Celtic Cross Spread: Position-by-Position Guide

The Celtic Cross is the best known tarot spread, and it looks intimidating the first time. It's easier once you realise it's two parts: a cross of six cards that describes the situation, and a column of four on the right that describes you and where it's going.

The cross: the situation (cards 1 to 6)

1. The present. The heart of the matter, what's happening now.
2. The challenge. Laid across card 1. What's crossing or complicating it.
3. The foundation. Below the cross. The root of the situation, what it rests on.
4. The recent past. Behind, on the left. What's just ending or has just happened.
5. The crown. Above. The goal, or what you're aiming at, or what's possible.
6. The near future. In front, on the right. What's coming up next.

The staff: you and what's around you (cards 7 to 10)

1. You. Your attitude or position in this.
2. Your surroundings. People and circumstances around you.
3. Hopes and fears. Often the same thing wearing two faces.
4. The outcome. Where things point if nothing changes.

(Some readers number 7 to 10 slightly differently. Pick an order, keep to it, and you'll be fine.)

How to read it without getting lost

• Count the Major Arcana first. Many majors means the situation is about bigger themes. See what lots of major arcana means.
• Read the cross as a sentence: present, challenge, foundation, past, goal, near future.
• Then read the staff. Card 9 (hopes and fears) often explains a lot about card 2.
• Treat card 10 as a direction rather than a fixed result. The point of the reading is what you do with it.

Tip: Do a Celtic Cross after you've done several three card readings on the same topic. The staff cards will feel less random once you know the story.