Modified Celtic Cross

Clockwork Ghost

Here's the spread I've been using for a while now - I find it gives pretty good readings.

First card (in the centre) - Current Situation: This is the question, and any hidden issues.

Second card (To the left) - The Past: Direct influence from past events, causes of the current situation, and factors from the past that need to be considered.

Third card (To the right) - The Future: What's going to happen if you don't change, how the future will become if you continue on this path.

Fourth Card (Underneath) - Subconscious Influences: Ways your subconscious mind is influencing factors related to the question, or directing it.

Fifth Card (Top) - Conscious Influences: Ways your conscious mind is influencing factors related to the question, or directing it.

Sixth Card (Over first card) - Over All: Other factors that need to be taken into consideration that don't fit fully under the previous categories.
 

moon_light

I like this modification. I just had a client ask me a yes/no question and I was trying to find a good way to answer it more thoroughly, but felt like a larger spread was overkill. This is exactly what I needed. It worked great! Thanks for posting it.
 

Clockwork Ghost

I like this modification. I just had a client ask me a yes/no question and I was trying to find a good way to answer it more thoroughly, but felt like a larger spread was overkill. This is exactly what I needed. It worked great! Thanks for posting it.

Nice one! I'm really happy you like it. :)
 

Barleywine

Interesting! Around two-thirds of the position meanings are very close to how I've always done it. A couple of observations:

It's not clear which, if any, of the cards is the "crossing" card. Is that 6th card it, or do you not use that particular convention?

When I learned the CC (looong ago, don't ask :)), the thought was that the cards in the "cross" section are related entirely to functional aspects of the question itself (like timing) and the cards in the "staff" section are related solely to the querent's environmental circumstances. So for me, "conscious" and "unconscious" would be factors addressed under the staff and not the cross. It looks, though, like you've dispensed with the "staff" entirely.

Of course, there are many different ways to approach the CC. Your ordering of the cards is closer to mine than many recent modifications I've seen.
 

Clockwork Ghost

It's not clear which, if any, of the cards is the "crossing" card. Is that 6th card it, or do you not use that particular convention?

I've pretty much done away with the cross, as I've found each of the other cards in the reading can be used to work out both assisting and resisting factors, and the use of a card specific to opposition or reinforcement can be rather redundant. The sixth card therefore acts as an overall 'these are other factors you may wish to consider in relation to your original question' sort of a thing.

When I learned the CC (looong ago, don't ask :)), the thought was that the cards in the "cross" section are related entirely to functional aspects of the question itself (like timing) and the cards in the "staff" section are related solely to the querent's environmental circumstances. So for me, "conscious" and "unconscious" would be factors addressed under the staff and not the cross. It looks, though, like you've dispensed with the "staff" entirely.

Yeah, I've merged the environmental and the functional together throughout the spread as a whole - I personally feel that separating the two creates too much of a dichotomy between things that are in fact very much intertwined. If you read the cards as the 'whole picture' then you can pick up elements of both the environment and the situations relevance to it within the key cards, and don't really require the staff at all.

Wherever possible, I like to strip things back to their bare bones. This kinda links into my training in Lean Six Sigma, and my practices in Chaos Magick. Thanks heaps for the comment - it's really helped me better realise why I use this spread. :D
 

Barleywine

I've pretty much done away with the cross, as I've found each of the other cards in the reading can be used to work out both assisting and resisting factors, and the use of a card specific to opposition or reinforcement can be rather redundant. The sixth card therefore acts as an overall 'these are other factors you may wish to consider in relation to your original question' sort of a thing.

Just a thought: Rodney mentioned elsewhere that some readers put three cards in every position of the CC and blend them for each interpretation. I'm thinking it might be interesting to put two cards in each position of your CC variation to create a kind of stimulating tension that would accomplish the purpose you mention in a more consistent, dependable way. It would show which emphasis - opposition or reinforcement - has the upper hand at every phase of the reading.

Yeah, I've merged the environmental and the functional together throughout the spread as a whole - I personally feel that separating the two creates too much of a dichotomy between things that are in fact very much intertwined. If you read the cards as the 'whole picture' then you can pick up elements of both the environment and the situations relevance to it within the key cards, and don't really require the staff at all.

Makes sense to me, not that I'm quite ready to do that since I've invested a good deal of thought into "retooling" the whole ten-card sequence.
 

Nemia

I use a very similar spread without the last card - I call it the Celtic Wheel. Thank you for the idea to expand it a bit.
 

VintageButtons

I like this bare bones approach. Thanks for the spread, Clockwork Ghost!
 

Clockwork Ghost

No worries. Thanks for all the comments guys :)

Barleywine: I'll try that out - very interesting adaptation, thank you.
 

Clockwork Ghost

I need an original name for this spread - calling it a 'modified Celtic Cross' just sounds like I've taken a spread and kind of mutilated it. I'm crap with names - has anyone got any interesting suggestions for one that I could use?