Comic Strip Spread

Difficulty: Easy

Note: This spread works best with decks like the Diary of a Broken Soul or Surrealist Tarot because they display scenes rather than pips and do not use reversals.

The Comic Strip Spread is a simple nine-card chronological spread that looks like a page of a comic book. This method should be used to get a glimpse of the future as it would pan out naturally. It may be insightful to use this spread in coordination with biorhythms. The spread is easy to read as a storyboard, just like a comic strip.

The main subject is apparent in the first card, while the story plays out through the following tarot cards.

It is important to pay particular attention to the cards and the relationships with their neighbours. Notice which directions the cards are facing, and how they interact.

Your Comic Strip Reading

10 of Wands – Oppression	The Sun	The Universe
3 of Disks – Work	The Moon	Princess of Wands
Death	7 of Swords – Futility	5 of Cups – Disappointment

Saturn in Sagittarius

The wands have now become bars. We live in prisons of flesh. We are each our own warden and we all do our own time.

Meaning:
Brute force with no apparent spiritual source. Lies, repression, cruelty, malice. The element of fire in its most destructive form.

Card 2: The Sun

The Sun

The Sun says that in order to be successful one must become success. The enlightened aura boldly enlightens the darkness, shedding warmth and light on all who see it. Abraxas represents both darkness and light, unified and transcended. His sign is the swastika which represents the sun, the number 6, the four seasons, and the totality of time. The twins dance under the sun signifying good times. Like Abraxas they represent the unity of opposites.

Meaning:
Manifestation, shamelessness, truth, glory, gain, triumph, satisfaction.
When ill-dignified: arrogance, vanity, counter-productive pride. An excess of brilliance burns.

Card 3: The Universe

Earth

The spider in the man's head is a reference to Leary's octave rhythms. The spider and web indicate man's nature to perceive and even weave his own reality. The web also indicates being trapped in our own perception of reality. It may also hint at the nature of the interaction between this and other universes.

Meaning:
The realisation of the whole matter. The essence of the query itself. Synthesis. Crystallisation. Could represent something extremely important.
When ill-dignified: A cruel world.

Card 4: 3 of Disks – Work

Mars in Capricorn

Three spinning wheels and the right eye of god symbolise the act of creation. A solid structure is being built.

Meaning:
Construction, business, commerce, employment, material gain, growth.
When ill-dignified: selfish, closed-minded, greedy individual who seeks the impossible.

Card 5: The Moon

18-Moon.jpg|Pisces

The Moon reflects the overbearing light of the sun. Sunlight is a hot commodity at night. Where does the long, dark road lead? Let your inner light guide your path through the unconscious dreamscape.

Meaning:
Illusion, dreaminess, voluntary change, bewilderment, hysteria. An important change that is difficult to foresee.
When ill-dignified: egotism, self-deception, delusions of grandeur, counter-productive pride, demiurgos, ignorance, denial of the master.

Card 6: Princess of Wands

A robust young woman stands on the mountain firing arrows. Her arrows represent the other Wands courts, Sagittarius, Aries, and Leo. She is a passionate, brilliant, and independent young woman. The tiger is a symbol of the lower animal nature that grounds her.

Meaning:
An individualistic energetic glowing young woman, impulsive in matters of love.
When ill-dignified: superficial, shallow, gossiping, unreliable, cruel, domineering.

Card 7: Death

Scorpio

A skull and crossbones present obvious symbolism here. Something coming to an end, a necessary transition into the next stage.

Meaning:
Transformation, change, transitional period leading to a new way. Loss of the status quo.

Card 8: 7 of Swords – Futility

Moon in Aquarius

Six swords descend upon one large sword. The six moons have mutinously ganged up on their master. The battle seems hopeless. Even with the strongest blade, the numbers may be overwhelming.

Meaning:
Fighting a hopeless battle in vain, with no prospect of victory. Partial success by stalling through lack of energy when victory is achieved.

Card 9: 5 of Cups – Disappointment

Mars in Scorpio

In this card the water has turned to muck and the sky has gone pink. A scorpion is in the centre of the pentagram formed by the five cups, which are represented here as tridents. Hostility or aggression turned inwards.

Meaning:
Disturbance ending pleasure. Grief, misfortune, sadness, loss, treachery, bitterness, frustration, bad marriage, expectations unfulfilled.