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  8 of Swords |
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Hidden Influences  6 of Cups |
External Influences  9 of Wands |
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The Present  9 of Pentacles |
Suggestion  Death |
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The Past  The Wheel of Fortune |
The Outcome  5 of Wands |
The Past Card represents past events that are affecting the question.
The Wheel of Fortune
The Sphinx sits atop a wheel in the sky, symbolic of the wisdom of fate. Other Egyptian characters ride the wheel as it turns, which is surrounded by four cherubs who serve as the guardians of Heaven.
Upright Meaning:
Destiny, success, elevation, luck, felicity, well-being, bliss, euphoria, fun times, good luck, fruition, godsend.
9 of Pentacles
A woman with a bird upon her wrist, stands amidst a great abundance of grapevines in the garden of a luxurious manorial house. Possibly it is her own possession and testifies to material well-being.
Upright Meaning:
Prudence, safety, success, accomplishment, certitude, discernment, security, refuge, shelter, sanctuary.
6 of Cups
Children in an old garden, their cups filled with flowers.
Reversed Meaning:
The future, renewal, that which will come to pass presently.
8 of Swords
A woman, blindfolded and bound, with the swords of the card around her. Yet it is rather a card of temporary endurance than of irretrievable bondage.
Upright Meaning:
Bad news, violent chagrin, crisis, censure, power in trammels, conflict, calumny, sickness, having one's hands tied, insanity.
9 of Wands
The figure leans upon his staff and has an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. Behind are eight other staves – erect, in orderly disposition, like a palisade.
Upright Meaning:
Strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; he may prove a formidable antagonist. Possibly – delay, suspension, adjournment.
Death
The Grim Reaper rides into town on a pale horse. The king has fallen, and the Pope greets Death with the king's family. The sun sets in the gateway on the horizon.
Reversed Meaning:
Inertia, sleep, lethargy, hope destroyed, depression, sloth, misery, undoing, ruin, subjugation.
5 of Wands
A posse of youths, who are brandishing staves, as if in sport or strife. It is mimic warfare.
Reversed Meaning:
Litigation, disputes, trickery, contradiction, hypocrisy.