Two troublesome positions in the Celtic spread

Hi,

I'm not new to Tarot but quite with the Celtic spread.

Some positions are easier for me to grasp and actually 2 positions are still not very defined in my mind :

a) Card 3

Some say that this is the "crown of the situation" which doesnt really explain anything. But I guess that it could mean the healdines of the issue ? I take an example : I have a friend who was worried because his wife want children and he doesnt feel ready. The "crown card" was the Impress. So we might conclude that the major issue (headline issue like I call it) is for him to be aware of the feminity of his wife which implies to see her as a woman and therefore as a mother. Makes sense ?

Some others consider this card as a possible future. In this case the reading is totally different and this is what confuses me. Because if I tell myself that this card is the ideal future or the future where the querent is going then it could mean that the possible future is that his wife is gonna be pregnant.

According those two different interpretation of what this 3rd position means I get a totally different reading

b) Card 9

Another card where opinions differ, and therefore another source of confusion for me.

For some people this card represent the "hopes&fears of the querent". But others say that this card is the "advice" of the cards.

According to which meaning I give to that 9th position make me have a totally different interprêtation.

Help people !

In the end, you are totally in control of deciding what each position means, and it will benefit you to be consistent. Pick a meaning for each position and be consistent with those meanings unless and until your guidance tells you to make a change, and then be consistent with how you have changed it. You can waffle endlessly otherwise, always wondering if the way you just heard someone else does it is better, and you will never feel you have full mastery of your reading. Take charge. You can always ask the cards what each position should mean--that is how I got to my own version of the CC.

(In the first case you mentioned, I would see The Empress as indicating that the querent should be aware that his wife's desire/need to have children is probably the strongest influence in the situation, so he needs to take that into consideration, because if her biological clock is ticking, she may not be on board with his wanting to wait.)

Thanks

Instead of "crown" I think of that card (which for me is card 5 as I don't follow Waite on this, I learned from Eden Gray's book, which is consistent with what I'm studying via Dusty White) using the expression "this hangs over your head."

So this card often to me suggests what is on your mind. That is what you are planning for, what appears to be happening, as opposed to "what faces you." which is more about what's coming regardless of your intention.

For 9, I've never thought of that as advice. It's what is going on inside, and I always take a good look at what card 7 is. Especially where someone is conflicted, the hopes of 9 can look darker than the fears of 7. I think looking at the two cards together is helpful.