Retro Spread - the Celtic Cross
The Celtic Cross remains one of the most ubiquitous tarot spreads in existence. It appears in almost every Little White Book, and humblest of Tarot guidebooks...over the last couple of years, it's seen something of a resurgence in popularity again, but even a spread that's as old-as-the-hills as the Celtic Cross has it's proponents and detractors.
Lovers of the Celtic Cross point out that it's an excellent general spread, providing lots of 'support cast' information about a situation, being able to draw in areas of influence that might have otherwise been left unconsidered, and because of it's popularity, almost every Tarot reader is at least passingly familiar with it, enabling a novice to get a good grounding and lots of information from virtually anyone they talk to in Tarot circles about it.
Then there are those to whom the Celtic Cross is large, unwieldy, far too general, lacking specifics, and leaving the querent with far more questions than answers.
Personally, I used to love the Celtic Cross spread - it was a safe haven, if a querent asked a question that I couldn't immediately devise a spread for, ensuring that i was going to get some information from lots of areas, that i could then drill down into, if there were specific queries about that general base, but it's definitely preferable to use for face to face readings, rather than attempting a skype reading or email reading using it.
In the past few years I've moved to a point where I almost never use the Celtic Cross now, preferring to spreadcraft a more tailored spread for my clients...but when there's a call for a general reading, then I'll still occasionally pull out the original or the double, just to give all the bases a check as to what's influencing things. And for those clients who don't have a specific question, it's a great opportunity to bring out old faithful and really look *around* a situation rather than *at* a specific element of it.
Celtic Cross
1 present situation or querent
2 crossing
3 underlying influences on the situation
4 past influences
5 crowning influences, public image, or how the situation appears
6 future
7 advice of the cards or psychological aspects/inner voice
8 relationships/influence of other people on the situation
9 blocks to outcome
10 outcome
The double Celtic Cross is something of a whopper, coming in at 21 cards, but providing more opportunity for a reader to delve into those areas that are doubled up on.
Double Celtic Cross
1 present situation or querent
2 crossing
3 and 12 underlying influences on the situation
4 and 13 past influences
5 and 14 crowning influences, public image, or how the station appears
6 and 15 future
7 and 16 advice of the cards or psychological aspects/inner voice
8 and 17 relationships/influence of other people on the situation
9 and 18 blocks to outcome
10 and 19 outcome
11 further description of the situation
20 timing
21 shadow aspects
There's also a Celtic Cross variant called the Cross of Kells, that was developed by Janet Farrar in the 80s, adding 6 cards to the traditional 10 for deeper introspection on those areas, and adding in cards for an overall view of the situation, and a longer-term outlook. The Cross of Kells differs quite considerably from the Celtic Cross version that I was taught, but it provides an excellent way of looking at a situation with a little more focus than the standard Celtic Cross layout.
Cross of Kells
1 present situation or querent
2 crossing
3 past influences
4 receding influences
5 major influences
6 immediate future
7 advice of the cards on how to move forward
8 dangers and pitfalls
9 home and family
10 the immediate outcome
11 overall picture
12 life card/long term prospect
Full details of the Cross of Kells are available in the book The Concise Tarot Reader by Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone...the book is available via several of the Fools Dog tarot apps for iPhone and iPad from the app store.
How do you see the Celtic Cross? As stalwart favourite wheeled out at every opportunity; occasional use spread; or clunky sprawler that should be consigned to the scrap heap?
Have you tried the double Celtic Cross before, or the Cross of Kells? If not, give them a whirl - I'd love to know your thoughts!
