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THE CELTIC CROSS SPREAD

For the most part, the Celtic Cross Spread will work for your clients, but when the problems and answers are not so clear, or when you want to add value (i.e. increase the price of your reading) then you need to know how to upgrade the reading. Since all Tarot spreads work the same way, by placing the cards in positions, we can use the techniques for reading strings of cards with any spread, particularly if it has between ten and twenty cards.

Often when laying out cards, readers get into a routine of placing them in the usual positions. Instead, simply pick up the first card of the spread, place it on the second card, then put those two onto the third, and so on. When you have collected all the cards in the spread, fan them out onto the table. Fanning the cards out from right to left, or left to right is a matter of personal preference, but it is important to be consistent. If you are using the Rider-Waite deck, you may need more space so that you can see which card is which. In contrast, the cards of the Thoth Tarot deck are uniquely coloured, so a large overlap is possible and they can still be distinguished easily.

Here is the original spread, as emailed to me by Catherine:

1 Heart of the Matter—Eight of Cups reversed.

2 Opposing Factor—Seven of Cups.

3 Root Cause—The Sun.

4 Past—Three of Swords reversed.

5 Attitudes & Beliefs—Four of Cups.

6 Future—Knight of Pentacles.

7 You As You Are—Ten of Wands.

8 Outside Environment—Ten of Cups.

9 Hopes & Fears—Ace of Cups.

10 Outcome—Knight of Wands reversed.

The order is there, but as we read the string of cards we will not be particularly concerned with the meanings of the positions nor, for that matter, the meanings of the cards. Throughout this book divinatory meanings have a low priority.

Some people will sometimes add extra cards into a spread to provide additional clarity. They place these cards near the card that is under question, or they will at least make the connection in their mind. Other readers may choose a Significator card and place it in proximity. These extra cards can be included in a string, as long as the order is preserved. So, if a Significator has been chosen, it can be the first card. If three extra cards have been added afterwards to elucidate position four (‘The Past’ in this case), then those cards can be added to the end of the sequence, and they will be eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth.

Seeing and understanding patterns in the cards helps us relate those patterns to the life of the client. Looking at patterns among a series of failed relationships is a good example. There may be a number of patterns that can be observed in the spread, but when there are ten cards or less these patterns may not be so obvious.

Using reversed cards is a matter of personal taste. Catherine has several reversed cards in her reading. Working with the cards in strings, reversed cards are used to indicate groups of cards, not necessarily the reversal of an individual card’s meaning. Analysis using Elemental Dignities will help elucidate the relative strengths and weaknesses of the individual cards.

Pay attention to any groups of similar cards. In Catherine’s reading there are two Knights, two Tens, five Cups, two Wands, one Sword and one Pentacle; one Major card, two Court cards and seven Minor cards. Three or four of a kind have greater significance than a pair.

Everyone loves a story. We use Card Counting to bring to life the story in the spread. Card Counting helps to spot and understand underlying patterns, the invisible links between the cards and their relationship to each other. It also helps us see if situations are developing for better or worse, are stagnant, or simply going around in circles. Sometimes it is possible to infer a lot about what is going on simply by looking at the card counting patterns within a reading, without interpreting the cards at all. Whatever card we start with, there will come a point when we count onto a card that has already been counted onto. This is the point when counting stops. It is usually best practice to start with the top card first in the direction of the other cards, and then in the reverse direction. Next, it is often worth counting from Court Cards that are significant in the reading. While we can count in either direction, we never change direction in mid-count. However, there is an exception: if we land on a Court card then we can change direction, but only if we choose to—it is not mandatory.

Clients want quick, clear answers, so if the card count meanders, or is very long, then it is often better to find a more direct route. I once remember doing a reading for a woman who had trouble finding a boyfriend. When I card counted from the top card, the count missed three male Court Cards in the string. Without even studying the cards in the sequence I was able to say that she always seemed to miss the men in her life, and she agreed.

As you count from various cards in a string you will see the patterns emerge. If you land on a card that was counted onto in a previous count, you generally do not have to go further, as you will know how the count will progress. It is amazing how the same cards show up in a count. In this case, they represent a well-trodden path, which the client is familiar with, but wants to break out from. Often what is even more significant are the cards that do not get counted onto. They are easy to miss, but with practice finding them gets easier. When you find one of these cards you need to check in both directions that none of the other cards count onto it. Uncounted cards are the source of the Nile; they represent new directions that the client has never considered, or is uncertain about taking. Generally the new direction represented by that card is worth pursuing by both reader and client. In essence, an uncounted card influences the cards either side of it, and the cards that it counts onto in either direction, but it is not influenced by these cards. You may find several uncounted cards in a string. I am sure you have had the experience of talking about something that looks so clear from the cards but means nothing to the client. It may be that this relates to an uncounted card in the spread. In Catherine’s reading, the Knight of Wands is uncounted, which is how we knew he was nothing to do with her present or past circumstances. It also explained why it was so difficult for Catherine to understand anything about him. The Knight of Wands was revealed as representing a whole new life for Catherine.

