The Cross

The card

A cross stands on the card with open ground around it. The image is grave and heavy.

Traditional meaning

Traditionally the Cross is suffering, burden and trial, and also faith and fate.

How to read it

The Cross is "this has to be carried": responsibility you cannot dodge, a passage you are meant to go through. It is shorter than the Coffin and more active than the Mountain — you are not blocked, you are asked to walk while carrying. It also means faith, religion, and matters with a sense of destiny about them.

In context

Love

A burden inside the relationship, or a stretch that has to be borne.

Work

Heavy responsibility, a duty that cannot be handed off.

Timing

A hard stretch with an end to it; it will pass.

Common combinations

• The Cross + The Coffin · A heavy ending that needs mourning
• The Cross + The Sun · Light after the trial; hardship giving way
• The Cross + The Ring · A commitment that carries real weight
• The Cross + The Tree · An illness that has to be got through
• The Cross + The Heart · A stretch in the relationship that has to be borne
• The Cross + The Fish · Debt, or a financial weight
• The Cross + The House · Responsibility that comes with family
• The Cross + The Mountain · Difficulty piled on difficulty, and it must be carried
• The Cross + The Book · Faith and doctrine, or a lesson that has to be learned
• The Cross + The Fox · A load at work that cannot be handed off