Tarot School No. 2.1

The generative side of things

So, let’s take a good look at our spread! Half of it anyway. We’ll begin with the cross portion.

Waite-Smith Cards in a Celtic Cross Spread

The 5 of Wands illustrates our querent’s current situation. I read it as conflict, and given that she’s asking about her current romantic relationship, conflict within that relationship. Conflict that is occurring at this time.

That 5 of Wands is crossed by the Knight of Swords, which gives us insight into the nature of the conflict. It’s an intellectual battle of divergent views. She, and presumably her partner are so busy disagreeing, and pushing their own viewpoints that they aren’t slowing down enough to see where the other might be coming from. They aren’t considering the other’s perspective because they are each hell bent on getting their point across.

These two cards, taken together, are the heart of the matter. They show that conflict is currently taking over the relationship, and presumably that is why the querent has come to us.

From there, let’s take a look at the Page of Cups. It is in the position of crowning our querent in the situation we are reading for. These are our querent’s conscious thoughts about the situation. It makes sense, Cups are the suit of emotion, love, and she wants the loving, supportive relationship that she had before conflict began to overtake it.

Now let’s drop down to The Sun. Our first, and only Major Arcana card in the spread. This position symbolizes something unrecognized consciously by our querent. Namely a powerful positive energy surrounding her relationship. An energy that if tapped into will lead to joy and happiness within that relationship. Something that was there before, but isn’t there right now.

We now have a line of cards, moving downward from the Page of Cups to the 5 of Wands, crossed by the Knight of Swords, all resting on the firm foundation of The Sun. We can see these cards as her conscious desire for a loving and supportive relationship, as she had with her partner before. But a relationship currently impacted by conflict and a lack of understanding. At bottom we see the strong positive energy created by the relationship when it is good. Energy that she isn’t currently feeling, but that can return, if the conflict is resolved.

Our attention is next called to the 10 of Cups. This symbolizes that which has just passed away, or is in the process of passing away. It is the really strong and happy relationship that our querent had prior to the current conflicts. It illustrates that which she wants to have once again.

Moving across to the Ace of Cups, we can see what can come very soon, and likely rather easily. A reawakening, a restarting, of the love that was illustrated by the 10 of Cups. The conflict can end, quickly, and she can once again have that which she had before.

Taken together these cards can symbolize the past (10 of Cups); present (5 of Wands crossed by the Knight of Swords); and future (Ace of Cups.) We can see that she had what she considered to be a great relationship, until it was recently filled with conflict, ultimately because neither partner is willing to see the other’s perspective. But that the conflict can be set aside, if they are each willing to slow down and find understanding, and that if they do that, the relationship can get back on course, quickly.

This completes the cross half of our Celtic Cross. On the whole, it is a very positive reading for our querent. Thus far anyway. This half of the spread represents the passive, generative energies impacting our querent’s relationship. These energies will interact with the active forces illustrated in the other half of the spread to create our querent’s current situation.

Our next post will explore that second half of the spread in detail.

In the meantime, does this break any thoughts loose for you?

Anything in my reading of these cards that you agree, or disagree with? Remember that Tarot is an individualistic art, there are no right or wrong answers here.

Is there anything above that you would like me to expand upon?

Did this offer any insight to you?

Let’s chat about it in the comments below.