Position #8: Environment

The card in this position indicates the environment surrounding where I am now. This card is the Six of Swords. The six of swords is a card of victory, balance, and ideas. It is also a card that indicates travel, often over water.

I am concerned and worried, but the environment is supporting me and shifting me (causing me to travel). I have to be open to the possibilities.

Again, going back to the Four of Cups, I can’t get so tied in to over focusing and obsessing on the situation that I can’t see opportunities and experiences and support being offered.

That’s something quite important.

Position #7 -- Where I am Now

This position states where I am (was) at the moment of the reading (January 26). What’s interesting is that I wrote it out as the Queen of Swords. However, looking at both the cards (put aside after the reading) and the photographs – I actually pulled the Queen of Wands.

To me, that means I must need both Queens to illustrate that defining moment. The Queen of Wands is about being completely oneself. A confidence and a centeredness, an ability to move through the situation by being secure in who I am, not trying to mould myself into what someone else wishes.

The Queen of Swords is a sorrowful woman who has learned from her mistakes. I can see how both would be relevant in this situation.

Also, both Queens connect to the Empress in the Aspirations position – the Queens wish to epitomize the qualities of the Empress, as, by the position, I do in the situation. And the Queens connect to the Foundation – the 7 of Swords – use creative thinking – a warning that, although I must be myself, I must also still keep some of the cards close to the vest.

Position #6 -- Near Future

The Four of Swords is the card I’ve nicknamed the R&R card – for rest and relaxation. It indicates a need for quiet and contemplation, and to take a break. The picture is of a napping dragon with his (her?) four swords.

“Near Future” in the Celtic Cross usually means, in my experience, from two to six weeks. Boy, I wish that the Four of Swords would take effect! Since the initial date of this reading, things have accelerated instead of calmed down, and I certainly need the Four of Swords, but I don’t see the opportunity to take advantage of it anytime soon. Stolen moments just aren’t doing it.

Notice that there is an energy line from the past through the present crossed cards to the future: The Page of Cups (which needs nurturance) moves into the Four of Cups (sorrow and depression) crossed by Temperance (the need for balance) to the Four of Swords (time out).

Two triangles are also formed: From the Page of Cups up to The Empress to the Four of Swords – a new creative endeavor that needs nurturance, to creative fulfillment to time for rest; the second triangle is the bottom one – the same need for nurturance pushed by a need for creative thinking (and a warning of guile from someone nearby) to the time of rest.

Both those energy triangles play off each other, and the straight energy line pushes through. So you build your interpretation with all these different angles.

Position #5: Recent Past

The card in this position is the Page of Cups. The Pages indicate something new in reference to the question that still needs to be nurtured before it can be revealed or brought forward into the world. The suit of the card gives an idea of what that something needing nurturance is.

Page of Cups means something in the area of creativity or emotion in regard to the question still needs to be nurtured, and that is has come up recently. That card is somewhat puzzling, unless it refers to the need to use my creativity in a new way in regard to the question. Intense emotion is there, as it always is when one’s hearth situation is threatened.

Had the Page of Swords come up in that position (the need to nurture a fresh intellectual approach and a warning against gossip) – I would have understood. But the Page of Cups is both puzzling and intriguing.

I hope to gain more clarity by putting it in context with other cards, or perhaps I will have to add on cards to further clarify this one.

It is rare to further explore a “recent past” position – usually whatever turns up there is straightforward.

But it makes this exploration more interesting.

Position #4: Foundation

The fourth position in this spread is the Foundation, located directly underneath the crossed cards. The Foundation position states what caused the crossed cards to be what and where they are.

In the case of this reading, the Foundation card is the Seven of Swords. This is the card of guile, creative thought, and a warning that someone close to me in this situation is misrepresenting either him/her/self or the situation. The card itself shows someone sneaking away down the stone corridor, arms full of swords. He leaves an open chest behind him. However, two small dragons stand on a sconce shelf, and their breath illuminates the dark. In other words, the thief has not gotten away without being noticed.

This makes perfect sense as the Foundation of my question – it is the constant misrepresentation that caused the need for the question in the first place.

Also, notice that the fourth position heading through positions 1 & 2 and on up to 3 create an energy line. From the misrepresentation to my despair crossed by the need for balance, up to my desire for a fruitful resolution. That’s how the energy of this situation flows.

It all makes a lot of sense. So far, the Temperance (position #2) card is the card telling me a solution rather than “what is”.

Position #3 -- Aspirations

The third position in the Celtic Cross spread is on top of the two crossed cards. This position is “Aspirations”. This is what you WANT to happen in the situation.

If a negative card turns up, the first question you need to ask is whether or not you are sabotaging yourself. Sometimes, consciously we think we want one thing, but subconsciously, we really want something else. The Aspirations position will draw self-sabotage to your attention.

Fortunately, in this reading, the Empress makes perfect sense. The Empress is a Major Arcana card, and one of femininity, strength, abundance, and fertility. It makes sense in this position, because yes, I want the result of this conflict to be a positive, abundant resolution. It reminds me that, in order to get there, I need to keep things flowing (Temperance in position #2) and stop staring into the chalice, depressed all the time (4 of Cups in position #1).

Position #2: Energy Surrounding Situation

The second position in the Celtic Cross, the position crossing the situation, is the energy surrounding the situation. In this case, the card is Temperance.

Temperance is a card of both balance and flow. It advises to keep balance in one’s life, yet not get stagnant. Flow. Keep the energy moving. In this deck, there are three dragons – a red, a green, and a blue. They are flowing together in an infinite pattern. Their heads face the center – but are they aggressive towards each other, or merely making conversation? Because “flow” is part of this card, sometimes it’s one, sometimes the other.

Putting the two cards together, I need to get over myself and notice that there’s a lighter side to all of this, and also keep balance and flow in my life.

Position #1 -- Current Situation

Since I do not use a significator card, the first position signifies both the situation and where I am in the situation.

The card that came up is the Four of Cups. Cups is the suit of love/creativity/the unconscious/emotions. The four signifies emotional upset and depression. In this particular deck, the woman in the artwork is tracing her hands disconsolately around the edges of the cup. Two other cups stand on the table, with dragons entwined around them, and one cup is spilled, with two dragons playing in it. Although she’s not fully aware of it, and is only staring into the one cup, the dragons are playing. This indicates that the situation is not as gloomy as it seems, and the querent (in this case, me) needs to get over herself and start looking at the bigger picture.