Secrets of the Celtic Cross
Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin
© Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin, 2016.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
About the Authors
“What next? These cards haven’t finished yet. ”
Goodwin to Katz, Typical Conversation.
Tali Goodwin is the co-author of award-winning and #1 best-selling Tarot books, including Around the Tarot in 78 Days , Tarot Face to Face , and Learning Lenormand . She is also a leading Tarot researcher and is credited with the discovery of A. E. Waite’s second tarot deck, kept secret for a century, published as Abiding in the Sanctuary . She has also uncovered and published the Original Lenormand deck, and with co-author Derek Bain, the original Golden Dawn Tarot images in A New Dawn for Tarot .
Her research into the life of Pamela Colman-Smith with new photographs is published as The Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot by Llewellyn Worldwide (2015). She is co-Director of Tarosophy Tarot Associations (Worldwide) and organizes the international tarot conventions, TarotCon .
Marcus Katz is author of the ground-breaking Tarot book and teaching system, Tarosophy , and is the co-founder of Tarosophy Tarot Associations (Worldwide). In addition to Tarot books with Tali Goodwin, he is the author of The Magister , an 11-volume opus on the Western Esoteric Initiatory System, The Magician’s Kabbalah , and the forthcoming Path of the Seasons . He teaches students privately in the Crucible Club , available by application.
CONTENTS
Why Is It Called the Celtic Cross?
The First Publication of the Celtic Cross
The Background of the Golden Dawn
Who Designed the Celtic Cross Method?
The Archives and Original Documents of the Golden Dawn
An Early Hand-Written Version of the Celtic Cross Spread
The Rosy Cross and the Celtic Cross
When did the Spread become Ancient?
2: Find the Flow & Set the Tone
3: The Resources Always Meet the Challenge
4: The Future Comes to Those Who Make It
6: Where Your Attention Goes is Here
7: The Past is Behind You No w
8: Positive Outcome Fram e
9: Finding the First Ste p
14: You are I when I Say It Like This
15: Should, Would, Could and Might
16: Add a Sliding Scale to your Cards
17. Big Picture (Getting it Started and Finished)
18. Little Picture (It’s in Your Hands)
19. Big Picture, Little Picture (Chunking)
21: The Force is Strong in This One
22: Vectors, Victims and Victors
Introduction
The Celtic Cross spread is arguably the most well-known Tarot spread in general usage. However, it is also one of the most misunderstood. Here is an example of how it is described on one popular tarot site:
The 11 positions of the Celtic Cross offer enough detail to represent complex situations, which is why it has been the standard Tarot spread for hundreds of years.
Actually, the spread is neither a standard nor has it been used for hundreds of years.
In fact, it has only been used for a century. This common misunderstanding appears on almost every site on tarot and in every book is due in no small part to the marketing of the original method. Since the spread was published, it has always been called an “ancient Celtic method of divination” or the “Celtic Cross” when it is neither ancient nor Celtic, nor particularly designed as a cross.
In this book you will discover the real history of this spread and we will clarify the confusion which surrounds the method in the name of the spread itself, the history, and the practical method of reading the cards in the spread.
We will also provide you many new and powerful ways to read the spread using an outcome-orientated approach, which is geared to finding the solution to a situation first and then working to discover the resources and practical steps to attain the best possible outcome.
These methods come from thirty years of reading the Celtic Cross for tens of thousands of clients and is a summary of what works best from our experience, delivered in the best way for beginners.
If you are not interested in the history, which does answer most of the regular questions about the spread from students (such as “which way do you read the past and future positions” or “why do books have different names for the positions”) you can skip the first section of this book and go straight to the powerful methods of reading the spread and the new Celtic Square method.
If You Do Not Yet Know How to Read Tarot
We recommend our other tarot books on Kindle and in paperback, particularly Tarot Flip , if you are in a hurry and want to use meanings distilled from hundreds of real tarot readers.
A more general stroll through card-learning is provided in True Tarot Card Meanings by Andrea Green, and a comprehensive guide to learning the tarot in our own 78 Days Around the Tarot .
If you would like to learn the secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot and more about the lives of Pamela Colman Smith and A. E. Waite, we would recommend Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot which has wholly original research and revelations.
In this present book, we will concentrate on the Celtic Cross and reading methods which key into our other books, although many of the outcome-orientated methods and language patterns can be used with any spread for any situation.
Why Is It Called the Celtic Cross?
We start with what appears a simple question – “why is it called the Celtic Cross?” – and we will use this as a gateway into many other areas of Tarot. And as with any research, this article raises more questions than it answers, although we hope it excludes some previously given answers, and there is ongoing research which will be made available in future editions of our Tarosophist International magazine, which is free to members of the Tarosophy Tarot Association.
Importantly, we exclusively present in this section the first published photographs of the earliest hand-written and typescript versions of the spread from the archives of the Golden Dawn, the Hermetic Society which was founded in London in 1888 and flourished for about twenty years. We also provide full transcripts of these two primary and original documents.
We will look at a number of members of this Society, and their role in creating the Waite-Smith Tarot deck, with which – as we will discover - the Celtic Cross is inextricably associated.
We hope that this section presents all tarot students and readers with an examination of the way in which tarot history, myth and presentation gets confused over time, and the manner in which we can now work on re-discovering our roots, which are often far more curious and interesting than the wishful-thinking and unfounded speculation that too often surrounds tarot.
We would also like to think in this research we can notice and clarify confusions in the practical application of the spread itself which have come about during its brief history.
The bibliography at the end of this book provides many areas for you to research the history of this spread, deck and those involved in their creation. The titles given also cover much of the history of the Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn, the original backdrop of so much of our current tarot.
The Spread
The Celtic Cross spread can be found in most books on tarot. A selection of introductory books and learning guides gives a range of descriptions for the spread; in Learning the Tarot (Bunning, 1998), it is “probably the oldest and most popular pattern”, in Tarot Readings and Meditations (Pollack, 1986) there are almost seventy pages devoted to examples of reading the spread, in Tarot Made Easy (Garen, 1989) it appears as the ‘Keltic Cross’, in the popular Tarot: A New Handbook for the Apprentice (Connolly, 1979) the spread is described as “a very ancient method”, whereas in the Mythic Tarot (Sharman-Burke & Greene, 1986), it is merely “one of the oldest” spreads.
The spread is often described as being presented by A. E. Waite, or recommended by him (as in Tarot Plain and Simple (Louis, 2003)), published by him, and so forth. Over time, this conflation has led to the spread sometimes – as in a discussion thread on one tarot forum – being termed ‘Waite’s Celtic Cross’ method.
The Celtic Cross spread itself consists of ten cards of which actually only two are crossed, then four cards are placed around the central cross of two, and a short line of four cards is placed to one side.
Most authors explain this layout as representing the title by illustrating or describing the cross as the central cross of a Celtic cross, the surrounding cards as the knotwork, and the cards on the right as the stave (as in Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Pollack (1980 & 1983)) or stand of the Celtic cross itself.
We will see that this was neither intended in the design nor the title, which is spurious to the spread itself.
The First Publication of the Celtic Cross
The first known publication of the method is to be found in A. E. Waite’s (1857 – 1942) monograph The Key to the Tarot (hereafter KT) of which a first edition can be found in the British Library with its wonderful moiré patterned cover with Orouboros Serpent. [1] This was optionally bundled and boxed with the Waite-Smith cards being published also by Rider (London) in December 1909 and into 1910.
Here it is simply referred to by Waite as:
… a short process which has been used privately for many years past in England, Scotland and Ireland.
He goes on to say:
I do not think that it has been published – certainly not in connexion with Tarot cards; I believe that it will serve all purpose. [2]
Immediately following this book were further versions of the same work, now re-titled The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (hereafter PKT or Pictorial Key ), and including illustrations of the cards, published a year later in 1911. This version contains an apology by Waite for his dealing – as an “exponent of the High Mystery Schools” – in divination methods. He goes on to state that:
I have given prominence to one method of working that has not been published previously; having the merit of simplicity, while it is also of universal application, it may be held to replace the cumbrous and involved systems of the larger handbooks.
In the title, it is now referred to for the first time as an “Ancient Celtic Method of Divination”. So even here it is still not a “Celtic Cross”. The Celtic descriptor is applying to its geographical (and spurious) usage, not the shape of the spread. As we will see, it is unlikely that the spread was commonly used other than by a few people, and the “many years past” Waite refers to are likely to be about 15-20 years at most.
So, in Waite’s typical style, instead of writing, “this method has been used privately by a few individuals over the last fifteen years, living in various parts of the country”, we get an intimation that it is an old Celtic method which he is revealing for the first time. This should already ring alarm bells as the ancient Celts did not have Tarot cards.
There are other significant differences in the text between the two versions – and following versions of the Pictorial Key . One such difference is that in the Pictorial Key , we are told what to do if the final (tenth) card is a Court Card. There are other differences, but time prevents collating every edition and performing a textual analysis across the versions.
Jensen (2006) discusses the popularity of the spread, and goes on to conclude with the open question:
Where Waite found inspiration for it is not known, but the interest in everything Celtic was typical for the time.
Indeed, Waite was fascinated – as was Yeats, a fellow Golden Dawn member, and several other members of the Order, notably Mathers, by Celtic revivalism. Waite’s rather neglected novel, The Quest of the Golden Stairs (1927) is a naïve tale of loving and longing of a Celtic Faëire realm. It is also full of correspondences to the Kabbalah.
It is this fascination and meeting of particular minds within the Order that provides us our major clues and backdrop for the Celtic Cross Spread and it is where our research took us – into the original archives of the Order, held within the Yorke Collection of the Warburg Institute, University of London.
We will first look at the background of the Order of the Golden Dawn and set the scene for the first use of this method revealed to be within the Order itself.
The Background of the Golden Dawn
The use of Tarot and its correspondence to Astrology, Kabbalah and other systems was a central component of the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in London, 1888, by three members of the S. R. I. A. and Freemasonry, W. W. Westcott, S. L. MacGregor Mathers and W. Woodman. They took the concept of Tarot and merged it with the Drawing Boards of Freemasonry to utilise tarot as ritual tools.
A candidate in the Order would be shown tarot designs as part of their initiation work as illustrating their magical progress. As such, tarot was viewed as a teaching tool and magical map, rather than a mere means of fortune-telling.
However, the Order did have a method of divination by cards – called the “Opening of the Key”. This required knowledge of the Holy Name, YHVH, Hebrew letters, the astrological, elemental and planetary correspondences of the tarot on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and an ability to appreciate numerology and the dignities between correspondences.
As such, it was a long, drawn-out affair, that in practice takes several hours to work through the five stages of reading, with many days then required to fully interpret the reading, particularly if one has also paired the cards for additional depth as suggested in the technique.
The Order designed their own tarot cards but not as a published deck, so they used French and Italian tarot card decks available from Europe. It was not until A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith created their deck in 1909 that an ‘English’ deck was available. You can read more about the creation of the Waite-Smith deck and the symbolism – revealed for the first time – in Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (2015).
A good example of the reading of the “Opening of the Key” is given in Women of the Golden Dawn (Greer, 1996) where readings performed by Annie Horniman (1860 – 1937) in 1903 are given – and a page of her original notes are presented, all using the Opening of the Key method. [3] It is of importance to our story about the Celtic Cross that she sent these readings to the poet and fellow Order member, W. B. Yeats, by his magical name, (D)emon, for his additional comment, demonstrating his knowledge of the subject at that time.
It was into this Order that a number of significant personages found themselves being initiated – such as the poet W. B. Yeats, the artist Pamela Colman Smith, and the mystic, poet and verbose A.E. Waite. It is these three, with one other, that we now turn to explore the origins of the Celtic Cross spread.
