Celtic Cross Spread

Difficulty: Average

This is probably the most well-known tarot spread. A good, basic spread for beginners to practise with, the Celtic Cross is useful for questions of all types. In this spread, it can be helpful to notice the relationships between the pairings of cards #5 & #9, #1 & #2, #3 & #4, and #6 & #10.

1. The significator epitomizes what the reading deals with, the initial situation.
2. An added impulse that compounds the significator, which may be either complimentary or contradictory.
3. This is what is consciously known (thoughts).
4. Unconscious driving forces that may not be known fully (emotions).
5. The immediate past regarding the current situation.
6. The first future card indicates the immediate future.
7. This card represents the reader and their attitude towards cards #1 and #2.
8. The external influences, the places and people which influence the topic.
9. This tarot card suggests expectations; what is secretly hoped for or feared.
10. The second future card reveals the long-term outcome.

Your Celtic Cross Reading

	The Crown The Hierophant		The Outcome 7 of Disks – Failure Hopes and Fears Ace of Disks External Forces Prince of Swords The Querent Queen of Swords
The Recent Past The Lovers	The Crossing Card 3 of Cups – Abundance The Significator 2 of Swords – Peace	The Future 5 of Wands – Strife
	Foundation card 3 of Disks – Work

Moon in Libra

Two swords stuck in a mound form the shape of a V, the symbolic gesture of peace like the hippies were so fond of. The owners have thrown their arms down in the spirit of harmony.

Meaning:
Contradictory characteristics of the same nature coming together. Pleasure after pain. Quarrel resolved.

Mercury in Cancer

Two cups combine their essence into a third cup, their offspring. This card is about creation, fertility, and pregnancy. A collaborative effort. The process of reproduction.

Meaning:
Fulfilment, conclusion, plenty, fertility, hospitality, bounty, kindness, creation.

Taurus

The Hierophant holds the keys to the otherworld. He is the embodiment of spiritual authority and wisdom, the knower of the spiritual universe. The swastika inside the star of David represents spiritual understanding of various perspectives being used to unlock the seven seals.

Meaning:
Divine wisdom, inspiration, organisation, teaching, gaining knowledge from superiors, tradition, patience. Sometimes occult force voluntarily invoked. Respected elder, mercy, alliance, marriage.

Mars in Capricorn

Three spinning wheels and the right eye of god symbolise the act of creation. A solid structure is being built.

Meaning:
Construction, business, commerce, employment, material gain, growth.
When ill-dignified: selfish, closed-minded, greedy individual who seeks the impossible.

Gemini

Lovers are eternally bound in Soul. A nude family holding hands in the form of a lemniscate represents natural purity.

Meaning:
Attraction, childishness, openness to inspiration, love, beauty.
When ill-dignified: shallow, superficial union. Instability, insecurity, indecision.

Mercury in Cancer

Two cups combine their essence into a third cup, their offspring. This card is about creation, fertility, and pregnancy. A collaborative effort. The process of reproduction.

Meaning:
Fulfilment, conclusion, plenty, fertility, hospitality, bounty, kindness, creation.

2:00 – 4:00 Female
Libra

The Queen of Swords sits on the throne of heaven. The moon has eclipsed the sun, making for a strange overcast. The eclipse is a symbol of two that are one, a reference to the dual nature of Libra. The eclipse also represents her as a dominant female, overshadowing the male, and this is also apparent in her left hand. She represents clear perception and the pinnacle of thought. However, superficial attractiveness coupled with a lack of empathy makes her the most dangerous female in the deck.

Meaning:
A confident, gracious, just, perceptive, graceful, elegant woman.
When ill-dignified: A cruel, sly, deceitful, unreliable woman who uses charm as a weapon.

2:00 – 4:00 Male
Aquarius

The Prince of Swords rides the sky in his cloudy chariot of air, pulled by three young men representing his thoughts and ideas. He symbolises purity of the intellect, but also instability. As he pushes forward with his sword, he is frustrated. His thoughts are all over the place. In his left hand he holds a sickle, symbolising his tendency to destroy his creations as quickly as he makes them, perhaps overly critical of his own ideas.

Meaning:
A pure intellectual, clever but unstable of purpose, a mind full of various contradictory ideas and opinions.

The Root of Earth

A coin toss. This card represents the very first beginnings of the process that leads to material gain.

Meaning:
Materialistic concerns, contentment, earthly power and success. A calculated risk with good chances.

Saturn in Taurus

Seven seals linked by the rainbow bridge descend enlightenment to the bull. Ignorant and arrogant, he blocks his own path. The darkness of his own delusions repels his gift from above, scattering the light.

Meaning:
Sloth, abandoned labour, hopes deceived, promises unfulfilled, disappointment. Great effort producing little gain.
When well-dignified: charity work for no profit, growth after delay.