How is the fifth card of the Five-Card Cross calculated?

Add the numbers of the four Major Arcana drawn, counting the Fool as 22. If the total is 22 or less, the card with that number is the Synthesis (22 is the Fool); if it is higher, add its two digits — 23 gives 5, 57 gives 12. Four cards can never total more than 88, so one reduction is always enough. Wirth's own example: IV + XVIII + II + XIV = 38, 3 + 8 = 11, which in the Marseille numbering he used is Strength. In a Lunarcana reading the sum is calculated for you and shown with the card.

Why does the Five-Card Cross use only the Major Arcana?

Because Wirth's method does: he shuffled a deck of the 22 Major Arcana alone, and the arithmetic of the centre card only works on their numbers, 1 to 22. The Majors also fit the kind of question he asked for — a decision or a course of action, weighed at the level of broad themes rather than daily detail. If your question needs that detail, a full-deck spread will serve it better.

Where does the Five-Card Cross come from?

It is set out by Oswald Wirth in Le Tarot des imagiers du Moyen Âge (Paris, 1927, pp. 266–271). Wirth says he had it from Stanislas de Guaita, who had it from Joséphin Péladan — a lineage known only from Wirth's own account. French books often call it simply the tirage en croix, and in Brazil it is taught as the Método Péladan. Our version keeps Wirth's positions and arithmetic, draws the four cards without repeats and reads them upright.

Is this the same as other five-card cross spreads?

Not always. Many layouts share the cross shape but not the logic: some draw the centre card instead of calculating it, some use the whole deck, and the French name tirage en croix is also used for oracle decks such as Belline. This page follows Wirth's Tarot de Marseille version — for, against, judge, solution and a calculated synthesis. A four-card cross with no centre is a different layout, closer to our Advice spread.

· Overview · 5 cards ·

Five-Card Cross

Wirth's Marseille cross: four Major Arcana weigh what speaks for and against, and a fifth, the sum of their numbers, names what everything hinges on

Also known as: French Cross

5 cardsIntermediate~8 min

Select cards from the deck

How to lay out the Five-Card Cross spread

The 5 positions of the Five-Card Cross spread

For — what works in your favour

Position I · Pivot

Wirth's 'for', on the left: what speaks in favour of the matter — the quality, habit or ally you can count on, and what is worth doing. Set it straight across from the Negation on the right: the reading begins in the tension between the two. This spread is read upright only, so a hard card here shows a strength that comes at a price, not a warning.

Against — the resistance to watch

Position II

Wirth's 'against', on the right: the resistance — what to be careful of, the tendency or temptation that works against the matter. It is not an enemy or a bad omen; usually it is something in the situation, or in you, that pulls the other way. Ask how exactly it opposes the Affirmation: the more precisely you name that clash, the clearer the rest of the cross becomes.

The judge — which side to take

Position III

At the top, Wirth's 'judge': the card that weighs the for against the against and decides how to proceed — which side to take, what kind of resolve fits, where one intervention would make the difference. Read it as the bridge between the two arms. If it echoes the Affirmation, lean into what helps; if it echoes the Negation, the first task is to meet the resistance.

Where the weighing leans, if nothing changes

Position IV

At the bottom, Wirth's 'sentence': the direction this weighing leans if nothing changes. He said to read it from the for and the against, but above all from the Synthesis, so look at the centre before you decide what it means. It describes a tendency, not a fixed result — if it troubles you, go back to the Discussion card above for what could shift it.

What everything hinges on — calculated from the four

Position V

The centre, calculated rather than drawn: the four card numbers added, a total over 22 reduced to its digits. Wirth called it what everything hinges on, the element of capital importance in the whole question. It can repeat one of the four cards; then that theme is underlined twice. Read every other card through it: how does each arm look if this is what really matters?

