The Celtic Cross is the best known of the large tarot spreads. Ten cards are laid out in two groups: a cross of six cards that describes the situation, and a staff of four cards to the right that describes how the situation sits in the wider world and where it is heading. It takes longer than a one or three card draw, but it repays the time when a question has history, pressure, and several people or forces involved. Everything here is for reflection and entertainment only.
When to use it
Use the Celtic Cross for a question that has been on your mind for a while and that you want to look at from every side: a long-running relationship, a stuck career, a financial pattern you keep repeating, or a major decision with a long tail. For daily check-ins or quick yes/no questions, the one card or three card spreads are quicker and clearer.
The cross: positions 1 to 6
1. Present
The heart of the matter. This card describes the situation as it currently is, or your state within it. Read it first and let it set the tone. If it surprises you, the reading is probably about something slightly different from what you asked.
2. Challenge
Laid across the first card. This is what crosses, blocks, or complicates the present. It is not always negative; the Star here can mean that hope itself is complicating things by keeping you waiting rather than acting. Read the Challenge with the Present as a pair: what is the tension between them?
3. Past
What led here, whether a recent event or a long-standing pattern. A Major Arcana card suggests deep roots; a Minor suggests something specific and recent.
4. Future
The near-term direction, usually within weeks or a few months. This is the next phase, not the final outcome. Compare it with the Present: is the energy rising, settling, or shifting?
5. Above
Sometimes called the conscious mind or the goal. This card shows what you are aiming for, what you believe about the situation, or the best that could reasonably come of it. It is the version of the story you tell yourself.
6. Below
The unconscious or foundation: motives, fears, or facts you have not fully acknowledged. When Above and Below disagree sharply, the reading is pointing at a gap between what you want and what is actually driving you.
The staff: positions 7 to 10
7. Advice
Your stance or the attitude that would help. Read it as a suggestion about how to carry yourself, not an instruction to take a specific action. The Tower reversed here might suggest ending the avoidance of a hard conversation. The Lovers might suggest choosing by your values rather than convenience.
8. External influences
People, circumstances, and pressures around you: other people’s views, workplace conditions, family expectations, market realities. If this card is strong and the Advice card is gentle, the environment may matter more than your own effort right now.
9. Hopes and fears
Tarot treats hopes and fears as one position because they are usually the same thing seen from two sides: a hope you are afraid to admit, or a fear you half want to come true. Read this card honestly. It is often the most personal card in the spread.
10. Outcome
Where the current path tends, assuming nothing changes. The Outcome is a projection, not a prophecy. If you do not like it, the Advice and Challenge cards show where change is possible. If you do like it, the same cards show what to protect.
Reading the whole spread
Ten cards can feel like noise. Use this order to make them speak together.
- Read 1 and 2 as a pair. Situation and tension.
- Read 3, 1, 4 as a timeline. Past, present, near future.
- Read 5 and 6 as a vertical axis. What you aim for versus what drives you.
- Read 7 and 8 together. What you can do versus what surrounds you.
- Read 9 and 10 together. What you secretly expect versus where things tend.
Then count. Four or more Majors means the matter is significant and will take time. Which suit dominates? Cups mean the question is really about feeling; Swords about thought and conflict; Wands about drive; Pentacles about resources. Finally, look for echoes between positions. The Wheel of Fortune in the Past and the Star in the Outcome tell a story of a cycle completing hopefully. Two Fives suggest a recurring struggle.
Worked example in brief
Question: “What do I need to understand about my current job?” Present: Eight of Pentacles (diligent work). Challenge: Four of Cups reversed (restlessness lifting). Past: Ten of Wands (overload). Future: Three of Pentacles (collaboration). Above: the Star (hope for meaning). Below: Five of Pentacles (fear of scarcity). Advice: the Lovers (choose by values). External: King of Pentacles (a stable but demanding authority). Hopes and fears: the Tower (you half want it to blow up). Outcome: Six of Wands (recognition).
One sentence: you have been grinding under a scarcity fear while hoping for meaning, and the path forward is choosing work that fits your values and leaning into collaboration rather than waiting for an explosion to force the change.
Take your time with the Celtic Cross. One careful reading a month is worth more than a rushed one every day.