Don't take it too seriously / avoidance of hardship / some small luck
About the meaning:
I do often use the more traditional meanings of the Clover, covered in the first paragraph. But the paragraphs after it describe clusters of meanings which have been at least as useful to me. While they are not exactly the same as the traditional interpretation they are still very closely related to it.
Some small luck / happy coincidence / something good but of little duration: Apart from some small luck, a happy coincidence, a chance or opportunity which needs to be jumped at, or something good that doesn't last all that long, the Clover can also be interpreted as "something will happen very soon, quickly". Also, if you believe that you may be lucky you may be tempted to gamble a bit; take a risk with the hope for a good outcome. So gambling and risk-taking are part of the Clover's more traditional meaning as well.
"Don't take it too seriously" / unburdened ease / small joys of life: Many cards of the Lenormand deck address quite deep issues, important goings-on. To me, the Clover's
interpretation as "to not take X seriously" was a great find.
When the Clover turns up I often take
it as a hint that the querent either is taking something not seriously (which could be a good or a bad thing!), or that they should take something less seriously. Or, from a slightly different angle: When the Clover lies next to another card I sometimes interpret it as lessening
this card's relevance for my concern. The Clover could be saying about the Coffin, for example, that, yes, a break-up would cause some grief - but it wouldn't be the end of the world. Or Clover next to Book could mean that something is "nice to know but not important to remember" - or at least that we think it is that way. In a positive light, taking things not unduly seriously can lead to a sense of untroubled ease, to feeling unburdened and free. Especially when a querent is under a lot of pressure the Clover could be taken as the advice to let go of as many burdens and responsibilities as possible and start living a more spontaneous, easygoing life. The Clover might also represent a person who is happy-go-lucky. And finally, the Clover can represent the small joys of life and/or the ability to find profound joy in them.
Refusal to take on responsibilities / avoidance of hardship: This dimension of the Clover's meaning is the negative result of exaggerating the positive qualities I described in the paragraph above. If we exaggerate them, we won't take anything seriously, even if it is in fact something of importance. So the Clover can mean that we avoid unpleasant duties or refuse to take on responsibilities because we do not want anything to lessen our sense of unburdened ease. It can mean that we are trying to cherry-pick only that which is pleasant or convenient. Sometimes the Clover can be interpreted as a hint that maybe it's time to get serious, pull one's socks up, and face one's responsibilities even if they are not enjoyable.
To dabble in / trifle with something: If a certain activity or the acquirement of a specific skill is not taken very seriously, we tend to just dabble in it, we just toy with it. This can be a wonderful thing. Going about something in a playful way can yield great results exactly because we don't put pressure on ourselves to produce any. But if that's all we ever do we'll never get to a point where we actually know what we're doing, where we can actually do it well. And if we toy with something inconsiderately, if we trifle with something or someone in an disrespectful or irresponsible way, we might also cause harm.
Humour and jokes: Another fitting, albeit rarely applicable, sub-meaning of the Clover is humour. It should be noted though, that it's not so much the "being in good humour" humour which the Clover represents (that would be the function of the Sun); the Clover is about jokes told, about the sharing of funny anecdotes.
About the Image:
There are hundreds of different types of clover - which I hadn't known before I did the research for this card. Some grow only in very specific areas, or climates; some are so tropical looking I wouldn't ever have recognised them as clover. They looked like orchids! But since the meaning of the Lenormand Clover contains a lot of "small, nice but not all that special" I chose the Red Clover for my card, as many have done before me. Red Clover is prevalent all over Europe and in parts of Asia. In Europe it was used as protein-rich green fodder in the middle ages. It helps to bind nitrogen in the ground and is great as a preceding crop. In short: Red Clover is a modestly beautiful, quite useful, but very common plant. By the way, the nectar the clover blossoms contain symbolise the "something nice / small luck" meaning of the card even more beautifully than just the blossoms alone. This is the reason why I included the bumblebee. Bumblebees love clover because they can get at the nectar - honeybees can't, because their sucker is too short. So in my card you've got a bumblebee who is happy to have found some nectar. But the nectar is not an all that special find, because there are plenty of the same blossoms close by. Also, as a friend pointed out to me, the bumblebee could be a warning about the "gambling, risk-taking" aspect of the card. If you put yourself not in the bumblebee's shoes but in the shoes of a passer-by who wants to pick some clover, you can ask yourself whether you really want to risk a sting just to pick this specific blossom which, after all, isn't all that special.
