by Marcus Katz
1: Reading from the Outcome
Our first method, having shuffled the cards and laid them all face-up in the Celtic Cross pattern is to escape the trap of reading the cards in a fixed sequence, which usually starts in numerical order from the situation or present card in the centre.
This is the way in which most beginners try and learn the spread – and most spreads – because they are numbered so in every book. As a result, new readers learn without thinking, in a 1-2-3 manner, which is not the way we observe experienced readers in practice.
An experienced reader will often refer to cards out of order, and certainly some cards more than others in a reading, as soon as they lay out the spread.
So, in this approach, we help break up that bad learning habit by looking immediately at the final/outcome card. It is this outcome towards which we then work the whole reading.
Illus. Read First from the Outcome.
Tip: The outcome card should always be considered in its most positive aspect for the purpose of this method, unless the oracular moment dictates otherwise. That is to say, it should be considered as a lesson rather than a challenge.
Look at the card in the outcome position and allow a keyword to arise, such as 'juggle' for the 2 of Pentacles in this spread. It can be something obvious or something else that arises, from your knowledge of the card or your intuition.
Then immediately apply that word to the card in the present situation/now position.
This bridges the outcome card straight back to the present situation card. Instead of reading the situation first and then at the end of the reading the outcome, following each card in sequence, we are far better getting some sense of the outcome and connecting it to the present situation.
In our example spread, if we apply the sense of 'juggling' from the 2 of Pentacles in the Outcome position to the 6 of Swords in the present position, we might say, "I immediately see that you are trying not to rock the boat at the present - or perhaps you are trying to steer everyone one way but someone else is rocking the boat. Let's see in the other cards ..."
Illus. Reading from the Outcome (2 of Pentacles) to the Present (6 of Swords).
This is because we might imagine the figure on the 2 of Pentacles is standing in that boat on the 6 of Swords when we connect the two positions and cards together.
In having some sense of the outcome mentioned in the very first moment of the reading, this will allow you to weave a 'naturally complete' reading. When you finally get to the outcome card in the natural course of the reading, you can also refer it straight back to the present situation to complete the loop.
It is also a more effective way of fixing the whole reading in the client's mind because you will know where you are going towards all through the reading and word your interpretations in the context of the outcome. The theme of “juggling” may come up quite often throughout the whole reading, so it will be a surprise to the client (but not to you) when the final figure is seen juggling, as you have mentioned all along.
This can be very powerful, and the wording you can use to complete the reading may be something like, "As I said at the beginning ...."
This method works equally well with any spread with a "now" position and an "outcome" or "future" position.
2: Find the Flow & Set the Tone
In the Celtic Cross, or any spread with a past and present position, the second thing you can do is glance over the two cards in those positions. This will immediately tell you the overall flow of the situation in time.
The flow between the two cards gives us a sense of the current or energy which is actually being experienced by the client in response to the present situation, which usually sits between the past and future positions.
In our example, we can see that the flow is moving from a rather fixed-looking Ace of Pentacles to an obviously fast-moving 8 of Wands. It is from something in hand to something in flight.
Illus. Finding the Flow for Setting the Tone.
To understand the flow, we imagine how it might be to go from one card to another. Would it be a smooth transition or choppy; would it be fast, casual, urgent, easy, hard?
This gives us a real feeling of the flow underneath the whole reading.
Most importantly, it gives us the tone in which we can deliver the reading to the person because we now know how the situation might be feeling for them.
If we saw this particular combination of the Ace of Pentacles and the 8 of Wands, we might deliver our whole reading with lots of 'release' hand gestures and casting-out arm movements, mirroring the flow and symbolism of those two cards.
This would probably feel as if we were letting go of something and moving on, which in turn would likely become a dominant theme in the reading itself as we move onto individual cards.
We can also use our voice to support this flow. Our tone of voice could move from fixed sentences of fact to more expansive and dynamic statements of possibility.
Because that is what the flow of this reading is all about. It's in those two cards - and more interestingly, in the flow between the two cards.
The whole delivery of the reading can mirror the actual experience of the situation in the client’s life just from looking at the flow between the two cards in the past and present.
3: The Resources Always Meet the Challenge
We have now – in just two simple methods - connected the outcome to the present, and set the tone for the flow of the reading. Our next step is to elicit the resources for change in the client’s life. In outcome-orientated approaches, we want to ensure that the outcome is clear, the resources are in place, change is desired, and the first steps are actionable.
To locate the resources, we simply look at the Resources card (at the bottom of the Celtic Cross) and this will tell us simply what resources are available. Perhaps it will be a Pentacles card showing the resources are of material resources, or time, perhaps a Sword card showing that the resource is an ability to cut clear of old ideas.
