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 Tower![]() |
Adjustment![]() |
The Chariot![]() |
Fortune![]() |
The Magus![]() |
The Moon![]() |
Death![]() |
The Hermit![]() |
The Universe![]() |
Card 1: The Tower
Mars
Quarrel, combat, danger, ruin, destruction of plans, sudden death, escape from prison.
Card 2: Adjustment
Libra
Justice, or rather justesse, the act of adjustment, suspension of all action pending decision; in material matters, may refer to law suits or prosecutions. Socially, marriage or marriage agreements; politically, treaties.
Card 3: The Chariot
Cancer
Triumph, victory, hope, memory, digestion, violence in maintaining traditional ideas, the 'die-hard', ruthlessness, lust of destruction, obedience, faithfulness, authority under authority.
Card 4: Fortune
Jupiter
Change of fortune. (This generally means good fortune because the fact of consultation implies anxiety or discontent.)
Card 5: The Magus
Mercury
Skill, wisdom, adroitness, elasticity, craft, cunning, deceit, theft. Sometimes occult wisdom or power, sometimes a quick impulse, a brain-wave. It may imply messages, business transactions, the interference of learning or intelligence with the matter in hand.
Card 6: The Moon
Pisces
Illusion, deception, bewilderment, hysteria, even madness, dreaminess, falsehood, error, crisis, 'the darkest hour before the dawn', the brink of important change.
Card 7: Death
Scorpio
Transformation, change, voluntary or involuntary, in either case logical development of existing conditions, yet perhaps sudden and unexpected. Apparent death or destruction, but such interpretation is illusion.
Card 8: The Hermit
Virgo
Illumination from within, secret impulse from within; practical plans derived accordingly. Retirement from participation in current events.
Card 9: The Universe
Earth
The matter of the question itself, synthesis, the end of the matter, may mean delay, opposition, obstinacy, inertia, patience, perseverance, persistent stubbornness in difficulty. The crystallisation of the whole matter involved.