By Lalia Wilson
Happy March and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It is early spring in the more temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, with lovely shades of green emerging from the soil: some of the earliest greens start as chartreuse or lime before darkening to fern, shamrock, or emerald. Serendipitously, the green shamrock, symbol of The Emerald Isle (Ireland) is most likely one of the 300 species of clover, many of which grow in Ireland. Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus Trifolium (Latin, tres "three" + folium "leaf"), according to Wikipedia. The Shamrock, though is also sometimes associated with the various species within the genus Oxalis, which are also trifoliate. The Clover, which usually has three leaves, was used by St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, to demonstrate the doctrine of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The clover or shamrock has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the 18th century, like a rose is used for England, a thistle for Scotland and a daffodil (sometimes leeks) for Wales. In 1801, when Ireland officially became a part of the United Kingdom, the symbols of the rose, thistle and shamrock began appearing on currency, official seals, and public architecture.
But our interest is in cartomancy. The Lenormand fortune telling cards usually have 36 cards. Of those, nine are positive in meaning with #2 Clover as one of the positives. The expression “rolling in clover” also sometimes “being in clover” or “living in clover,” is to live a carefree life of ease, comfort, or prosperity. This expression is even more apt for Americans whose currency is colored green on one side (greenbacks). In the U.S., green is the color of money.
According to the Lenormand, any clover is lucky, but you can find clovers with more than three leaves: the “lucky” four, or five, on up to the Guinness World record clover with 56 leaves discovered in 2009. I am thinking they had to use a microscope to count those leaves…
Here you have three different clover cards from three different Lenormand decks: The Scrying Ink Lenormand by Siolo Thompson (available as an app from The Fool’s Dog or perhaps when a new deck is printed), the Time for Lenormand by Anne Walner and James Battersby (available as a book and a physical deck, 2017) and the Guilded Reverie Lenormand from Ciro Marchetti (U.S. Games Systems, Inc. 2013).
May March find you rolling in clover!