I may have told you before that my favorite spread is an augmented Celtic Cross. Instead of drawing the traditional tens cards, I draw eleven. For those of you who think I'm referring to getting around the Point Guard for the Boston Celtics, let we briefly explain. The Celtic Cross tarot spread is a great snapshot of your life as it is, as it was and as it will be. Celtic Cross is the spread of choice for a lot of tarot readers and the brass ring for most of my beginning students. It looks like this:
4 10
5 1 - (2 lays across 1) 6 9
3 8
7
I place an eleventh card to the left of the 10 spot. I'm not sure why, except an extremely gifted psychic taught me to read cards that way and it's stayed with me. Most client's like the the double outcome. I like to think of it as a universal do-over, or one to grow on.
1 and 2 represent you in the present moment, 1 being the card that signifies you and 2 being what crosses you. What crosses you can be a challenge, a trait, a personality quirk or gift. Like most readers, I don't like labeling things in tarot as either good or bad. Face it, that's what mothers and best friends are for.
I call the number 2 position (the one that crosses you in the present moment) "The Bridge." You see, 5 is your past and 6 is your future in my version. And it's in 5 and 6 that you face where you've come from and where you're going, respectively. What crosses you is a clear indicator of the baggage you drag from the past and insist on carrying valiantly with you into the future. In a lot of cases you carry good stuff - adversity that helped you grow, a loving and supportive environment or maybe a keen intellect. Then, of course, there are the challenge cards, the cards that recur in our journey towards self. These cards can show us our less than desirable traits.
The 4 of Pentacles is my personal nemesis - possessiveness or refusing to relinquish control, blocked change. Who? Me? Yup, there he is holding his coins, guarding himself and refusing to let the light shine through. That's tarot my friends, in your face and on your table. Uncompromising yet nevertheless endearing.
The Bridge shows us the best and the worst we carry from past to present to future. Ultimately we choose what we take with us on our soul's journey and our view from the bridge provides us with an opportunity to decide whether or not our burden is worth the price of the fare.
Lady Oracle
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