BEYOND
THE CELTIC CROSS
Secret techniques for taking Tarot to
an exciting new level
First published in 2009 by
Aeon Books
118 Finchley Road
London NW3 5HT
Copyright © Paul Hughes-Barlow & Catherine Chapman 2009 The rights of Paul Hughes-Barlow and Catherine Chapman to be identified as the sole authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. is available for this book from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-9046-583-44
Printed and bound in Great Britain.
CONTENTS
Understanding The Four Elements
The Rules Of Elemental Dignities
Analysing Three-Card Combinations
Advanced Elemental Analysis And Elemental Bases
The Transforming Power Of The Aces
Uncounted Cards: The Magic Of Tarot
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks in particular go to Jackie O’Neal for her patience and tolerance, encouragement, insights and suggestions, and proofreading skills throughout this project.
Paul Hughes-Barlow
The road hasn’t always been smooth, but the ride has been made a lot easier by the love and support of my family and friends who have walked alongside me on this path. They’re a very special bunch and I love them all. Special mentions go to my father, John Chapman, who continues to be my champion, supporter and inspiration; to Douglas Gibb who continues to encourage me, and without whose input and support my website Tarot Elements wouldn’t exist; and to Helen Edwards because her faith can move mountains and her faith in me never faltered—she was so often my guinea pig throughout this whole process; and last but certainly not least, to Paul Hughes-Barlow—thank you for everything, the journey has been immense and I know it continues on.
Catherine Chapman
FOREWORD BY DOUGLAS GIBB
Paul and Catherine’s book is a truly unique and innovative approach to the Celtic Cross Spread. They take the reader on a remarkable journey that starts with the Celtic Cross Spread in its traditional ‘positional based’ layout and, during the course of the book, transform it into a linear based spread.
This journey includes the use of techniques that were originally developed for the Opening of the Key Spread and chronicles Catherine’s own Spiritual journey, culminating in a series of powerful initiating visions.
In my professional Tarot practice, I use the Opening of the Key Spread for face-to-face clients, but tend to shy away from using it when conducting telephone readings. However, this book provides the perfect solution. I now use the Celtic Cross Spread as a linear based system, which allows me to implement the techniques normally applied to the Opening of the Key Spread. I’ve found that Paul and Catherine’s innovative approach to the Tarot has benefited not only myself as a Professional Tarot reader, but also my telephone-based clients as well.
One of the unique features of this book is the dialogue between Paul and Catherine. Paul is a guide, while Catherine examines and interprets the cards in great detail. It’s clear that both of them learn a great deal from each other, and, each in their own manner, their understanding is enriched by the process.
The transforming experience that unfolds from the application of these techniques will benefit the reader in many subtle ways, on both a practical and a spiritual level.
Douglas Gibb Professional Tarot Reader http://taroteon.com
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wondered how you can bring greater depth and clarity to your tarot readings? Have you struggled to understand just what exactly is going on in a reading and how the cards relate to its object?
For the first time, I’m going to show you how the professionals use secret techniques that take tarot readings to new and exciting levels. We will go beyond the surface levels of the Tarot spread and explore hidden gems. Have you ever wondered why some parts of the reading make no sense to you or your client? Have you found yourself going around in circles in a reading? Have you felt ‘stuck’? What do you do when the final outcome card is the Ten of Swords or Death or some other ‘difficult’ card? I will show you how to overcome all these problems and more.
To do this, we shall analyse an actual tarot reading that was emailed to me by Catherine Chapman. She was having problems understanding it, particularly two Knights that appeared in the future positions. Together, over a period of ten days, we uncovered the tools and methods needed to transform the reading.
Catherine had used the Celtic Cross spread. Here are what the positions of the cards signified within that spread:
1 Heart of the Matter
2 Opposing