Who Designed the Celtic Cross Method?
We know (so far) that the first publication of the method accompanied the deck designed by A. E. Waite and co-designed and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. This deck was created during an incredibly short period of time; just five months during the Summer of 1909. We can compare this to the five years it took for Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris to construct the other monolithic tarot of that era, the Thoth deck – which we tend to see as the deeper shadow of the Waite-Smith tarot deck.
There is however another originator in the background. In an article in the Occult Review (Volume X, No. 12, 1909) entitled ‘The Tarot: A Wheel of Fortune,’ Waite stated that as he and Pamela Colman Smith designed the deck:
… we have had other help from one who is deeply versed in the subject.
Roger Parisious (“Figures in a Dance: W. B. Yeats and the Waite-Rider Tarot”) suggested that this help came might have come from Yeats. [4]
Here is the original quotation from the Occult Review :
This being the case, and recurring for a moment to the fact that the Tarot, as I have said, is in the air, while many people who divine – and a substantial minority who are students rather than dippers at random into the chances of fortune – are all in want of the cards, I have embraced an opportunity which has been somewhat of the unexpected kind and have interested a very skilful and original artist in the proposal to design a set. Miss Pamela Coleman [sic] Smith, in addition to her obvious gifts, has some knowledge of Tarot values; she has lent a sympathetic ear to my proposal to rectify the symbolism by reference to channels of knowledge which are not in the open day; and we have had other help from one who is deeply versed in the subject. The result, and for the first time on record, is a marriage of art and symbolism for the production of a true Tarot under one of its aspects; it should be understood that there are others, but whatever has transpired about them or is likely to be related hereafter is and can only be concerned with a part of hidden system and will mislead rather than direct.
The nature of this “other help” is of course not specified; does it mean help not in the design and production, but in providing material and interpretation, or financial assistance, or something else, perhaps research for a divinatory spread, which was not Waite’s primary interest at all – or does it simply mean additional help to the design and production? Certainly it is hard to imagine Waite working with another in design and Colman Smith almost certainly was not assisted in her drawing. The only thing we know for sure is that it was one whom Waite considered – or promoted as – one “deeply versed” in Tarot.
As yet we have no clear evidence as to who this was, if even Waite was being truthful; he quite often quoted himself and even argued with himself under his fortune-telling alias of “Grand Orient”.
We will return to this mystery assistant a little later in this section but for now will return to the actual method of the Celtic Cross as it was first published by Waite.
The Method of the Spread
Here for reference we reproduce the entire method as first published in the PKT. We see that in this slightly later edition, the spread was now entitled an “ancient Celtic” method rather than simply “another method”.
The Art of Tarot Divination
We come now to the final and practical part of this division of our subject, being the way to consult and obtain oracles by means of Tarot cards. The modes of operation are rather numerous, and some of them are exceedingly involved. I set aside those last mentioned, because persons who are versed in such questions believe that the way of simplicity is the way of truth. I set aside also the operations which have been republished recently in that section of The Tarot of the Bohemians which is entitled "The Divining Tarot"; it may be recommended at its proper value to readers who wish to go further than the limits of this handbook. I offer in the first place a short process which has been used privately for many years past in England, Scotland and Ireland. I do not think that it has been published—certainly not in connexion with Tarot cards; I believe that it will serve all purposes, but I will add by way of variation-in the second place what used to be known in France as the Oracles of Julia Orsini.
An Ancient Celtic Method of Divination
This mode of divination is the most suitable for obtaining an answer to a definite question. The Diviner first selects a card to represent the person or, matter about which inquiry is made. This card is called the Significator. Should he wish to ascertain something in connexion with himself he takes the one which corresponds to his personal description. A Knight should be chosen as the Significator if the subject of inquiry is a man of forty years old and upward; a King should be chosen for any male who is under that age a Queen for a woman who is over forty years and a Page for any female of less age.
The four Court Cards in Wands represent very fair people, with yellow or auburn hair, fair complexion and blue eyes. The Court Cards in Cups signify people with light brown or dull fair hair and grey or blue eyes. Those in Swords stand for people having hazel or grey eyes, dark brown hair and dull complexion. Lastly, the Court Cards in Pentacles are referred to persons with very dark brown or black hair, dark eyes and sallow or swarthy complexions. These allocations are subject, however, to the following reserve, which will prevent them being taken too conventionally. You can be guided on occasion by the known temperament of a person; one who is exceedingly dark may be very energetic, and would be better represented by a Sword card than a Pentacle. On the other hand, a very fair subject who is indolent and lethargic should be referred to Cups rather than to Wands.
If it is more convenient for the purpose of a divination to take as the Significator the matter about which inquiry is to be made, that Trump or small card should be selected which has a meaning corresponding to the matter. Let it be supposed that the question is: Will a lawsuit be necessary? In this case, take the Trump No. 11, or justice, as the Significator. This has reference to legal affairs. But if the question is: Shall I be successful in my lawsuit? one of the Court Cards must be chosen as the Significator. Subsequently, consecutive divinations may be performed to ascertain the course of the process itself and its result to each of the parties concerned.
Having selected the Significator, place it on the table, face upwards. Then shuffle and cut the rest of the pack three times, keeping the faces of the cards downwards.
Turn up the top or FIRST CARD of the pack; cover the Significator with it, and say: This covers him. This card gives the influence which is affecting the person or matter of inquiry generally, the atmosphere of it in which the other currents work.
Turn up the SECOND CARD and lay it across the FIRST, saying: This crosses him. It shews the nature of the obstacles in the matter. If it is a favourable card, the opposing forces will not be serious, or it may indicate that something good in itself will not be productive of good in the particular connexion.
Turn up the THIRD CARD; place it above the Significator, and say: This crowns him. It represents (a) the Querent's aim or ideal in the matter; (b) the best that can be achieved under the circumstances, but that which has not yet been made actual.
Turn up the FOURTH CARD; place it below the Significator, and say: This is beneath him. It shews the foundation or basis of the matter, that which has already passed into actuality and which the Significator has made his own.
Turn up the FIFTH CARD; place it on the side of the Significator from which he is looking, and say: This is behind him. It gives the influence that is just passed, or is now passing away.
N.B.—If the Significator is a Trump or any small card that cannot be said to face either way, the Diviner must decide before beginning the operation which side he will take it as facing.
Turn up the SIXTH CARD; place it on the side that the Significator is facing, and say: This is before him. It shews the influence that is coming into action and will operate in the near future.
The cards are now disposed in the form of a cross, the Significator—covered by the First Card—being in the centre.
The next four cards are turned up in succession and placed one above the other in a line, on the right hand side of the cross.
The first of these, or the SEVENTH CARD of the operation, signifies himself—that is, the Significator—whether person or thing-and shews its position or attitude in the circumstances.
The EIGHTH CARD signifies his house, that is, his environment and the tendencies at work therein which have an effect on the matter—for instance, his position in life, the influence of immediate friends, and so forth.
The NINTH CARD gives his hopes or fears in the matter.
The TENTH is what will come, the final result, the culmination which is brought about by the influences shewn by the other cards that have been turned up in the divination.
It is on this card that the Diviner should especially concentrate his intuitive faculties and his memory in respect of the official divinatory meanings attached thereto. It should embody whatsoever you may have divined from the other cards on the table, including the Significator itself and concerning him or it, not excepting such lights upon higher significance as might fall like sparks from heaven if the card which serves for the oracle, the card for reading, should happen to be a Trump Major.
The operation is now completed; but should it happen that the last card is of a dubious nature, from which no final decision can be drawn, or which does not appear to indicate the ultimate conclusion of the affair, it may be well to repeat the operation, taking in this case the Tenth Card as the Significator, instead of the one previously used. The pack must be again shuffled and cut three times and the first ten cards laid out as before. By this a more detailed account of "What will come" may be obtained.
If in any divination the Tenth Card should be a Court Card, it shews that the subject of the divination falls ultimately into the hands of a person represented by that card, and its end depends mainly on him. In this event also it is useful to take the Court Card in question as the Significator in a fresh operation, and discover what is the nature of his influence in the matter and to what issue he will bring it.
Great facility may be obtained by this method in a comparatively short time, allowance being always made for the gifts of the operator-that is to say, his faculty of insight, latent or developed-and it has the special advantage of being free from all complications.
I here append a diagram of the cards as laid out in this mode of divination. The Significator is here facing to the left.
The Significator.
1. That covers him
2. What crosses him.
3. What crowns him.
4. What is beneath him.
5. What is behind him.
6. What is before him.
7. Himself.
8. His house.
9. His hopes or fears.
10. What will come.
[Here ends the reproduction of the original text by Waite]
Whilst this may have been the first publication of the Celtic Cross, it was certainly not – which is also noted by Waite – its first usage, although he does suggest it has never been used with “tarot cards” before, perhaps indicating it was already in use as a method for playing cards.
Be that as it may, we will now look to the source material in the Golden Dawn archives to discover the original paper from which Waite undoubtedly took this method.
The Archives and Original Documents of the Golden Dawn
Having learnt the Celtic Cross spread myself when I was younger and used it for so many years, I had always wondered about its origins, and the name, which I never liked; I found myself telling clients that “this is called the Celtic Cross, but it’s neither Celtic nor particularly a Cross, in fact, we will see it as an arrow, a wheel, and a matrix during our reading …”
So some twenty years later, when I had gained opportunity and access to a significant part of the Golden Dawn archives in London as a PhD Researcher, I began to keep a look-out for anything that resembled the spread, or might indicate references to it in letters or papers.
The archive itself is poorly catalogued. Not only that, but library constraints make it difficult to gain initial access and even more frustratingly, one is only permitted one or two items out on a table at a time! In the case of individual letters, where there might be a hundred in a folder, this makes a three-day trip to look through merely one or two items of the thousand or so in the collection.
Under these conditions and constraints, I made several trips to the archive over the years, but only recently begun to narrow down certain folders and items of interest to the history of tarot. It is in one such folder that we find something of immediate interest; a very early hand-written version of the spread which is clearly what Waite took and called the “Celtic Cross”.
An Early Hand-Written Version of the Celtic Cross Spread
In a set of documents that were bound by string, and had not been opened for many years, I discovered a hand-written version of BOOK T, the tarot ‘bible’ text of the Golden Dawn. This was one of the copies made by a member of the Golden Dawn, F. L. Gardner (1857 – 1930?) whose records comprise a large section of the archives and who played an extremely active role in the Order.
Whilst being excited to find some additional material in this version, never before published, I was about to close the book and move onto something else when I noticed that not all the pages at the back of the notebook were empty; after a gap of blank pages, Gardner had sketched in an “addendum”.
This additional material was none other than the spread now known as the Celtic Cross. I hope you may share a moment of the thrill I had when I saw this as I reproduce it here.
Illus. NS63 NOPQR 1892
Here is the unedited typescript for this original document.
NS63 NOPQR 1892
Golden Dawn manuscripts in the hand of F. L. Gardner.
