Secrets of the Celtic Cross Read online

  The nature of this “other help” is of course not specified; does it mean help not in the design and production, but in providing material and interpretation, or financial assistance, or something else, perhaps research for a divinatory spread, which was not Waite’s primary interest at all – or does it simply mean additional help to the design and production? Certainly it is hard to imagine Waite working with another in design and Colman Smith almost certainly was not assisted in her drawing. The only thing we know for sure is that it was one whom Waite considered – or promoted as – one “deeply versed” in Tarot.

  As yet we have no clear evidence as to who this was, if even Waite was being truthful; he quite often quoted himself and even argued with himself under his fortune-telling alias of “Grand Orient”.

  We will return to this mystery assistant a little later in this section but for now will return to the actual method of the Celtic Cross as it was first published by Waite.

  The Method of the Spread

  Here for reference we reproduce the entire method as first published in the PKT. We see that in this slightly later edition, the spread was now entitled an “ancient Celtic” method rather than simply “another method”.

  The Art of Tarot Divination

  We come now to the final and practical part of this division of our subject, being the way to consult and obtain oracles by means of Tarot cards. The modes of operation are rather numerous, and some of them are exceedingly involved. I set aside those last mentioned, because persons who are versed in such questions believe that the way of simplicity is the way of truth. I set aside also the operations which have been republished recently in that section of The Tarot of the Bohemians which is entitled "The Divining Tarot"; it may be recommended at its proper value to readers who wish to go further than the limits of this handbook. I offer in the first place a short process which has been used privately for many years past in England, Scotland and Ireland. I do not think that it has been published—certainly not in connexion with Tarot cards; I believe that it will serve all purposes, but I will add by way of variation-in the second place what used to be known in France as the Oracles of Julia Orsini.

  An Ancient Celtic Method of Divination

  This mode of divination is the most suitable for obtaining an answer to a definite question. The Diviner first selects a card to represent the person or, matter about which inquiry is made. This card is called the Significator. Should he wish to ascertain something in connexion with himself he takes the one which corresponds to his personal description. A Knight should be chosen as the Significator if the subject of inquiry is a man of forty years old and upward; a King should be chosen for any male who is under that age a Queen for a woman who is over forty years and a Page for any female of less age.

  The four Court Cards in Wands represent very fair people, with yellow or auburn hair, fair complexion and blue eyes. The Court Cards in Cups signify people with light brown or dull fair hair and grey or blue eyes. Those in Swords stand for people having hazel or grey eyes, dark brown hair and dull complexion. Lastly, the Court Cards in Pentacles are referred to persons with very dark brown or black hair, dark eyes and sallow or swarthy complexions. These allocations are subject, however, to the following reserve, which will prevent them being taken too conventionally. You can be guided on occasion by the known temperament of a person; one who is exceedingly dark may be very energetic, and would be better represented by a Sword card than a Pentacle. On the other hand, a very fair subject who is indolent and lethargic should be referred to Cups rather than to Wands.

  If it is more convenient for the purpose of a divination to take as the Significator the matter about which inquiry is to be made, that Trump or small card should be selected which has a meaning corresponding to the matter. Let it be supposed that the question is: Will a lawsuit be necessary? In this case, take the Trump No. 11, or justice, as the Significator. This has reference to legal affairs. But if the question is: Shall I be successful in my lawsuit? one of the Court Cards must be chosen as the Significator. Subsequently, consecutive divinations may be performed to ascertain the course of the process itself and its result to each of the parties concerned.

  Having selected the Significator, place it on the table, face upwards. Then shuffle and cut the rest of the pack three times, keeping the faces of the cards downwards.

  Turn up the top or FIRST CARD of the pack; cover the Significator with it, and say: This covers him. This card gives the influence which is affecting the person or matter of inquiry generally, the atmosphere of it in which the other currents work.

  Turn up the SECOND CARD and lay it across the FIRST, saying: This crosses him. It shews the nature of the obstacles in the matter. If it is a favourable card, the opposing forces will not be serious, or it may indicate that something good in itself will not be productive of good in the particular connexion.

  Turn up the THIRD CARD; place it above the Significator, and say: This crowns him. It represents (a) the Querent's aim or ideal in the matter; (b) the best that can be achieved under the circumstances, but that which has not yet been made actual.

  Turn up the FOURTH CARD; place it below the Significator, and say: This is beneath him. It shews the foundation or basis of the matter, that which has already passed into actuality and which the Significator has made his own.

  Turn up the FIFTH CARD; place it on the side of the Significator from which he is looking, and say: This is behind him. It gives the influence that is just passed, or is now passing away.

  N.B.—If the Significator is a Trump or any small card that cannot be said to face either way, the Diviner must decide before beginning the operation which side he will take it as facing.

