A Seven-Card Spread

Seven cards are dealt left to right. The first cards, on the left, represent the past; the middle three the present; and the two on the right, the future. Starting at the left, the card positions are as follows:

1. The Distant Past
2. The Immediate Past
3. Present Difficult Influences
4. You, As You Are Now
5. Present Positive Influences
6. Recommended Action
7. The Ultimate Result

This is adapted from a more traditional form, in which cards are read either right-side-up or reversed; the reversed or inverted cards show influences that are opposite in meaning, or at least weakened or delayed. If the querent asks a "yes-or-no" question and the majority of the cards are reversed, then the answer is "no."

However, when it is read Gestalt-style, all the cards can be placed and read upright. Of course the spread cannot then be forced to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer, but that is all right since most questions do not have such a black-or-white answer anyway.

Excerpted from Heart of Tarot: An Intuitive Approach, by Amber K & Azrael Arynn K