Another Method of Divination
You place the card corresponding to yourself in the middle and after shuffling well and cutting three times you place the top card on yourself and proceed as follows:
1st Covered
2nd Crossed (i.e. across yourself)
3rd Crowned (i.e. above all)
4th Underfoot (i.e. beneath all)
5th looking from (i.e. on your right as you face the figure)
6th Looking to (i.e. on your left as you face the figure)
7th Represents yourself
8th Represents your House
9th Represents your hopes and fears
10th Represents what turns up
Example
Cavalier of Cups
1/ 3 Wands Power
2/ 2 Wands Influence over Another
3/ 9 Pentacles Money
4/ 10 Swords Ruin (Death Failure Disaster)
5/ 6 Wands Gain, Success
6/ The Hermit Divine Inspiration
7/ 7 Swords Vacillation, Journey by Land
8/ 5 Cups Disappointment in Love, Unkindness from Friends
9/ 5 Pentacles Loss of Profession and Money
10/ 7 Pentacles Unfavourable Expectations & Employment
26.I.1913
There is only one particular issue with this sketch – although it represents an early sketch of the method, there is a date written which might have been written at the same time; 26.1.1913. This would – if it were written at the time – date the sketch after the publication of the method by Waite in 1910.
But there are some questions with that date; the example spread written uses the “Cavalier of Cups” as a Significator, which points to the use of an older or alternative deck than the Waite-Smith, and not even a Golden Dawn deck. The meanings sketched out for the cards seem closer to the original Golden Dawn meanings than Waite’s published meanings.
So we are left with an exciting discovery but a bit of a mystery. The notebook itself is certainly from the early period of the Golden Dawn, around 1892. So it is possible Gardner later wrote this method in as an alternative method after seeing it in Waite’s book. But this seems unlikely; Gardner would have used the same terminology (perhaps), or a version of Waite’s deck (maybe) and why would he have sketched it if it were now published? It is my conclusion that the date was added much later.
Whatever the date, I made a note of this discovery and returned to my other research. It was somewhat uncertain what this sketch signified – but at least now I knew there was evidence within the Golden Dawn that the method was being utilised by at least one member.
However, there was still more in the archive to be discovered.
A Gipsy Method of Divination
A year later, and returning to the archives for research on Aleister Crowley, I decided to search the catalogues for any evidence associating Gardner specifically with Tarot or even the Celtic Cross method. After a fruitless search, I then noticed something in a set of typescripts by “various authors”.
One item was listed as a “Gipsy Method of Divination by F. L. Gardner”. I requested the folder, thinking that at least this would indicate something of Gardner’s interest in Tarot.
The item in question turned out to be three sheets of typescript (probably typed by Yorke from original documents later dispersed to other folders or collections, or not originally in his own collection) in amongst many other sheets of material.
The first of the three sheets was entitled “A Gipsy Method of Divination by F. L. Gardner”. I looked down to see which method Gardner had composed, and was amazed to read that it was a method of ten cards, laid out in a particular way (sketched later onto the typescript) which of course is the “Celtic Cross”.
Again, I reproduce here for the first time the actual typescripts from the collection, with permission and not to be reproduced.
Illus. A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards by F. L. Gardner.
Illus. A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards by F. L. Gardner.
Illus. A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards by F. L. Gardner.
Here is the unedited typescript in full.
NS103.12 A Gipsy Method of Divination by F.L. Gardner.
Golden Dawn Folder 3. Typescripts by various authors.
A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards.
By F. Leigh Gardner. Frater De Profundis ad Lucem.
This mode of divination is the most suitable for obtaining an answer to a definite question.
The diviner selects a card to represent the person or matter about which he enquires. This card is called significator, and should he wish to ascertain something in connection with himself he takes the one which corresponds to his personal description.
A Knight represents a man of 40 years and upwards.
A King for any male under that age.
A Queen a woman of 40 years and upwards
A Valet a young man or woman.
The four court cards.
Wand represent very fair people with yellow or auburn hair, fair complexion, blue eyes.
Cups have light brown or dull hair with grey or blue eyes.
Swords have hazel or grey eyes, and dark brown hair and dull complexions.
Pentacles very dark brown or black hair, dark eyes or swarthy complexions.
You can be guided on occasions by the known temperament of a person. One who is exceedingly dark may be energetic and would be better represented by a sword card than a Pentacle; on the other hand a very fair subject who is indolent and lethargic should be referred to Cups in place of Wands. If it is a matter about which an enquiry is to be made the significator should be a Trump or small card which has a meaning corresponding to the matter – suppose that the question is “Will a lawsuit be necessary?”
In this case take the Trump card ‘Justice’ as the significator as it has reference to legal matters. But if the question is “Shall I be successful in my lawsuit?” one of the court cards representing yourself should be selected.
Subsequently consecutive divination can be performed to ascertain the course of the process itself, and its result to each of the parties concerned.
Having selected the sig. place it on the table face upwards, then shuffle well and thoroughly the rest of the pack cutting three times after each shuffle – lastly keeping the face of the cards downwards, turn up the top or front card of the pack and cross the significator with it and say
1. This card covers him.
This card gives the influence which is affecting the person or matter of the enquiry generally, the atmosphere in which the other currents move. Turn up the second card and say
2. This covers him
It shows the nature of the obstacles in the matter. If this is a favourable card the opposing forces will not be serious, or it may indicate that something good in itself will be productive of good in this particular connection.
Turn up the third card and place it on the Sig. and say
3. This crowns him.
It represents 1st the Querents aims or ideals in the matter.
2nd the best that can be achieved under the circumstances but that which has not yet been made actual. Turn up the fourth card place it below the Sig. and say
4. This is beneath him.
It shows the foundation or basis of the matter, that which has already passed into actuality and which the Sig. has made his own. Turn up the fifth card and say
5. This is behind him.
It gives the influence that has just past or is passing away. N.B. If the Sig. is a trump card or a card that cannot be said to face either way the diviner must decide beforehand which side of the Sig. he will take as facing. Usually this fifth card is placed on the right hand side of the sig. as it will be found that most of the court cards are looking towards the left hand. Anyhow if you decide to always adopt the plan it will be found to work satisfactorily, only make a rule always to do so.
Turn up the sixth card place it on the side that the Sig is facing & say
6. This is before him.
It shows the influence that is coming into action and will operate in the near future.
The next four cards are turned up in succession and placed in a line by the side of the others which are in the form of a cross. The first of them is the Seventh card [which] signifies the person himself or else the thing enquired about, and shews its position or attitude in the matter. 7.
8. The eight card represents his House i.e. his environment, and the tendencies at work there which have an effect on the matter for instance his position in life, the influence of immediate friends and so forth.
9. The ninth card gives his hopes and fears in the matter.
10. The tenth card is what turns up, the final result, the culmination which is brought about by the influence shewn by the other cards that have been turned up in the divination.
The operation is now complete and if in any divination the tenth card should be a court card it shews that the subject of the divination falls ultimately into the hands of a person represented by that card and its end depends mainly on him. In this count it is possible to have a fresh divination taking the court card as the Sig. to discover what is the nature of his influence in the matter and to what issue he will bring it.
Great facility may be obtained in this method in a short time, allowance being made for the gifts of the operator, that is to say his faculty of insight, latent or developed, and besides which it is free from all complications.
Fortune telling by cards. Non Order method.
[Here ends the transcript of the original text]
There are some immediate points that can be made from this typescript; firstly, that the title including “by F. L. Gardner” does not of course mean the method was composed by him; it could be that Yorke meant “in the hand of” as he catalogued other materials – but Yorke was always specific about such matters where possible.
The similarity of the paragraph with regard to “great facility may be obtained …” and other phrases of course can be heard in Waite’s published version. So if this is indeed an earlier version, one would imagine Waite would have had to clear it with Gardner to reproduce this method almost verbatim. Could this be what Waite meant by his 1909 comment about assistance from another “well-versed” and not Yeats?
Another exciting point is that the title refers to Gardner’s magical name within the Order. We know that Gardner took a magical name when he joined the Order – which was not well-received by the Chiefs – and later changed it on entry to the Inner Order, to that given here. If this typescript is verbatim, and the title was on the hand-written original, then we can date the manuscript to 1895 or thereafter.
It is of relevance perhaps that Westcott was still using the Opening of the Key reading in 1894 as was Annie Horniman in 1904. [5] If this alternative method was being utilised by any other member of the Order, it was not widely adopted as far as the evidence suggests, albeit we do not have all the records of the Golden Dawn members.
Let us now look at the work of F. L. Gardner and see if he could indeed be the likely creator of the Celtic Cross method which was then published by Waite.
The Work of F. L. Gardner
So could F. L. Gardner have actually designed this spread himself? We can say that it is not impossible. Gardner was the son of ardent Spiritualists and had visionary experiences when he was young – and he later personally knew Madame Blavatsky herself. He had a large collection of books, and worked hard within the Golden Dawn initiatory system, taking grades between June 1895 and February 1897.
By the 4th February 1897 he was initiated into the Inner Order as a Theoricus Adeptus Minor and able to examine other candidates to the Portal grade leading to the Inner Order. This would have demanded a thorough knowledge of the subjects of the Golden Dawn; Astrology, Kabbalah, Tarot, Egyptian Myth and more.
Interestingly enough, in letters dating 1895, discussing Moina Mathers, Astrology and Tarot, he mentions a reading for the “result of a lawsuit”, for James Durand, the very same question used as determining the significator in the example of his typescript.
As a person we have a few records of his character – however, Mathers did describe him as “uncertain and wavering … excitable and nervous” when he joined the Order, and Farr didn’t like his drill-instructing of candidates in ritual. We are presently searching for a photograph or portrait of Gardner.
There is then the matter of the interesting title “gipsy method” which seems to be at odds with his likely studies. Is it possible that he himself was referencing something he’d read as a “gipsy method” and this was published even earlier? This might also accord with Waite’s cryptic suggestion that it had never been published “in connexion with Tarot”.
It would be interesting to have a catalogue of the Cartomancy books and pamphlets he was selling for a long time, and scour those for such a “gipsy method”. In the meantime, let us consider how the actual method was originally given and how it has become confused in most books ever since Waite released it to the public.
The Method
As a practical method, we can see some confusions creeping into this spread. The original notes obviously indicate a very brief description of what each position means – and this may account for the sheer variety of personal variations that followed in the literature as each subsequent author attempted to make the method clearer, and in so doing added more complexity to those buying more than one book describing the method.
The Rosy Cross and the Celtic Cross
In papers written for private circulation between 1906-1911, Waite wrote on the “Tarot and the Rosy Cross”. [6] In this treatise on the Tarot and its relation to the Tree of Life – in particular the stage between the Inner and Outer Order, the phrase “Rosy Cross” is mentioned nine or ten times. If Waite were going to refer to a cross in a Tarot spread, surely it would be “Rosy”, particularly at this time of his magical career, rather than “Celtic”?
So where might the “Celtic” nature of this Cross crept in? It has been here seen and suggested elsewhere that both Waite and Yeats had a Celtic tendency, and Yeats was possibly involved to some extent at the time of the deck’s (and spread’s) publication. He had met Colman-Smith and had been involved with Waite a number of times.
There is a connection between Yeats and the Celtic Cross - an immediate and direct connection. Yeats specified, in a poem, where he wanted to be buried, and what epitaph should be on his tombstone:
Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut: Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!
This burial place, at Drumcliff, has indeed a Celtic High Cross, with a carving of the Tree of Knowledge and Adam and Eve upon it, and even a nearby Tower; which just happened to be struck by lightning,
So the Celtic Cross had profound meaning to Yeats, and it would be likely he made a suggestion that the spread - becoming popular in the first year - be tagged with this important symbol – perhaps even as a magical act.
When did the Spread become Ancient?
Unless we discover an earlier “gipsy method” available to Gardner and Waite in their extensive collections of books, the spread dates to around the late 1800’s at its earliest, perhaps around 1895. This is hardly “ancient” in most conventional contexts, and certainly not “ancient” in a historical sense. So although it is referred to as “ancient” in later versions of the Pictorial Key , how is it associated with such antiquity? The answer lies in marketing and a return to earlier views of the Tarot that Waite had sought to banish.
