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
Knight of Disks![]() |
5 of Wands – Strife![]() |
2 of Cups – Love![]() |
4 of Wands – Completion![]() |
The Wheel of Fortune![]() |
The Tower![]() |
10 of Swords- Ruin![]() |
9 of Cups – Happiness![]() |
Ace of Disks![]() |
Card 1: Knight of Disks
Virgo
The Knight of Disks rides the pale horse. His horse is in fact a unicorn, a symbol of Virgo. Bearing the sickle, he has come to reap the harvest. The shield radiates waves of energy that symbolise his connection with the sphere of earth. He is concerned primarily with material values.
Meaning:
Agricultural proficiency, skills regarding material concerns, perhaps preoccupied with material concerns and therefore dull.
When ill-dignified: a petty, jealous, small-minded man.
Card 2: 5 of Wands – Strife
Saturn in Leo
Conflict. Five male lion heads together represent opposition and a battle of wills. The nature of each lion is to dominate his territory, so five in one place is not good. They butt heads in the struggle for supremacy.
Meaning:
Struggle, competition, opposition, violence, quarrelling, lust and carnal desire.
Card 3: 2 of Cups – Love
Venus in Cancer
One heart fills both the gold and silver cups. Two vessels bound by one soul are the perfect match.
Meaning:
Perfect harmony between male and female radiates warmth and ecstasy. Love, union, friendship, warmth, comfort, passion, affinity, intercourse.
Card 4: 4 of Wands – Completion
Venus in Aries
The process has now taken shape. Four opposite deities have come together to establish order in the form of a new understanding of the universe.
Meaning:
Solidification of a work. Conclusions drawn from previous knowledge. Harmony. Rest after completion of a work. A goal fulfilled.
When ill-dignified: haste makes waste
Card 5: The Wheel of Fortune
Jupiter
Who knows what the Wheel of Providence has in store for you? Deep down inside, you do.
Meaning:
Providence, fate, karma. A change in fortune, generally a good change.
Card 6: The Tower
Mars
This is the dark side of The Magus; the lower self. The Demiurge has come out to play. Many are struck down on their quest to the top. Only the chosen one can climb the stairway to heaven. He must first acquire the proper understandings and tools or his climb will certainly be disastrous. Now is the time to use what you've been building up inside. Often a card of war.
Meaning:
Danger, destruction, quarrel, combat, ambition. Escape from prison. Rise to the top at the expense of others.
Card 7: 10 of Swords- Ruin
Sun in Gemini
Ten swords form the shape of the tree of life. The sixth and tenth swords are broken to pieces. In the centre of Tiphareth, the heart is broken. This is the worst omen of the deck. Rock bottom. But upon deeper inspection, something highly significant is achieved through the process.
Meaning:
Reason divorced from reality, the end of sanity, disaster, failure, desolation, dishonour. Spiritually may mean the end of delusion.
Card 8: 9 of Cups – Happiness
Jupiter in Pisces
The water level here is the highest in the suit. The perfection of water in Yesod makes this the happiest card in the whole deck. In an ocean of paradise two dolphins playfully leap between floating cups.
Meaning:
A feeling of perfect happiness and well-being.
Card 9: Ace of Disks
The Root of Earth
A coin toss. This card represents the very first beginnings of the process that leads to material gain.
Meaning:
Materialistic concerns, contentment, earthly power and success. A calculated risk with good chances.
