Celtic Cross Layout

Difficulty: Average

This is probably the most well-known layout. A good, basic layout for beginners to practise with, the Celtic Cross is useful for questions of all types. In this layout, it can be helpful to notice the relationships between the pairings of oghams #5 & #9, #1 & #2, #3 & #4, and #6 & #10.

The significator epitomizes what the reading deals with, the initial situation.
An added impulse that compounds the significator, which may be either complimentary or contradictory.
This is what is consciously known (thoughts).
Unconscious driving forces that may not be known fully (emotions).
The immediate past regarding the current situation.
The first future ogham indicates the immediate future.
This ogham represents the reader and their attitude towards oghams #1 and #2.
The external influences, the places and people which influence the topic.
This ogham suggests expectations; what is secretly hoped for or feared.
The second future ogham reveals the long-term outcome.

Your Celtic Cross Reading


	The Crown Ruis Blocked		The Outcome Fearn Hopes and Fears Iphin External Forces Ór The Querent Eadha
The Recent Past Émancholl Blocked	This Crosses the Significator Iodhadh Blocked The Significator Gort	The Future Straif
	The Foundation Coll Blocked

The Significator represents what the main theme of the reading deals with, the initial situation.

Gort

Tree/Plant: Ivy
Kenning: ‘Tenacity of the Green Path’

Ivy is persistence incarnate. It climbs, winds, and survives where others perish. Gort urges you to endure, adapt, and climb steadily toward your light. Tenacity, not brute strength, wins the marathon of life. Let your spirit be evergreen, no matter how dark the stone you cling to.

Spiritual Lesson: Persistence must serve true growth.
Reflective Question: What am I climbing toward—and is it worth it?
Affirmation: ‘I cling to the light that feeds me.’

This Crosses the Significator denotes an added impulse that compounds the initial card, whether complimentary or contradictory.

Iodhadh Blocked

Tree/Plant: Yew
Kenning: ‘Tree of Death and Continuity’

Blocked Yew is fear of endings so deep, it calcifies life itself. You cling to what's gone rotten rather than face the sacred unknown. Let death do its work. Let silence speak. New roots must drink from ancient soil.

Spiritual Lesson: Death is not the end—it is the sacred beginning beneath all beginnings.
Reflective Question: What am I clinging to that refuses to die cleanly?
Affirmation: ‘I descend to rise.’

The Crown stands for what the asker is aware of consciously.

Ruis Blocked

Tree/Plant: Elder
Kenning: ‘Death’s Gateway’

Blocked Elder is stagnation, refusing to grieve, refusing to grow. You may cling to rotted branches, mistaking them for life. Stop embalming your own dead. Surrender the corpse of old identities, dreams, and loyalties.

Spiritual Lesson: True rebirth demands true mourning.
Reflective Question: What am I still carrying that must be laid to rest?
Affirmation: ‘I bless the ending and welcome the new.’

The Foundation reveals unconscious driving forces that the querent may not be aware of.

Coll Blocked

Tree/Plant: Hazel
Kenning: ‘Wellspring of Wisdom’

Blocked Hazel creates confusion, ignorance, or misuse of knowledge. Perhaps you seek easy answers where there are none, or hoard knowledge without application. Wisdom is not merely knowing; it is knowing when, and how, and why. Choose discernment over cleverness.

Spiritual Lesson: Wisdom must be lived, not stored.
Reflective Question: What hidden knowledge am I being invited to embrace?
Affirmation: ‘I drink from the sacred well.’

The Recent Past represents past events and concerns.

Émancholl Blocked

Tree/Plant: Double Hazel / ‘Lover’s Vine’
Kenning: ‘The Sacred Pair’

Blocked Émancholl is entanglement without purpose. You may be caught in patterns that mirror old pain, not new growth. Not all bonds are sacred. Some vines must be cut to allow new growth.

Spiritual Lesson: True connection is mutual transformation.
Reflective Question: What relationship calls me to become more than myself?
Affirmation: ‘I grow through sacred union.’

The Future depicts that which lies ahead.

Iodhadh Blocked

Tree/Plant: Yew
Kenning: ‘Tree of Death and Continuity’

Spiritual Lesson: Death is not the end—it is the sacred beginning beneath all beginnings.
Reflective Question: What am I clinging to that refuses to die cleanly?
Affirmation: ‘I descend to rise.’

The Querent represents the asker and their attitude towards the subject of the reading.

Eadha

Tree/Plant: Aspen
Kenning: ‘Shield of Courage’

Aspen trembles, but does not break. Its quivering leaves are a badge of bravery, not fear. Eadha reminds you that courage doesn’t mean fearlessness—it means motion through fear. Shake if you must. Just move anyway.

Spiritual Lesson: Courage is trembling action.
Reflective Question: What fear am I called to face and outgrow?
Affirmation: ‘I tremble, but I move.’

External Forces represents the influence of others in your life as well as trends in your relationships with others.

Ór

Tree/Plant: Spindle Tree
Kenning: ‘Weaver’s Gold’

Ór is the thread that weaves fate. Spindle wood was used to craft tools that spin—and so too do you spin destiny now, strand by strand. This glyph teaches prosperity through precision, elegance through focused intention. What you spin now will clothe your future. Choose your pattern with care.

Spiritual Lesson: Destiny is not found—it is crafted.
Reflective Question: What thread must I pick up now, even if it scares me?
Affirmation: ‘I spin my future with sacred hands.’

Hopes and Fears shows the expectations you have concerning the outcome of your question.

Iphin

Tree/Plant: Gooseberry
Kenning: ‘The Tang of Life’

Iphin is the tart, the zing, the sudden clarity in the back of the throat. It is freshness through contrast. Change arrives like a sour wind—but it clears the air. You are invited into the bracing joy of truth, the bitter clarity that awakens. Let yourself be refreshed. Let the sting revive you.

Spiritual Lesson: Life stings—but it stings to wake you.
Reflective Question: What bitterness must I bless so it can become my medicine?
Affirmation: ‘I rise refreshed from the bite of truth.’

The Outcome of your question. Interpret this card in the context of the entire reading and as an indicator of the path you are currently on, but not necessarily bound to.

Fearn

Tree/Plant: Alder
Kenning: ‘Shield of the Warriors’

Alder thrives between earth and water—the place of negotiation, the meeting of opposites. Fearn calls you to step into the battleground of life, not with brutish force, but with fluid adaptability. Stand where others fear to stand. Your strength will come from your ability to bridge worlds, broker peace, or hold your ground with dignity. Alder wood dyes water red—a sign that some sacrifices are honourable and necessary.

Spiritual Lesson: Strength is found not in stubbornness, but in sacred resilience.
Reflective Question: What cause truly deserves my courage right now?
Affirmation: ‘I am the bridge and the battleground.’