Situation, forces & direction
5-Card Question Reading
Also known as: Five-Card Cross
The same question, with more depth: adds the root of the situation and advice above the forces acting within it.
When to use this spread
The same question, with more depth: adds the root of the situation and advice above the forces acting within it.
Why this spread
Three cards tell you what is happening, but not why. The two extra cards here add exactly that: the root the situation grew from, and the advice that sits above the forces at play. Best when the question has come back a few times and deserves an answer with background.
The positions and what each one means
- 1
Central situation
The core of the question as it stands now - 2
Root & background
Where it began and what continues to feed it - 3
What supports
What works in your favor - 4
What blocks
What restrains or slows progress - 5
Advice & direction
How to work with the balance of forces
What sets it apart
Structurally equivalent to the familiar Five-Card Cross, so it does not need to exist as a separate spread.
Example questions
What should I understand about the possibility of a promotion?
Open with this questionWhat is at the root of this stuckness, and what should I do?
Open with this questionMore spreads in "Situation, forces & direction"
- Situation · Challenge · Advice3 cardsWhat is happening now, what is getting in the way, and what to do with it. The most practical of the three-card spreads.
- Strengthens · Weakens · Potential3 cardsFor evaluating something that already exists — a relationship, job, project, or process already in motion.
- Support · Block · Tendency3 cardsAn alternative to yes/no. Instead of a fixed answer, it reveals the forces at work and the direction things currently lean toward.
- Seven-Card Horseshoe7 cardsA middle ground between five cards and the Celtic Cross: adds past, hidden influences, and a possible outcome without the complexity of ten positions.