Counting from each Court Card helps to see who these individuals are in the life of the client and how they interact with each other. If there are two protagonists represented by two court cards, for example, you may find that one of them counts onto the Six of Wands, ‘Victory’, while the other counts onto the Ten of Swords, ‘Disaster’. Usually of course, things will not be so clear-cut. Using Card Counting helps us not only to avoid the clichés that too often abound with Court Cards, but also places these cards in context. When we include the divinatory meanings, we see how those meanings are changed subtly depending on the direction of the count and from or onto different cards.

Card Pairing is performed to build up extra information about the development of the reading. Start by looking at the outer cards: first and tenth, then second and ninth, and so on until you reach the centre. There will be a card at the centre if there are an odd number of cards. It is permissible to count from any card, so the pairing can start from either side. If you do not want to go through the full rigmarole of pairing, then look only at the cards in the centre of the string. Card Pairing provides an overview, and often throws up extra information that helps to link cards that were not linked in the Card Counting. (Including court cards.)

Elemental Dignities takes us away from the story provided by Card Counting, down to the details of individual cards. We use Elemental Dignities to understand how each card interacts with its neighbours within the invisible links revealed by Card Counting and Pairing. With experience, Elemental Dignities can be used at every stage of Counting and Pairing to add colour to the reading. The rules of Elemental Dignities are very simple but contain a lot of subtlety and sophistication to add nuance to the reading. Elemental Dignities can show us whether the client is blowing hot and cold over a situation, or thinks too much, or is slow to act. The Card Count for a particular card might look straightforward, but Elemental Dignities can tell a different story if the elements alternate between Fire and Water, for example. These elements are inimical to each other and cancel each other out. We use Elemental Dignities to bring forward the subtleties of the divinatory meanings, rather than simply relying on position or whether a card is reversed.

Elemental Dignities helps us to understand the subtleties and relative strengths and weaknesses between Court Cards. Let us say we had the Queen of Disks reversed between the Knight of Wands and the Knight of Cups. We might think that because she is reversed she is weak between the two Knights, but with Elemental Dignities we know that Fire and Water weaken each other, so she is stronger than both of them.

When we combine all the techniques of Counting, Pairing and Elemental Dignities we build up a more complex picture of what is going on. We see the hidden links, we see the hidden influences, and we can tell how these will manifest and what the effect will be. We can advise our clients on which direction will be most profitable, for work, health and love and any other situation. We can see the motives of other people, hidden or otherwise, and how we can come closer to them, or avoid them altogether. As we see the pitfalls, we can advise how to avoid them, or (if that is not possible) how to minimise any problems and move toward better situations. We can also see how likely it is that the client will be able to make those changes. I mentioned that we can safely ignore the positions of the Celtic Cross when working with strings but, if you wish, you can reintroduce those positions to the interpretation (without moving the cards) and add it to all the other information you have discovered.

The Celtic Cross has a clear arrow of time from the Past to either the Future or the Outcome. But using the additional techniques you are effectively bringing in many more potential futures for your clients to choose from. Therapeutically, the more possibilities the better. Of course, as a responsible reader you will be able to advise on the best plan for action. The synergy of the Celtic Cross spread with these new techniques is greater than the sum of their parts.

With practice, the subconscious will do the work, freeing the conscious mind to interact with the client.

Now that we have an overall understanding of how these apparently disparate parts fit together, we can look at each aspect in more detail.

PAUL’S ANALYSIS OF THE CELTIC CROSS SPREAD

	1. Heart of the Matter—Eight of Cups reversed. This card is rather depressing. I always liken it to having the hangover before you go to the party. Hope is given up.
	2. Opposing Factor—Seven of Cups. Catherine does not want to be caught up in false hopes and illusion. She has been there before, and now she wants clarity, but she does not know how to get it.
	3. Root Cause—The Sun. Catherine is looking for success, but so far it seems to have eluded her.
	4. Past—3 of Swords reversed. Clearly there has been a lot of sorrow, upset and loss. Maybe an accident or illness has contributed. Either way, we can see why it is so difficult to get beyond the Seven and Eight of Cups.
	5. Attitudes and Beliefs—Four of Cups Catherine has lost her beliefs. She no longer knows what she wants, and if she did there are doubts whether the effort is worth it. She is bored with life and does not know what to do.
	6. Future—Knight of Pentacles. If we did not know already, clearly Catherine is on her own and she is looking for a partner. The good news is that he is there! He is practical, but beyond that it is difficult to say.
	7. You As You Are—Ten of Wands. Catherine is snowed under. She is under a lot of pressure, which could either be of her own making or from other people.
	8. Outside Environment—Ten of Cups. Despite the pressure represented by the Ten of Wands, it seems that there is a lot of love and happiness around, which perhaps serves to rub salt into the wounds.
	9. Hopes and Fears—Ace of Cups. The Ace of Cups represents the beginning of love and happiness, but Catherine seems to be in a state of not knowing if she really wants love to come into her life, despite her comments previously.
	10. Outcome—Knight of Wands reversed This, I feel, is the real problem and the reason why Cath erine contacted me in the first place. Her original question was: ‘Will I meet the man of my dreams?’