In an issue of The Occult Review , dated 1920, advertising the deck being published by Rider, we see that there is no mention of the ancient origin of the deck, nor any reference to anything other than “methods of divination” or “Fortune-Telling by the Tarot”. It was not Rider and Waite that promoted this antiquity, despite the new title of the method.
However, as we then see in a later 1938 catalogue, the unauthorised copies of the deck and book being marketed by the De Laurence Company were now described as the “Ancient Tarot” with a marketing spiel containing:
… Came with the Gipsies from India … The early tarot cards are said to be of Oriental and Egyptian origin … The early gipsy connection is affirmed. These cards came with the gipsies from India…
It was in such marketing, prevalent throughout the 1930’s-1950’s, whilst the Tarot sat in the relative doldrums between the revival of the method in the Golden Dawn at the turn of the century and the 60’s esoteric revival that the idea of antiquity crept back again.
The Tarot became an occult tool with secrets hidden from the uninitiated, taught only in small Orders – deriving their work on the whole from the Golden Dawn - and in the public mind became associated with superstition; the key marketing ingredients of that period are wizards, pointy hats, and rather oddly, an Owl which turns up in many adverts of the time.
Most importantly, the symbols of the Pyramids of Egypt are often depicted in the background of such adverts – most notably in Rosicrucian (AMORC) adverts.
This almost subliminal yet obvious call to antiquity has become associated within the public consciousness as what is called “illegitimate knowledge” in Cultural Studies.
Conclusion
In concluding this section, we can see that this spread is neither Ancient, nor Celtic, nor particularly a Cross.
It was possibly designed in London, (14 Marlborough Road, Gunnersby, to be precise) dating about 1895-97 by the bibliophile and bookseller F. L. Gardner, aged 40-43 at the time, and a member of the Golden Dawn and ex-Theosophist and Freemason. It was designed as a shorter method than the time-consuming Opening of the Key method taught by the Order and originally called a “Gipsy Method”.
It was published by Waite in 1910 and – likely based on the Celtic Revivalist tendencies of Waite and Yeats – after a revision, termed “Celtic” rather than as was written originally and correctly, “used in England, Scotland and Ireland”. This “Celtic” did not even then refer to the “Cross”, merely the “method” and the pseudo-historical/geographic usage of the method.
Subsequent publishing introduced the term “Cross” into the title, again, perhaps at the suggestion of Yeats, to whom the symbol of a “Celtic cross” had particular significance. This also led to a sometimes-proposed suggestion that Yeats had designed the spread himself. Waite himself had no particular interest in the symbol – preferring the concept of the “Rosy Cross” and neither did he have much interest in the use of Tarot as divination, as his second – and generally unknown - Tarot work testifies. [7]
Within thirty years of its publication in 1910, marketing began to re-introduce the idea of “antiquity” to the cards, which became confused with the spread, leading to it also being later perceived as “ancient”.
So from an “alternative and quick” method likely designed by a Hermetic student in London in around 1895, it became an “Ancient Celtic Cross” spread within the course of a century and has been referred to such by every author since that time with varying amounts of explanation.
There remain unanswered questions that this research might provoke and avenues that have not yet been fully explored – other than those usually asked, such as “which card do you place down first?” or “should I use reversals in this ancient spread?” which include:
• Are we sure that the person intimated by Waite as assisting the design was Yeats? Could it have been F.L. Gardner or another? I look forward to getting a copy of Roger Parisious’s work on this matter (Waite and Yeats) which has so far remained elusive!
• The Gardner typescript is probably of an original hand-written document – where is that?
• When Waite refers to the spread as not being previously published, “certainly not in connexion with Tarot cards”, does he simply mean, it was published within the Golden Dawn, or – more interestingly – does he mean it was previously published, but perhaps in a book (owned by Gardner, who also donated books and shelves to the Order?) on Cartomancy, playing cards, or some other subject?
That could mean that Gardner – or another Golden Dawn member – did take the spread from somewhere earlier! This would take our research into reverse as it might indicate the spread as being more “ancient” than we are giving it credit!
• Who exactly might have influenced the change of title of the spread? Could it have been the publisher – [about which more could be said] and not Yeats – why would he have had a say in the matter?
• If it were not indeed Gardner who designed the spread, as the typescript suggests, was it then another member of the Golden Dawn, Mathers, Westcott, even possibly Yeats or another?
At the very least, after several years of research, we might now be able to go back to Tarot.com and suggest they re-word their description of the Celtic Cross as not dating back “hundreds of years”. Or perhaps they know something we don’t …!
We hope you have enjoyed this section on research endeavours and it encourages you to look at your Tarot through open eyes and with excited heart, asking questions and questioning answers; a true divination.
We will now turn to new approaches in the practical reading of this spread, which despite its convoluted history and misnamed title, proves a powerful and enduring method of reading tarot cards.
In this section we will look at the powerful methods of reading the Celtic Cross that arise from an outcome-orientated approach. We will give these in twenty-three parts with a concluding story about reading the spread.
These methods are modelled on practical readings of the spread for over ten thousand face-to-face readings over thirty years, so are the result of three decades of refinement. There are many variations to reading the spread, the one given here is the one that has proven most effective for real people over a long period of time.
It is also formulated from the work of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and Solution-Orientated therapy, although you do not need to know anything specific about these approaches in order to apply the methods in this book. The work of Richard Bandler and John Grinder in originating NLP, the language patterns of Milton H. Erickson, and the neo-Ericksonian work of William H. O’Hanlon, Doug O’Brien and Stephen Gilligan have also been major influences on this approach.
You can find a suggested reading list at the end of this present book to further your interest in this work.
As most of these methods are about causing change in a client’s life after a reading, towards a defined and practical solution, the change-work model of problem formation and resolution from Paul Watzlawick and John Wekland is used as an under-pinning to the whole approach.
All of these inspirations and influences have been hidden under the hood of simple and easily applied methods of tarot card reading, and are mentioned for those who want to further deepen their ability to help a client towards change in their life.
1: Reading from the Outcome
Our first method, having shuffled the cards and laid them all face-up in the Celtic Cross pattern is to escape the trap of reading the cards in a fixed sequence, which usually starts in numerical order from the situation or present card in the centre.
This is the way in which most beginners try and learn the spread – and most spreads – because they are numbered so in every book. As a result, new readers learn without thinking, in a 1-2-3 manner, which is not the way we observe experienced readers in practice.
An experienced reader will often refer to cards out of order, and certainly some cards more than others in a reading, as soon as they lay out the spread.
So, in this approach, we help break up that bad learning habit by looking immediately at the final/outcome card. It is this outcome towards which we then work the whole reading.
Illus. Read First from the Outcome.
Tip : The outcome card should always be considered in its most positive aspect for the purpose of this method, unless the oracular moment dictates otherwise. That is to say, it should be considered as a lesson rather than a challenge .
Look at the card in the outcome position and allow a keyword to arise, such as 'juggle' for the 2 of Pentacles in this spread. It can be something obvious or something else that arises, from your knowledge of the card or your intuition.
Then immediately apply that word to the card in the present situation/now position.
This bridges the outcome card straight back to the present situation card. Instead of reading the situation first and then at the end of the reading the outcome, following each card in sequence, we are far better getting some sense of the outcome and connecting it to the present situation.
In our example spread, if we apply the sense of 'juggling' from the 2 of Pentacles in the Outcome position to the 6 of Swords in the present position, we might say, "I immediately see that you are trying not to rock the boat at the present - or perhaps you are trying to steer everyone one way but someone else is rocking the boat. Let's see in the other cards ..."
Illus. Reading from the Outcome (2 of Pentacles) to the Present (6 of Swords).
This is because we might imagine the figure on the 2 of Pentacles is standing in that boat on the 6 of Swords when we connect the two positions and cards together.
In having some sense of the outcome mentioned in the very first moment of the reading, this will allow you to weave a 'naturally complete' reading. When you finally get to the outcome card in the natural course of the reading, you can also refer it straight back to the present situation to complete the loop.
It is also a more effective way of fixing the whole reading in the client's mind because you will know where you are going towards all through the reading and word your interpretations in the context of the outcome. The theme of “juggling” may come up quite often throughout the whole reading, so it will be a surprise to the client (but not to you) when the final figure is seen juggling, as you have mentioned all along.
This can be very powerful, and the wording you can use to complete the reading may be something like, "As I said at the beginning ...."
This method works equally well with any spread with a "now" position and an "outcome" or "future" position.
2: Find the Flow & Set the Tone
In the Celtic Cross, or any spread with a past and present position, the second thing you can do is glance over the two cards in those positions. This will immediately tell you the overall flow of the situation in time.
The flow between the two cards gives us a sense of the current or energy which is actually being experienced by the client in response to the present situation, which usually sits between the past and future positions.
In our example, we can see that the flow is moving from a rather fixed-looking Ace of Pentacles to an obviously fast-moving 8 of Wands. It is from something in hand to something in flight.
Illus. Finding the Flow for Setting the Tone.
To understand the flow, we imagine how it might be to go from one card to another. Would it be a smooth transition or choppy; would it be fast, casual, urgent, easy, hard?
This gives us a real feeling of the flow underneath the whole reading.
Most importantly, it gives us the tone in which we can deliver the reading to the person because we now know how the situation might be feeling for them.
If we saw this particular combination of the Ace of Pentacles and the 8 of Wands, we might deliver our whole reading with lots of 'release' hand gestures and casting-out arm movements, mirroring the flow and symbolism of those two cards.
This would probably feel as if we were letting go of something and moving on, which in turn would likely become a dominant theme in the reading itself as we move onto individual cards.
We can also use our voice to support this flow. Our tone of voice could move from fixed sentences of fact to more expansive and dynamic statements of possibility.
Because that is what the flow of this reading is all about. It's in those two cards - and more interestingly, in the flow between the two cards.
The whole delivery of the reading can mirror the actual experience of the situation in the client’s life just from looking at the flow between the two cards in the past and present.
3: The Resources Always Meet the Challenge
We have now – in just two simple methods - connected the outcome to the present, and set the tone for the flow of the reading. Our next step is to elicit the resources for change in the client’s life. In outcome-orientated approaches, we want to ensure that the outcome is clear, the resources are in place, change is desired, and the first steps are actionable.
To locate the resources, we simply look at the Resources card (at the bottom of the Celtic Cross) and this will tell us simply what resources are available. Perhaps it will be a Pentacles card showing the resources are of material resources, or time, perhaps a Sword card showing that the resource is an ability to cut clear of old ideas.
However, to really empower and elaborate the reading, we next imagine how the Resources card would resist the Challenges card (which is laid over the central Situation card).
Illus. Applying the Resources to the Challenge.
This shows us exactly the type of resistance the unconscious can provide to resolve the obstacles placed in its way.
It is perhaps counter-intuitive to read the 'resources' as a 'resistance' and the 'obstacles' as 'opportunity' but that is exactly the way in which those positions provide insight in outcome-orientated reading.
Think of that Resources card as an Aikido or Zen warrior - or Walter White in "Breaking Bad", always one or three steps ahead of the challenge. It is simply going to take the energy of the obstacle and direct it somewhere.
Imagine too that we aim to have it like a "buddy movie" where the two antagonistic characters end up working well together combining their mutual differences to complete a task, defeat a situation or be victorious over a mutual enemy.
In our example, we see that Temperance is the resource and the Knight of Swords is the obstacle.
How would Temperance 'fight' an attack from the 'Knight of Swords' and how would they end up working together?
