Mlle Lenormand

Is there a difinitive celtic cross? I've been using the following:

1. The Querent/Question
2. The obstacle
3. What is below you or in process of leaving
4. What has past you
5. What is crowning you
6. etc.

My questions are: What sort of time frame is number 4? Is it long past or immediate past? and how does it differ from 3?
Is 3 the immediate past?

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Mlle Lenormand
aka Carolyn

"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes"

Jenny-Li

Hm, no - actually I don't think there is ONE definitive version. I mean one of them must have been first, and thus the original version, but today there are many versions out there. And the good part is they are all good. The best thing is to find one that you're comfortable with and stick with that. And always make up your mind as to what all the positions are before you lay out the cards, even if you want to try other versions than your usual, otherwise I think it would be inviting confusion to your reading...!

I read the past not as a time frame, but as the background for the current situation. That means that sometimes it is just a couple of weeks back, sometimes a year, sometimes that position describes life all the way back to childhood for that person. The difference between this card and the below-card for me is that the below stands for the root, where the situation is rooted, and the past-card provides information about where this root has been, the past environment that has supported the growing of the situation for whatever timeframe.

I hope this makes sense...! And remember, this is just the way I read the positions, I may be the only one who does it this way...!

Light and love,
Jenny

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Aurum nostrum non est aurum vulgi.

Sullanciri2002

Hello Carolyn,
one thing I've noticed, is that "the" Celtic Cross gets explained differently in many different sources ... so it can be hard finding the way to read it that suits you.
The way I use it, the 3 stands more for aspects or influences that are only now becoming known to you ... which has little to do with how long they've been playing a part in the situation.
The 4 is the card that tells me which aspects or influences were active in the creation/origin of the situation, influences that played a part in how it came to be ... and crossreferencing that to most psychological theories indicated that's more in the "far" past than in recent times (although once again, it matters less than the fact that it has in some way led to the problem/situation)
Hope this helps ... but I'm sure you'll get as many offerings of advice that say completely different things.

the hermit

Mlle:
As already mentioned the Celtic Cross is an old spread that has many variations. A good place to see one of them is at Joan Bunning's website:

Learning the Tarot

within her site is much good information for beginners and advanced Tarot students. While she discuss it in several places, the Celtic Cross is specifically discussed on this part of the site:

Celtic Cross

She gives an excellent explanation of the spread using a tradition 10 card version of the cross with diagrams and instructions on laying out the spread and interpreting it.

meatbox666

Card number 3 is the distant past....like what happened about 6 months ago. Card four is what recently happend three months until present.

Sullanciri said the same thing however I am going to add a time frame. The reason is to see what you are dealing with. Try it in your readings. Say to the person well, about six months ago, yadda yadda, but you have to try to develop that intuition to get the right month.

kelli

Carolyn, I too have got a little confused with all the different variations of the celtic cross i have seen. I think its just a matter of finding the version that you feel most comfortable with and using that.

Ohh and thanks Hermit for posting that site.. (more reading for me to lose myself in )



Kelly

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