Next Step
4 cardsCategory: Critical Situations
Reveals what action to take right now to move forward.
Overview
A simple spread based on the good old Small Cross. Suitable for a wide variety of situations, works well in tense moments when the querent is scared and doesn't know what to do. Allows assessing the current situation, gives a new impulse, advice on how to behave, and a forecast for further development.
Spread Diagram
Card Positions
Starting Situation
The starting situation at this moment. Shows 'what we're working with', what this is really about. Sometimes this card brings true revelation.
What's Not Important Now
What's not important now. Something not worth hoping for or fearing. Something to discard from your mind as an illusion or cause for worry. The card says — don't waste energy in this direction. 'Not the way'.
What Matters
What matters. This is how to act, the optimal strategy. This is the most important card — it points to what to pay attention to, what promotes moving forward. The key is to figure out the difference between these Arcana — that is the answer!
The Next Step
Where the next step will lead. The card shows what the nearest (not final) development will be or what all of this is for. It also usually hints when the cards should be laid out next time.
How to Read
Shuffle the deck while focusing on the situation. Draw 4 cards. Card 1 at the top — starting situation. Card 2 on the left — what's not important. Card 3 on the right — what matters. Card 4 at the bottom — the next step. Read as follows: first assess the starting position (1), then determine the contrast between 'not the way' (2) and 'the way' (3) — this is the key to the answer. Card 4 shows the near future.
Tips & Advice
The spread is minimalistic — only 4 cards, but very powerful. The whole secret is in the contrast between cards 2 and 3: one shows illusion, the other — reality. How they differ — that is your answer. Card 1 may bring unexpected revelation about what's really happening. Card 4 is not the final outcome, but precisely the next step: what will happen first.
Other Spreads
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Planets11 cards
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If you have financial problems, this spread reveals their cause and suggests what action to take.