We imagine that Temperance would place cups down the road ahead of the horse, so that it kept stopping to drink and the Knight's advance would be halted.
Eventually, the horse would be full and then reach the pool where Temperance waited, and the Knight would be impressed with her strategy.
So in the reading we would say something like "Your need to race forwards is powerful and can be even more so by taking stops along the way. In fact, you should reward yourself at regular intervals - now, let us imagine this change is going to take six months, yes? So how about you have a strategy to take one day off every month, and a big party on the six month?"
By allowing the challenge to take place (rather than fighting it or ignoring it) and then incorporating it into the resources you will discover that the resources always meet the challenge.
4: The Future Comes to Those Who Make It
Having looked at the resources we have available for change, connected the outcome to the present, and set the tone for the flow of the reading, we are only now ready to look at the future, which is probably the main thing that the client expected us to deliver to them.
We only start to look into the client’s future once we have ensured that they have connected to resources that can manage change towards a positive outcome. This is why we look at the outcome card first.
It is only natural that they will be looking at the problem and will have convinced themselves they cannot change.
So we want to look at something novel for them; their ability to change and their solution.
In the Celtic Cross, this dynamic can be discovered by looking at a triangle of cards which is the Aim, the Future (again), and (again) the Outcome.
Illus. Working with the Aim, Future and Outcome Triangle.
The Aim position is at the top of the central cross in the spread. I often liken this to a target which should be aimed for with the resources at the bottom of the cross providing the energy to reach it.
In this step though, we compare the 'future' force that is flowing towards our client, and then triangulate (or align) that to the 'aim' in the best possible way to meet the 'outcome'.
There are many such triangles, pairs and squares of force in the simple Celtic Cross, that can reveal anything you require in exploring all aspects of a situation. It is such a powerful spread which has survived the longest of all the spreads because it is so elegant and comprehensive.
In our example, we see the future flow is the dynamic 8 of Wands which has set the tone for the reading. So there is much activity on its way, we already know.
We compare that to the Outcome which we have already seen; the juggling, balancing, but prone to being misleading, 2 of Pentacles.
So how can the Aim card, which is the 7 of Wands triangulate or best connect these two positions?
One thing that comes to mind in this example is that the 7 of Wands would hold every activity back until it has been weighed up. In everyday terms, all of those Wands or values/beliefs should be halted until the financial consequences or practical impact has been assessed.
So the aim should be to take advantage of all the new 'utterly important things that I feel I should be setting in motion' (8 of Wands) and listing them out and putting by each one the financial impact (2 of Pentacles). This is the process of the 7 of Wands coordinating those two cards.
So the Aim card is always showing how to incorporate and utilise the Future to achieve the Outcome. This is another example of how Outcome-Orientated Reading is counter-intuitive and works in reverse or opposite to how the client experiences the problem.
We use our tarot to totally take them out of the box.
5: Yourself and Others
Having decided on the right aim which will set us in motion towards the desired outcome, utilising all the resources we have available for change, and starting with the present circumstances, we can now consider our own self-state and how that is received by others.
This is important to ensure a contract is created between the parts of the self which may be in conflict and the relationship of the self to others.
This part of the Celtic Cross in an 'outcome orientated' reading draws upon the work of family therapist Virginia Satir and the Self-Relations approach of Stephen Gilligan.
It is a blend of practical methodology, spirituality and Jungian thought, with a dash of NLP and Neo-Ericksonian language pattern, in just two cards.
In the context of everything we have covered in parts 1-4 of this approach, we now take the two cards at the bottom of the column to the right of the cross, called "Self" and "Others".
The Self card shows how the Self relates to the journey between the Present Situation (card) and the Outcome (card), knowing the Aim (card).
Illus. Self and Others.
Tip : The Self card is one of the most sensitive positions in the Celtic Cross with regard to the type of card that falls in the position.
If the Self card is a Major Arcana , it shows that an archetypal pattern or universal situation is being played out by the Self. This means that the person is being reminded or taught a lesson again that is likely playing out in other areas of their life. It could also be that it is a recurrent situation that they are in which will keep repeating until they learn the lesson of this particular archetypal illustration. If it were the Justice card, for example, it would be the lesson of equality in all things.
If it is a Minor Card , it signifies the actual situation/event in which the Self must engage. This is an easier card to have here in one sense, although sometimes the obvious action is the one most resisted by the client. That is often because there is a “secondary gain” in having the problem.
This secondary gain can sometimes be seen in the Minor card in this position. So if it were the 3 of Swords in a health question, whilst it might say that they should change their life to avoid a heart attack, it would also indicate that their present activities were functioning also to keep them separated from owning their health issue.
If it is a Court Card , in this position it is very powerful and shows the aspect of the Self which must be engaged in the journey. If we have a Court card, it is usually easier than a Major card to apply, but a bit trickier than a Minor card. It shows characteristics of the person that are being called out by the situation. So a Queen of Swords here would show that the person should draw upon and respect their boundaries, for example.
When we have looked at the Self position, we next look at the card in the Others position. This shows how other people are receiving the presentation of the self as we have already read in the previous card.
In simple terms, one card is "how you see yourself" and the other card is "how other people see you". Comparing and contrasting these two cards is often the most profound part of a Celtic Cross reading, and often evokes a lot of emotion which drives the required changes.
In our example, we have Self as the 4 of Cups and Others as the 9 of Cups.
The first thing we note is they are both Cups and both Minor cards. This is a situation that needs changing in the real world, by activity, not by self-contemplation or navel-gazing. In fact, we can see that clearly in the 4 of Cups.
Notice too that in this method we go above the usual meanings of cards when they serve us to orientate towards the solution - we are not just 'reading a meaning' but using the cards as engines of change.
These two Cups cards then are not being read as 'emotions' but as illustrations of actual events and "things to do".
Here we see that 'distraction' (a meaning of the 4 of Cups given in Tarot Flip , for example) is in the position of the Self.
So whatever is going on inside the person is manifesting in various acts of distraction in their everyday life.
Advanced Tip : The actions indicated by the 'Self' card if a Minor card may often be even more clearly seen in the 'Past' position if we glance across to it briefly.
In this real example case, look - and there we see the Ace of Pentacles showing that the client has been spending on new things as the main arising of this pattern of distraction. Indeed, they confirmed they had been on repeated shopping sprees, but had not connected this with the situation nor had previously been aware it was a distraction. Thus we can put those parts of their 'whole self' together in a contract for more effective change.
When we look at the Others card, we see 'self-indulgence' in the Falstaff figure resting on his bench surrounded by cups of mead. [8]
We would read this as other people responding to the persons attempts at distraction by those people seeing the person as being merely self-indulgent and selfish. It is therefore unlikely they will be offering to contribute help in any way.
When we compare these two cards, we can build a better outcome by suggesting budgeting (as we saw in a previous step in this reading) and ensuring that gifts are included in the budget plan.
This will help demonstrate to others that change has taken place and they are far more likely to assist in various ways to support the client.
Tip : You will often see in the card illustrations many subtle clues to the best possible solution/activity, which is the reverse of the usual meaning, so here we see we are suggesting giving gifts when the usual meaning of the 4 of Cups is 'refusing or ignoring a gift'. This is because we are taking the cards seriously as projections of possibility, not as passive illustrations of something already happening.
It is often incredible how much we can derive in terms of practical and positive change work from just two cards.
You can also try an exercise by drawing two cards for SELF/OTHERS in a real situation in your life and see what you can discover using this approach.
6: Where Your Attention Goes is Here
In our first five steps of reading the Celtic Cross we have considered how we get ourselves together, work with others, have a reasonable aim which will use our resources to get us to a practical outcome, and we have told our fortune from the flow of the past into the future – so what next?
Now we look at the only card we look at in isolation - in the 'Concerns' or 'Attention' position.
The reason we look at this card by itself is because it has no bearing on the reading - none, zilch, nada. It has no connection with the situation and nothing to tell us about anything.
Well ... it does, of course - it has everything to tell us about where the client is putting their attention.
This card shows us where internal attention is being directed in a way that has nothing to do with the problem.
It is why this position is often called, confusingly to most students, "worries or concerns", or even "worries or hopes", etc.
It is neither of those things; it is more simply where someone's attention is going. If that attention is placed in a 'negative' context, it would rightly be called a 'worry', and if it were a 'positive' attention to something equally that isn't real, that is called a 'hope'.
The card in this position always shows us what the client should drop, forget, release, sacrifice, put out of their heads, and in doing so, make space for reality.
It could be something nice they have to drop, such as them telling themselves 'he'll come back and no longer be such a nasty piece of work and it'll all be rosy' or something nasty, such as 'he'll come back and I won't stop him and he'll still be a nasty piece of work'.
This position is where such confusion arises, so is also fitting to reach clarity with just this one card in isolation.
I don't often refer this card to any others in the reading, or get clever by bridging it to other positions, etc., I sometimes even move the card out of the way from the table once I've read it.
Tip : This is called a "living metaphor", where your actions with the cards communicate the same verbal message you are giving. This is a powerful and easily implemented trick in the Tarosophy approach to reading.
Illus. Removing the Concerns.
In our example, we have the Page of Swords. And where attention goes, everything goes. So, the person is concerned they do not have enough information. They are holding their tongue, their guard. They are not committing because they feel that they are not ready ... etc.
And that's all nonsense. We are never ready.
So, we describe this card, tell them that this meaning of not being ready, watching and holding back, etc., is simply where their attention is going and that it must be taking a lot of energy and time in their heads ...
And then we suddenly say, "but this card shows what is being wasted in your situation, so we don't need it" and remove it from the table.
We don't elaborate on it, explain it again, or refer to it with regard to any other card. We don't even include it in our summary.
The unconscious will take this card as a big red flag, because it will not be able to weave it with every other piece of information in the reading, and it will hate that. It will niggle at it, work at it, and try and make sense of it. The unconscious is a holistic process and we can take advantage of it without much effort.
In the end, the only way it will be able to make sense of what you have sown is by directing the client to take the very action that keeps the context of the card outside the main picture. The client will suddenly find themselves doing something that simply makes the hope or worry irrelevant, because that will fit what the unconscious has already processed and settled.
7: The Past is Behind You No w
So far, in our first part of reading the Celtic Cross, we have looked at the Outcome and applied it to the Present. We then took the Present as the time in which to meet the opportunity of the Challenge. We further took the Resources available to us to drive towards the Outcome based on a sensible and workable Aim. We then made a contract with the parts of ourselves and the considerations of others as a reflection of that inner contract.
We deliver all this information in the flow of the future and the tone most suitable for the way things are changing in the life of our client.
We also noted the concerns that were getting the attention of our client and moved them out of the way.
Now - and only now, do we look at the pesky past.
In the context of this approach, the past is only a story we tell ourselves. It has no other bearing on the situation other than how we see it now.
When we approach it in this manner, we can use the card in the Past position to change that story in the light of the desired Outcome.
This is illustrated in the Celtic Cross, as are many other wonderful patterns of transformation, by a loop we can draw by connecting the Present + Challenge through the Past - across the Aim - and to the Outcome.
You will see in the illustration this loop is then above our 'concerns' or 'attention' position, and only in passing connects the Past.
Our delivery focuses only on the outcome. This is outcome (or solution) orientated reading.
In our example, we already know that the present situation (6 of Swords) is unstable, and the person does not want to rock the boat (2 of Pentacles). We have seen that there is a great opportunity to move (8 of Wands).
We have also seen, when we glanced at the Ace of Pentacles in the Past, that the client has been distracted by binge shopping.
Illus. Looping the Past.
