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Documented by Oswald Wirth · 1927 · 4 drawn + 1 calculated

Historic French Cross Tarot Spread: Oswald Wirth’s 1927 Method

This historical decision spread uses four drawn Major Arcana and one calculated quintessence. The positions form a deliberation: what supports the matter, what opposes it, what judges the balance, and the sentence or conditional resolution.

Draw the four Major Arcana of the French Cross

Rider–Waite–Smith · Major Arcana only

1. What is forSupport, advantage or force helping the matter
2. What is againstResistance, cost or force opposing the matter
3. The judgeWhat weighs, reconciles or clarifies the first two cards
4. The sentenceThe conditional resolution that follows from the balance
5. QuintessenceThe calculated Major Arcana summarising all four positions

No cards have been drawn yet.

How to read Wirth’s French Cross

  1. Define one question. The cross works as a deliberation and needs a matter that can be weighed.
  2. Compare left and right. Do not read support as simply good or opposition as simply bad.
  3. Let the judge weigh both. The upper card shows the principle that makes sense of the conflict.
  4. Read the sentence conditionally. The lower card describes the resolution under present conditions.
  5. Calculate the quintessence. Add the four Major Arcana numbers and reduce the digits until the result is 22 or less; 22 represents the Fool.

Source

Oswald Wirth, Le tarot des imagiers du Moyen-âge, Paris, 1926–1927 (BnF catalogue). Digitised text of the 1927 book.

Historic French Cross Tarot spread: frequently asked questions

Why are only Major Arcana used?

Wirth’s documented method belongs to his twenty-two-trump system. This implementation therefore does not mix in the Minor Arcana.

Is the fifth card drawn?

No. In this historical implementation it is calculated from the numbers of the four drawn cards.

Is the French Cross medieval?

No evidence presented here supports that claim. The documented source used on this page is Wirth’s 1927 book.

Can I use Grand Etteilla 1857?

Not in this exact implementation. Grand Etteilla has its own numbering and historical methods, so forcing it into Wirth’s calculation would blur two systems.

Does the sentence guarantee an outcome?

No. It is a conditional resolution based on the balance shown by the current draw.