The Celtic Cross: Waterfoot Tarot Edition
When reading for others, my go-to spread is always The Celtic Cross. I find this ten-card spread is a particularly good tool with which to answer any query, with each card representing a specific aspect of the issue at hand.
Yet while the Celtic Cross is one of the most recognisable (and, I would argue, effective) tarot spreads, it can differ from reader to reader. Most readers I know have their own slight variation, especially when it comes to the ‘cross’ itself, and particularly cards 3, 4, 5 and 6. The placement and meaning of these cards can differ quite a bit depending on the lineage or the logic of the reader.
This is the version I use most often, and over time I’ve come to understand why it works so effectively. We can think of this spread as a kind of energetic map, wherein the centre is the present moment, and everything else radiates around it in space and time.
The Celtic Cross Spread: Waterfoot Tarot Edition.
This is how I lay out my cards when using the Celtic Cross spread:
The Present: This sits at the heart of the spread. It represents the issue at hand or the energy surrounding the querent right now. It’s the focal point, the pulse of the reading.
The Obstacle: The second card is placed horizontally across the first, literally “crossing” it. This physical act symbolises tension or resistance, something that blocks or challenges, but also defines the shape of the situation.
The Past: On the left, as though behind. The past sits here because it’s what we’ve already moved through, it lingers in our peripheral vision but still informs our present.
The Future: On the right, as though ahead. To me, this placement feels natural, as a step forward from where you are, a suggestion of what’s unfolding next.
The Conscious Mind: This card is placed above The Present above because it relates to the mind: to awareness, to deliberate thought, and what the querent believes or understands about the situation. It’s literally “above” because it’s the realm of active consciousness.
The Subconscious Mind: Below The Present is the sixth card, which represents The Subconscious Mind: emotion; intuition; the parts of ourselves that move quietly beneath awareness. Spatially, this card shows us the foundation everything else rests on.
Your Energy: This reflects how the querent is showing up right now: their attitude; state of being; or energetic stance within the situation.
External Influences: The environment, other people, or external pressures shaping the story. This is the wider context that sometimes gets forgotten if we only look inward.
Hopes and Fears: Reflects not the outcome but, rather, mental projections: the fantasies and anxieties that colour our perception of the current situation.
Outcome: Not necessarily a fixed destiny, but the direction the current energies seem to be flowing toward.
Waterfoot Tarot Celtic Cross Spread, with three extra clarifying ‘Outcome’ cards
11. (and beyond): Clarifiers/Future Outcome: While I’m aware that ‘future outcome’ is somewhat tautological, it is maybe the most simple way of describing extra cards that would be placed after Card 10, the Outcome, to the top right of this card. These cards can be useful if the querent has a specific time frame in mind: for example, for three months, you might want to add two extra cards, one to represent each month. They can also be useful if the something just seems off with the tenth card, either because it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the spread, or it doesn’t seem like much of an ‘outcome’ – often Fives or Sevens, and sometimes Aces and Court Cards. In this instance, I take the eleventh card to be the true ‘outcome’, with tenth card representing an extra step, or a detour, to the issue reaching a resolution.
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Love and light,
Madeleine