We might now return to that situation in passing by framing our sentence like this:
"Just for a moment, as part of being able to make all the changes you are now seeing are possible, let's see what you will be releasing..."
We then look at the card in the Past position, and weave that into a story like this:
"So, in the Past you used to [interpret card] which can no longer meet the challenge of [re-interpret Challenge card] so now, [re-interpret Present Situation card], in order to aim for [re-interpret Aim card] you can release (or use) [re-interpret Past card] which will result in [re-interpret Outcome card]."
It sounds a bit convoluted but it is quite easy to say out loud and practice in your own words and way of delivering it. The important thing is the order in which you connect those cards, to drive it to the outcome.
Here is the wording filled in using the cards from our example spread:
"So, in the Past you used to spend and spend again without fully enjoying all those things which can no longer meet the challenge of all these new ideas to get on with your life! So now, even though you will rock the boat to get so much done so quickly, in order to aim for making a stand for yourself, you can release (or use) all those things you bought - perhaps as gifts to other people - which will result in a far better balance in your life. Who knows how much else will happen when you make that one change in your life now?"
We have left the wording to be quite vague because in the real reading, we give facts and messages particular to that person - this example is to show how the meanings are linked together to get the best possible delivery towards actual change.
8: Positive Outcome Fram e
As we are looking at “Outcome Orientated Reading” we now review the spread to ensure that the client can get the most out of all the points we have raised so far in their situation.
To do this, we use the “Positive Outcome Frame”, which is a model derived from NLP that captures the important bits of doing any task successfully, particularly a task which you intend to actually do.
One interesting aspect of this model is the consequence of success.
As we have said, most people having a reading are fully focused on their situation, challenge, problem or obstacle. The last thing they are thinking about is what will happen after it has gone.
However, this is a problem in itself. The consequence of success can contain something that the person would not want, or to which part of them might object, or find more challenging than the actual problem.
It may also be more simply that they are not yet ready, prepared, or have the resources or state of mind that will be comfortable with the situation after the present challenge is resolved.
An example would be from a real case in my practice where a client had writers block. To cut a long story short, it turned out that they believed if they wrote a book and were successful, they would be interviewed, recognised, and be subject to public gaze – all of which, as they realised during the session, they would hate, as they were a “very private person”.
When we elicited examples of successful authors who had maintained their privacy, even nowadays, such as J. K. Rowling, it released that unconscious anxiety and within a few weeks they had written a whole chapter of their first novel.
So in the Celtic Cross we can also look at this by comparing the Aim and the Outcome card. This will show any gaps between what the person is aiming to achieve and what the outcome will be. In those gaps we can examine any possible consequences of success and deal with them.
So, in our example we have the Aim as the 7 of Wands and the Outcome as the 2 of Pentacles.
Illus. Discovering the Consequences of Success.
They may be aiming for stability but the outcome will be a very unstable situation – even if it is a good one, or better than the present state.
So, we would ask them to tell us how they might deal with a situation that is positive but uncertain. Perhaps it would be with the resources we have seen in the foundation card at the bottom of the cross? Perhaps it will be with the relationship between themselves and others we have seen in the Self/Others pair of cards. Or perhaps we might discover it echoes with what we discovered in their Aim and Challenge cards?
However we discuss it – and we can always pull an extra card for an oracular answer – we should fill in this important ‘hidden’ link in the spread, and it will ensure the client is far more positive about achieving the outcome, and able to do so.
As ever with these sections, they are all mini-methods that you can make into individual quick spreads, for example, you can pull two cards from the top of your shuffled deck (or take out the top and bottom cards of a shuffled deck) whilst contemplating “What is the hidden/unspoken consequence of resolving Situation X positively?”
Look at the two cards and imagine a link between them; the first is what you are aiming for, the second is what will likely happen. In between the two card images is a hidden consequence of success, so let it arise.
You can then draw a third card, asking, “What do I need to do to prepare for this consequence of success and get even more out of successfully changing my situation?”
9: Finding the First Ste p
Another important aspect of the positive outcome frame is the next step. We cover this whole method in our several other tarot books (listed in the reading list at the end of this book), and you can apply it also quite simply to the Celtic Cross.
It uses some Kabbalah and some NLP, but you do not need to know anything particular about either subject to use the method.
In the positive outcome frame, which is a series of prompts to think about achieving something in the most likely way to actually achieve that thing, one question is “What will you do first?”
for a goal to be something possible or realistically attainable you really have to know the first step. You also have to be able to measure this little goal, so it must not be something like “I’ll be happier” or “I won’t be as poor”, but rather “I’ll have phoned Samantha” or “I’ll have twenty dollars”.
In the Celtic Cross we can locate this first step in the hidden space between the Aim card and the Present Situation card. There are many hidden spaces in the Celtic Cross which contain as much information as the visible spaces or card locations.
In that space, you can work backwards from the Aim card and (whether you say it or not out loud to the client) and step backwards to a reasonable and more immediate first step.
If it is a Major card, go one back down the sequence, so if it were the Emperor (numbered 4) as the “Aim” card, it would be the Empress (3). If it were the Magician (1) you go back in a loop to the World (21).
The Fool card is the only card that has no previous or next step – as is fitting! If you have the Fool in the Aim position, all bets are off, freedom is the only rule, choose whatever you want.
If it is a Minor card, simply go one step back in the numbers of the Suit, so the 5 of Pentacles would become the 4 of Pentacles. If you have the Ace, that goes back to the Ten.
A Court Card goes back down the Ranks, so a King becomes a Queen, or a Page loops back to the King. A knight becomes a Page.
That “card before the Aim card” shows the next step open to the client to achieve the Aim card.
If that card itself looks unrealistic or doesn’t present an immediate actual task, then go back another. You rarely have to go more than a couple of cards back down the sequence to find the required step that will get from the Present Situation towards the Aim.
Illus. Finding the Next Step Card.
In our example, we have the 7 of Wands in the Outcome position, so the next step back would be the 6 of Wands. That card immediately conjures a suggestion of the “kings courier” as Waite puts it in Pictorial Key to the Tarot . A message needs to be delivered. It needs to be delivered in a particular and dignified way.
This act, of delivering a message, will lead us best towards the situation in the 8 of Wands, when we can hold our own ground, so we need not look back down the chain any further.
The “first step” then towards the Aim is to deliver a message to someone. This would be put in the context of the situation and often makes immediate sense to the client, as they nod and go “yeah, I know what that means”.
Tip : If the Next Step card is already in the spread, in another location, then pay particular attention to it as the next step is already available in that position. If, for example, the 6 of Wands had already been in the Past position of our example spread, it would indicate the next step was to contact someone from the past.
10: The Anchor Card
Over the thirty years or more of using this spread, a number of habits have arisen that seem to work well for clients. One such habit is that we always (or nearly always) select one card on which to anchor the whole reading.
- If there is a repeated word you find yourself using during the reading, and that relates to one of the cards in the spread, use that card as your Anchor.
- If there is a particular card that the client has reacted with more strongly than the others, use that card.
- If there is a card that that you have kept returning to as part of the overall reading, time and time again, use that card.
And at the end of the reading, in your summary, say something like this;
“What I’ve found really useful when giving a powerful reading like this is to ask you to remember at least one image, one card, which will remind you of the whole reading – “
You can then watch the client’s eyes to see if they also glance unconsciously at a particular card in the deck. If they do, choose that card instead of the one you originally chose. This is the only use of “cold reading” (which is not really cold reading as you are still interpreting the actual card yourself) that we would consciously utilise in a reading.
You would then continue …
“- and in your case, we are selecting this card [pick card up] so I’d like you to particularly remember this one image and card when you think back to the reading, and that will help you remember everything we’ve talked about and all the changes you’ll be making”.
The Anchor card should usually follow the next section, which is “four important things”. It can be one of those four important things, or a different card entirely.
11: The Four Important Things
When delivering a reading, tarot readers can give the client several hundred different pieces of information, ranging from “this is my Thoth deck” to “And the 3 of Wands corresponds to Binah in Atzliuth”.
Some of these pieces of information will be of more relevance to the client than others, and we may not be conscious of everything that we say.
So a useful tip and rule of thumb in readings is that there are on average 5 – 9 pieces of information that will be most easily retained in memory by the client.
You should then be aware that when you summarise the reading, you give about four “most important things” from the reading as clearly as possible.
If you want, you can repeat up to nine at most, but four is the safest bet.
You can also ask the client which four things they will take away most from your reading or simply use the phrase;
“So, the four most important things from this reading are …”
If you do not elegantly summarise in this way, you will rely on the client to select the 5-9 most important things they remember from hundreds of things you have said, and you might not want one of them to be “I think they used something called a Tough Deck or something”.
There may be situations, of course, where you do not want to clarify or summarise the reading, but rather let the whole experience sit with the client, which is down to the art of reading rather than the science.
12: The Wheel and the Road
As we first covered in Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot and an even earlier magazine article in Tarosophist International , also reproduced here in this book, the “ancient Celtic Cross” spread is neither ancient, nor Celtic, nor much of a cross.
However, we can see that there is a cross in the middle and a bit of a column to the side. In the very first notes in the Golden Dawn archives of this spread, that column is actually placed to the left as we have seen.
It is important not to become too stuck with the picture of a Cross and Staff in the spread. When we look at it in other ways can see a lot of other resonances and patterns in the spread, and these help frame our reading towards a positive outcome.
Our favourite image for the spread is the “Wheel and Road”, where we see the spread from the side, as if it were a wheel upon a road.
Illus. The Wheel and the Road.
The wheel has an axle in the centre made by the present situation and the challenge. If these two are not joined together properly as we have done in our previous sections, they make for a very loose wheel – which may come off at any point.
This happens a lot as we know – you try and avoid facing a challenge and eventually everything falls apart, particularly if you are travelling fast.
The tire of the “wheel” is made up of the Past and Future positions and the Resources and Aim. Here we can see that if your past and future are not balanced, or your resources and aim are not equal, your tire will be very uneven and make for a rough ride, even if everything else is fine.
Finally, we look at the “road” underneath the “wheel” which is made up of the positions of Self-Reflection, Others, Attention and our Outcome.
If those things on the road – our environment made up of ourselves, others, our attention and our outcome - are not smooth, then again, no matter how good our wheel, we will have a bumpy time of it, and we may not end up going where we wished.
We can see that by making new patterns in the spread, freeing ourselves of the rather disconnected title of ‘Celtic’ and ‘Cross’ we can draw new insight and provide our client recognisable metaphors for their own journey.
13: The Celtic Square
As we are over half-way through our sections on reading the Celtic Cross, we would like to take a break and showcase the heart of our outcome-orientated re-tooling of the Celtic Cross method. We call this the Celtic Square and it is a very effective spread for face-to-face reading, at Fairs, parties and other professional venues.
One of the many useful configurations or patterns in the original Celtic Cross is in the relationship of the past, present and future which are placed on a horizontal line.
Time is a very basic and universal experience for us, but is mysterious and processed unconsciously most of the time, so to speak. When we look at it closely, as no-one has a clock inside their head, we all tend to represent time in terms of space.
You can hear this in our daily language; “just put that behind you”, “look ahead to the future”, or “You’re always digging that back up again” (from where?!).
In modelling this, NLP discovered that any individual will tend to fall in one of two categories; either they will see time in a line going from behind them (past) and then ahead of them (future), or they will see time as a line stretching out to the left (past) and right (future).
It is a simplistic model but tends to work in most cases. If you consider a childhood memory or two, and see where you go looking for them, and then consider something that has not yet happened, you may be able to get a sense of your own time-line.
