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The Celtic Cross Spread for Power Users

The Celtic Cross Spread can be read using Elemental Dignities to add depth, power and insight to the reading, including the possibility of using Shamanic and Magical techniques.

The ubiquitous Celtic Cross Spread appears in just about every Little White Book and Tarot Book. Popularised by A.E. Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot, it was originally known as the Gypsy Spread in the Outer Order of The Golden Dawn, where the candidates were required to have a passing knowledge of the Tarot. It was only in the Inner Order that the Opening of the Key spread was taught. A.E. Waite plagiarised the Outer Order teachings for his own purposes. There is nothing remotely "Celtic", except perhaps in Waite's own head. Since this discussion appears on a website dedicated to Elemental Dignities, you would be right to expect me to give the Celtic Cross an elemental angle.

Version of the Celtic Cross Spread

There are many, many, versions of this spread - everyone has to adapt it to make it work, which often involves adding extra cards. I am going to stay with the original ten cards.

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  • 10
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  • 3
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  • 9
  • 6
  • 1
  • 2
  • 5
  • 8
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  • 4
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  • 7

Once again, the sequence of the cards can be slightly misleading, particularly the column on the right. In the Ten Card Spread and Fifteen Card Spread, the first two cards in the sequence generally represent the situation, and I have assigned them as Akasha or Spirit. The next four cards can have a directional/elemental quality. This leaves the column, which can follow the four Kabbalistic worlds, or YHVH.

  1. Above
  2. Below
  3. Air, North
  4. Earth, South
  5. Fire, East
  6. Water, West
  7. Earth, Assiah
  8. Air, Yetsirah
  9. Water, Briah
  10. Fire, Atziluth

Each element has two aspects present, which is easy to see in the diagram above, and it is interesting to note the Cicero's Ten Card Spread in this context. In a reading, the elemental aspect of the card is related to the base position to see strengths and weaknesses. Positions 1 and 2 do not have an elemental basis, of course.

An excess of a particular element will show a bias in a particular direction or level of creation, while the absence of an element shows a similar lack of functioning.

Magic & Shamanic Travel

Cards 3-6 show a horizontal arrangement, while cards 7-10 are vertical, which suggests that the Celtic Cross spread is a two dimensional plan of a 3D world. This concept can be taken even further: cards 1 and 2 can be the top and bottom of the Cosmic Cube, and cards 3-6 are the four sides. Note also the order of the vertical cards - the YHVH order is the same as for the first stage of Opening of the Key.

Looked at this way, the Celtic Cross opens up so many new avenues of research. For a start, the spread becomes a symbolic representation of a Shamanic Journey, which has huge potential for Magical travel and change.

Shamanic journeys involve travel from one place to another, therefore we can use positions 1 and 2 to our advantage. Card 1 is the elemental starting position, and Card 2 is the elemental finishing position. The Shaman/Magician can travel either from a level corresponding to the column, or move in a compass direction, according to the nature of the operation envisaged. Put another way, if the first card is Water, we could either start in a western direction, or perform the actions at the Briatic level. Alternatively, we could see Card 2 as an elemental aspect of Card 1 in a similar manner to the elemental attributions of the Court Cards.