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Celtic Cross Spread

 

The Celtic Cross is the most well-known tarot spread and also the largest available here, involving ten cards. This spread begins with a pair of crossing cards at the center of the issue, essentially being two significators. When two significators are involved, they may strengthen or oppose each other, which speaks of the nature of the situation. Above and below the initial cross, we have two cards which are symbolic of the intellectual (top) and emotional (bottom) basis of the issue. The Before and After cards show the past and immediate future.

At the right, four cards are laid out, going upward. At the bottom you have a card representing yourself, and the next card shows how others may affect the situation. Card #9 indicates what you may be hoping for, or possibly, what you hope will not happen. Finally at the top is the outcome, meaning the distant or ultimate future.

Spread Positions

  1. This is it (what you asked about)
  2. This crosses it (strengthens or opposes)
  3. This crowns it (higher influences)
  4. It rests upon this (lower influences)
  5. This came before
  6. This comes next
  7. This is you
  8. The external world around you
  9. Your hopes, fears, and secret desires
  10. The result or outcome

 

 

 

Celtic Cross

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Celtic Cross Reading

The Crown

King of Pentacles

The Outcome

6 of Wands


Hopes and Fears

5 of Pentacles


External Forces

Death


The Querent

4 of Pentacles

The Recent Past

3 of Cups

The Crossing Card

4 of Wands


The Significator

10 of Wands

The Future

10 of Cups


Foundation card


Knight of Swords

 

 

The Significator represents what the main theme of the reading deals with, the initial situation.

 

 

10 of Wands

A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying.

Reversed Meaning:

Oppression, difficulties, intrigues, heavy-handedness, bad luck.

 

 

 

 

The Crossing Card denotes an added impulse that compounds the initial card, whether complimentary or contradictory.

 

4 of Wands

From the four great staves planted in the foreground there is a great garland suspended; two female figures uplift nosegays; at their side is a bridge over a moat, leading to an old manorial house.

Upright Meaning:

Country life, haven of refuge, a species of domestic harvest – home, repose, concord, harmony, prosperity, peace, and the perfected work of these.

 

 

 

 

The Crown stands for what the asker is aware of consciously.

 

King of Pentacles

His face is rather dark, suggesting also courage, but stubborn. The bull's head is a recurrent symbol on the throne. The sign of this suit is engraved or blazoned with the pentagram, signifying the four elements of nature and the spirit which governs them. This suit is sometimes represented as coins or disks, and is symbolic of money and material goods or services.

Upright Meaning:

Valour, intelligence, business aptitude, mathematical gifts and attainments; success, proficiency, arrival, execution.

 

 

 

 

Foundation card reveals unconscious driving forces that the querent may not be aware of.

 

Knight of Swords

He is riding in full course, as if scattering his enemies. In the design he is really a prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might even be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart.

Upright Meaning:

Skill, bravery, capacity, defence, address, enmity, wrath, war, destruction, opposition, resistance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Recent Past represents past events and concerns.

 

3 of Cups

Maidens in a garden-ground with cups uplifted, as if pledging one another.

Reversed Meaning:

Expedition, dispatch, achievement, end. It signifies also the side of excess in physical enjoyment, and the pleasures of the senses.

 

 

 

 

The Future depicts that which lies ahead.

 

10 of Cups

Appearance of Cups in a rainbow; it is contemplated in wonder and ecstasy by a man and woman below, evidently husband and wife. His right arm is about her; his left is raised upward; she raises her right arm. The two children dancing near them have not observed the prodigy but are happy after their own manner. There is a home-scene beyond.

Reversed Meaning:

False heart, indignation, violence, deception, in-satiety.

 

 

 

 

The Querent represents the asker and their attitude towards the subject of the reading.

 

4 of Pentacles

A crowned figure, having a pentacle over his crown, clasps another with hands and arms; two pentacles are under his feet. He clings to what he has.

Upright Meaning:

Possessiveness, desperation, obsession, gift, legacy, inheritance, materialism.

 

 

 

 

External Forces represents the influence of others in your life as well as trends in your relationships with others.

 

Death

The Grim Reaper rides into town on a pale horse. The king has fallen, and the Pope greets Death with the king's family. The sun sets in the gateway on the horizon.

Upright Meaning:

End, destruction, loss, failure, terminus, conclusion, completion, closure, resolution, outcome, annihilation, downfall, rebirth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopes and Fears shows the expectations you have concerning the outcome of your question.

 

5 of Pentacles

Two injured people in a snow storm pass a well-lit church.

Reversed Meaning:

Disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, profligacy, injury, hurt, harm, jealousy, vagrancy, underdevelopment.

 

 

 

 

The Outcome of your question. Interpret this card in the context of the entire reading and as an indicator of the path you are currently on, but not necessarily bound to.

 

6 of Wands

A laurelled horseman bears one staff adorned with a laurel crown; footmen with staves are at his side.

Reversed Meaning:

Apprehension, fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate; treachery, disloyalty, gates being opened to the enemy, indefinite delay.