However, the Celtic Cross forces a time-line in the very centre of the spread.
So if we take out those three cards for the past, present and future and put them in a vertical line something quite magical happens.
We suddenly find that the Resources, Challenge and Aim cards neatly stack against the timeline.
Not only that, but so do the Self, Others and Attention cards.
We leave the Outcome outside the Square, as this is now properly our "outcome orientated reading".
We can see how the past, present and future run.
We can see how the resources meet the challenge towards defining the aim.
We can see how the self-position works with others when it attends to its outcome.
And even more powerfully ... look at the horizontal lines.
Illus. The Celtic Square.
We can now
- See how the way we have applied our resources in the past has created our self-image.
- See how the present and its challenges is bound to those around us and our environment.
- See how the future is created by our aim and our attention.
This is exactly that old so-called "Celtic Cross" with a few tweaks to the keywords of the positions and a re-arrangement of the layout.
But it was there all the time.
14: You are I when I Say It Like This
When we work with outcome-orientated readings, it is important to recognise that the present moment is the one in which we work.
We always try in a reading to ground the person in a realistic awareness of their present state and open up the full deck of possibilities that is available.
In the Celtic Cross, we do this when we take the Self card and apply it to the Present position.
We tend to do this using the language pattern of a YOU/I switch by saying:
So, if I were you [pointing to SELF card] like this, let’s look at where I would be right now [move SELF card on top of PRESENT card].
We can then read those two cards in combination using phrasing such as “I know I would be …” and “I bet for sure I’d be able to …” and so on.
This frees the client from consciously having to consider these possibilities, whilst delivering them straight to the unconscious, which always identifies with the main subject of any story.
Illus. Self to Present with You/I Switch.
In our example, we see the 4 of Cups as the Self, being applied straight to the 6 of Swords in the Present.
We can refer back to how we have already interpreted these cards or simply re-interpret them as a new layer or angle of insight into the reading.
So we might say,
“Well, if I were you and sitting under this tree trying to ignore the opportunities ahead, [move 4 of Cups on top of the 6 of Swords] I might end up missing my boat. I guess sometimes we’ve all felt like we haven’t got on board with something [move 4 of Cups to the side so we can see the 6 of Swords in the Present] when in fact, I just need to make a little jump like so [move finger in a hopping gesture from one card to another] to take the ride of a lifetime”.
In doing this, we map a profound possibility for the client straight into their unconscious, bypassing any filter they might have placed about their own self in the present situation.
This YOU/I switch can be heard used often in the speeches of the world’s greatest orators, politicians and speakers, so it is a powerful tip when applied in any reading.
15: Should, Would, Could and Might
Carrying on from our introduction of a new language pattern in the previous section, we now look at another pattern which can also be used in any reading, not just the Celtic Cross.
It is another NLP language pattern and one very much evident in tarot readers and their readings when you listen for it.
It is called (get ready for it) … “modal operators of necessity”.
Do not panic!
You should panic!
You might panic!
You could be panicking!
Why shouldn’t you?
We do not want you to panic!
And those are all examples of modal operators, operating modally on your sense of needing to do something – it’s necessity.
Modal Operators are words like;
- Could
- Should
- Must
- Might
- May
- Couldn’t
- Don’t
- Must not
- Mustn’t
Can you learn them?
- You should!
- You must!
- You might!
- You could, you know, have already learnt them!
In fact, you might want to listen over the coming day or two, to how many times you can hear other people using them.
You should really pay attention.
They might not be obvious.
Because we can use them all the time.
You must pay attention.
And the more you hear them, the more you might understand how in a reading we might consider how we should be more elegant in using them ourselves, might we not?
How many times do you use “should” to someone who might rebel automatically against “should” or “must”, or use “might” to someone who needs to hear just that they “could” actually do it?
And are some cards automatically associated in your mind and the way you speak with “must” such as ‘the two people on the Devil card must break free’ or are some softer “should” cards – ‘When the Temperance card is in this position you should really start to get a balance’.
Maybe there are cards that you have an even softer (but sometimes more powerful) “could” affixed to them – ‘you could really make a new start now, as the Ace of Wands is at the top of the spread’.
Listen, is all we ask of you in this section, and you might notice something interesting changes in your readings.
Well, you could. You might choose to not hear these words.
16: Add a Sliding Scale to your Cards
As we become more elegant in the delivery of our reading, using language patterns and a re-tooled Celtic Cross, we can better help our client (and ourselves) towards change.
You might notice that you talk about some cards as being very cut and dry; one way or another. The Blasted Tower card is “oooh, a sudden event is going to shock you” or the 3 of Cups is “You will find good company with women friends” and “cause to celebrate”.
We can add a slightly more elegant approach to describing cards when we consider that every card has an invisible sliding scale on it, like the volume control on a touch screen.
As you point to a card, you might want to consider that you are about to deliver the interpretation on a scale that is dependent on all the other cards in the spread.
So that “Blasted Tower” may actually be the least important card as you read it.
However, the client will often be looking with some concern at the Blasted Tower illustration, or if it were a card such as the 10 of Swords, and it might be difficult to bring their attention to the more important elements of the whole reading.
So rather than ignore or try to gloss over the cards we can use a sliding scale.
We do this by mirroring a behaviour we have seen several experienced tarot readers do naturally and unconsciously.
Start by touching the card at the top and say something like “This card illustrates very well a sudden shock”. This gets attention and is a verifiable truism. It is actually far worse to say “this card is not as bad as it looks” which sets the unconscious to wonder how bad it could look.
Then you slowly slide your finger down the side of the card to about a quarter down, saying as you do, “but of course, there’s all sorts of sudden events in life from a tree falling on your car” (move finger down a bit more) “to a small lottery win” (slide finger down a bit to the bottom of the card) “to finding out a favourite group has released a new song”.
Now you can say, depending on the other cards in the spread, and the importance of the particular card such as the Blasted Tower in the reading, “in this case …” and slowly slide your finger to the percentage importance of the card in the reading along the side of the card.
So if you want to drop the importance of the card to a half-impact in terms of the overall reading, you would slide your finger only half-way back up the card.
Then, having set this unconscious sliding anchor, we can say, “… the card has very little impact because when we look at the 10 of Pentacles ...”
In anchoring the importance of a card by giving a scale of impact whilst sliding you finger down the card you can then also use that anchor on any other card without even having to repeat the scale.
You may find this method so powerful that when you point to a card later in the reading and place your finger directly right at the top of the card and hold it there, the client’s attention will be absolutely fixed and expectant on this card and your interpretation, because they will have picked up the signal unconsciously.
17. Big Picture (Getting it Started and Finished)
In this section, we present the first part of an additional consideration of the Celtic Cross, called “Big Picture, Little Picture, Big Picture Little Picture”.
There are three sections (17, 18 & 19) in this part of reading the spread and in this first section we take a look at the overall balance of cards.
There are many ideas about taking notice of the overall balance of cards, and also the Suits that might not appear in your spread, but we want to share a more elegant and precise trick.
In this trick we can find out exactly where we can start and complete the change we want to make towards our outcome.
We start with the usual way of reviewing the overall balance of cards in the spread.
In our example we see that there is one Major card, two Court Cards and seven Minors, which is an average spread, other than we might expect one more Major.
THE AVERAGE SPREAD CONSISTS OF: 3 Majors, 5 Minors & 2 Court Cards.
So our example is a pretty average spread all over; nothing major, nothing minor.
In those Minor and Court cards there is also a roughly equal spread of the four Suits.
There is one more Sword than the others but not enough to take our attention, for example, if we had six Pentacle cards and just one Cup card, but no Swords or Wands. That would signify a very heavy spread probably about resources and money.
We also take a look at the numbers of the Minors, to see if we can see anything else there, such as a lot of Fives, or a lot of higher numbers, lower numbers, etc.
Illus. Big Picture.
In our example we see that there is an equal spread across the numbers, with one card only of each number ranging from 1 to 9, so in the Minor cards we have; 1 (Ace), 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, & 9.
The only thing we might consider in that range is that there are no ‘Tens’ which are the “finishing” or “manifestation” cards.
In fact, when we look at that, we might want to see where a Nine card might be, which is the card which secretly reveals where we might be closest to completion in this situation.
Here we see the Nine is the Nine of Cups in the position of “Others”.
This indicates that the closest point to manifesting change towards the outcome is secretly clued in the “Others” card.
As we have seen in the previous layers of this particular example, there is much work for our client to do with how others receive them – and how they work with others.
Looking at the Aces and Tens in a reading (or lack of them, and cards closest to them) shows how we can start or complete change – and not only that, but where that must take place and when.
Having seen how we can find the cards closest to the start and end of the change required in the situation, we next look at the “little picture” aspect of this part of the reading.
18. Little Picture (It’s in Your Hands)
As we saw in the previous section, we can quickly look at the overall balance of cards in a spread and get a “big picture” of the overall nature of the reading.
We can also use our trick to look for Aces and Tens for ‘startings’ and ‘endings’ in the situation.
We can further find the cards closest to the end and beginnings (Twos and Nines, for example) and see where we are closest to achieving a new start or getting closure.
Next we look at the details of all the cards together, and see how they are similar or very different in the “little picture”. This gives added nuances to the reading and allows us to fill in the details to give the client (or ourselves) a comprehensive picture of the situation.
One excellent way of doing this with the Waite-Smith Tarot and many others is to look at the appearance and symbolism of HANDS.
The hand is a symbol of control and agency. It is a symbol of being open, welcoming, being closed or even threatening. It is capable of expressing a range of emotions and so is a powerful tool in symbolism. It is often used in dream-work and lucid dreaming for its ability to remind us of our sense of control.
The method is fairly straightforward and can be broken into several steps.
(i) Take a look where a hand is presenting something, possibly in several locations in the reading.
Join these card meanings together to form a chain of offerings.
(ii) Take a look at where a hand is holding something, and then see where else things are being held back.
Join these card meanings together to show all the unreleased potential resources available to the client as they work towards change.
(iii) Take a look at how the hands change across a reading.
It can often reveal a profound message to the client or yourself.
(iv) Follow the movements and gestures of the hands in a reading by copying it with your own real hands, like a martial arts set or dance/mime sequence.
Now follow these instructions when looking at the three cards in the Past, Present and Challenge positions of our example and you may get a big surprise.
Try the fourth step and you may even find your facial expression changing as you perform those three gestures in one fluid sequence.
Remember too what we did with looking at the past and future cards to get an overall theme?
How is that theme picked out again in the sequence of hand gestures?
The “big picture” and “little picture” often interlock in a profound way and there are many other ways of exploring the two layers, such as looking at the direction in which feet (or hooves) are moving across the cards and much more – go explore!
We next put these two sections together in our third section of this part of the reading sequence, when we chunk the two layers together.
19. Big Picture, Little Picture (Chunking)
We now put our previous two sections together to arrive at what can often be a unique insight into a reading. We do this by looking at something in the big picture and then looking for that same thing in the detail of the cards.
We saw in our ‘big picture’ of this particular example spread that whilst there was a quite average spread of cards, we were interested that there were no TENS, so no real ‘completion’ cards.
We then looked to the closest completion card, a NINE, which was the 9 of Cups in the OTHERS position.
In the next section, we looked at the ‘little picture’, in this case looking at HANDS. We could have also looked at standing/sitting, objects, direction of movement, and many other details across the cards.
We now put these two sections together and provoke curious insight.
If we were using some other example, we might find ourselves looking at the Two of Wands and his hands, to get an idea of how to start from the present position. In another reading, we might end up looking at the Five and Six of Swords and their respective movements to discover the middle-ground (Fives and Sixes in the middle of One to Ten) in an argument (Swords). This approach unlocks massive possibility in your readings.