SUMMARY

Is her ideal outcome the Knight of Pentacles, or is it the Knight of Wands reversed? The Future is good but indeterminate, while the Outcome is of an angry and frustrated man—or is that just her perception of him? Either way, the push and pull of the two Knights is driving her crazy.

If we compare Catherine’s analysis (below) with mine, it can be seen that we agree on what the reading is about. The question is how do we go beyond the surface meanings of the cards and the positions? How do we find answers to the questions and dilemmas posed in the reading?

CATHERINE’S ANALYSIS OF THE CELTIC CROSS

I have been single for some time, although lingering in the background is my ex. We have both lingered and done the ‘not letting go’ thing. Only, I thought I had finally cracked it—my life has taken a new direction and I’m pleased to be travelling a more enlightened path. I’ve known for some time he’s not in my future and that’s okay. I think we both did something amazing for each other, which has resulted in new directions.

However, it was Valentine’s Day this week and I guess I got a bit sentimental and sent him an e-card and a message. He’s dating someone else now and very politely he blew me off. I had a momentary wobble, but all is well in my world again. It made me think, though, how much I would like to have someone in my life again. I’ve been very rigid on this point of late. Because of the work I’ve been doing with myself, I’ve held the view that I don’t have the room for someone, and—to be honest—you know how it is when you fall in love; it’s so time consuming (in a positive way) and your focus is shifted to this wonderful new thing in your life. So this would go against the energy and time I have given to myself. Briefly, I’ve read a lot and have tried to apply prosperity principles, enlightenment, my tarot cards—a large number of things to improve myself and develop myself as a person and spiritually. So you can see the internal conflict I have, and I think the opening three cards reflect that. The fourth card too, because it hurt, albeit briefly.

I realise now that I can have love in my life and not lose focus, if I could find someone who is travelling a similar road to my own. Then it would be a help and not a hindrance—true?

The Four of Cups is interesting because lately I have read it to mean missed opportunities, but here in this position, and to do with love, could it signal apathy and boredom? I am a commit-ment-phobe. So therein lies my challenge: to go for it—warts and all—commit myself and be a part of it. Most people are scared to be alone. I know it’s okay to be alone, it’s not scary, but I think now the opposite is true. As much as I want to be with someone, it scares me, the lifelong thing. I guess my roots are in the failed marriage and a failed relationship that I thought would last for ever. I know I have issues to deal with and ultimately I have the power to change my thinking and attitude.

I will be honest and say I do not understand the Knights. I see that they could be a person, but maybe this is the point where reading for yourself about your own love-life loses its objectivity. The Ten of Wands is correct: that is, I’m right there struggling along, balancing it all. And the Ten of Cups shows, I think, how everyone else perceives me—happy, homely and contented. The Ace of Cups is my hope and not my fear, but once again the Knight is less obvious to me.

DEALING WITH REVERSED CARDS

When there are single cards on positions in a spread, the only means of employing variation is to use reversed cards. But therein lies the problem: reversals have a binary effect; they are the opposite of upright cards, which tends to make the reader interpret them in a negative way. This raises issues. For example, is a ‘negative’ reversed card suddenly ‘positive’? Having a reversed card on the ‘Future’ or ‘Outcome’ position of a spread can be devastating. This was the main reason why Catherine contacted me in the first place.

However, when we look at a string of cards, reversals have a context. We can relate the reversal to cards around it. For example, if there is a group of reversed cards we can see them as a group rather than a sequence of individually reversed cards. This becomes more significant in longer strings. If the top card of a string is reversed, it may be easier to view the other cards from this perspective, since all the other reversed cards have the same orientation to it. One benefit of this approach is that we do not have to learn an extra set of reversed meanings. However, if you are comfortable with reversed meanings, or you have learned them, then by all means incorporate them into your interpretations. As you work with the new approach you will find that it provides greater degrees of subtlety than the old either/or approach to reversals. You will discover that some aspects of a reversed card will apply and not others, and these aspects will have some influence on the surrounding cards. These subtler ‘shades of grey’ are more like the way in which sophisticated adults see the world.

Returning to Catherine’s Celtic Cross spread, we see that the reversed cards are particularly significant. Let’s look at them in more detail. Even though there are only three, they could nevertheless prove devastating.

