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  The Rider |
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Hidden Influences  The Child |
External Influences  The Coffin |
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The Present  The Crossroads |
Suggestion  The Book |
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The Past  The Clover |
The Outcome  The Fox |
The Past Card represents past events that are affecting the question.
The Clover
The Clover is a symbol of good luck, hope, simplicity, and nature. This card indicates a sudden burst of good luck coming your way.
The Crossroads
A choice, probability, not knowing, doubts. The Crossroads indicate the need to make a choice. You can easily avoid your problems, but you may wish to address these issues before they grow so big that they will take far more energy to deal with.
The Child
The Child indicates youth, inexperience, naiveness, playfulness, and small size. The appearance of the Child may foretell a child coming into your life.
The Rider
Thoughts, good news, precognition, an augury. This is a messenger of good fortune, perhaps a young man. Your intentions will go well.
The Coffin
Transformation, adaptation, major changes, secrets uncovered, beginnings, and endings. The Coffin foretells that something will be coming to an end, which means you will need to adapt.
The Book
Wisdom, the Book of Life, facts, things are in good standing, learning, and the symbol of the teacher. The Book may represent a secret of great importance. This secret should be diligently sought after with an open mind, or you will gloss right over it.
The Fox
Deviousness, plotting, hypocrisy, lies, a warning that something is not what it seems, worldly logic, temptations, trickery. When facing away from the affected card, it means absolute honesty and survival instincts.