The seven-card Horse Shoe is a convenient, basic layout that can be used to answer different types of questions, especially concerning questions where insight would be helpful. Like several other spreads, it has cards representing the past, present, and future.
The pinnacle of the Horse Shoe, looking like the top of the mountain, shows the obstacle or challenge that needs to be addressed and overcome. Card #6 suggests a course of action to meet this challenge. The final card shows the outcome or future, should this advice be followed.
Other clues are provided in Cards #3 and #5, which indicate hidden or outside influences that come into play, affecting the journey to your goal.
Obstacle  9 of Clubs |
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Hidden Influences  6 of Diamonds |
External Influences  8 of Spades |
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The Present  7 of Clubs |
Suggestion  10 of Hearts |
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The Past  Queen of Hearts |
The Outcome  4 of Spades |
The Past Card represents past events that are affecting the question.
Queen of Hearts
This card suggests a fair-haired woman with a gentle and pleasant personality. She is almost stereotypically passive and receptive. This card is particularly influenced by the energies of the adjacent cards in a reading. She may have the heart of a poet.
7 of Clubs
This symbol of prosperity and honour suggests an uphill battle which you are more than capable of winning. The value of this experience can be incalculable in regards to both personal development and opening up new opportunities. However, this card can foretell the possibility of romantic interference.
6 of Diamonds
This card embodies success itself. It suggests you will be influential because others will be looking up to you. Share your success and cultivate a cycle of fruitfulness and good fortune.
9 of Clubs
This suggests great strength and endurance will be necessary. If you face the challenge you will certainly triumph. Health and recovery may also come into play.
8 of Spades
Not being able to see the forest for the trees is the general vibe of this card – overlooking the most obvious details. Something or someone may have diverted your attention. This card embodies deception, interference, misdirection, deceit, jealousy and gossip. Division in all things is indicated.
10 of Hearts
This sign indicates pleasures fulfilled yet somehow incomplete. A brooding passion overflows beyond the limits some are willing to accept. Insatiability is indicated by the presence of this card.
4 of Spades
Reconciliation, compromise, and signing deals of different kinds is the meaning of this card in a reading. There will be recovery after a period of struggles. The quarrel is resolved by intellectual means.