Keeping to our example and what we have covered previously, we look at the NINE OF CUPS (decided to be closest to completion in the ‘big picture’) and then look at his HANDS (our choice in looking at the ‘little picture’).
This would tell us how the step to completion can be carried out.
When we look closely, we see that the character (actually Falstaff from Shakespeare as we cover in Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot ) has one hand visible and one hand hidden.
This would give us insight in that the next step to getting this situation resolved, particularly as it requires the right recognition by other people, is to only partially reveal one’s hand.
Illus. 9 of Cups (Waite-Smith Tarot).
We would build this insight into the advice as we come to an overall plan. We would advise the client to only reveal their plan in part to other people. That would lead to an interesting conversation about those “stages” we talked about in the earlier part of the reading.
In this section we go ‘big picture’ and then ‘little picture’ and then slam them both together in order to shake out hidden insight in the overall reading.
This method is based on “chunking” levels of detail as described and utilised in NLP.
20. Looking Back Forwards
Now that we have worked with the little and big picture in the spread, we resolve a problem with the Celtic Cross that is common to all spread - it is fixed to its own positions.
It is rarely noted that the Celtic Cross and many other spreads that have been inspired by it as the basic template for spreads can only take the client (or yourself) to an “outcome”. This final card in the spread is fixed there for all to see, so frames the whole reading as simply a means to describe what appears to be the most important thing – the outcome.
It is very deterministic and can often support the client’s issues of self-control or agency in their situation and life in general.
In our more powerful change-work and solution-orientated approach, we want to engage with change, make it possible, and then look even further at the consequences of change.
So in the Celtic Cross (and any other spread) we might want to add another card as a far-future card .
This is our personal variation of the “surprise card” that used to be part of earlier playing-card techniques. This was the card laid out as a ‘bonus’ right at the end of a reading, such as a fan or pyramid spread.
In our method, we simply turn up the next card in the remaining deck and say something this:
“So, once that outcome [point to the Outcome card] has been long achieved, and you are looking back now on all the things that you have changed and achieved since that time, this card shows us - way ahead in the far future - how you will be looking back at that time of your life”.
And then read that card.
This immediately takes the client into a far future position and widens the context and potential for change. It also, for those who like the technicalities, uses the language pattern of “at that time of your life” (not ‘during this time in your life’) presents a non-associated and yet possessive perspective of the present moment.
If we drew a surprise card of the Hierophant, for example, we might say “It appears most likely that you will be looking back at that time of your life in a way in which you learnt a great many things, enough to become an expert on them. In fact, as you look back now from that future point, you have enough experience to be a good teacher to others …”
21: The Force is Strong in This One
As we reach our final steps of this new approach to the noble Celtic Cross, in this section we look at direction and flow across (and underneath) the whole spread. This helps us draw together in a summary all of the steps that we have already taken in the reading.
In order to look at the direction and flow of the spread, we mentally draw lines of movement on every card - or physically with your finger in the air above the cards.
Another method you can add to this is to make appropriate noises in your mind or out loud for every card movement. This works very well for those who respond to sound more than images.
As an example, you might hear a “swoosh!” sound for the rapid movement seen in the 8 of Wands or “Durrrrr…” (like a stuck gear wheel) for the strange mix of movement and non-movement on the Temperance card. It could be that you hear an Angelic choir “A-Ah-Ah-Ahhh!” for Temperance, depending on how you have already read it in the specific reading.
Illus. Lines of Movement.
I always hear that circus show-ring music when I see the 2 of Pentacles. It also helps me remember that it is a card all about the ‘show’ and not the ‘substance’ or sawdust of a matter.
When you have done this for every card in the central area of the ‘wheel’ of the spread (the wheel we saw in a previous section) you will get a good idea of additional points to incorporate and bring together as you summarise your interpretation.
Sometimes the directions, speed and sounds of movement in the cards can show similarities and tides, which I call ‘tendencies’ or ‘trends’. It can often be that the movements and sounds go totally different ways or head into each other in certain areas of the spread, which I call ‘fractures’. These tendencies or fractures can really deepen the reading, clarify and confirm previous points, or add new information which joins those points together.
We look for dynamic flows of movement that go with - or against - the other flows first; so in our example spread we can see just how that Knight of Swords is opposing the whole flow of the other cards.
In fact, this illustrates how fast the situation will be released (straight into the 8 of Wands) once that card is actually harnessed, as we saw in our previous section on utilising the Knight with the resource card of Temperance.
Temperance is here providing a “push/pull” support mechanism to all that dynamic flow above.
We also look for sets of cards all going the same direction and chain their interpretation together, and other patterns that become obvious when you try this simple tip.
22: Vectors, Victims and Victors
As we saw in the previous section, we can imagine all the lines of force in a reading by drawing a mental image of the direction in which the illustration generally points.
These provide us “vectors” of influence in the reading.
They also show which cards may be victims, badly impacted by the overall or immediately surrounding cards, or victors, unduly heightened in their influence by the overall flow.
This is what we call a “natural dignity” which is just like the “elemental dignities” method used by the Golden Dawn system and the Opening of the Key spread.
So let us now look at the stave (or road) portion of the Celtic Cross example, and see how those vectors can be easily and quickly seen and used in our reading.
Our first impression is how different they are to the central portion – how isolated and closed off they are, with illustrations that are more inward pointing.
These vectors are quite powerful, but being applied inwardly, which is no surprise given the rest of the reading in all our previous sections.
Illus. Vectors, Victims and Victors.
There’s what we can clearly see and call “resistance” to the current down all those cards.
So as one example, we would simply (having already removed the Page of Swords as per our section on “attention” earlier) turn UPSIDE DOWN the 9 of Cups, saying “Let’s change all this resistance, shall we? Let’s see what will happen when you turn everything on its head”.
And of course, in this example, that’s exactly the card we have been returning to in previous tips, for all sorts of reasons. It’s almost as if the whole method hangs together.
Every reading and flow of the force in it will be different and teach you new ways of working with the cards if you let it.
You can try it with just a portion of a spread first, and then build it up over practice.
In whatever way the cards fall – just remember, incorporate and utilise, it’s all about the outcome.
23: No Fault, Only Fix
As we draw together our concluding remarks in a reading, it is important to remember that these will often be the most-recalled pieces of information by the client.
So, one thing we do with outcome-orientated reading is provide at least a few resources from the reading that the client will take away.
One problem with tarot is that it can often unconsciously consolidate a feeling of helplessness in the client. This can happen particularly when badly delivered by a reader who is more interested in proving their own ability (and is projecting insecurity into the cards) than pointing the client to their own resources for managing change.
So, for today’s tip, we return to the “resources” card and in our summary of the reading drop in a few deliveries of truism + truism + suggestion as we saw in a previous tip.
We can use what has actually happened in the session, because that will always be true and verifiable.
So we might say, “Now, we’ve covered a lot of material for you in this hour, and I know we’ve had a lot of laughs along the way, which is great to pace things out a bit .”
In that sentence, we have referred to our previous reading of the Temperance card ‘pacing out’ the energy of the Knight of Swords, our very challenging card in this example, which we want to harness.
We have said two true things; the reading lasted an hour, and we laughed in it, then followed it with a suggestion based on the resource card.
This delivery helps with a “no fault, only fix” mentality. We do not go on about how brilliant we have been for finding so many problems that exist in the client’s life in our cards.
This approach also shows how the method of reading slots in with the language that we use – a very important fit when considering how we teach and learn tarot.
Tarot is a linguistic process, albeit generated by pictorial symbols. The more we learn how to speak, and how that reflects how we think, the more inspired are our readings.
24: Our Story is Not Done
To conclude this section on reading the Celtic Cross, we would like to share a story.
I (Marcus) was once doing a reading at a local car boot sale at which I was doing 20-30 quick readings a day, sometimes more, from 6am to 6pm.
My wife was shopping around the sale and passed behind me as I laid out the cards in a Celtic Cross. I actually heard her gasp as she walked past the table.
I was also looking at the cards and it was like the reading from hell. Every ‘bad’ card, and even the ‘good’ cards looked like they were tormented where they were positioned.
I looked at my client, a young, worried looking girl, probably about 19 years old.
She looked at me, and I could sense her reaching for some hope.
I started to read with the first card along the lines of “Well, although this card looks bad, one hopeful thing is …” but soon found myself referring to the darkness of the card, time again.
I turned to another card, “Now, one of the best things about this card is … “and found myself again reading it as “… well, actually, this card in this position is pretty grim, as …”
And so on through the whole reading. Whichever way I turned, however I went, the cards were bad, bad, bad, and hopeless. I have never seen before or since a reading like it.
Also, I was finding myself reading it negatively, and trying to resist that. So at some point, I gave in, and thought “I read the cards. I am a card reader. That is what I do.”
So I read the cards. I read them truly, passionately, and spoke as eloquently as I could about what it is like to live in darkness, without hope, when things can – and will – only get worse.
I stopped looking at the client. I am not a person-reader. I am a card reader. So I read the cards.
I looked up after about twenty minutes, fully expecting a request for a refund.
What I got was a slightly stunned look, and a slight nod of the head. She paid and got up to go.
I was so uncertain as to what had happened, I asked her, somewhat plaintively, “Was that OK? I mean, I’m sorry to have delivered so much bad news”.
She looked at me with some empathy, and said seriously, “Well, if it helps you, I probably won’t be committing suicide like I planned to tonight”.
And walked away.
My wife returned to ask me about the reading and I was packing up my cards, I could not do another reading that day or for a week afterwards.
For many years this reading played in my mind. Not only the reading, but the way in which it had appeared to profoundly help the client.
I thought often to myself that the reading had not offered hope, positivity, or resources. It had only – only – confirmed her dire situation and depression, futility, and the imminent action she was to take in response to a seemingly impossible situation.
So what had changed? What outcome had been delivered?
After another thirty years of learning and practising tarot, I began to formulate a thought about this reading, and it is the one which I feel is the most important tip of all.
We are card readers. So we read the cards.
That’s the lesson.
When I read those cards for that girl, I could have fudged a lot of hope out of my head and overridden the cards. I didn’t in the end – I read the cards, despite wanting to read for the person and what I naturally thought would help.
But we are not normal people, doing a normal job, offering normal or well-meaning advice.
And in not doing so, I told this girl something powerful, and demonstrated with the tarot reading something beyond any doubt she held, even in her position.
I told her that the cards knew.
They knew her story.
They knew her despair.
They knew futility.
They knew darkness.
They knew life was not always easy at all.
They knew her plan to end her life.
They could see it.
And if this were indeed the case, her life was not unnoticed, it was not disconnected.
And most of all, there was something more than she could see – something connected, something that saw her, and something that wanted to tell her a story.
In doing so, it changed her mind.
If this was all true, then she was not simply the end of her life, she was part of something more – something truly mysterious, and something more powerful than us all.
Something, perhaps, good and caring.
Something, perhaps, loving.
Something, perhaps, alive in our lives in every moment, accompanying us here and now.
This is what happened, and why our story is not done.
We are tarot readers, and we read the cards.
Conclusion
In working through the entire history of the Celtic Cross and then presenting new methods of using it we hope to have demonstrated just how powerful a simple spread can be to work through all aspects of any situation in life.
We also hope to have kindled your enthusiasm to explore other aspects of our reading style in other titles and take your tarot to new levels of insight.
We hope you have found this book useful and look forward to hearing about your experience in using the Celtic Cross in our Facebook group .
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