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

6 of Swords – Science	9 of Disks – Gain	7 of Disks – Failure
Queen of Cups	Ace of Swords	Ace of Wands
Queen of Swords	3 of Wands – Virtue	Knight of Wands

Mercury in Aquarius

Six swords in the form of a hexagram converge in the centre of the rose cross. There is wisdom in the symbolism of this card, a multifaceted intellect that goes straight to the heart.

Meaning:
A goal realised.
When ill-dignified: selfishness, conceit, intellectual pride.

Card 2: 9 of Disks – Gain

Venus in Virgo

Six of the nine disks have now turned to coins, representing material gain. The three spiritual disks converge in the centre, forming a colour wheel and a rainbow. There are two triangles formed by the coins, one male and one female. A card of material gain.

Meaning:
Inheritance, increase in wealth, material fortune, accomplishment.
When ill-dignified: envy, theft.

Card 3: 7 of Disks – Failure

Saturn in Taurus

Seven seals linked by the rainbow bridge descend enlightenment to the bull. Ignorant and arrogant, he blocks his own path. The darkness of his own delusions repels his gift from above, scattering the light.

Meaning:
Sloth, abandoned labour, hopes deceived, promises unfulfilled, disappointment. Great effort producing little gain.
When well-dignified: charity work for no profit, growth after delay.

Card 4: Queen of Cups

5:00 – 7:00 Female
Cancer

The Queen of Cups sits on a waterfall throne in front of a cave. In her right hand she holds a lotus and in her left she holds a silver cup. On her crown is a crab, a symbol of Cancer. In the background is a dark canyon and in the foreground her reflection is visible in the water. She represents the most passive and receptive type of person.

Meaning:
A dreamy, imaginative, tranquil, poetic, and extremely receptive woman. Generous, yet not overly hospitable. She is very dependent on the neighbour cards in determining dignification.

Card 5: Ace of Swords

The Root of Air

The initial embodiment of the spirit of air is the bearer of light. The sword penetrates the crown of Kether. In the background ten rays pour out of the spiritual sun, indicating the full potential contained within the seed of the Ace. The beginning of a new way of thinking.

Meaning:
Invoked force, conquest, strength through tribulation, triumph of force. A spiritual understanding with heaven.

Card 6: Ace of Wands

The Root of Fire

This is the initial spark without which there is no fire. It represents the spiritual aspect of energy and vitality at its initial manifestation.

Meaning:
Energy, natural force, strength, creation, invention, pioneer spirit, enterprise, source, beginning, birth.

Card 7: Queen of Swords

2:00 – 4:00 Female
Libra

The Queen of Swords sits on the throne of heaven. The moon has eclipsed the sun, making for a strange overcast. The eclipse is a symbol of two that are one, a reference to the dual nature of Libra. The eclipse also represents her as a dominant female, overshadowing the male, and this is also apparent in her left hand. She represents clear perception and the pinnacle of thought. However, superficial attractiveness coupled with a lack of empathy makes her the most dangerous female in the deck.

Meaning:
A confident, gracious, just, perceptive, graceful, elegant woman.
When ill-dignified: A cruel, sly, deceitful, unreliable woman who uses charm as a weapon.

Card 8: 3 of Wands – Virtue

Sun in Aries

This card represents the pioneer motivated by the spirit of goodwill. You do what is right in your eyes. There is also a tendency toward egotism in this card.

Meaning:
Realisation of hope. Noble cause. Pride and arrogance.
When ill-dignified: conceit.

Card 9: Knight of Wands

Sagittarius

The Knight of Wands rides a white horse charging forward. The white horse symbolises the conscious side of awareness. It also symbolises the purity of fire, the vital energy and passion that boldly drives the organism. The Knight has his torch in his right hand and arrows on his back; bow and arrow being the weapon of Sagittarius.

Meaning:
A man of action, generosity, pride, and impetuousness.
When ill-dignified: A cruel, bigoted man without mercy.