Complete Guide for the 7-Card Tarot Spread

Choosing the right tarot card spread for your reading is important, but the good news is that there are lots of them to choose from. Generally, the fewer cards you use, the less specific your revelations will be but the easier it is to learn all about the spread.

Conversely, spreads with higher numbers of cards reveal more detailed answers for your clients but can be a little more challenging to learn. The fewer cards you use in your spread, the easier they are to learn, so it’s best to use spreads with higher numbers of cards once you’re a little more advanced and not in the very beginning.

Tarot spreads that use seven cards are usually set up in either a “V” pattern or an inverted “V” pattern. Either is acceptable and in fact, many readers decide to make up shapes on their own. The only thing you need to remember is to learn which card goes where so that when the cards are pulled, you know where it belongs and the reading will be more productive for the client, also called the querent.

Different Spreads for Different People

Just like other spreads, the 7-card tarot spread can be arranged any way you want it to be. Most of the time, when you use a pattern that is new to you, you get access to breakthroughs or new truths you wouldn’t have otherwise experienced. While there are lots of ways to spread out these seven cards, we’ll describe one of them in more detail in this article. This one is called the horseshoe tarot spread.

The Horseshoe Tarot Spread

The horseshoe tarot spread can be used with either five or seven cards, and it is an especially good spread when the querent needs to make some difficult decisions. If they feel unsure what their best course of action is, the 7-card horseshoe spread is an excellent arrangement to choose. As mentioned earlier, this is a V-shaped spread that can have an opening either at the top or at the bottom. In addition, you can assign any meanings to the seven cards, but here is one arrangement that is fairly popular:

Card 1: Past influences

Card 2: Present issue

Card 3: Future developments

Card 4: Advice for the querent

Card 5: How people around the issue affect the querent’s decision

Card 6: Obstacles or hidden influences

Card 7: Optimal action for resolution

Another Option for 7-Card Spreads

There is also another 7-card spread that is considered a little more traditional, and it goes like this:

Card 1: The past

Card 2: The present

Card 3: The near future

Card 4: Internal influences

Card 5: External influences

Card 6: Obstacles

Card 7: Final outcome

As you can tell by looking at this spread as compared to the one above, there are some similarities. This is only natural because after all, people tend to participate in tarot card readings for much the same reasons. If a querent has some confusion regarding closure on something that happened in the past or because they need help in making an important decision, the 7-card spread is just right. In addition, the 7-card spread here works best when the querent asks a simple open-minded question, which could include questions such as:

• What should I know about my current relationship?
• Does my Higher Self have a message for me right now?
• What should I know about taking this specific action?
• What should I do to move forward in my career?
• What negative things could happen if I … ?

What About a Love/Relationship 7-Card Tarot Spread?

Let’s face it, when it comes to topics asked about in tarot card readings, few of them are more common than those regarding love. After all, we are created to have relationships with other human beings, including romantic relationships. While no one really knows why some relationships last and others don’t, everyone is interested in learning everything they can about their own relationships. Often, this includes participating in a tarot card reading.

Typically, tarot cards show details about the present, past, and future of a person’s relationship. They can provide valuable information on what the querent can do to increase the odds of a successful relationship and how to make right things that have gone wrong. Questions such as, will this love last, and where is this relationship headed, are commonplace in tarot card readings.

When it comes to a 7-card tarot spread for readings that have to do with love, here are some arrangements you can try to be more effective:

Card 1: Current situation

Card 2: The root card; such as a major influence from the past and what caused the current situation that might shadow the future

Card 3: Influences getting in the way of the relationship

Card 4: Influences that increase the odds of a successful relationship

Card 5: Things the querent doesn’t know but which they need to know regarding their relationship

Card 6: Things the querent can do to help the relationship grow

Card 7: The future prediction or outcome

With all tarot card spreads, including the 7-card spread, it is highly recommended that you start by shuffling and cutting the deck of cards three times before picking your seven cards. Turn each of the seven cards face down, then turn them over one by one to read and interpret their meanings. In fact, when it comes to the shuffling and cutting of the cards, it’s a good idea to let the querents do this themselves. It gives them more of a feeling of control over the outcome, which they love.

Conclusion

The 7-card tarot spread is not that difficult to learn, although it isn’t for beginners, either. As with other spreads, it takes a little practice and studying of the basics before you can master it. Nevertheless, once you do master it, it’s easy for the 7-card tarot spread to become one of your favorites whenever you do a reading, especially when you’re looking for more details in the revelations you receive.