Celtic Pyramid

Here's a varient on the Celtic Cross spread I like to use.

Rather than laying out the cards in a cross and upright bar, I lay them in a pyramid (I don't use a signifier card).

First, read cards 1 through 10 just like you would read them in a Celtic Cross spread -- but now comes the difference.

With the new layout, cards are surrounded by other cards that can be influencers.  For instance, card 5 is surrounded by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9!  This gives you beaucoup opportunities to investigate dependencies.  You can look at these as weaknesses/strenghts, hold back/pull forward, fears/hopes -- whatever feels appropriate.

Once you've explored these, I like to look at shapes.

There are two "hook" shapes in the pyramid I like to use -- cards 1,2,4,5 form one hook (the pink one); cards 3,6,9,10 form the other (the blue one).

I like to read cards 1,2,4 and 5 as a group suggesting where the querant is coming from.  These cards could be a strong base for him to spring forward from -- or they could suggest problems that could be holding him back.

Cards 3,6,9, and 10 suggest what lies ahead for the querant -- what pulls him forward, his desires and ambitions.

Cards 7 and 8 suggest tools and assets he can use to acheive his forward movement or to resolve issues that may hold him back.

Don't forget about reading diagnonals, too -- especially if you find sequences of Majors in the diagonals.

The drawback of this spread is that the additional interrelationships take more time to explore -- but that's what makes this spread a good one to use for an in-depth, deep-dive reading.