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
The Priestess |
The Hanged Man |
The Moon |
Knight of Wands |
The Star |
Prince of Disks |
7 of Cups – Debauch |
The Devil |
10 of Disks – Wealth |
Card 1: The Priestess
The Moon
The Priestess sits on her throne, queen of the heavens, the eternal virgin, and the counterpart of the Hierophant. She holds the keys to the feminine secrets of the universe.
Meaning:
Enthusiastic focus on the unconscious. A pure, exalted influence comes into play. The Priestess warns not to get too carried away.
Card 2: The Hanged Man
Water
Like The Hermit, The Hanged Man contemplates existence, but on a different level. He hangs from the crucifix and mirrors the scene above in the shape of an ankh. This card is about understanding sacrifice.
Meaning:
Enforced sacrifice, self-sacrifice, suffering, redemption. Progress through using a different perspective. A waiting period.
When ill-dignified: punishment, loss, death, more of the same.
Card 3: 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 4: 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.
Card 5: The Star
Aquarius
Everyone is a Star. This card suggests using your talents.
Meaning:
Clear vision, spiritual insight, hope, charity.
When ill-dignified: error in judgement, disillusion, delusions, lack of understanding.
Card 6: Prince of Disks
8:00 – 10:00 Male
Taurus
The Prince of Disks rides his chariot pulled by the bull. His disk is a sphere. The air of earth is represented by the vegetation he ploughs through. He is a worker at heart, grounded on the earth plane, and concerned with materialism above all else. He may resent the spirituality that eludes his grasp.
Meaning:
A young man with skill in practical matters, reliable, and perhaps dull.
Card 7: 7 of Cups – Debauch
Venus in Scorpio
Seven copper cups in the shape of a septagram overflow with the oil of gladness, pleasure taken once again to excess. The star of Babylon is a symbol of whoredom.
Meaning:
Loss or lack of moral values. Deception, shameless indulgence, lust, fornication, intoxication, delusion, promises unfulfilled.
Card 8: The Devil
Capricorn
The Devil is your opposite, <%custom1%>, your Anima or Animus, your Demonic Self. (s)He is your dark side and your inner child. The traits that we lack in our own selves causes us to seek completion in many of our relationships. Most of our earthly relationships are based on fulfilling this Devil inside of us. In certain people such as the very well-rounded or spiritually developed, this part of the personality may already be fulfilled. The children walk with The Devil hand in hand.
Meaning:
Temptation, obsession, impulsiveness, ambition, materialism, self-fulfilment, fate.
Card 9: 10 of Disks – Wealth
Mercury in Virgo
Coins of gold, silver, and copper fall to earth. The ten coins in the foreground form the tree of life, each with a symbol matching its particular sephiroth. The coins in the background represent the different pathways. This card represents something valuable.
Meaning:
Material prosperity. Completion of material building. Good health.
When ill-dignified: sloth, heaviness, dullness.
