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The Celtic Cross Spread
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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" in
the spread, 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.
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.
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.
I have followed the Polar arrangement of elements so that inimical
elements are opposing, but the Golden Dawn order can be used as well. If
we follow the elemental sequence suggested here, we can re-order the
sequence as follows:
|
|
|
|
7 |
Atziluth |
|
N |
|
|
8 |
Briah |
W |
Above
Below |
E |
|
9 |
Yetsirah |
|
S |
|
|
10 |
Assiah |
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.
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