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 layouts, it has tiles 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. Tile #6 suggests a course of action to meet this challenge. The final tile shows the outcome or future, should this advice be followed.
Other clues are provided in Tiles #3 and #5, which indicate hidden or outside influences that come into play, affecting the journey to your goal.
Obstacle  West Wind |
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Hidden Influences  Wan 2 |
External Influences  East Wind |
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The Present  Plum Blossom |
Suggestion  Circles 5 |
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The Past  Circles 6 |
The Outcome  White Dragon |
The Past Tile represents past events that are affecting the question.
Circles 6
The Peach stands for feminine beauty, extravagance, and unfortunately indolence. It means femininity in general, and more specifically suggests that a particular woman is a factor in this reading.
Plum Blossom
The Plum represents spring, youth, innocence, inexperience, and childlike happiness. It may be a sign that you need a fresh perspective on something. Something in your life may need to be re-evaluated.
Wan 2
The Sword stands for an important decision you will need to make. You must be careful to use balance as you weigh your decision, or risk damage to yourself if not others.
West Wind
The West Wind tile signifies some kind of obstacle blocking your path that must be overcome before you can make true progress.
White, autumn, metal, tiger
East Wind
The East Wind tile represents you. Tiles adjacent to the East tile in a reading should be given added weight.
Green, spring, wood, dragon
Circles 5
The Dragon tile embodies good fortune. It tends to mean a massive and sudden gain not tied to any specific efforts made on your part. This tile suggests that a pleasant surprise may be right around the corner.
White Dragon
The White Dragon represents the unknown mysterious influences of the universe at work. Unknown factors may come into play, so be prepared for potential surprises.