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Celtic Cross

The Celtic Cross is the most detailed of the three spreads: ten cards, each with its own job. Six of them form a cross. At the centre sits your situation and whatever crosses it; below and above, its roots and where it could go; to the left and right, what’s leaving and what’s on its way. Four more cards stand beside the cross in a column known as the staff. They speak about you, the world around you, your hopes and fears, and where it all leads.

This spread gives you the lay of the land. It takes time to read: the positions talk to each other, and the most telling part is often where they agree or argue. In the Arkana bot, the Celtic Cross is part of Premium.

The position names and their order here match the Arkana bot. Tarot books number the Celtic Cross positions in different ways, so another source may count them differently.

Positions

  1. Current situation

    The card at the centre of the cross. It shows what is happening now and what the main theme of your question is. The reading starts here and comes back here at the end; every other card tells you something about this one.

  2. Challenge or help

    The card laid across the first. It shows what cuts across the situation right now, whether it blocks the way or holds things up. The card’s meaning and your question will tell you which of the two it is.

  3. Distant past

    The card below the centre, the base of the cross. These are the roots: old events, experience, habits and beliefs the situation grew out of. This card often explains why things turned out as they did, and shows what you carry with you, perhaps without noticing.

  4. Possible future

    The card above the centre. It shows what could take shape, one possible development the situation is reaching towards: what you’re aiming for, or what is coming within reach. Compare it with the tenth card: do they agree?

  5. Recent past

    The card to the left of the centre: what has just happened or is leaving right now. You can still feel its pull, but it’s fading. This is often where you’ll find the event or mood that set the current situation in motion.

  6. Near future

    The card to the right of the centre: what’s approaching, whether a next step, a new theme or a circumstance about to move into the foreground. It’s the next bend in the road, and much of it depends on what you do with the present.

  7. Your approach

    The bottom card of the staff. It’s about you in this situation: how you see it, what you feel, how you act. Sometimes it shows a strength to rely on; sometimes an attitude that gets in the way more than any circumstance.

  8. Outside influences

    The second card of the staff: your surroundings, meaning the people around you, their expectations, and circumstances you can’t directly control. Read it against the seventh: where are you and the world pulling together, and where in different directions?

  9. Hopes and fears

    The third card of the staff: what you hope for and what you fear. Often they’re the same thing seen from two sides; you can want a change badly and dread it too. The card here helps you name the feeling that colours the whole question.

  10. Final outcome

    The top card of the staff: where the situation leads if things go on as they are now. It sums up the current course, and when the course changes, the outcome can change with it. If you don’t like what you see, go back to the seventh card: your approach is the part of the situation that is up to you.

When this spread fits

Reach for the Celtic Cross when the situation is big and knotty: several people, a long history, strong feelings, or a decision that a lot rests on. It suits a crossroads, when you want to see at once what holds you back, what helps, what you hope for and what you fear. For an everyday question, ten cards are too many and the answer gets diluted; one card or three will serve you better.

How to ask

Your question can be broader than for a single card, but it needs a centre: one situation you want to understand better. Questions that begin “What’s going on with…”, “What do I need to understand about…” or “How should I approach…” work well. Describe the situation in a sentence or two. In the bot, a language model ties the meanings of the ten cards to your question, and a clear question helps each position fit your case. However many cards are on the table, the spread won’t give you dates, diagnoses or money forecasts.

Questions that work

  • What’s going on in my relationship, and what do I need to understand about it?
  • I’m thinking of leaving my job to start my own business. What should I take into account?
  • Why can’t I seem to reach an understanding with my parents, and what could I change?
  • How can I find my feet in a new city where I don’t know anyone yet?

Questions that work poorly

  • What does life have in store for me? Without a specific situation, the ten positions have nothing to hold on to.
  • When will I find a job? Tarot doesn’t give timeframes.
  • Will I inherit anything, and how much? Tarot makes no financial or legal forecasts.
  • What is my colleague plotting against me? The Celtic Cross looks at your situation and your own moves in it.

Reading the positions together

Start at the centre. Read the first and second cards together: what’s happening, and what helps or hinders it. That’s the core of the spread; once it makes sense, the other cards fall into place.

Then walk the two axes of the cross. The vertical one, from the third card through the centre to the fourth, runs from the roots of the situation to what could grow out of it. The horizontal one, from the fifth card through the centre to the sixth, is about time: what’s leaving and what’s arriving. Where the axes agree, the story hangs together; where they pull apart, it’s worth stopping to ask why.

Next comes the staff, read from the bottom up. The seventh and eighth cards work well as a pair: you and the world around you. The ninth shows what colours your expectations, and often explains why you see things the way you do. Compare the tenth with the fourth and the first. If the possible future and the outcome look alike, the path is clear; if they don’t, look for the card where the line turns.

Ten cards are enough to show proportions. Count the major arcana, the cards of each suit and the reversed cards: whatever clearly outnumbers the rest sets the backdrop for the whole spread. What each kind of majority means is set out on the How to read page.

Finally, go back to the first card and read it again, now that you know the other nine. Often only then does it become clear what it was about.

In the bot you ask your own question, the cards fall into these positions, and the reading takes your question into account.

Do this spread with a reading in the bot

In the bot, the Celtic Cross is available with Premium: 999 ⭐ for 30 days.