Lenormand suit by suit: Diamonds

The Lenormand suit of Diamonds is the Alemannic suit of Bells, and according to Andy Boroveshengra's book Lenormand: 36 Cards, is associated with the season of summer. The nine cards are:

Sun - Clover - Birds - Key - Coffin - Book - Scythe - Path - Fish 

I notice that 6 out of 9 cards are outdoors/nature cards and easily associated with summer life and activities -- Sun, Clover, Birds, Scythe (first harvest being traditionally August 1st), Path and Fish. The Sun shines in summer, the lawns are full of Clover, Birds everywhere, first harvest takes place (Scythe), we like to go walking (Path) and fishing (Fish). Simplistic, but effective. I've looked through the rest of deck, and though there are more animal and nature cards, none seems as overtly 'summery' to me as these. Only Garden, and it is in the suit of Spades, and I have a few ideas about why that I will cover later.

Andy says in his book that the Diamonds suit deals with 'matters concerning one's prosperity, the precarious nature of life, and one's individual cares and concerns.' So even though the Diamonds represent summer, which we associate with fun times, they can represent stress, or as Andy says, 'a need to be cautious or that your shoulders are too burdened.' In a way this makes perfect sense. I imagine summertime must have been very stressful in the past. It is a relatively short time and in that time, people needed to get all the growth and much of the harvesting done to sustain them through the long, cold winter, the spring, and through to the next summer again. That's a lot of pressure. It also helps make the connection between summer and financial matters and the 'precarious nature of life'. I imagine it must have seemed like one great big crap shoot, summertime. Happy and joyous because it's filled with light and warmth and food, but lots of worries, too.

French Cartomancy, LoScarabeo

The Sun is out, it's summer! Will we be Lucky this year? Will Happiness be on our side? (Clover) The Voices of worry niggle. Lots of talk. But we also might get to take a nice break some time this season.(Birds)

French Cartomancy, LoScarabeo

This season is the Key to everything. (Key) If we don't get this right, if luck is not on our side, we're dead. We might barely break even, or we might lose everything. (Coffin) It's the unknown, you see. We just don't know how things will turn out. All we can do is follow the Farmer's Almanac and hope for the best. (Book)

French Cartomancy, LoScarabeo

We begin the first harvest of our labours, though much of it is yet to come. It's hard work, and we never know what the yield is going to be.  Even after all the work of bringing the harvest in, there are dangers that could strike - a barn burning, infestation of rats, or damp getting in and spoiling the lot. It's a scary and dangerous proposition, this business of life. (Scythe) We have so many choices to make this season -- what to plant, when to plant it, how to tend it, when to harvest it, how to store it -- it's hard to know where each option might lead. (Paths) At the end of it, we hope to prosper. (Fish)

Caitlin Matthews in her book The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook says that Diamonds represent 'dynamic energy, enterprise, strategy, luck, money, wisdom, and decisions,' all of which makes perfect sense to me in the context I've explored here.

This helps me get a handle on the Diamonds.