Celtic Cross Spread

The Celtic Cross spread has been my bread and butter for years now. I've been experimenting with other spreads and doing daily single card draws but when I want a more specific answer this is where I go. It's the only spread I ever see my aunt doing (who is way better at it than me), and she has been doing tarot for years. This one might seem a little boring and "tried and true" but I like it.

It's been my favorite going on 45 years now. I periodically refresh my model by looking at different ways to interpret the flow and the positions, but almost always stay within the bounds I learned from Eden Gray back in 1972; her design - at least before she went off the deep end with astrology and qabala - just works so well. The once recent exception I made is reconfiguring it to better adopt Elemental Dignities, and in the process I found a whole different "sub-routine" within the layout.

Barleywine said:

It's been my favorite going on 45 years now. I periodically refresh my model by looking at different ways to interpret the flow and the positions, but almost always stay within the bounds I learned from Eden Gray back in 1972; her design - at least before she went off the deep end with astrology and qabala - just works so well. The once recent exception I made is reconfiguring it to better adopt Elemental Dignities, and in the process I found a whole different "sub-routine" within the layout.

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could you give us an example of how you are using elemental dignities in Celtic cross?

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ronaldstg said:

could you give us an example of how you are using elemental dignities in Celtic cross?

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Here's the layout I posted a while ago for a reconfigured CC, along with an example reading. It's not as intimidating as it seems at first, with all the alpha-numeric designations. It's set up for four primary EDs and 9 secondary EDs. The "principal" (or central focus) card in each set is in bold text starting with "P" or "S" and the bracketing "modifiers" of the same designation are in plain text. I also "stretched" the CC to include a five-card line showing environmental development, "old" (Card #1 modified by Cards #4, #3 and #5) to "new" (Card #8 modified by Cards #6, #7 and #9), with the central card of the series (Card #2) showing the "turning point" or pivotal transition. This series is where all the primary EDs reside; the secondary EDs feed into the primary series from the cards above and below, and also have their own progression around the "wheel."

Typically, I would read the CC in the normal way and factor in the EDs when they add to the narrative in a meaningful way; if the modifiers are of mixed elements and don't drastically enhance or detract from the power of the principal, I wouldn't give them much weight in most situations.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=257131

I always use this spread, it is my favorite and answers any questions I may have, the only minor issue I had was with position 5. Nothing ever seemed to fit this position meaning for me for years, until I read somewhere that the meaning they attribute to this position is your strengths, so I tried it out on a client of mine and it just bought the whole spread together beautifully so now that is my position meaning for number 5 which for me sits above card 1 & 2

tarotlova said:

I always use this spread, it is my favorite and answers any questions I may have, the only minor issue I had was with position 5. Nothing ever seemed to fit this position meaning for me for years, until I read somewhere that the meaning they attribute to this position is your strengths, so I tried it out on a client of mine and it just bought the whole spread together beautifully so now that is my position meaning for number 5 which for me sits above card 1 & 2

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For a couple of decades now I've been considering the "above" position (Position #5) as "the Present" and - more recently - as the matter "coming to a head," one decision away from advancement. I did it because it completes Eden Gray's clockwise rotation rather neatly: "Distant Past, Recent Past, Present and Near Future," which I see as a simulation of the diurnal path of the Sun across the sky - midnight, dawn, noon and sunset. I recently found out that Anthony Louis, in his book Tarot Beyond the Basics, also assigns it to "the Present," so now I feel justified.

I like that too it makes sense and it could also add to my your strengths in the present, because we all have different strengths at different times in our lives. Thanks for that!

tarotlova said:

I like that too it makes sense and it could also add to my your strengths in the present, because we all have different strengths at different times in our lives. Thanks for that!

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I was thinking the same thing: that "the Sun at noon" and "strengths" are well-aligned, and ready to spill over actively into the "near future" in a creative and productive way.