We start with the first card, ‘The Heart of the Matter’: the Eight of Cups reversed. This hardly inspires confidence, does it? I can imagine the sharp intake of breath from the reader when this card was dealt out first. It refers to Catherine’s current situation. The Eight of Cups is a depressing card, so if it is reversed does that mean things will improve? Catherine is not happy with her situation anyway, and if she could see an easy way out she probably would not be having the reading.

The reversed Three of Swords at the far left of the spread (‘The Past’) sticks out like a sore thumb. Logically, the reversed Three of Swords signifies an improvement, surely? However, Catherine knows her situation has not improved in the way she wants, so what is going on here?

The Knight of Wands reversed in the ‘Outcome’ position is such a let-down! Does it mean that Catherine ends with a violent man, or is he connected to the Past (Three of Swords) or the Heart of the Matter (Eight of Cups)? The only other Knight is the right way up, but he seems to be associated with her previous partner. No wonder Catherine is confused.

Looking at the Celtic Cross spread, we have the first card, the left-most card, and the last card all reversed. My sympathies are now with the poor card reader—how do you guide your client towards a more positive outlook?

Am I recommending that you do not use reversals? They are very important and I have always used them, but there are better ways of understanding them and ways of putting them in a different context.

While spreads like the Celtic Cross can highlight either ‘difficult’ cards, or cards that require special attention, they do not provide methods of dealing with or solving them. In later chapters I will provide some simple techniques for not only understanding why particular cards are reversed, but also for getting to grips with how they fit together into the context of the reading as a whole.

CATHERINE’S VIEW OF REVERSED CARDS

If you were to give the same spread to a hundred different tarot readers you would receive a hundred readings with differing meanings and predictions. The cards presented mean exactly what they are supposed to mean, but to that reader.

So how does this affect reversals? In every way. It means that the Three of Swords reversed will mean something different to me than it does to you. When I see it in a reading, I will interpret it the way I see it. You may see it differently, but neither way is wrong.

Much ink has been spilt on reversed meanings. Some of this I can relate to, some I can’t. But none of it is wrong; the interpretations were correct at the time they were interpreted by that reader.

The problem, as I see it, with Divinatory Meanings is they usually belong to someone else. They are an expansion of an author’s or reader’s repertoire and may never have that same significance to anyone else.

This shows us that we have a grey area. Should we read reversals? If so, then how? Alternatively, we can choose not to read them at all. I read both ways, depending on how it suits me at the time.

When I read reversals, however, I do not see them as the opposite of the upright card. This is too narrow an approach and doesn’t allow for a broader interpretation. I prefer to see the meaning of a reversed card as fading away, or not fully expressed. Perhaps there are blockages preventing the message of the card being given. Another option is that the Querent has a choice with the message of the card. If it is reversed and negative, then some work may be required by the Querent to turn the card the right way up. Conversely, if the reversal has more pleasant connotations, then the Querent must look to themselves to see what they can do to secure this more pleasant aspect.

Bearing that in mind, let’s look at the three reversed cards in my original spread: the Eight of Cups, the Three of Swords and the Knight of Wands.

Upright, the Eight of Cups can mean leaving, moving on, and abandonment. This card, though, is about choice. The Querent has not been abandoned, but has chosen to leave. Leaving the many other layers of meaning aside, how does this translate as a reversal? To me it relates to the choice of leaving, and whether I should really do that. In the Celtic Cross reading it was in the ‘Heart of the Matter’ position. Splitting up and getting back together again had been a familiar theme in the relationship that appears in this reading, so this card really did sum up how I felt. As it turned out, we weren’t getting back together, so there was some finality to it this time. There was no sadness, though; more a sense of inevitability, and in some ways relief as—on this occasion—it really was time to move on.

As Paul says, seeing the Three of Swords can really fill you with dread. In this reading, though, when I first laid out the cards and saw the Three of Swords, I had to smile. This card had been a familiar bedfellow for some time. Sitting in the position of the Past was where it belonged and, significantly, it was reversed too. For me, this reversal signified the fading of the pain associated with this relationship. It confirmed how much I had already begun to let go in order to allow healing to begin.

It was a bitter-sweet moment seeing the Knight of Wands, a male court card, in the Outcome position, but then realising he was reversed. What did it mean? I have to say I was not sure; it’s what led me to contact Paul in the first place. Having one Knight in the Near Future position and one in the Outcome was a little confusing to say the least, and I worked through various scenarios of what it could mean.

These ranged from seeing two sides of the same person, to assessing that perhaps this Knight was someone who was currently unavailable to me. Maybe the blockage was my own. As I said earlier, a process of healing had begun, but was the past preventing me from finding the future? There is, of course, the traditional option of this person being undesirable, or a bad influence.