Relationship Spread from the Celtic Tarot

Tarot Spreads
Written By Quinn

This is my number one go-to spread when looking at a relationship, and I mean absolutely any relationship - not just the deeply intimate ones. I first came across it in a book by Caitlin Matthews. Celtic Wisdom Tarot was first published in 1999 and uses the traditional tarot format. All of the major arcana are renamed, as are the titles of each of the minor cards. The cards are almost impossible to get hold of these days, but the book sometimes appears at a reasonable cost on secondhand selling sites. Other than a couple of the spreads, one of the more interesting aspects of this deck is how she added soul-wisdom at the bottom of each interpretation. For example, with the card The Guardian, which is the equivalent of The High Priestess, she writes, “The Guardian of Truth prepares the soul to seek for truth hidden in all places. The seer unfolds the patterns of destiny to the soul. What is the source of your truth?” The way she directs a question is a very effective way to point someone in the right direction to find the answers they’re looking for. It also adds another layer to a reading and encourages self-growth rather than reliance on another person’s insight. Anyway, the co-walkers spread appears on page 121, and I’ve now been using it for the best part of two decades. It does take a little time because it uses fifteen cards, but the layout makes any dynamic more apparent and gives enough detail so as not to leave any grey areas.

  1. You now

  2. The other person now

  3. How your relationship began

  4. You then

  5. The other person then

  6. Basis of your relationship now

  7. Your needs

  8. Your expectations

  9. Their needs

  10. Their expectations

  11. What they have given you

  12. What you have given them

  13. Changes you must make

  14. Changes they must make

  15. Where the relationship is going

You can use this spread for absolutely any relationship: husband, boss, sister, friend, co-worker, or child. If you’re doing this reading for yourself, you need to keep in mind that you might struggle to make the other person aware of the changes they need to make to get the outcome of card 15. If you’re doing the reading for someone else, you can obviously point out what the reading is saying, but again, depending on the circumstances, it could be challenging to discuss it with the person they want the reading on. If it’s something easy, then it can be suggested in a roundabout way. So, if you get the magician for card 14, you can ask the person for more communication without telling them it came up in a reading. If something like the ten of swords appears there (or the three of swords), there may be a need to do a different style of reading depending on what it says elsewhere in the spread.

 

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