Similar to the Horse Shoe #1, this variant provides insight on different levels. The first two cards begin the reading with the past and present, but then the cards switch to a different focus. Card #3 warns you about possible side effects that could accompany the future outcome, #7. The base card, #4 shows desirable or undesirable actions to take concerning the issue. The external environment specifically means the people around you and how they feel about what you are up to. Things which could cause setbacks are indicated in Card #6, another more specifically focused card than what is generally labelled the obstacle or challenge card in some other layouts.
Past Actions Effecting the Question 8 of Cups |
Possible Future Outcome 3 of Pentacles |
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Present Actions Effecting the Question Knight of Swords |
Possible Delays The Tower |
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Future Results You Should Consider Strength |
Feelings of Those Around You 2 of Swords |
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Actions You Should Consider The Fool |
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Past Actions Effecting the Question
A man of dejected aspect is deserting the cups of his felicity, enterprise, undertaking or previous concern.
Reversed Meaning:
Great joy, happiness, feasting, jubilee.
He is riding in full course, as if scattering his enemies. In the design he is really a prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might even be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart.
Reversed Meaning:
Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance, ruin.
A woman holds a young lion at bay with her female strength of grace. She is crowned by the lemniscate as the Magician is, revealing herself as his counterpart.
Reversed Meaning:
Manipulation, despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, disgrace, deception, trickery, lies, cheap tactics, malevolence.
A watchdog warns a foolish youth that he is about to carelessly walk off a cliff. The Fool seems totally ignorant of his surrounding and the danger he is in.
Upright Meaning:
Folly, mania, extravagance, delirium, frenzy, intoxication, bewrayment, going nuts, inexperience, pettiness, immaturity, idiocy.
A hoodwinked female figure balances two swords upon her shoulders.
Reversed Meaning:
Imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty, treason, back-stabbing.
Lightning strikes the top of a Tower, knocking the crown off the top. Reminiscent of the Tower of Babel, two figures fall from grace.
Reversed Meaning:
Oppression, imprisonment, trap, tyranny, hardship, torment, persecution, coercion.
A sculptor at his work in a monastery. Compare the design which illustrates the Eight of Pentacles. The apprentice or amateur therein has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.
Reversed Meaning:
Mediocrity, puerility, pettiness, weakness, pathetic-ness, lameness, a quack.