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.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Celtic Cross Reading

	The Crown Onn		The Outcome Ór Blocked Hopes and Fears Straif External Forces Iphin The Querent Ngetal Blocked
The Recent Past Ur	This Crosses the Significator Fearn The Significator Tinne	The Future Iodhadh
	The Foundation Huathe Blocked

 

 

 

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

 

 

Tinne

• Tree/Plant: Holly
• Kenning: ‘Warrior’s Crown’

Tinne, the battle tree, grants you the armour of spirit. Now is the time for honourable combat—whether internal or external. Holly speaks to inner resilience, self-defence, and strategic action. You are not called to start wars, but to win them if they come. Focus your energy. Fight for what feeds your soul, not your vanity.

• Spiritual Lesson: Victory is hollow without a worthy cause.
• Reflective Question: What is truly worth fighting for now?
• Affirmation: ‘I wear the crown of sacred battle.’

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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.’

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Onn

• Tree/Plant: Gorse
• Kenning: ‘Flame of Fertility’

Gorse blazes golden on barren land. It teaches that abundance can be summoned even from wastelands. Creativity, sexuality, and prosperity burn bright if tended. Onn invites you to stoke the fire: light your desires without shame. Plant the seeds of future harvests with daring and joy.

• Spiritual Lesson: Sacred fire creates; false fire consumes.
• Reflective Question: Where does my fire want to bloom?
• Affirmation: ‘I blaze the barren into bloom.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Huathe Blocked

• Tree/Plant: Hawthorn
• Kenning: ‘Thorn of Protection’

Blocked Hawthorn becomes paranoia or weakness. Either you trust no one and cut yourself off from life, or you trust everyone and become prey. Look to where you are too defended or too exposed. Choose your thresholds with care. Build your hedges high enough to protect, low enough to breathe.

• Spiritual Lesson: True protection is conscious, not reactionary.
• Reflective Question: What am I defending, and is it truly sacred?
• Affirmation: ‘I protect without imprisoning.’

 

 

 

 

 

The Recent Past represents past events and concerns.

 

Ur

• Tree/Plant: Heather
• Kenning: ‘Flower of Dreams’

Heather carpets the wild hills, a dreamscape of resilience and mystery. Ur asks you to trust in subtle magic: quiet dreams, soft longings, secret hopes. Nourish them patiently. Some dreams need slow seasons to grow before they break into bloom.

• Spiritual Lesson: Dreams demand roots as much as wings.
• Reflective Question: What fragile dream do I need to protect and nourish?
• Affirmation: ‘I dream with rooted hope.’

 

 

 

 

 

The Future depicts that which lies ahead.

 

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.’

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Ngetal Blocked

• Tree/Plant: Reed
• Kenning: ‘Voice of the Waters’

Blocked Reed creates noise instead of music. Are your words sowing confusion? Are you shouting when you should be silent? Miscommunication can rot trust quickly. Return to simplicity. Speak from the quiet place inside, not the ego’s storm.

• Spiritual Lesson: The purest messages are the simplest.
• Reflective Question: What truth needs my voice right now?
• Affirmation: ‘I am the voice of clear waters.’

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Straif

• Tree/Plant: Blackthorn
• Kenning: ‘Blade of Trials’

Blackthorn is the bitter gatekeeper of transformation. Its thorns are cruel, but its berries sweeten with frost. Straif heralds hardship—not as punishment, but as alchemy. Pain clarifies. Conflict strengthens. Choose to transform, not to collapse. The frostbitten fruit is the richest.

• Spiritual Lesson: Pain refines, not defines.
• Reflective Question: What suffering is trying to carve me into something better?
• Affirmation: ‘I transform pain into power.’

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Ór Blocked

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

When Ór is blocked, you weave chaos or refuse the loom entirely. Inaction and distraction are just as dangerous as the wrong actions. Choose the thread. Begin the weave. The future waits to be dressed.

• 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.’