How to read the Five-Card Cross spread

1
Bring your question back to the present, as Wirth asked — 'should I keep going with…', 'which way should I decide…' rather than 'what will happen' — and keep it to one bounded matter.
2
Draw four cards from the 22 Major Arcana and lay them as a cross: 1 Affirmation on the left, 2 Negation on the right, 3 Discussion at the top, 4 Solution at the bottom.
3
Find the centre: add the four card numbers, counting the Fool as 22, Justice as VIII and Strength as XI as in the Marseille deck. A total of 22 or less names the card directly; above 22, add the digits, so 38 becomes 3 + 8 = 11. Place it in the middle as 5, the Synthesis — in a Lunarcana reading the sum is done and shown for you.
4
Read the horizontal arm first: how exactly does the Negation oppose the Affirmation? Then read the Discussion card above as the judge of that clash — which side to take, and what would tip the balance.
5
Read the Solution below through the Synthesis at the centre, as Wirth advised: the direction this leans if nothing changes, coloured by what everything hinges on. Close by writing one sentence about what to attend to first.

What else lies between the cards

Each position gives its card a place of its own. Between the cards run a few quieter relationships — the star lines trace them.

Where the figures are looking

The simplest drill: after drawing three cards, don't speak yet — look at which way the figures on each card are facing. If the first figure's gaze lands on the second, there is a “looking” line through the spread. If the last figure's back is turned to the middle card, the energy is leaving the scene. Positional reading alone will not show this. Direction is a silent grammar.

Elements of adjacent cards

The mainstream rule is short: Fire and Air (both active) strengthen each other; Water and Earth (both passive) strengthen each other; Fire and Water, and Air and Earth, weaken each other. Fire-Earth and Water-Air are counted as neutral or mildly weakening. When two adjacent cards are elementally friendly, both meanings amplify; when opposed, both are weakened, sometimes cancelled. Read the element distribution first, the card-specific meaning second — an old Golden Dawn shortcut that still pays.

One hand, four ways to read it

PositionalEach card's meaning is shaped by the slot it lands in.
NarrativeRead the spread as beginning, middle, and end of a small story.
DialogicLet two cards (or two groups) ask each other questions.
IntuitiveIgnore the grid — notice which card catches your eye first.

Four Ways to Read a Spread →

Example questions

Other 5-card spreads

Spread	Positions	Best for
Four Seasons	From the Major Arcana — the theme this season keeps returning to · From the Wands — where your drive and enthusiasm want to go this season · From the Cups — your feelings and the bonds that matter this season · From the Swords — how you think, decide and speak this season · From the Pentacles — body, work and money: what needs practical care this season	Five cards from five separately shuffled piles at an equinox or solstice — the season's theme from the Major Arcana, then what it asks of your drive, feelings, thinking and body
Birthday	What the past year ripened · What can stay in the old year · The keynote of the new year · What to tend · A gift to yourself	Five cards for your birthday: what the past year ripened, what can stay in it, the keynote you choose for the new one, what to tend, and a gift to yourself
Two Paths	The Crossroads · Path A · How it unfolds · Path A · Outcome · Path B · How it unfolds · Path B · Outcome	Weigh two paths — how each unfolds and where it leads
Career	Likely outcome · Your strength · Action to take · The challenge · Current situation	Examine your vocation — ground, strength, step, trial, horizon
Shadow Work	Mask · What I show · Origin · Where this pattern of hiding began · Shadow · What I hide · Gift · Hidden boon · Integration · Wholeness	Meet what you hide — mask, origin, shadow, gift, integration
Relationship Potential	Essence of the bond · Current phase · Hidden force · Task to face · Possible horizon	Trace a bond's arc — essence, phase, hidden force, task, horizon
Ancestors	The strength that came down to you · The wound or weight that came down with it · What remembering them asks of you now · What stops with you — the pattern you choose not to pass on · What you choose to pass on	Remember the line you come from — what you received, what you keep, what ends with you
Self-Love	How you see yourself · How others see you · Inner wound to heal · Innate strength · Next step to self-love	Five cards to look upon yourself with gentleness
Five-Card CrossThis page	For — what works in your favour · Against — the resistance to watch · The judge — which side to take · Where the weighing leans, if nothing changes · What everything hinges on — calculated from the four	Wirth's Marseille cross: four Major Arcana weigh what speaks for and against, and a fifth, the sum of their numbers, names what everything hinges on

