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Layouts: 11 shapes from 3 to 7 cards

A layout is a shape: how many cards you draw and where they lie. Each position carries its own question, and the card in it answers that question. Every layout on the platform is below, grouped by card count.

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Layout and technique: the difference

A layout answers «what does this look like on the table»: three cards in a row, a cross of four, a 2×2 matrix. A technique answers «what do I do with it»: the order you draw the cards in, what to ask each one, how to close.

On the platform they are the same entry with two entrances. If you know what you came with, start from the techniques, where the list follows your request. If you would rather look at the shapes first, stay here.

Layouts have no pages of their own: every link below goes to a technique page, where the same shape is laid out step by step.

Three cards

The shortest shapes, 10 to 20 minutes. Easier to start with: three cards stay in your head without notes.

World / We / I

3 cardsexpress~10 minutes
1 World 2 We 3 I

Fork: A / B / Third Way

3 cardsdecision~15 minutes
1 Option A 2 Option B 3 Unseen

Timeline: Yesterday / Today / Tomorrow

3 cardsnarrative~10 minutes
1 Yesterday 2 Today 3 Tomorrow

From Obstacle to Resource

3 cardstransformational~20 minutes
1 Goal 2 Obstacle 3 Resource

Masks: public, hidden, aspired

3 cardsself-knowledge~15 minutes
1 Public 2 Hidden 3 Aspired

Four cards

Four positions give structure without asking for a plan yet: a cross, a matrix, a rising line.

GROW: Goal – Reality – Options – Will

4 cardsdecision~25 minutes
1 Goal 2 Reality 3 Options 4 Will

Four-point cross: give and take

4 cardsdiagnostic~15 minutes
1 Problem 2 I give 3 I receive 4 Improves

Resource state

4 cardsresource~15 minutes
1 Resource 2 Switch on 3 Support 4 State

Johari window

4 cardsself-knowledge~15 minutes
1 Open 2 Hidden 3 Blind 4 Unknown

Five cards and more

Longer shapes, 20 to 25 minutes. Paper and pen are not optional here: five or seven cards do not stay in your head.

Money flow

5 cardsdiagnostic~20 minutes
1 Block 2 Action 1 3 Action 2 4 Action 3 5 Outcome

Five steps to a solution

7 cardsuniversal~25 minutes
1 Now 2 Wanted 3 Reason 4 Payoff 5 Step 1 6 Step 2 7 Step 3

Questions about layouts

Which layout should I start with?
If this is your first time, take a three-card shape: World / We / I, or Timeline. They are short and hold no position that can catch you off guard. The universal seven-card shape (Five steps to a solution) fits any question but takes 25 minutes.
Can I lay the cards out in my own shape?
Yes. The shapes here are ready-made supports, not rules. On the table cards go anywhere, and you can invent your own positions. What a shape gives you is a question already attached to each position.
How is a MAC layout different from a tarot spread?
In tarot a card has a fixed meaning and the spread is read against a reference. In MAC there is no such meaning: the card works as projective material, and the meaning appears in your answer to the position question. The same shape gives two people different things.
Do I need a layout room to use a shape?
No, a shape works in your head or on paper. Some layouts do have a room with the frames and position numbers drawn on the background, which saves you from remembering what goes where. Rooms are picked on the table, in the right sidebar.

Lay a shape on the table

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See also: techniques (list by request), decks (what to draw), how it works.