My Modified Celtic Cross Spread
I haven't been a practicing tarot reader very long, but I'm realizing that when something doesn't work for me, it's probably perfectly fine to alter it so it does. This is what happened when I wanted to do a reading with the Celtic Cross spread just before the end of December and couldn't find any version I liked as-is.
At first, I was stymied, but I kept going back to the diagrams and looking at them again and again. Then I noticed something. A number of variations on the Celtic Cross already existed. It got me thinking, and I remembered how different readers, though they all pretty much used the Celtic Cross Spread for my readings, almost always had some small variation to their spreads. Well, given all that, I decided I could make my own spread, and what I have is below:
First thing you'll probably notice is that I don't circle the four individual cards around the center two. I pretty habitually go from bottom to top, and from left to right when laying cards, unless for some reason the spread indicates I should do a different order. Given other variations I'd seen on the Celtic Cross, I figured my usual habits with laying cards would be perfectly fine. Also, since there's never any indication of which bloody direction Card #2 must be in to be considered Reversed, I've decided that if the top of the card points at the left-hand card, it's Reversed.
Next, you'll see that I labeled Card #2 as "Challenges Inherent in the Situation" instead of something more traditional. I saw different names for this card in my inadvertent research, and came to the conclusion that "Challenges" was the most positive name I'd seen. Challenges, after all, may be overcome. Also, I never really liked the term "Crossing". It never seemed to really fit what my readings seemed to be telling those other readers who read tarot for me. And it also sounds like something that's stuck there no matter what—can't be overcome, can't be passed, can't be dug under. It's just there blocking the Querent, an implication I never liked.
For cards #3 and #4, respectively, I chose "Foundation of the Situation" and "Strengths You Bring to the Situation", primarily because of the way I read the Celtic Cross. "Heart" and "Mind" are hard for me to comprehend in tarot readings, particularly the Celtic Cross, and a couple of the more flexible tarot readers from my past altered their readings to use "Foundation" and "Strengths" when I expressed my inability to understand.
The fourth thing you'll notice I've changed is the label of the card to the right-hand of the central pair. I've seen it labeled as "Future" and a couple of different ways, but they all seemed redundant to me. Why? Because the Outcome card—that final card at the top of the right-hand staff—by its very name indicates that it represents a possible future result. I also remembered that one of the readers who read for me, oh, years ago—she called that card "Helper", so I decided to label that position as "What May Help". That's always the sort of advice I've kind of wanted.
I chose "Self - Internal Influences" for Card #7 mainly because I feel that the Querent deserves to know that their current state of mind/emotional stance is being considered in the question, since I read the first card of a Celtic Cross spread as the Situation the Querent is facing. I read it that way mainly because that's how it's always worked best when other readers have read it for me, which has certainly given a number of them pause once we got the reading officially underway. I also noticed that in a number of the diagrams I looked at, Card #7 was labeled as "You/Self" so it seemed to fit there fine already.
And, finally, I took card #9 and made it into two because I never liked how the Celtic Cross always lumped Hopes with Fears. I also don't like when it just focuses on Hopes, because I need to know what Fears I must deal with in order to reach the Outcome hinted at by the final card. According to my fiancee, who is also a tarot reader, the Hopes/Fears combination are two sides of the same "coin"; she reminded me that it's basically a mirror. Unfortunately, this rarely works for me, and almost always leads to some confusion. For that reason, I almost always asked for a clarification reading on the next-to-last card in a more "traditional" Celtic Cross spread because half the time, the initial card only addressed either the Hopes aspect or the Fears aspect when the reader read it as a combination card. Simply put, much of the time when someone else reads for me, the Hopes/Fears card in a Celtic Cross spread is a this-and-this-other-completely-different-thing card, not a two-sides-of-the-same-coin card, so I thought separating them into two cards would help clarify things for me, and it worked. It also prevents my confusion when the Outcome card doesn't mesh with what I am understanding from the cards, because the final cards in those past spreads usually addressed what I understood to be a fear or concern, and not future possible results of whatever course I may choose to take.
