AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here is a spread that examines the comparative probability of success or failure for an opportunity that could go either way.

Select a card to represent the “best-case” outlook and place it upright on the table. Then take the same card from a second identical or similar deck and set it reversed below the first one to indicate the “worst-case” scenario. (If you don’t have more than one copy of the same deck, choose one that is a close match.) The card selected should have an obvious connection to the nature of the matter; for example, the 2 of Cups upright and reversed could be used for a love reading or Justice for a legal initiative.

Take a third identical or similar deck and use it to populate a three-card “success arc” above the best-case card and a parallel “failure arc” below the worst-case card. When done, compare the cards in each arc to their respective “opportunity” card to see whether one stands out as the most likely to manifest.

Finally, calculate a “numerical essence” card for each four-card set to show the long-range outcome of the situation, “for good or ill.” As always, I use the numbers 11 through 14 for the court cards and subtract the face value of any reversed cards to come up with a single trump card for each arc. (This is similar to the “quintessence” calculation of the TdM tirage en croix method.)

The image below illustrates the layout and also provides an example reading.

The matter signified by the 9 of Disks (Gain) involves a friend who stands to receive a substantial inheritance if events play out in a certain way. (“Inheritance” is one of the Golden Dawn keywords for this card.) The upright Nine describes the most uneventful path to the goal, while the reversed expression shows a more convoluted way that offers no guarantee of satisfaction.

The “Success Arc” begins with the Prince of Disks reversed, indicating a younger man (another contender for the prize) who will play an important part in development of the situation, and its reversal suggests that he will falter in his efforts. This will open the door very slightly for the querent to make inroads via the Ace of Disks reversed, but the Ace is only marginally conclusive and its reversal is cautionary since it could portend a tactical misstep. The Tower clearly expresses a major “blow-up” that would derail prospects for success of the endeavor, and the Hanged Man as the “long-range outcome” conveys the idea of a deferred decision of the “hung jury” kind. (There is no probate court in this State so it would have to represent the intervention of another authority or interested party.) But this card also embodies the aphorism “Patience is a virtue,” and it is elementally friendly to the 9 of Disks, so waiting for the dust of the Tower to settle could leave the querent in a favorable position after the adversary’s attempts to block the resolution fade.

In the “Failure Arc,” the 5 of Wands (Strife) needs little explanation since it is the inherent nature of all such disagreements. The 2 of Disks (Change) implies that material conditions will be in flux and the award may wind up being smaller than anticipated (at least the Two is upright so this should be entirely above-board with no “backroom deal-cutting”). The Prince of Cups reversed could mean disappointment after trying and failing to “finesse” the outcome (or it might describe adverse fallout from “dirty tricks” committed by the aforementioned younger man; I’m thinking “caught red-handed”). Temperance (Thoth “Art”) as the long-range outlook is the quintessential card of “fancy footwork,” but its reversal makes it no more convincing than the reversed Prince of Cups as a “show-stealer.” (Together they imply being “bogged down in red tape,” and it could come down to who has the cleverest lawyer.) While as a “Fire” card it is compatible with the “Earth” of the 9 of Disks, it is not at the same level of rapport as the “Water” of the Hanged Man. This makes the forbearance of the latter the key feature in the narrative as long as the querent doesn’t cave in to the urge to settle for less that Temperance would see as eminently reasonable in a “take-the-money-and-run” sense.

Note that there are no hostile elemental combinations involving the 9 of Disks, so there is no forgone conclusion here. With three “friendly” matches, the “Success Arc” seems to have the inside track over the “Failure Arc” with its two, while the latter has an internal conflict between the 5 of Wands and the Prince of Cups (who may be too devious for his own good) that disturbs its composure. (For reference, Earth and Water are friendly while Earth and Fire are neutral but compatible and Fire and Water are hostile to one another.) There are no Air cards to cut through the “due process” in a decisive way, so it looks like “the mill grinds slowly, but exceedingly fine.” I suspect that what comes out the other end will be somewhat diminished (most likely by taxes since the “interested third party” could be the “tax-man” who claims his due), and in a similar case I’m aware of it took a year for closure to work through the system even with no contested aspects.