  Turn up the SIXTH CARD; place it on the side that the Significator is facing, and say: This is before him. It shews the influence that is coming into action and will operate in the near future.

  The cards are now disposed in the form of a cross, the Significator—covered by the First Card—being in the centre.

  The next four cards are turned up in succession and placed one above the other in a line, on the right hand side of the cross.

  The first of these, or the SEVENTH CARD of the operation, signifies himself—that is, the Significator—whether person or thing-and shews its position or attitude in the circumstances.

  The EIGHTH CARD signifies his house, that is, his environment and the tendencies at work therein which have an effect on the matter—for instance, his position in life, the influence of immediate friends, and so forth.

  The NINTH CARD gives his hopes or fears in the matter.

  The TENTH is what will come, the final result, the culmination which is brought about by the influences shewn by the other cards that have been turned up in the divination.

  It is on this card that the Diviner should especially concentrate his intuitive faculties and his memory in respect of the official divinatory meanings attached thereto. It should embody whatsoever you may have divined from the other cards on the table, including the Significator itself and concerning him or it, not excepting such lights upon higher significance as might fall like sparks from heaven if the card which serves for the oracle, the card for reading, should happen to be a Trump Major.

  The operation is now completed; but should it happen that the last card is of a dubious nature, from which no final decision can be drawn, or which does not appear to indicate the ultimate conclusion of the affair, it may be well to repeat the operation, taking in this case the Tenth Card as the Significator, instead of the one previously used. The pack must be again shuffled and cut three times and the first ten cards laid out as before. By this a more detailed account of "What will come" may be obtained.

  If in any divination the Tenth Card should be a Court Card, it shews that the subject of the divination falls ultimately into the hands of a person represented by that card, and its end depends mainly on him. In this event also it is useful to take the Court Card in question as the Significator in a fres
h operation, and discover what is the nature of his influence in the matter and to what issue he will bring it.

  Great facility may be obtained by this method in a comparatively short time, allowance being always made for the gifts of the operator-that is to say, his faculty of insight, latent or developed-and it has the special advantage of being free from all complications.

  I here append a diagram of the cards as laid out in this mode of divination. The Significator is here facing to the left.

  The Significator.

  1. That covers him

  2. What crosses him.

  3. What crowns him.

  4. What is beneath him.

  5. What is behind him.

  6. What is before him.

  7. Himself.

  8. His house.

  9. His hopes or fears.

  10. What will come.

  [Here ends the reproduction of the original text by Waite]

  Whilst this may have been the first publication of the Celtic Cross, it was certainly not – which is also noted by Waite – its first usage, although he does suggest it has never been used with “tarot cards” before, perhaps indicating it was already in use as a method for playing cards.

  Be that as it may, we will now look to the source material in the Golden Dawn archives to discover the original paper from which Waite undoubtedly took this method.

  The Archives and Original Documents of the Golden Dawn

  Having learnt the Celtic Cross spread myself when I was younger and used it for so many years, I had always wondered about its origins, and the name, which I never liked; I found myself telling clients that “this is called the Celtic Cross, but it’s neither Celtic nor particularly a Cross, in fact, we will see it as an arrow, a wheel, and a matrix during our reading …”

  So some twenty years later, when I had gained opportunity and access to a significant part of the Golden Dawn archives in London as a PhD Researcher, I began to keep a look-out for anything that resembled the spread, or might indicate references to it in letters or papers.

  The archive itself is poorly catalogued. Not only that, but library constraints make it difficult to gain initial access and even more frustratingly, one is only permitted one or two items out on a table at a time! In the case of individual letters, where there might be a hundred in a folder, this makes a three-day trip to look through merely one or two items of the thousand or so in the collection.

  Under these conditions and constraints, I made several trips to the archive over the years, but only recently begun to narrow down certain folders and items of interest to the history of tarot. It is in one such folder that we find something of immediate interest; a very early hand-written version of the spread which is clearly what Waite took and called the “Celtic Cross”.

  An Early Hand-Written Version of the Celtic Cross Spread

  In a set of documents that were bound by string, and had not been opened for many years, I discovered a hand-written version of BOOK T, the tarot ‘bible’ text of the Golden Dawn. This was one of the copies made by a member of the Golden Dawn, F. L. Gardner (1857 – 1930?) whose records comprise a large section of the archives and who played an extremely active role in the Order.

  Whilst being excited to find some additional material in this version, never before published, I was about to close the book and move onto something else when I noticed that not all the pages at the back of the notebook were empty; after a gap of blank pages, Gardner had sketched in an “addendum”.

  This additional material was none other than the spread now known as the Celtic Cross. I hope you may share a moment of the thrill I had when I saw this as I reproduce it here.

  Illus. NS63 NOPQR 1892

  Here is the unedited typescript for this original document.

  NS63 NOPQR 1892

  Golden Dawn manuscripts in the hand of F. L. Gardner.

