The Celtic Cross
As I mentioned earlier, when I started out as a reader, I used the Celtic Cross because it’s the one in all the books. I discovered that this spread can provide an enormous amount of information, but it also takes a lot of time to comprehend. This just isn’t good when your meter is running and your client isn’t rich.
So I found a quicker way to get the same information: the seven-card spread that I’ve been stressing in this book.
Still, the Celtic Cross has stood the test of time, so here goes.
Traditionally, the placements of the cards in the Celtic Cross spread have the following meanings:
Card 1: The significator (a person, a Court Card, to symbolize the client; I don’t use a significator)
Card 2: The client’s present situation (what helps or opposes the client)
Card 3: Whatever is causing the current situation
Card 4: What underlies the current situation (what is at the root of things)
Card 5: What is just passing (more on this in a minute)
Card 6: The immediate future
Card 7: The subconscious
Card 8: The environment (“rules” card 7)
Card 9: What is feared/hoped; anxieties
Card 10: The outcome
These are the traditional meanings given for the placements of the cards using the Celtic Cross, but over the years I discovered something very useful: Card 5 is usually not about what is passing. It’s usually about what will be passing just before the rest of the events in the spread begin. So card 5 has usually not happened yet. Which means you can almost time the situation to come based on what will happen first: card 5.
Also, I discovered that card 4 can act as a root. So if card 4 is the root, what is the rest of the tree? Say card 4 is a Pentacle card. Then the rest of the cards (the tree) are probably going to be addressing practical issues, first and foremost.
As for card 1, suppose you choose the Queen of Rods/Wands (a woman willing to make a commitment) for the significator for an Aries woman. If you choose to put this card down first, then it cannot fall anywhere else in the spread. And this Queen in the #10 spot—the outcome—would be a great thing. Or suppose in the #10 spot she would have fallen reversed (a woman not willing to make a commitment): this would’ve been crucial to know, right?
So, as I said, I do not choose a significator, not even for the Celtic Cross. I simply place the first card after shuffling in the #1 spot, and it becomes the issue at hand.
Also, I discovered that sometimes the last four cards are telling a different story than the first six cards. It’s as if somebody has two issues running along on parallel tracks and both are equally important.
So you can see how this spread can be totally complicated and can turn something relatively simple into something way too hard.
Still, if you like the whole idea, there are books out there with far more information and guidance on the Celtic Cross. Even then, though, you’ll need to add cards to the ten basic cards on the table if you want to get any kind of elaboration and clarity.
Here is a diagram of the Celtic Cross, with the order in which you lay down the cards. Card 2 is placed atop and across card 1 to form a small cross.
Celtic Cross Spread
Rune Spreads
Basically, when I have a simple question about something in my own life, I use runes.
Ralph Blum has done a good job of translating these twenty-five scratchy picture stones into usable concepts. (He says that when he got stuck doing this, he used the I Ching. Great!)
So if you want to substitute tarot cards for runes, you can check Blum’s The Book of Runes for runic layouts and simply substitute cards for stones (though I don’t).
What I Do for Me
Here I need to say something really important.
When I have a question about my own life, I choose one rune, one stone. And I ask this one question: “What is the best thing I can know about ________ right now?”
That’s it.
I always get the answer I need, though I don’t always get the answer I want. And I’ve learned to live with that. (And, no, it wasn’t easy to master this acceptance.)
So I recommend that this be the only question you ever ask an oracle about your own life. Because we just can’t orchestrate what will show up when we choose. See, we always get the right answers to the real issues, no matter how hard we try to avoid them.
A Spread Loosely Based on Astrology
If you’re just starting out and you’re like a kid in a candy store about this stuff, you may want to try this astrology spread. Personally, I’ve never used this spread with much satisfaction, I don’t even know where I read about it. Maybe I just thought of it one day.
Basically, you use one card to address the issues of each of the twelve houses in an astrological chart:
First House: The self, the body, how the world sees us
Second House: Self-earned money, values
Third House: Siblings, short trips, and short communications; neighbors
Fourth House: The home, the parents’ home, mother
Fifth House: Children, luck, speculation, creativity
Sixth House: Work and health
Seventh House: Relationships, partnerships
Eighth House: Death, rebirth, other people’s money, sex, taxes, credit, psychology
Ninth House: Long-distance travel, philosophy, religion, government, spirituality
Tenth House: Career, ambitions
Eleventh House: Friends, organizations, groups, aspirations
Twelfth House: The subconscious, the unconscious, the undoing, “enemies”
(Please consult a good astrology text if you want the really broad meanings for each house.)
So what you do is to put twelve cards in a circle, counterclockwise, one for each house. Then try to understand how the cards you chose relate to the concepts given for each house.
Again, anything like this that makes your right brain work is fine. But I think you’ll end up back at seven cards sooner rather than later, especially if you’re working with clients. Like the Celtic Cross, this astrology spread takes a lot of time to do and interpret.