Gates of Love
7 cardsCategory: Love & Relationships
A spread about entering a new relationship and readiness for love.
Overview
A great spread for clarifying relationships, where each card provides an important answer. The spread works wonderfully for querents experiencing difficulties in personal life, as it helps recognize fears and obstacles to creating relationships, gives specific advice on how to pass through these 'Gates', and a forecast for the future.
Spread Diagram
Card Positions
Querent Before the Gates
The querent standing before the Gates — what they are like in relationships. Shows what strong or, conversely, weak sides the person displays in relationships.
Hope
Hope, the left gate wing — what the querent expects from this relationship, positive and negative expectations.
Fears
Fears, the right gate wing — what the querent fears in this relationship. A positive card can also describe a fear. As Bert Hellinger says, to be happy, one needs a great deal of courage.
Arch Above the Gates
The arch above the Gates — the responsibility the querent must take on if they want to pass through the Gates. What follows from all of this for them.
The Lock
The lock that closes the Gates — what hinders love or complicates the relationship. Sometimes this is how the partner is perceived!
The Key
The Key — the right behavioral model with the partner and in general, the cards' advice regarding overcoming difficulties.
Beyond the Gates
What awaits beyond the Gates. Forecast for the quality of the relationship.
How to Read
Shuffle the deck while focusing on the relationship. Draw 7 cards. Card 1 at the bottom — the querent. Cards 2 (left) and 3 (right) — the gate wings: hope and fears. Card 4 above — the arch. Card 5 in the center — the lock. Card 6 is placed on top of card 5 — the key that unlocks the lock. Card 7 at the top — what awaits beyond the Gates. Read bottom to top: who you are in relationships (1), what you expect and fear (2–3), what responsibility to take (4), what hinders (5), how to overcome (6), what lies ahead (7).
Tips & Advice
Pay special attention to the pair 5–6 (lock and key): the key is placed directly on the lock, symbolically showing exactly how to unlock the barrier. Cards 2 and 3 (hope and fears) are the gate wings, and both are equally important. Even a positive card in position 3 can describe a fear — for example, fear of happiness or fear of change. Card 7 is a forecast, but it will only come true if the querent accepts responsibility (card 4) and uses the key (card 6).
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