  Another Method of Divination

  You place the card corresponding to yourself in the middle and after shuffling well and cutting three times you place the top card on yourself and proceed as follows:

  1st Covered

  2nd Crossed (i.e. across yourself)

  3rd Crowned (i.e. above all)

  4th Underfoot (i.e. beneath all)

  5th looking from (i.e. on your right as you face the figure)

  6th Looking to (i.e. on your left as you face the figure)

  7th Represents yourself

  8th Represents your House

  9th Represents your hopes and fears

  10th Represents what turns up

  Example

  Cavalier of Cups

  1/ 3 Wands Power

  2/ 2 Wands Influence over Another

  3/ 9 Pentacles Money

  4/ 10 Swords Ruin (Death Failure Disaster)

  5/ 6 Wands Gain, Success

  6/ The Hermit Divine Inspiration

  7/ 7 Swords Vacillation, Journey by Land

  8/ 5 Cups Disappointment in Love, Unkindness from Friends

  9/ 5 Pentacles Loss of Profession and Money

  10/ 7 Pentacles Unfavourable Expectations & Employment

  26.I.1913

  There is only one particular issue with this sketch – although it represents an early sketch of the method, there is a date written which might have been written at the same time; 26.1.1913. This would – if it were written at the time – date the sketch after the publication of the method by Waite in 1910.

  But there are some questions with that date; the example spread written uses the “Cavalier of Cups” as a Significator, which points to the use of an older or alternative deck than the Waite-Smith, and not even a Golden Dawn deck. The meanings sketched out for the cards seem closer to the original Golden Dawn meanings than Waite’s published meanings.

  So we are left with an exciting discovery but a bit of a mystery. The notebook itself is certainly from the early period of the Golden Dawn, around 1892. So it is possible Gardner later wrote this method in as an alternative method after seeing it in Waite’s book. But this seems unlikely; Gardner would have used the same terminology (perhaps), or a version of Waite’s deck (maybe) and why would he have sketched it if it were now published? It is my conclusion that the date was added much later.

  Whatever the date, I made a note of this discovery and returned to my other research. It was somewhat uncertain what this sketch signified – but at least now I knew there was evidence within the Golden Dawn that the method was being utilised by at least one member.

  However, there was still more in the archive to be discovered.

  A Gipsy Method of Divination

  A year later, and returning to the archives for research on Aleister Crowley, I decided to search the catalogues for any evidence associating Gardner specifically with Tarot or even the Celtic Cross method. After a fruitless search, I then noticed something in a set of typescripts by “various authors”.

  One item was listed as a “Gipsy Method of Divination by F. L. Gardner”. I requested the folder, thinking that at least this would indicate something of Gardner’s interest in Tarot.

  The item in question turned out to be three sheets of typescript (probably typed by Yorke from original documents later dispersed to other folders or collections, or not originally in his own collection) in amongst many other sheets of material.

  The first of the three sheets was entitled “A Gipsy Method of Divination by F. L. Gardner”. I looked down to see which method Gardner had composed, and was amazed to read that it was a method of ten cards, laid out in a particular way (sketched later onto the typescript) which of course is the “Celtic Cross”.

  Again, I reproduce here for the first time the actual typescripts from the collection, with permission and not to be reproduced.

  Illus. A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards by F. L. Gardner.

  Illus. A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards by F. L. Gardner.

  Illus. A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards by F. L. Gardner.

  Here is the unedited type
script in full.

  NS103.12 A Gipsy Method of Divination by F.L. Gardner.

  Golden Dawn Folder 3. Typescripts by various authors.

  A Gipsy Method of Divination by Cards.

  By F. Leigh Gardner. Frater De Profundis ad Lucem.

  This mode of divination is the most suitable for obtaining an answer to a definite question.

  The diviner selects a card to represent the person or matter about which he enquires. This card is called significator, and should he wish to ascertain something in connection with himself he takes the one which corresponds to his personal description.

  A Knight represents a man of 40 years and upwards.

  A King for any male under that age.

  A Queen a woman of 40 years and upwards

  A Valet a young man or woman.

  The four court cards.

  Wand represent very fair people with yellow or auburn hair, fair complexion, blue eyes.

  Cups have light brown or dull hair with grey or blue eyes.

  Swords have hazel or grey eyes, and dark brown hair and dull complexions.

  Pentacles very dark brown or black hair, dark eyes or swarthy complexions.

  You can be guided on occasions by the known temperament of a person. One who is exceedingly dark may be energetic and would be better represented by a sword card than a Pentacle; on the other hand a very fair subject who is indolent and lethargic should be referred to Cups in place of Wands. If it is a matter about which an enquiry is to be made the significator should be a Trump or small card which has a meaning corresponding to the matter – suppose that the question is “Will a lawsuit be necessary?”