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  5 of Cups |
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Hidden Influences  The Hermit |
External Influences  7 of Swords |
|
The Present  The World |
Suggestion  The High Priestess |
|
The Past  10 of Wands |
The Outcome  The Chariot |
The Past Card represents past events that are affecting the question.
10 of Wands
A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying.
Reversed Meaning:
Oppression, difficulties, intrigues, heavy-handedness, bad luck.
The World
A nude, dancing female holding two batons, symbolic of Mother Earth and Mother Nature. She is encircled by a wreath and surrounded by the cherubs who are the guardians of Heaven and Earth.
Reversed Meaning:
fixity, stagnation, absence, nullification, dullness, discouragement, false visions, non-existence, lack-lustre, nullity.
The Hermit
An old man with a walking stick holds up a lantern to enlighten his path.
Reversed Meaning:
Concealment, disguise, policy, fear, phobia, treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption, betrayal.
5 of Cups
A dark, cloaked figure, looking sideways at three prone cups two others stand upright behind him; a bridge is in the background, leading to a small keep or holding.
Upright Meaning:
It is a card of loss, but something remains over; three have been taken, but two are left; it is a card of inheritance, patrimony, transmission, but not corresponding to expectations.
7 of Swords
A man in the act of carrying away five swords hastily; missing two which remain stuck in the ground. He is a thief. A camp is close at hand.
Reversed Meaning:
A dangerous plan that may fail, quarrelling, annoyance, disturbance, thievery, crime, slander, babbling.
The High Priestess
Crowned by the moon, the High Priestess is seated between two pillars, one black and the other white. She holds the Tora scroll and the secret wisdom of the world's creation.
Reversed Meaning:
Passion, moral or physical ardour, conceit, surface knowledge, ego, shallowness, superficiality.
The Chariot
A stately figure drives a chariot pulled by a black and a white Sphinx. The canopy of his chariot is the night sky, emblazoned with stars.
Upright Meaning:
Traveling, journey, fun times, victory, battle, voyage, route, emigration, flight, change of place, challenges met boldly, triumph.