However, to really empower and elaborate the reading, we next imagine how the Resources card would resist the Challenges card (which is laid over the central Situation card).
Illus. Applying the Resources to the Challenge.
This shows us exactly the type of resistance the unconscious can provide to resolve the obstacles placed in its way.
It is perhaps counter-intuitive to read the 'resources' as a 'resistance' and the 'obstacles' as 'opportunity' but that is exactly the way in which those positions provide insight in outcome-orientated reading.
Think of that Resources card as an Aikido or Zen warrior - or Walter White in "Breaking Bad", always one or three steps ahead of the challenge. It is simply going to take the energy of the obstacle and direct it somewhere.
Imagine too that we aim to have it like a "buddy movie" where the two antagonistic characters end up working well together combining their mutual differences to complete a task, defeat a situation or be victorious over a mutual enemy.
In our example, we see that Temperance is the resource and the Knight of Swords is the obstacle.
How would Temperance 'fight' an attack from the 'Knight of Swords' and how would they end up working together?
We imagine that Temperance would place cups down the road ahead of the horse, so that it kept stopping to drink and the Knight's advance would be halted.
Eventually, the horse would be full and then reach the pool where Temperance waited, and the Knight would be impressed with her strategy.
So in the reading we would say something like "Your need to race forwards is powerful and can be even more so by taking stops along the way. In fact, you should reward yourself at regular intervals - now, let us imagine this change is going to take six months, yes? So how about you have a strategy to take one day off every month, and a big party on the six month?"
By allowing the challenge to take place (rather than fighting it or ignoring it) and then incorporating it into the resources you will discover that t
he resources always meet the challenge.
4: The Future Comes to Those Who Make It
Having looked at the resources we have available for change, connected the outcome to the present, and set the tone for the flow of the reading, we are only now ready to look at the future, which is probably the main thing that the client expected us to deliver to them.
We only start to look into the client’s future once we have ensured that they have connected to resources that can manage change towards a positive outcome. This is why we look at the outcome card first.
It is only natural that they will be looking at the problem and will have convinced themselves they cannot change.
So we want to look at something novel for them; their ability to change and their solution.
In the Celtic Cross, this dynamic can be discovered by looking at a triangle of cards which is the Aim, the Future (again), and (again) the Outcome.
Illus. Working with the Aim, Future and Outcome Triangle.
The Aim position is at the top of the central cross in the spread. I often liken this to a target which should be aimed for with the resources at the bottom of the cross providing the energy to reach it.
In this step though, we compare the 'future' force that is flowing towards our client, and then triangulate (or align) that to the 'aim' in the best possible way to meet the 'outcome'.
There are many such triangles, pairs and squares of force in the simple Celtic Cross, that can reveal anything you require in exploring all aspects of a situation. It is such a powerful spread which has survived the longest of all the spreads because it is so elegant and comprehensive.
In our example, we see the future flow is the dynamic 8 of Wands which has set the tone for the reading. So there is much activity on its way, we already know.
We compare that to the Outcome which we have already seen; the juggling, balancing, but prone to being misleading, 2 of Pentacles.
So how can the Aim card, which is the 7 of Wands triangulate or best connect these two positions?
One thing that comes to mind in this example is that the 7 of Wands would hold every activity back until it has been weighed up. In everyday terms, all of those Wands or values/beliefs should be halted until the financial consequences or practical impact has been assessed.
So the aim should be to take advantage of all the new 'utterly important things that I feel I should be setting in motion' (8 of Wands) and listing them out and putting by each one the financial impact (2 of Pentacles). This is the process of the 7 of Wands coordinating those two cards.
So the Aim card is always showing how to incorporate and utilise the Future to achieve the Outcome. This is another example of how Outcome-Orientated Reading is counter-intuitive and works in reverse or opposite to how the client experiences the problem.
We use our tarot to totally take them out of the box.
5: Yourself and Others
Having decided on the right aim which will set us in motion towards the desired outcome, utilising all the resources we have available for change, and starting with the present circumstances, we can now consider our own self-state and how that is received by others.
This is important to ensure a contract is created between the parts of the self which may be in conflict and the relationship of the self to others.
This part of the Celtic Cross in an 'outcome orientated' reading draws upon the work of family therapist Virginia Satir and the Self-Relations approach of Stephen Gilligan.
It is a blend of practical methodology, spirituality and Jungian thought, with a dash of NLP and Neo-Ericksonian language pattern, in just two cards.
