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
4 of Cups – Luxury![]() |
The Magus![]() |
6 of Disks – Success![]() |
8 of Cups – Indolence![]() |
The Devil![]() |
3 of Cups – Abundance![]() |
The Sun![]() |
Prince of Cups![]() |
6 of Cups – Pleasure![]() |
Card 1: 4 of Cups – Luxury
Moon in Cancer
Four trophy cups filled with wine represent an excess of abundance.
Meaning:
Giving in to desire. Excess, luxury, insatiability.
When ill-dignified: gluttony and excessive indulgence, irritation.
Card 2: The Magus
Mercury
The Magician stands on the mountain commanding the forces to obey his will.
Meaning:
Drive, willpower, skill, wisdom, craft, cunning, messages, business, creativity, wit, initiative, self-discipline. Sometimes occult wisdom or power.
When ill-dignified: knowledge interfering with the objective of the matter.
Card 3: 6 of Disks – Success
Moon in Taurus
Understanding is represented in this card by the colouration of the stained glass in the form of a rainbow spiral. The six moons revolve around the swastika-sun, each also representing a day of the week. Everything is in order here, as you achieve what you set out to do.
Meaning:
Success, accomplishment, gain. Influence, philanthropy, nobility.
When ill-dignified: conceit in success, insolence.
Card 4: 8 of Cups – Indolence
Saturn in Pisces
Eight cups stand on a bed of mud where the water receded. Dark clouds have rolled in to overcast the pale-yellow sky. Half of the cups have been spilled. This is the morning after.
Meaning:
Success abandoned, apathy, misery, transience, instability, a small victory. Sometimes means abandonment of materialistic pursuits in favour of the spiritual.
Card 5: 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 6: 3 of Cups – Abundance
Mercury in Cancer
Two cups combine their essence into a third cup, their offspring. This card is about creation, fertility, and pregnancy. A collaborative effort. The process of reproduction.
Meaning:
Fulfilment, conclusion, plenty, fertility, hospitality, bounty, kindness, creation.
Card 7: 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 8: Prince of Cups
5:00 – 7:00 Male
Scorpio
The Prince of Cups rides a vapoury chariot of water. His draft animal is the eagle, but the scorpion is his familiar. His cup is represented by the trident of Neptune. He is receptive to outer influences, which he twists and manipulates to his own ends. He is a ruthless man of great ambition, but he moves in secrecy.
Meaning:
A man who moves in shadows, who ambitiously lusts for great wisdom and power. His calm appearance masks an ocean of passion.
When ill-dignified: a merciless man of insatiable ambition.
Card 9: 6 of Cups – Pleasure
Sun in Scorpio
Two hearts come together forming a unicursal hexagram. Four bunches of grapes symbolise that balance has been achieved.
Meaning:
Natural harmony, satisfaction, beginnings of steady increase, fond memories.
When ill-dignified: presumptuousness, vanity, lack of gratitude and respect.