One of the most well-known tarot spreads is the Celtic Cross. It is used by many readers, but it intimidates many others.
While the Celtic Cross can provide a lot of information about a specific situation, it also lends itself to general outlooks and closing spreads.
This series is designed to take the fear out – and show you tips and tricks so you can master it. Keep checking back as I add tutorials once a month to this series.
The Storyboard Tarotcise
We’ll be discussing a few techniques in the next posts of this series that will help you see the Celtic Cross spread from a new perspective. These little exercises are called “tarotcises.”
First, I refer to the “Storyboard Method.” It is a series of drawings that, usually with some dialogue and directions, represent the shots for a movie or TV production.
This tarotcise will show you how to deconstruct the Celtic Cross horizontally, starting with the first card and ending with the last.
This is how you can see the story unfolding when you lay out your cards. This gives you a new way to look at the Celtic Cross and could lead to new insights.
What to do?
First, do a regular Celtic Cross reading. Next, use your Celtic Cross spread to lay out the cards in a straight line starting at the first card pulled (present moment), and ending at the last (probable outcome).
Now read the cards left to right like you’re telling a story. Don’t be concerned about the “defined places” and don’t worry about how to interpret. Tell a story. How can you see them differently? What story are you hearing?
Let’s see how it goes! The previous lessons were recited using the reading. Our querent has decided to move on from her divorce and is eager to learn more about the future of love.
We can see that the story begins with The Two of Swords, and ends with The Lovers if we scan the cards. We can see that the story ends in love due to the nature and intent of the question. However, there are some ups as well as downs before the ending comes together for the querent.
The story begins with a woman alone (Two of Swords). She has been exiled from her family. Maybe she did this by choice. Perhaps not. She somehow managed to find the strength (courage) to escape her prison (The Tower). She had to take a chance. She discovered it wasn’t as scary after all. She started a new life (The Sun), and she began to enjoy the world. It was again sunny. One day, she received an important offer (Ace of Wands). This gave her the power to be The Magician. She was in the best place of her life but she was never completely content. She felt like an imposter (Seven of Swords), which made it anxious. She was afraid that someone would discover she was a fraud and take away her power. This had already happened to her (Ten of Swords). This is why she was exiled in the first instance. It was time for the end of the old story. The future did not turn out as expected. Things turned out to be different this time. She found her people (The Lovers) instead of going into exile. From that point forward, love ruled her life.
This story teaches us lessons about self-power and how to heal the past so that we can move on. Our heroine had to confront her fears and extinguish them. She could not continue her story of betrayal, but she had to make a new one. The querent must approach the dating scene with openness. She should not let her past (her divorce) dictate how she experiences the future. My advice to her is: Even if you have had a terrible divorce, don’t let those fears affect your future. You are more powerful than ever and this is a new game. The promise of love is waiting for you.
Nifty, right?