Tarot In The Wild: Interpreting this (borked) Celtic Cross spread from ‘Heartbreak High’

I love it when we get to see some Tarot in action on a TV drama. What I love less is when it’s clearly been chucked in there by someone who doesn’t understand Tarot – I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on this!

This spread was one pulled for one of the female protagonists (Harper) in the Heartbreak High Netflix reboot (well worth a watch!) Harper is 16/17ish and gets her cards read at a festival/rave.   

Apologies for the crappy photo, but we only get to see the spread for a split second, and, while we are shown the final two cards (The Hermit and the Three of Swords) as they are turned over, there’s never another shot of the whole spread. So this was the best I could manage! The scene only shows the (character of the) Tarot reader discussing the final three cards (Hermit, 3oS, and The Tower): we never hear what he had to say about the rest of the spread. However, what we did hear was all very dramatic and negative.

Warning: spoilers for the show (and don’t worry, it’s not necessary to know this to interpret the spread). While Tarot is shown as being a bit hokey (the much older male reader hits on the (teenaged!) client under the guise of offering comfort on how shit the last 3 cards are (ew), causing her to flee the tent proclaiming “Tarot is bullshit”), it is also a reasonably accurate final three cards:

The last three cards of the spread are interpreted in a pretty basic, but not inaccurate, way by the reader, BUT WTF IS GOING ON WITH THAT SPREAD?! Firstly, it’s not a true Celtic Cross, we’re missing a card on the right flank. Secondly: the Tower, the Star, the Moon, the Sun, the World, the Hermit – ye gods, what a spread! Has the deck been shuffled at all?! Thirdly, why is he reading the right flank top down (i.e. starting with the outcome position)? 

I will accept 1 and 3 as possibly ok if it’s actually not meant to be a Celtic Cross, but instead some kind of rando personal spread the Tarot reader (aka the show runners) made up – fair enough. But I have doubts…

Anyway, interpretation-wise, my thinking is, yes, the three cards the reader character is shown discussing (Tower, Hermit, 3oSs) aren’t… great – but this spread overall, while aggressively Major, has lots of hope and positivity in it. There’s some really great cards there in strong positions (two Aces, the Star, the World, the Sun), and if I was reading this, unlike the Tarot reader character, I wouldn’t go all Doom&Gloom by any means. I think I’d probably go something like this (bearing in mind I’m a talker, and I explore possible meanings for each card with my querent rather than imposing my thoughts allatonce straight away, so I would never just say all this!):

“You have an opportunity to find inspiration and passion, but you’re struggling with pessimism. You originally thought you had the resources required to follow your dreams, but now it feels a bit like you’re losing your way. You feel adrift and confused. Events from your past make you think you don’t deserve happiness. But you’re so close to learning some important things about yourself that will bring you fulfilment and peace. Don’t give up! You’re so worried about possible loss and heartbreak you’ve stopped taking risks. You need to take some time alone to do some real soul searching to figure out what is holding you back. A big change is coming – some things you thought to be true about who you are are going to radically shift. This will be painful. But this change is needed, and a new you will arise from the ashes.” 

So that all being said, I think the show runners just picked the cards with the coolest designs instead of spending any time actually researching Tarot spreads and meanings! Sigh. 

Any other thoughts/interpretations?