In the context of everything we have covered in parts 1-4 of this approach, we now take the two cards at the bottom of the column to the right of the cross, called "Self" and "Others".
The Self card shows how the Self relates to the journey between the Present Situation (card) and the Outcome (card), knowing the Aim (card).
Illus. Self and Others.
Tip: The Self card is one of the most sensitive positions in the Celtic Cross with regard to the type of card that falls in the position.
If the Self card is a Major Arcana, it shows that an archetypal pattern or universal situation is being played out by the Self. This means that the person is being reminded or taught a lesson again that is likely playing out in other areas of their life. It could also be that it is a recurrent situation that they are in which will keep repeating until they learn the lesson of this particular archetypal illustration. If it were the Justice card, for example, it would be the lesson of equality in all things.
If it is a Minor Card, it signifies the actual situation/event in which the Self must engage. This is an easier card to have here in one sense, although sometimes the obvious action is the one most resisted by the client. That is often because there is a “secondary gain” in having the problem.
This secondary gain can sometimes be seen in the Minor card in this position. So if it were the 3 of Swords in a health question, whilst it might say that they should change their life to avoid a heart attack, it would also indicate that their present activities were functioning also to keep them separated from owning their health issue.
If it is a Court Card, in this position it is very powerful and shows the aspect of the Self which must be engaged in the journey. If we have a Court card, it is usually easier than a Major card to apply, but a bit trickier than a Minor card. It shows characteristics of the person that are being called out by the situation. So a Queen of Swords here would show that the person should draw upon and respect their boundaries, for example.
When we have looked at the Self position, we next look at the card in the Others position. This shows how other people are receiving the presentation of the self as we have already read in the previous card.
In simple terms, one card is "how you see yourself" and the other card is "how other people see you". Comparing and contrasting these two cards is often the most profound part of a Celtic Cross reading, and often evokes a lot of emotion which drives the required changes.
In our example, we have Self as the 4 of Cups and Others as the 9 of Cups.
The first thing we note is they are both Cups and both Minor cards. This is a situation that needs changing in the real world, by activity, not by self-contemplation or navel-gazing. In fact, we can see that clearly in the 4 of Cups.
Notice too that in this method we go above the usual meanings of cards when they serve us to orientate towards the solution - we are not just 'reading a meaning' but using the cards as engines of change.
These two Cups cards then are not being read as 'emotions' but as illustrations of actual events and "things to do".
Here we see that 'distraction' (a meaning of the 4 of Cups given in Tarot Flip, for example) is in the position of the Self.
So whatever is going on inside the person is manifesting in various acts of distraction in their everyday life.
Advanced Tip: The actions indicated by the 'Self' card if a Minor card may often be even more clearly seen in the 'Past' position if we glance across to it briefly.
In this real example case, look - and there we see the Ace of Pentacles showing that the client has been spending on new things as the main arising of this pattern of distraction. Indeed, they confirmed they had been on repeated shopping sprees, but had not connected this with the situation nor had previously been aware it was a distraction. Thus we can put those parts of their 'whole self' together in a contract for more effective change.
When we look at the Others card, we see 'self-indulgence' in the Falstaff figure resting on his bench surrounded by cups of mead.[8]
We would read this as other people responding to the persons attempts at distraction by those people seeing the person as being merely self-indulgent and selfish. It is therefore unlikely they will be offering to contribute help in any way.
When we compare these two cards, we can build a better outcome by suggesting budgeting (as we saw in a pr
evious step in this reading) and ensuring that gifts are included in the budget plan.
This will help demonstrate to others that change has taken place and they are far more likely to assist in various ways to support the client.
Tip: You will often see in the card illustrations many subtle clues to the best possible solution/activity, which is the reverse of the usual meaning, so here we see we are suggesting giving gifts when the usual meaning of the 4 of Cups is 'refusing or ignoring a gift'. This is because we are taking the cards seriously as projections of possibility, not as passive illustrations of something already happening.
It is often incredible how much we can derive in terms of practical and positive change work from just two cards.
You can also try an exercise by drawing two cards for SELF/OTHERS in a real situation in your life and see what you can discover using this approach.
6: Where Your Attention Goes is Here
In our first five steps of reading the Celtic Cross we have considered how we get ourselves together, work with others, have a reasonable aim which will use our resources to get us to a practical outcome, and we have told our fortune from the flow of the past into the future – so what next?
Now we look at the only card we look at in isolation - in the 'Concerns' or 'Attention' position.
The reason we look at this card by itself is because it has no bearing on the reading - none, zilch, nada. It has no connection with the situation and nothing to tell us about anything.