The Recent Past

What has been shaping the situation and is now on its way out.

What this position asks

What are you leaving behind?

This card goes to the left of the Present. Waite laid it fifth, after the Foundation, so if you are comparing books, match it by name. He said "This is behind him", and wrote that "It gives the influence that is just passed, or is now passing away."

Now passing away. I like that he left the door open. The Recent Past is a guest standing at the front door with their coat on, still talking, still in the house, already leaving.

How cards behave here

A Major Arcana card in the Recent Past says a whole chapter of your life is closing. You may not have noticed it end, because big chapters rarely finish on a set date.

A Minor card says something smaller has run its course: a habit, a phase, a particular worry. Cups behind you mean a feeling that is fading or a relationship that has changed shape. Wands mean an effort or a burst of energy that is spent. Swords mean a conflict or a hard stretch of thinking that is easing. Pentacles mean a job, a money situation or a routine that is ending.

A court card here is often a role you are outgrowing, a way of being that has run its course. It can also be a person whose influence is waning. They may still be in your life, just no longer steering it.

A reversed card in the Recent Past is most often delayed. The influence is leaving, slowly, and something is holding it at the door. Sometimes that something is you. Ask what you are still getting from it.

Its partner: the Near Future

The Recent Past sits on the left of the Present and the Near Future sits on the right, making the level line of the cross. One is going out, the other is coming in, and the Present sits at the point where they pass each other.

Take the Three of Swords in the Recent Past, three swords through a heart in the rain. A heartbreak is behind you. With the Six of Swords in the Near Future, a boat carrying passengers across the water, you are moving into calmer water, quietly. With the Ace of Wands in the Near Future, there is a fresh spark coming, a new start with real energy in it.

A few examples

The Nine of Wands in the Recent Past: a figure with a bandaged head, leaning on a staff and watching. You have been on guard for a long time. The need for that is passing, and you are allowed to put the staff down.

Death in the Recent Past: an ending has already happened. The spread is less interested in the ending than in what you do with the space it left.

The Page of Pentacles in the Recent Past: a time of study or learning a new skill is finishing. What you learned is about to be put to work.

When this position speaks

Card 4 is where you check whether you have let go. If the Recent Past card still feels like the present when you read it, the influence has not finished leaving.

What are you still holding the door open for?

If you would like the Celtic Cross read against your own chart, my readings are here.