Five-Card Cross spread: common questions

How is the fifth card of the Five-Card Cross calculated?: Add the numbers of the four Major Arcana drawn, counting the Fool as 22. If the total is 22 or less, the card with that number is the Synthesis (22 is the Fool); if it is higher, add its two digits — 23 gives 5, 57 gives 12. Four cards can never total more than 88, so one reduction is always enough. Wirth's own example: IV + XVIII + II + XIV = 38, 3 + 8 = 11, which in the Marseille numbering he used is Strength. In a Lunarcana reading the sum is calculated for you and shown with the card.
Why does the Five-Card Cross use only the Major Arcana?: Because Wirth's method does: he shuffled a deck of the 22 Major Arcana alone, and the arithmetic of the centre card only works on their numbers, 1 to 22. The Majors also fit the kind of question he asked for — a decision or a course of action, weighed at the level of broad themes rather than daily detail. If your question needs that detail, a full-deck spread will serve it better.
Where does the Five-Card Cross come from?: It is set out by Oswald Wirth in Le Tarot des imagiers du Moyen Âge (Paris, 1927, pp. 266–271). Wirth says he had it from Stanislas de Guaita, who had it from Joséphin Péladan — a lineage known only from Wirth's own account. French books often call it simply the tirage en croix, and in Brazil it is taught as the Método Péladan. Our version keeps Wirth's positions and arithmetic, draws the four cards without repeats and reads them upright.
Is this the same as other five-card cross spreads?: Not always. Many layouts share the cross shape but not the logic: some draw the centre card instead of calculating it, some use the whole deck, and the French name tirage en croix is also used for oracle decks such as Belline. This page follows Wirth's Tarot de Marseille version — for, against, judge, solution and a calculated synthesis. A four-card cross with no centre is a different layout, closer to our Advice spread.

When to use

When you face a decision, or a course you are already on, and want to weigh it honestly — what speaks for it, what pushes against it, where to take a stand. Oswald Wirth, who published this five-card cross in 1927, asked for questions brought back to the present: should I keep going with this project, which way should I decide — never 'tell me what will happen to me'. Only the 22 Major Arcana are used, so every card speaks to a broad theme rather than an everyday detail, and the fifth card is not drawn at all: it is calculated from the numbers of the first four. That makes it a quick reading, about ten minutes, with one clear point to come back to.

Origin

The Swiss-born occultist Oswald Wirth, who worked in Paris, set out this five-card cross in Le Tarot des imagiers du Moyen Âge (Paris, 1927), in the chapter 'La consultation du Tarot', pp. 266–271. He says he had it from Stanislas de Guaita, who had it from Joséphin Péladan; that lineage rests on Wirth's word alone. His positions are Affirmation (for), Négation (against), Discussion (the judge), Solution (the sentence) and Synthèse, laid as a cross: for on the left, against on the right, the judge above, the solution below, the synthesis in the centre. He used only the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot de Marseille. The synthesis is not drawn: the four card numbers are added, the Fool counting as 22, and a total above 22 is reduced by adding its digits — his own example is IV + XVIII + II + XIV = 38, 3 + 8 = 11, Strength. Lunarcana keeps his positions, his arithmetic and his Marseille numbering (Justice VIII, Strength XI — the reverse of the Rider–Waite–Smith cards you see), and departs from him in two ways: Wirth reshuffled all 22 cards before each draw, so a card could come up twice, while we draw the four without repeats; and his text says nothing about reversed cards, so this spread is read upright only. The method lives on under local names — tirage en croix in France, Método Péladan in Brazil, where Nei Naiff's Curso Completo de Tarô (2001) gives a variant that reads the centre as the querent's own stance. In French, 'tirage en croix' is also used for oracle decks such as Belline, which follow other rules.

When not to use

Questions about what someone else thinks or feels, or about when something will happen — Wirth himself turned away 'tell me what will happen to me', and the cross has no place for another person's mind or for timing. It also suits one bounded question better than a broad survey of your life; for a wide overview use the Celtic Cross, and for a question that needs the everyday detail of the Minor Arcana, choose a full-deck spread.

Related spreads

Bring a single question, and turn these 5 cards over slowly.