Thinking About The Celtic Cross

A different perspective

The Celtic Cross is undoubtedly the most well known Tarot Spread in existence. It was first popularized by A.E. Waite, but was used prior to that in the Golden Dawn and seems to be included in just about every Tarot book published since Waite’s day. Including countless versions of the famous Little White Books.

Celtic Cross Tarot Spread utilizing the First Printing of the First Edition University Press RWS Tarot Deck. This beautiful deck is nine years older than me, and I’m an old fart!

Today I’d only like to explore the card positions indicated by the cards turned up in the photo. The 5 of Swords, the 3 of Cups with the 4 of Pentacles, and the Page of Cups.

While it seems that pretty much every Tarot Reader knows the Celtic Cross, it is also undeniable that there are a great many variations on how it is read.

A.E. Waite, who first popularized it wrote that the card in the place illustrated by the 5 of Swords above is: What crowns the querent.

The card in the place illustrated by the Page of Cups above is: What is beneath the querent.

And that the cards in the middle, the 3 of Cups crossed by the 4 of Pentacles are: The heart of the matter.

Aleister Crowley had a bit of a different take.

He taught that the card in the place illustrated by the 5 of Swords is: The querents aspirations, ultimate goals, destiny, higher purpose.

That the card in the place illustrated by the Page of Cups is: The querent’s foundation or roots.

Never one to avoid tinkering with things, I too have sort of developed my own view of these card positions.

I view the card position illustrated by the 5 of Swords above as the querent’s highest thoughts about the situation at hand. Even if these thoughts are unrecognized by the querent. The Superconscious if you will.

I view the card position illustrated by the Page of Cups above as the querent’s Subconscious thoughts about the matter at hand. These are unrecognized thoughts. Unconscious.

And I view the two center cards, the 3 of Cups crossed by the 4 of Pentacles as the present situation, particularly as it exists within the querent’s mind. The Conscious resulting from the blending of the Superconscious and the Subconscious.

And I like that. It works extremely well for me. But, it’s not elegant, and it’s hard to explain, and it certainly isn’t very mystical sounding or even termed in satisfying language.

I also tend to look at these cards from a Freemasonic point of view. How could I not given my rather extreme involvement with that Ancient Craft.

From that Masonic point of view I see the position illustrated by the 5 of Swords as symbolizing Light. The position illustrated by the Page of Cups as Darkness. And the center as the blending of light and darkness, much as a floor checkered with white and black squares is a blending of the light and the dark.

So, there are four different takes. They all diverge from each other in terminology, but ultimately, I think that they are all arriving at the same place.

But, here I was yesterday, minding my own business and reading some of my favorite writers here on Substack.

And I happened across a real gem!

Clintavo

wrote:

“Creativity, true creativity, at least as I experience it, seems to be odd combination of three parts of my psyche.  Perhaps these “three selves” are what Freud called the id, ego and superego.  Or, perhaps, they are the same thing that Jung called the shadow, the ego, and the anima (or animus if you are a female). Meditators and spiritualists might call them the subconscious, the conscious and the superconscious.  The ancient Greeks had similar ideas called eros, ego, and logos.

I'll call them The Shadow, The Conscious Self and The Muse.  Only when all three are fully integrated in harmony does a creative person tap fully into their true nature, what I refer to as The Sovereign Artist within.”

The Shadow, The Conscious Self, and The Muse.

What a wonderful way of describing these card positions.

He wasn’t writing about the Tarot, but I encourage you to read his entire essay. It’s linked at the bottom of this post.¹

If we utilize this terminology, the position illustrated by the 5 of Swords above becomes The Muse, the position of the Page of Cups the Shadow, and the center The Conscious Self.

I have to say that I love his descriptions, and they are well in keeping with how I read these card positions. I imagine that Waite and Crowley would agree as well.

1. Ignoring Your Daemon Unleashes a Demon