This easy-to-read four-card layout is one of the most useful of all the spreads. The first card is the significator, and the last shows the outcome, provided that the advice given is followed. The advice is broken down into two cards which can easily be compared and contrasted. Card #2 suggests what to avoid, while #3 shows the path to take.
This spread can also be used to ask about the meaning of a card from a previously executed spread that may have been unclear. In this usage, Card #2 shows what it did not mean, while #3 clarifies the meaning.
DO This Death |
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It Deals with This Strength |
Do NOT Do This King of Swords |
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It Leads to This Knight of Pentacles |
It Deals with This
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.
Upright Meaning:
Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity, boldness, grace, mercy, goodwill, finesse, dexterity, soothing, tact.
He sits in judgement, holding the unsheathed sword. He recalls the conventional symbol of justice in the Major Arcana, and he may represent this virtue, but he is rather the power of life and death.
Upright Meaning:
Power, command, authority, militant intelligence, law, defensiveness, security, high office, duty, public service.
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.
Upright Meaning:
End, destruction, loss, failure, terminus, conclusion, completion, closure, resolution, outcome, annihilation, downfall, rebirth.
He rides a slow but steady horse, which is just like him. He holds the pentacle, but does not look therein.
Upright Meaning:
Utility, service, interest, responsibility, rectitude, authority, obligation, accountability, work, trust.