Reader · 15 min
Celtic Cross I: positions and pairs
The ten positions of the Celtic Cross as VeilSoul numbers them, why Waite's order differs, and how reading the positions in pairs turns ten cards into one conversation.
In this lesson you will
- Name the ten positions of the Celtic Cross and where each one sits.
- Read a card by its place in the cross, whatever number a book gives it.
- Compare the position pairs: heart and crossing, past and future, root and crown, hopes and direction.
Your company is restructuring, and your question has many moving parts: your role, your manager, your savings, your hopes. Three cards feel too small for it. The Celtic Cross gives each part its own place, and it is the best-known spread of the Waite–Smith tradition.
A cross and a staff
The Celtic Cross has two parts. The cross on the left, six cards, describes the situation: its heart, what crosses it, its root and crown, the recent past and the near future. The staff on the right, four cards read from the bottom up, shows the matter from your side: your attitude, your surroundings, your hopes and fears, and where things are heading.
You already know half of it. The cross is the five-card cross from Small spreads with one more card laid across the center.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- The ten positions
- Read it in pairs
- Your turn
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.