Celtic cross tarot spread: all ten positions explained

The Celtic cross is the spread everyone has heard of and few people enjoy reading. Ten cards lie on the table, the eye jumps from one to the next, and after the fifth you have forgotten the first.

I learned it late. My grandmother read cups, not cards, and for years I got by with three cards and a clear question. The Celtic cross only opened up for me when I stopped reading it card by card and began to see its two halves: a cross that shows the situation, and a staff that shows the person standing in it.

Here are the ten positions in order, the pairs that belong together, and my honest view on when ten cards are too many.

What the Celtic cross is and how to lay it

The spread became known through Arthur Edward Waite, who described it in 1910 as an old method of divination. How Celtic it really is, nobody can say. What is certain is that it has been the standard large spread for more than a century.

You shuffle all 78 cards with your question in mind and lay ten.

1. Card one goes in the middle.
2. Card two is laid across it, sideways.
3. Card three goes below the middle.
4. Card four goes to the left.
5. Card five goes above.
6. Card six goes to the right.
7. Cards seven to ten form a column on the far right, from bottom to top.

A word on the crossing card. It lies on its side, so whether it counts as upright or reversed is settled at the moment it is drawn, before you turn it.

You will find other orders in books. Some lay the crown before the root, some swap past and future. No order is the true one. What matters is that you choose one and keep it, because the positions only mean something if they are fixed before the cards fall. The order below is the one I learned it with. In the app the crown is laid before the root, the ten positions and their meanings are the same.

A good question for ten cards is wide and has a history: “What should I understand about my situation at work?”, “What is going on in my marriage?”. How to phrase questions I have described in the piece on the three card spread. The same rules apply here.

The ten positions of the Celtic cross

How to read the cross and the staff

Before I interpret a single card, I count. It takes one minute and saves ten.

• Major arcana. Two or three among ten are normal. From five upwards, this is a big chapter of your life and not everything is in your hands. More about these 22 cards in the major arcana guide.
• Suits. Which one dominates, which one is missing? Many Swords: the matter is being fought out in the head. No Cups in a question about love is an answer in itself. The suits are explained in the minor arcana guide.
• Reversed cards. One or two show where it sticks. More than half reversed: the whole matter is blocked or is taking place inside you.
• Court cards. Every court card is a person or a role. Three or more: many people are having their say.

Then I read the two halves.

The cross has two axes. The horizontal one is time: card four, card one, card six, from left to right, past, present, near future. Basically a three card spread. The vertical one is depth: card three below, card one in the middle, card five above. What drives you, what is, what you are aiming for.

The staff is read from bottom to top like a ladder: you, the others, your inner life, the result. It answers the question the cross leaves open: and what do I do with that?

Pairs of positions that talk to each other

The real art lies in the pairs. A single card says a word, two cards together say a sentence.

One and two: heart and cross. The core tension. Say it as one sentence: “It is about X, and Y lies across it.” If you understand this pair, you have understood half the spread.

Three and five: root and crown. Below and above. What you need and what you are striving for. If the Four of Pentacles lies below and The Fool above, you want freedom and need security. That is not an error in the spread. That is your conflict.

Four and six: past and near future. The line of time. Is the movement becoming faster, calmer, heavier? Two cards of the same suit show a development. A change of suit shows a break.

Seven and eight: you and your surroundings. How you see yourself and how you are seen. If the two differ sharply, you are playing a role outwardly that does not match what is inside.

Nine and ten: hopes, fears and the outcome. The most important pair. A heavy card in position nine often colours the way you read the tenth. Ask yourself: is the outcome what I fear, or do I only see it that way because I am afraid?

Five and ten: aim and outcome. Do you get what you are striving for? If the two cards do not fit, the road leads somewhere other than you planned, and that need not be worse.

When a frightening card such as The Tower or Death lies in one of these positions, do not read it on its own. In position nine it is a fear, in position four something already behind you. What these cards mean in general is in the piece on the feared tarot cards.

When ten cards are too many

I lay the Celtic cross much less often than people expect. Ten cards are too many:

• For a small question. Whether to go to the party on Saturday does not need a root and a crown.
• For a yes or no question. Ten cards never say yes. They say “it is complicated”, which you knew already. Use the yes or no tarot with one card instead.
• At two in the morning. If you are upset, ten cards give your fear ten places to settle in.
• For the same question again. A Celtic cross describes a stretch of several months. Laying it again after two weeks does not give a new answer, only a second, contradictory picture.
• For a question about two people. For that the five card love tarot spread is clearer, because it gives the other person a place of their own.
• If you are just beginning. Learn to read three cards as one sentence first.

My rule of thumb: the Celtic cross is for situations with a history and several people involved, and for each topic no more than two or three times a year.

A short worked example

A woman of forty one, living in her home town, had been offered a position in another city. Her question: “What should I understand about this move?”

The cross: 1 Eight of Cups, 2 Ten of Pentacles, 3 Four of Cups, 4 Three of Wands, 5 The Star, 6 Knight of Wands. The staff: 7 Page of Pentacles, 8 Six of Cups, 9 The Tower, 10 Three of Pentacles. All upright.

First the count. Only two major arcana, and they lie in positions five and nine, aim and fear. The big things are happening in her head. The events themselves are ordinary. Three Cups, three Pentacles, two Wands and not a single Sword: nothing has been said out loud and decided yet.

Heart and cross: the Eight of Cups shows someone walking away at night from eight cups that are still standing. Inwardly she has already left. Across it lies the Ten of Pentacles, the family home, three generations under one arch. Not an enemy, but a weight.

Root and crown: below is the Four of Cups, a long, dull dissatisfaction. Above is The Star. She does not want a career. She wants to breathe again.

Past and near future: from the Three of Wands, looking out for ships, to the Knight of Wands, who rides off. Things are speeding up. A decision will be asked of her soon.

You and surroundings: she sees herself as the Page of Pentacles, a learner who takes a new thing seriously. Her family sees the Six of Cups, the child she was.

Fear and outcome: The Tower in position nine is her fear that everything will collapse if she goes, and, if she is honest, also the hope that something will finally force the decision. But the outcome is not a collapse. The Three of Pentacles shows a building site: people working together on something that is not finished, and her craft is needed there.

The cards do not say “move”. They say that she left some time ago, that the weight is called family and not doubt, and that what waits on the other side is work, not ruin. I advised her to have the conversation with her parents before she signs anything, because the missing Swords were the loudest thing on the table.

Frequently asked questions

What do the ten positions of the Celtic cross mean?

In order: the heart of the matter, what crosses it, the root below, the recent past, what crowns it or the aim, the near future, yourself, your surroundings, your hopes and fears, the outcome. The first six form the cross and describe the situation. The last four form the staff and describe you in it.

Why are the Celtic cross positions different in every book?

Because the spread has been passed on by many hands for more than a hundred years. Some schools lay the crown before the root, others swap the past and the future. All of these versions work. Choose one, stay with it, and decide before you shuffle.

Is the Celtic cross suitable for beginners?

For laying, yes. For reading, only with patience. Start by reading just the cross, cards one to six, and add the staff when that feels safe. If you practise with a daily card for a few weeks beforehand, you will find the ten cards much easier.

What if the outcome card in the Celtic cross is negative?

Then you have learned something you can use. The tenth card shows where things lead if nothing changes. Go back to card seven, yourself, and to card two, the obstacle. That is where the levers are. No card in this spread is a promise or a sentence.

What period does a Celtic cross reading cover?

Usually three to six months. The near future in position six concerns the coming weeks, the outcome in position ten the months after that. If your question has a deadline, say so when you ask, then the cards relate to that period.