Celtic Cross: the ten-card tarot spread
10 cards
The best known and most complete classic tarot spread. Ten cards look at the situation from every side: its roots, the past, your aims, your surroundings, your hopes and fears. Choose it for an important, complicated question.
What each position means
Present
The heart of the situation, what is happening now.
Challenge
The card lying across the first: what crosses your path or needs to be reconciled.
Foundation
The deeper cause, the roots of the situation.
Recent past
What has recently passed and still has an effect.
Conscious aim
What you are consciously aiming for or hoping for.
Near future
What is coming soon.
Yourself
Your attitude and stance in this situation.
Environment
The people and circumstances around you.
Hopes and fears
What you hope for and what you fear. Often they are the same thing.
Outcome
Where it all leads if you continue on this path.
How to read the Celtic Cross
Start with the central cross: the first two cards are the heart of the question, and cards three to six show where the situation comes from and where it is moving. The column on the right (7–10) shows you, your surroundings, your inner expectations and the outcome. Compare cards five and ten: does what you are aiming for match where you are going?
Example questions
- What is happening in my life right now?
- Does my relationship have a future?
- How should I change my career?
Try it now
A fairly shuffled deck, 9 spreads and a full reading of the spread. One reading a day is free.
Draw this spread