Cult of Tarot Forum

I've been looking at the celtic cross spread and the different position meanings. In Waite's original cross he allocated position 7 to the querent and their position or attitude in the circumstances shown by the cards, but elsewhere I've seen this position been noted as an advice card.

I'm sure it doesn't matter which you choose as long as you are comfortable with it and it works for your readings, but I'd love to hear if anyone has any alternate meanings for this position and why (or any other positions). Or do you like to stick to the original Waite version? What's your take on this?

Also do you have a preferred way of laying down the order of the cards? I haven't stuck to the traditional lay down order, preferring a different one instead. What do you like to do?

Charlie Brown wrote: ↑14 Sep 2018, 15:09 Getting into the "right" way to do a CC is usually ends up about as well as a getting into a land war in Asia.

I hadn't realised this could be such dicey territory!

To my mind, with the Celtic Cross, as with any spread, the important thing is that you have decided before laying the cards down, on what each position should mean.

Good spreads are well thought out, and the more complex the spread the more important that is. I would consider Waite's Celtic Cross to be very well thought out, however to re-assign one or two of the positions to better suit your needs is perfectly fine, in my humble opinion. If you wanted to re-assign more than one or two, you should probably just develop your own spread.

Regarding your second question, I also don't think I lay the cards down in the prescribed way. BUT, I do lay them exactly the same way each time and I think that is more important. I think it's important because I personally have the problem of overthinking the vibe. By that I mean if I were to try and "sense" which position to put a card in, I get psychically pulled in every direction and will mis-read the confusing signals I am essentially just generating myself. By always doing it the same way, I avoid this added bit of senseless randomising.

Thanks for your insights Joan:) I agree it's important to have in your mind what the placements are before laying the cards down.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑19 Sep 2018, 09:12
To my mind, with the Celtic Cross, as with any spread, the important thing is that you have decided before laying the cards down, on what each position should mean.

I think that's absolutely right.

I follow the CC version in the Pictorial Key.