Beyond the Celtic Cross. Paul Hughes-Barlow

8. Outside Environment—Ten of Cups. Despite the pressure represented by the Ten of Wands, it seems that there is a lot of love and happiness around, which perhaps serves to rub salt into the wounds. 9. Hopes and Fears—Ace of Cups. The Ace of Cups represents the beginning of love and happiness, but Catherine seems to be in a state of not knowing if she really wants love to come into her life, despite her comments previously. 10. Outcome—Knight of Wands reversed This, I feel, is the real problem and the reason why Cath erine contacted me in the first place. Her original question was: ‘Will I meet the man of my dreams?’

       SUMMARY

      Is her ideal outcome the Knight of Pentacles, or is it the Knight of Wands reversed? The Future is good but indeterminate, while the Outcome is of an angry and frustrated man—or is that just her perception of him? Either way, the push and pull of the two Knights is driving her crazy.

      If we compare Catherine’s analysis (below) with mine, it can be seen that we agree on what the reading is about. The question is how do we go beyond the surface meanings of the cards and the positions? How do we find answers to the questions and dilemmas posed in the reading?

       CATHERINE’S ANALYSIS OF THE CELTIC CROSS

      I have been single for some time, although lingering in the background is my ex. We have both lingered and done the ‘not letting go’ thing. Only, I thought I had finally cracked it—my life has taken a new direction and I’m pleased to be travelling a more enlightened path. I’ve known for some time he’s not in my future and that’s okay. I think we both did something amazing for each other, which has resulted in new directions.

      However, it was Valentine’s Day this week and I guess I got a bit sentimental and sent him an e-card and a message. He’s dating someone else now and very politely he blew me off. I had a momentary wobble, but all is well in my world again. It made me think, though, how much I would like to have someone in my life again. I’ve been very rigid on this point of late. Because of the work I’ve been doing with myself, I’ve held the view that I don’t have the room for someone, and—to be honest—you know how it is when you fall in love; it’s so time consuming (in a positive way) and your focus is shifted to this wonderful new thing in your life. So this would go against the energy and time I have given to myself. Briefly, I’ve read a lot and have tried to apply prosperity principles, enlightenment, my tarot cards—a large number of things to improve myself and develop myself as a person and spiritually. So you can see the internal conflict I have, and I think the opening three cards reflect that. The fourth card too, because it hurt, albeit briefly.

      I realise now that I can have love in my life and not lose focus, if I could find someone who is travelling a similar road to my own. Then it would be a help and not a hindrance—true?

      The Four of Cups is interesting because lately I have read it to mean missed opportunities, but here in this position, and to do with love, could it signal apathy and boredom? I am a commit-ment-phobe. So therein lies my challenge: to go for it—warts and all—commit myself and be a part of it. Most people are scared to be alone. I know it’s okay to be alone, it’s not scary, but I think now the opposite is true. As much as I want to be with someone, it scares me, the lifelong thing. I guess my roots are in the failed marriage and a failed relationship that I thought would last for ever. I know I have issues to deal with and ultimately I have the power to change my thinking and attitude.

      I will be honest and say I do not understand the Knights. I see that they could be a person, but maybe this is the point where reading for yourself about your own love-life loses its objectivity. The Ten of Wands is correct: that is, I’m right there struggling along, balancing it all. And the Ten of Cups shows, I think, how everyone else perceives me—happy, homely and contented. The Ace of Cups is my hope and not my fear, but once again the Knight is less obvious to me.

       DEALING WITH REVERSED CARDS

      When there are single cards on positions in a spread, the only means of employing variation is to use reversed cards. But therein lies the problem: reversals have a binary effect; they are the opposite of upright cards, which tends to make the reader interpret them in a negative way. This raises issues. For example, is a ‘negative’ reversed card suddenly ‘positive’? Having a reversed card on the ‘Future’ or ‘Outcome’ position of a spread can be devastating. This was the main reason why Catherine contacted me in the first place.

      However, when we look at a string of cards, reversals have a context. We can relate the reversal to cards around it. For example, if there is a group of reversed cards we can see them as a group rather than a sequence of individually reversed cards. This becomes more significant in longer strings. If the top card of a string is reversed, it may be easier to view the other cards from this perspective, since all the other reversed cards have the same orientation to it. One benefit of this approach is that we do not have to learn an extra set of reversed meanings. However, if you are comfortable with reversed meanings, or you have learned them, then by all means incorporate them into your interpretations. As you work with the new approach you will find that it provides greater degrees of subtlety than the old either/or approach to reversals. You will discover that some aspects of a reversed card will apply and not others, and these aspects will have some influence on the surrounding cards. These subtler ‘shades of grey’ are more like the way in which sophisticated adults see the world.

      Returning to Catherine’s Celtic Cross spread, we see that the reversed cards are particularly significant. Let’s look at them in more detail. Even though there are only three, they could nevertheless prove devastating.

      We start with the first card, ‘The Heart of the Matter’: the Eight of Cups reversed. This hardly inspires confidence, does it? I can imagine the sharp intake of breath from the reader when this card was dealt out first. It refers to Catherine’s current situation. The Eight of Cups is a depressing card, so if it is reversed does that mean things will improve? Catherine is not happy with her situation anyway, and if she could see an easy way out she probably would not be having the reading.

      The reversed Three of Swords at the far left of the spread (‘The Past’) sticks out like a sore thumb. Logically, the reversed Three of Swords signifies an improvement, surely? However, Catherine knows her situation has not improved in the way she wants, so what is going on here?

      The Knight of Wands reversed in the ‘Outcome’ position is such a let-down! Does it mean that Catherine ends with a violent man, or is he connected to the Past (Three of Swords) or the Heart of the Matter (Eight of Cups)? The only other Knight is the right way up, but he seems to be associated with her previous partner. No wonder Catherine is confused.

      Looking at the Celtic Cross spread, we have the first card, the left-most card, and the last card all reversed. My sympathies are now with the poor card reader—how do you guide your client towards a more positive outlook?

      Am I recommending that you do not use reversals? They are very important and I have always used them, but there are better ways of understanding them and ways of putting them in a different context.

      While spreads like the Celtic Cross can highlight either ‘difficult’ cards, or cards that require special attention, they do not provide methods of dealing with or solving them. In later chapters I will provide some simple techniques for not only understanding why particular cards are reversed, but also for getting to grips with how they fit together into the context of the reading as a whole.

       CATHERINE’S VIEW OF REVERSED CARDS

      If you were to give the same spread to a hundred different tarot readers you would receive a hundred readings with differing meanings and predictions. The cards presented mean