Situation, forces & direction
Seven-Card Horseshoe
A middle ground between five cards and the Celtic Cross: adds past, hidden influences, and a possible outcome without the complexity of ten positions.
When to use this spread
A middle ground between five cards and the Celtic Cross: adds past, hidden influences, and a possible outcome without the complexity of ten positions.
Why this spread
Between five cards and the Celtic Cross there is a missing step, and the Horseshoe fills it. It adds the past, a hidden influence and a possible outcome, three things five cards cannot hold, without demanding the ten positions of the Cross. Right for a situation that feels too big for three cards but does not justify a full reading.
The positions and what each one means
- 1
Influential past
What from the past is still active in the situation - 2
Present
Where things stand now - 3
What is hidden
What has not yet been understood or seen - 4
What supports
The forces working in your favor - 5
What blocks
What restrains or pulls backward - 6
Advice & direction
What is suggested now - 7
Possible outcome
Where this may lead if the direction continues
What sets it apart
Position meanings vary between traditions; AGAT should keep one consistent house version.
Example questions
What is behind the stagnation at work, and where is it going?
What am I not seeing in this situation, and what should I do?
More 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.
- 5-Card Question Reading5 cardsThe same question, with more depth: adds the root of the situation and advice above the forces acting within it.