conservatism – but I rarely get that meaning come up for me as I think of myself as a progressive person, so my home is allowing and accepting of ‘the new’.
The mood of the House is slow, comfortable and safe PLUS whatever home means to you.
Timing-wise, the House card is the number 4, so, four days, four weeks, four months, four years, or the month of April.
The body part associated with the House is the skeleton or bones. (I have one of the meanings of the 7. Snake card as being the spine though…).
Valence: Neutral (Lenormand cards originally made up a parlour game, each card was a “square” on the game board. If you rolled the dice and your token landed on a “good” card, you moved forward or were advantaged in some way. Neutral cards were neither advantageous nor disadvantagous, like the House card).
See Wikipedia’s entry for further history and definitions!
House Combinations
| Primary | Secondary | Combined Meanings |
| 4 House | 1 Rider | A visitor or package is about to arrive at your house! A young person who lives under your roof. Details about your house in the news (e.g., if selling your house). |
| 4 House | 2 Clover | A fun party at the house. A hotel/motel. A lottery where a house is a prize. An alcoholic practising sobriety. |
| 4 House | 3 Ship | Moving house. Living in a foreign country. Foreign customs in the home. A house boat! A house by the sea. |
| 4 House | 4 House | Very stable, very secure. Your house is protected. Doing homey things at home (lol!) |
| 4 House | 5 Tree | Stability in health. Family living under your roof. |
| 4 House | 6 Clouds (light) | A domestic squabble is being cleared up. Letting more light into the house. A spring clean (+ The Whip card). |
| 4 House | 6 Clouds (dark) | A gloomy feeling in the home. Someone under your roof feels troubled. Confusion regarding a rental agreement or living arrangement. |
| 4 House | 7 Snake | Home renovation. A comfortable transition. A person with black hair who lives under your roof. A house with lots of curved / sinuous features. |
| 4 House | 7 Snake (Negative) | Someone you live with who doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Someone is trying to figure out how to get past your home’s defenses. |
| 4 House | 8 Coffin | The final home someone lived in. The house is very quiet. Home at the end of a street or in a culdesac. A small boxy home. Home-sick. At home feeling sick. |
| 4 House | 9 Bouquet | Painting your home. A pleasant house-warming gift. Making art at home. A colourful house. Your backyard. Flowers in your home garden. |
| 4 House | 10 Scythe | Sudden eviction notice. A hasty decision to move that is final. Harvesting herbs/vegies grown in your home garden. |
| 4 House | 11 Whip (and the Broom) | House work or chores. Home exercise workout. A house competition. Sexy times at home. Domestic violence. House slave. Arguments in the home. |
| 4 House | 12 Birds | A settled old married couple. House arrangements are under discussion. Gossip about private affairs. A pet bird. Working from home as a consultant. Nervous excitement in the home. A trendy house. |
| 4 House | 13 Child | A new or small house. A child who lives with you. New security system. |
| 4 House | 14 Fox | Working from home. Home business. Home robbery. Real estate agent. |
| 4 House | 15 Bear | Parents living with you at your home. Home security. House agent/manager. Housing authority. |
| 4 House | 16 Stars | Dream to own your own home. It is safe to communicate with your spirit guides. Advice/guidance about the home. Divination at the home. |
| 4 House | 17 Stork | Moving house. Home improvement. Changes at home. A baby arriving in the home! |
| 4 House | 18 Dog | Living with a friend. A pet dog. Domestic instincts. Friendly neighbour. |
| 4 House | 19 Tower | Home isolation. A recluse. COVID lock-down. Physical structure of the building you live in. A very tall house. Home legalities/taxes. Apartment building. A castle. |
| 4 House | 20 Garden | Your back yard or balcony garden. House-warming party. Home gathering. Private network. Letting fresh air into your home. |
| 4 House | 21 Mountain | A large house. A house in the mountains/on top of a hill. Obstacles to domesticity. |
| 4 House | 22 Crossroads | Options about where or how to live. Sub-division of your property. A hallway in your home with lots of doors coming off it. |
| 4 House | 23 Mice | Pests have invaded the home! Deterioration of the house structure. Repairs needed at home. |
| 4 House | 24 Heart | Home is where the heart is. A hobby you love to pursue under your own roof. A lover you live with. |
| 4 House | 25 Ring | Unity in the household. Bounding line of the home’s property. House contract. |
| 4 House | 26 Book | Home library. Butler’s Journal. Things only those close to you know. Home economics. Skeletons in the family closet. Architect/Housing academic. |
| 4 House | 27 Letter | Title of Deed. Receiving an email on the home computer/at home. Council zoning map. (Written) communication in the household. |
| 4 House | 28 Man | House husband. Masculine comforts of the home. Male helper in the home. Private security. |
| 4 House | 29 Woman | House wife. Feminine comforts of the home. Private security. Female helper in the home. |
| 4 House | 30 Lilies | Retirement Home. House where you’ll live out the rest of your days. An older home. Peace and harmony in the home. |
| 4 House | 31 Sun | Light in the house. Windows or lightbulbs. A happy home. Home heating or fireplace. Happy housemates. |
| 4 House | 32 Moon | Emotional or psychic housemate. Famous/celebrity house. Monthly accommodation. |
| 4 House | 33 Key | House key! House gate. Resolving something within the home. A successful home-owner/member of the household. |
| 4 House | 34 Fish | Feather your nest. Making money from home. House price. |
| 4 House | 35 Anchor | Very sturdy house foundations. Home on the coast. Permanent residence. ‘The Daily Round’ at home – i.e., morning or evening routine. |
| 4 House | 36 The Cross | House rules. A place of religious worship. A priory / convent / monastery. Security problems causing extra work or hassles. Difficulties in the home. A house that is a burden. |
For more meanings and information, head to Wikipedia’s Lenormand page.
Or check out my “Recommended Lenormand Resources” page for sites, vids and books I love 🙂
Copyright 2022 Patricia Appleyard – Australia