Celtic Cross
The Celtic Cross is the most widespread tarot spread in the English-speaking world, popularized by A.E. Waite in 1911. It lays out ten cards in fixed positions: 1 the situation, 2 what crosses it, 3 the foundation, 4 the recent past, 5 the conscious aim, 6 the near future, then a column of four (7 the querent’s attitude, 8 the surroundings, 9 hopes and fears, 10 the outcome). Each position steers the meaning of its card.
Laying the ten positions
Shuffle while holding your question, then place ten cards in order. The first six form the cross at the center; the last four rise in a column to the right, from bottom to top. Read each card through its position: the same card says something different in the obstacle slot than it does in the outcome slot.
Letting positions speak to each other
Compare the pairs that answer one another: the past (4) and the future (6), your attitude (7) and how others see you (8), your fears (9) and the outcome (10). Often the gap between what you hope and what is taking shape lights up the whole reading. Read the cross as a landscape of your moment, never as a fixed fate.
Sources
- , The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911)
- , Tarot for Your Self (1984)