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Celtic Cross Tarot Reading

Ten cards to look at one question from every side. Think about the situation you want to ask about and pick, in order, a card for each position. Each card is read in its place: the same card does not say the same thing as "the challenge" as it does as "the outcome".

What the Celtic Cross is

The Celtic Cross is the best-known full spread in tarot. Arthur Edward Waite made it popular in 1910, in the book that came with the Rider-Waite deck, and it has been the go-to layout ever since for questions where one card is not enough. Six cards form a cross in the center and four stand in a column on the right. It suits matters with history: a relationship that has been going on for a while, a job that is stuck, a decision that keeps not arriving.

The ten positions

  1. The situation: The heart of the matter: where you are right now.
  2. The challenge: What crosses your path, or the force pushing against the situation.
  3. The foundation: The roots of the matter: what holds it up from below, sometimes out of sight.
  4. The recent past: What just happened and still weighs on you.
  5. The best outcome: The best that can come of this, or what you hold in your mind as the goal.
  6. The near future: What is coming in the next few weeks.
  7. You: Your attitude toward the matter: how you see yourself and where you stand.
  8. Your environment: The people and circumstances around you, and how they weigh in.
  9. Hopes and fears: What you want and what you dread; often they are the same thing.
  10. The outcome: Where it all goes if you stay on the same path.

The first two cards are the core of the spread: the situation and what crosses it. The next four place it in time (where it comes from, what just happened, what it could become, what is coming now). The final column speaks about you, the people around you, and how it ends.

How to read the full spread

First read each card in its position. Then look for connections: if the challenge and the outcome share a suit, the problem and the way out are made of the same material; if the recent past and the near future look alike, something is repeating and it is worth asking why. Count the Major Arcana, too. With three or more, the matter is a chapter of the kind that leaves a mark; with none, it is everyday stuff and it is in your hands.

The hopes and fears card is usually the most revealing. The Moonthere speaks of a fear you do not dare to look at; The Sun, of a wish so big it almost scares you. And the outcome is not a sentence: it describes where things go if you change nothing. If you do not like it, the spread has just told you where to act.

An example

Say the situation shows Five of Pentacles and the challengeFour of Cups: money is tight and, on top of that, a kind of apathy keeps you from seeing the help that is already close. If the best outcome shows The Starand the outcome Ten of Pentacles, the spread tells a way out: get your confidence back and, with time, a stability that looks far away today.

When to choose this spread

When the matter is important and has many layers. For a quick question, thecard of the day or the yes or no tarotwill serve you better; to see a matter in time, the three card spread; for a check across areas, love, money and health. Do not repeat the Celtic Cross on the same topic the same day. Each card's meaning is in theguide to the 78 cards.

Tarot is for entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice.