Sideways cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

mirja crimson	27 Oct 2002
Everyone knows that the second card in the Celtic Cross spread is sideways or "crossing." I have avoided this spread because of the fact that I use reversals and I have no idea whether that crossing card is upright or reversed. Help someone?

Thirteen	27 Oct 2002
Generally read as "upright"--but remember that the card "crosses" the person, thus being an obstacle. So even if the upright card means that the card is positive, it still has a negative connotation of being the thing that's getting in the way. Does that make sense?

Keslynn	27 Oct 2002
When I lay out a CC and am using reversed cards, I'll deal the crossing card normally. In other words, I'll deal it like any other card, note whether it's reversed or not, then return it to sideways for aesthetics. It's worked for me so far. :) Kes

mirja crimson	27 Oct 2002
Both are great suggestions, thanks! I'll probably try both, but I'm thinking I'll be more inclined to do the one where you flip ir vertically and then turn it horizontally. Thanks for the help!

isthmus nekoi	28 Oct 2002
I read it as upright/inverted but primarily, I read the sideways card from right to left, as if reading a book. I also look at how each end of card connects to the cards that flank it (ie. the past and incoming influence positions).

HudsonGray	28 Oct 2002
It confused the heck out of me too, so now I just lay the first card down, then the second goes over it, but vertical like the first one, only covering part of the right side of the first card (like a window shutter). This way there's no confusion as to whether it was upright or reversed, it's in the same direction on the table as the other cards in the spread.

Trogon	29 Oct 2002
I personally always lay this "crossing" card horizontally in the Celtic Cross. The person who first began teaching me Tarot and the first book I ever had on the Tarot ("A Complete Guide to the Tarot" by Eden Gray) both advised me to read this card as though it were in the upright orientation. As Thirteen mentioned you have to interpret it as an obstacle regardless of it's being in what is considered to be a "positive" orientation. As an aside.... This reading of a "positive" card as an obstacle, and inversely having a "negative" card in a positive position, is one of the things I've found to be one of my bigger stumblilng blocks in learning the Tarot. But by doing more and more readings, using simpler spreads (3-card and 5-card lines for example) I have, I felt, gotten better at interpreting the cards in general. This has given me better insight and better developed my intuition so that I am better at handling these seemingly contradictory card/positional readings. At least I think i am... ;)

The Sideways cards thread was originally posted on 27 Oct 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.