Why hate on the celtic cross?

I hardly ever use spreads at all, but I do like the CC for when I do a first time general reading for some one. It may not be the most in-depth in the world, but it gives me a good bird's eye view of what's going on. I don't use it for specific questions though, I take three or more cards, as many as I need for those, or just invent one one on the fly and assign different questions to different positions.

Apart for the CC for which I have sentimental feelings for, like many, it was the first I learned, I don't much see the use for spreads in any case.

Never liked it for the fact that it's so often been shoved on beginners as the spread you should be using, much like the Rider-Waite is often pushed on beginners as the deck to learn with. Nothing wrong with either, but not my thing and not something I'd want to recommend to someone else just starting out. The CC spread is a lot to take in for someone new when there are much smaller, easier spreads one could start off with. I thinkt he spread would be more useful for someone who's already got the basics down. In general, most spreads I use myself rarely have more than 7 cards involved, and when I do want a bigger spread, I tend to go to something more focused on whatever topic I'm looking into, but that's my own preference. I'm very visually oriented, and the CC doesn't really do it for me.

Because it's so mainstream and I'm more into obscure indie spreads, you probably havent heard of them.

But really, it's just too many cards for me. Maybe someday I'll be comfortable with more than 5, but for now, that's enough!

nami said:

The CC spread is a lot to take in for someone new when there are much smaller, easier spreads one could start off with. I thinkt he spread would be more useful for someone who's already got the basics down.

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I think so too. And I love the many variations of the CC that others have come up with.

Thank you

Oh my god, Thank you everybody!
I thought this forum would be just another online coommunity, but after only 3 days, I got two pages of replies on my first thread! This is fantastic, I love this site. Thank you so much, everybody who welcomed me here.

vee said:

Because it's so mainstream and I'm more into obscure indie spreads, you probably havent heard of them.

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I just drew The Hipster card for you, vee...

Legion said:

I have looked around this forum, and the rest of the internet for quiet the while now, and everywhere I go, there are people talking about the Celtic Cross spread.
Like so many of my fellow tarot readers, the Celtic Cross was the first spread I learned, in the book that came with my first Tarot deck.
I instantly found it very practical as a "Focused" spread, or whatever you want to call it, where you read a specific matter, such as love life or career, as opposed to a "General" spread, that takes up these matters in one or more cards in each spread.
As I used this spread a couple of times on friends, and new people I've met by telling them I do tarot spreads, I've found good use of it, because it works very well to help me understand the "Subject" (Can't call them Clients, since I'm not charging them anything), and from there, read what the cards that tell of predictions may mean.

But everywhere I go, everyone hates on this spread. They say it's Confusing, they say it's annoying, the say it doesn't work, I've even heard people say that it's "Childish", whatever that's supposed to mean.
Can anyone give me a clear explanation for why the Celtic Cross spread isn't a good spread?

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I love the Celtic Cross and use it the most out of all spreads I know. It's a difficult spread so maybe that's why some people find it confusing

Legion said:

I have looked around this forum, and the rest of the internet for quiet the while now, and everywhere I go, there are people talking about the Celtic Cross spread.
Like so many of my fellow tarot readers, the Celtic Cross was the first spread I learned, in the book that came with my first Tarot deck.
I instantly found it very practical as a "Focused" spread, or whatever you want to call it, where you read a specific matter, such as love life or career, as opposed to a "General" spread, that takes up these matters in one or more cards in each spread.
As I used this spread a couple of times on friends, and new people I've met by telling them I do tarot spreads, I've found good use of it, because it works very well to help me understand the "Subject" (Can't call them Clients, since I'm not charging them anything), and from there, read what the cards that tell of predictions may mean.

But everywhere I go, everyone hates on this spread. They say it's Confusing, they say it's annoying, the say it doesn't work, I've even heard people say that it's "Childish", whatever that's supposed to mean.
Can anyone give me a clear explanation for why the Celtic Cross spread isn't a good spread?

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Whether or not the Celtic Cross Spread (or any other Tarot technique) is good or not is subjective. What works well for one person in Tarot will not for another. Just because someone else does not like something does not mean that it is not a wonderful tool for you personally.

No one can tell you in general why it is not a good spread. It is good for some people and not for others. All anyone can do is tell you why the personally don't like it. But again that has nothing to do with you. You may well love it and it may well work like gangbusters for you. What matters as a reader most to me, is to know yourself. To know what works for you and what doesn't (to know that just keep trying and experimenting) and don't let other people's experinces of what they know of a thing superceed your own.

If you love it and they don't so what. It is not something wrong, it just means you are different inside. No two people are the same inside. And Tarot is one the the tooks that reflects that back at us most.

It's good for you, you know it. That's all you need to know. Just tune out the rest and if someone says it is not good for them, just chalk it up to them being different inside from you. It's not about comparing yourself to others. It's about knowing who you are inside (and what works for you because of that) and embracing it.

Babs

Legion said:

Oh my god, Thank you everybody!
I thought this forum would be just another online coommunity, but after only 3 days, I got two pages of replies on my first thread! This is fantastic, I love this site. Thank you so much, everybody who welcomed me here.

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You're welcome, and glad to have you here.

And I know just what you mean. AT has been my home away from home for 6-7 years now and the place where I have made some dear dear friends. Not to mentional an amazing source of knowledge, I think between all of use here there is almost nothing on Tarot that we don't know.

I would definitely not be the reader I am today without everyone here. And with that, thank you all too!

Babs

I don't mind it at all and I do use it from time to time but, as others have stated, it is fairly standard and overused so I like to branch out. The Cross kind of reminds me of first starting out because it is the first complex spread I learned. It has the monopoly on most of the Tarot books as being 'the' spread.