At first, I was stymied, but I kept going back to the diagrams and looking at them again and again. Then I noticed something. A number of variations on the Celtic Cross already existed. It got me thinking, and I remembered how different readers, though they all pretty much used the Celtic Cross Spread for my readings, almost always had some small variation to their spreads. Well, given all that, I decided I could make my own spread, and what I have is below:
First thing you'll probably notice is that I don't circle the four individual cards around the center two. I pretty habitually go from bottom to top, and from left to right when laying cards, unless for some reason the spread indicates I should do a different order. Given other variations I'd seen on the Celtic Cross, I figured my usual habits with laying cards would be perfectly fine. Also, since there's never any indication of which bloody direction Card #2 must be in to be considered Reversed, I've decided that if the top of the card points at the left-hand card, it's Reversed.
Next, you'll see that I labeled Card #2 as "Challenges Inherent in the Situation" instead of something more traditional. I saw different names for this card in my inadvertent research, and came to the conclusion that "Challenges" was the most positive name I'd seen. Challenges, after all, may be overcome. Also, I never really liked the term "Crossing". It never seemed to really fit what my readings seemed to be telling those other readers who read tarot for me. And it also sounds like something that's stuck there no matter what—can't be overcome, can't be passed, can't be dug under. It's just there blocking the Querent, an implication I never liked.
For cards #3 and #4, respectively, I chose "Foundation of the Situation" and "Strengths You Bring to the Situation", primarily because of the way I read the Celtic Cross. "Heart" and "Mind" are hard for me to comprehend in tarot readings, particularly the Celtic Cross, and a couple of the more flexible tarot readers from my past altered their readings to use "Foundation" and "Strengths" when I expressed my inability to understand.
The fourth thing you'll notice I've changed is the label of the card to the right-hand of the central pair. I've seen it labeled as "Future" and a couple of different ways, but they all seemed redundant to me. Why? Because the Outcome card—that final card at the top of the right-hand staff—by its very name indicates that it represents a possible future result. I also remembered that one of the readers who read for me, oh, years ago—she called that card "Helper", so I decided to label that position as "What May Help". That's always the sort of advice I've kind of wanted.
I chose "Self - Internal Influences" for Card #7 mainly because I feel that the Querent deserves to know that their current state of mind/emotional stance is being considered in the question, since I read the first card of a Celtic Cross spread as the Situation the Querent is facing. I read it that way mainly because that's how it's always worked best when other readers have read it for me, which has certainly given a number of them pause once we got the reading officially underway. I also noticed that in a number of the diagrams I looked at, Card #7 was labeled as "You/Self" so it seemed to fit there fine already.
And, finally, I took card #9 and made it into two because I never liked how the Celtic Cross always lumped Hopes with Fears. I also don't like when it just focuses on Hopes, because I need to know what Fears I must deal with in order to reach the Outcome hinted at by the final card. According to my fiancee, who is also a tarot reader, the Hopes/Fears combination are two sides of the same "coin"; she reminded me that it's basically a mirror. Unfortunately, this rarely works for me, and almost always leads to some confusion. For that reason, I almost always asked for a clarification reading on the next-to-last card in a more "traditional" Celtic Cross spread because half the time, the initial card only addressed either the Hopes aspect or the Fears aspect when the reader read it as a combination card. Simply put, much of the time when someone else reads for me, the Hopes/Fears card in a Celtic Cross spread is a this-and-this-other-completely-different-thing card, not a two-sides-of-the-same-coin card, so I thought separating them into two cards would help clarify things for me, and it worked. It also prevents my confusion when the Outcome card doesn't mesh with what I am understanding from the cards, because the final cards in those past spreads usually addressed what I understood to be a fear or concern, and not future possible results of whatever course I may choose to take.
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