1-2: These are basically the same across every version I’ve seen, so not much to elaborate on there. You have your “current situation” card at the center of the cross, and the “challenge/obstacle” card crossing it. I like to put 2 at an angle across 1 instead of a direct perpendicular, because it just feels more natural to me that way.

3-6: Most spreads tend to lay out the cross on direct lines (either both horizontal cards first and then both vertical cards, or vice versa), but I’ve always preferred a clockwise circle. I begin with 3 on the left to represent the recent past/immediate trigger of the current challenge, then move up to 4 above to clarify my top-of-mind thoughts and feelings about it, then over to 5 on the right to signify the near future and probable next developments, then finish with 6 on the bottom to dive deeper into the root cause analysis of how things got to this point to begin with.

7: Moving over to the staff, you usually see the bottom card here written as either the “advice” card to give you a clear and actionable goal or the “you” card to tell you just, like, who you are as a person. To that I say, why not both? Really, it’s all about playing to your strengths and using the tools that you have, and you need to know what those are, especially as they relate to your place in the current situation. 7 shows you what you have control over, what you can (and most likely should) exert your personal influence to change or develop.

8: By contrast, 8 tells you what you cannot and should not try to change. These may be environmental factors that will only frustrate you if you try to oppose them, or they may be the decisions of other people whose own choices need to be respected. You can’t interfere in these elements, you can only (ideally using the tools suggested by 7) change your response to them.

9-10: This is probably my biggest departure from most variations you’ll find; I use two cards in the second-down position on the staff instead of one, making this an 11-card spread in total. “Hopes and fears” is how I usually see this position described, but that’s never entirely resonated with me. Instead, I get more clear and accurate results when I read it as “potential outcomes.” These sometimes get expressed as the best- and worst-case scenarios (especially when I end up with one reversed and one upright card here), which I think is where the hope/fear thing comes in, but really it’s more to do with probabilities. Knowing what I know about everything discussed in all the previous cards, what are some of the most likely places I’ll end up, depending on the different paths I may take? That’s why I place two cards here: using only one turns it into more of a binary choice between this position’s “take action” and the top of the staff’s “don’t take action,” which doesn’t make sense when there are so many different actions you might take. Contrariwise, using three tends to muddy the water with too many variables. Two gives me the best combination of recognizing different paths without getting too bogged down in the infinite possibilities. I don’t place them in any specific way in relation to each other, I don’t quantify their value based on which ends up on top or bottom, I just throw them both down into the same spot and treat them as two equally possible outcomes based on the changes I might make.