Tarot & Transmedia: What Graphic Novels Like 'Traveling to Mars' Teach About Story-Based Readings

A fast, human answer to feeling stuck: use transmedia storytelling to turn readings into a living myth

Clients come to readings.life searching for clarity, practical next steps, and a trustworthy way to make sense of life transitions. If you’re a tarot reader, astrologer, or narrative coach, you’ve likely seen the same friction: single sessions spark insight but rarely change ongoing behavior; clients feel fragmented between who they are and who they want to become. In 2026, the best way to close that gap is to adopt transmedia tarot strategies borrowed from graphic novels like The Orangery’s Traveling to Mars. Those techniques let you help clients re-author their personal myths across multiple touchpoints—visual, narrative, and ritualized.

Why The Orangery and Traveling to Mars matter to readers now

The Orangery’s rise (it signed with WME in January 2026) signals more than industry buzz: it highlights how serialized, cross-platform intellectual property resonates deeply with audiences. Graphic novels like Traveling to Mars use visual pacing, recurring motifs, and episodic cliffhangers to create emotional investment—techniques that translate directly into therapeutic storytelling.

Transmedia IP Studio the Orangery, behind hit graphic novel series ‘Traveling to Mars’ and ‘Sweet Paprika,’ signs with WME (EXCLUSIVE)

For practitioners, that means you can borrow a set of storytelling tools already proving their ability to hold attention and invite transformation—without needing to be a comic-book artist.

Key 2026 trends that make this approach timely

• Transmedia is mainstream. Industry moves in late 2025 and early 2026 show studios and agencies investing in IP that migrates between books, games, and digital experiences—encouraging narrative-first practices.
• Wellness seekers expect multimedia. Clients now are comfortable with serialized content—short films, illustrated zines, and follow-up micro-assignments between sessions.
• Narrative coaching’s evidence base is maturing. Emerging pilot programs through 2024–2025 report measurable gains in agency and identity integration when clients engage with structured narrative exercises over weeks.
• Accessible tools enable safe transmedia delivery. Platforms like Miro, Notion, secure client portals, and simple image templates let you create serialized client journeys without technical overhead.

How graphic novel techniques map to tarot and astrology work

Below are core transmedia techniques and their direct applications to readings and coaching. Each has a short example inspired by Traveling to Mars to make implementation concrete.

1. Character arcs → Client arcs (Role: Protagonist)

Technique: Treat the client’s life as an arc with scenes, setbacks, allies, and antagonists. Map natal chart placements or recurring tarot cards to archetypal roles.

Example: In a series inspired by Traveling to Mars, the client’s Sagittarius Sun becomes the “Explorer” protagonist. Saturn placements map to the ship’s broken engine—an obstacle that requires structural change, not just optimism.

2. Panels and pacing → Session structure

Technique: Use the comic panel idea to compress a session into beats: inciting incident, obstacle, insight, ritual. Keep serialized pacing—each session ends with a narrative hook and a small, specific task.

Example: Session 1 (Origin) introduces the protagonist and stakes. End with a “mission log” writing prompt. Session 2 (Complication) brings a surprising card that reframes the antagonist. The client returns with a drawing or journal entry for Session 3.

3. Motifs and visual anchors → Rituals and reminders

Technique: Create recurring visual motifs (a red comet, a garden key) that appear in spreads, worksheets, and follow-ups. They become sensory cues that reinforce the narrative arc.

Example: Use a small Mars icon on homework PDFs and a short mobile wallpaper the client can set as a daily reminder of their chosen intention.

4. Serialized friction → Accountability & transformation

Technique: Design tension points across sessions—choices the client must make, short-term experiments with clear success metrics, and checkpoints that feel narrative-driven rather than prescriptive.

Example: A three-week arc where the client experiments with “boundary radiation” (an astrology-informed habit aligned to their Moon) and reports back during a mid-arc “panel” check-in.

Practical, step-by-step protocol: How to run a 6-session transmedia tarot or astrology arc

Use this template to pilot graphic novel therapy with a client. You’ll need a secure client portal, simple visuals (phone photos or basic illustrations), and a shared document to track the arc.

1. Intake & World-Building (Session 1, 90 minutes)
   • Clarify stakes: What story do they tell about their life right now? What do they want to change?
   • Map the protagonist: Identify three archetypes (e.g., Explorer, Caretaker, Rebel) using natal placements or dominant tarot suits.
   • Assign a visual motif and a symbolic talisman (a word, a sketch, or a simple icon).
2. Inciting Incident & Mission Log (Session 2, 60 minutes)
   • Pull a spread framed as the first comic panel—present obstacle and one clear action.
   • Give a mission log template: 5-minute daily check-in template to capture mood + one experiment to try.
3. Complication & Side Characters (Session 3, 60 minutes)
   • Map key allies and antagonists to people, habits, or inner critics.
   • Create a short visual map (stick-figure storyboard or flowchart) that the client can add to between sessions.
4. Mid-Arc Twist (Session 4, 60 minutes)
   • Introduce a reframing card or transit reading that changes the client’s strategy.
   • Offer a creative assignment (draw a scene from a future in which the client succeeded).
5. Climax & Rehearsal (Session 5, 60–75 minutes)
   • Role-play a difficult conversation, test a boundary ritual, or compose a short monologue the client can perform privately.
   • Work with timing—plan a real situational rehearsal aligned with a favorable transit or personal timing.
6. Resolution & Next Volume (Session 6, 60 minutes)
   • Review the client’s arc, what they rewrote, and which motifs stuck.
   • Create a “season two” outline: small, concrete practices and a serialized check-in cadence (weekly messages, monthly micro-readings).

Sample creative tools you can deploy today

Below are ready-to-use tools to bring astrology storytelling and transmedia patterns into your practice.

1. Three-panel tarot spread (Visual narrative)

1. Panel 1 (Origin): What motivates the protagonist right now?
2. Panel 2 (Conflict): What is the hidden obstacle?
3. Panel 3 (Action): A small ritual or step to test in public.

2. Astrology character sheet

• Role name (e.g., The Caretaker)
• Top three strengths (planet in sign + house → narrative gifts)
• Primary shadow (challenging transit or house placement)
• Symbolic talisman (planet, image, or short phrase)

3. Visual mission log template (one page)

• Daily two-line mood + one small action
• Weekly panel: What changed? New clue?
• Three-week checkpoint question

Case studies: How client re-authoring looks (anecdotal, coalition of practice)

Below are anonymized composite examples drawn from practice patterns across narrative coaching programs and creative therapy pilots through 2024–2025.

Case A: Midlife pivot—turning a ‘stuck’ story into a serialized experiment

Client: 45-year-old caregiver who identified as “always the helper” and avoided risk. Using a transmedia arc, we mapped their South Node as an older mentor in the story and the North Node as the “Cartographer.” Over six sessions, the client completed three small public experiments (a class, a volunteer leadership role, a micro-blog series). The serialized accountability and the recurring visual motif (an orange compass inspired by graphic panels) reduced shame and increased measurable competence. Six months later, the client reported a 40% increase in actions aligned with new goals.

Case B: Young professional—using astrology storytelling to plan career moves

Client: 29-year-old with heavy Saturn returns in career houses. We used an episodic reading series keyed to transits and framed each session as a “chapter.” The client created a comic-strip CV that reframed past “failures” as character-building beats. The result: a clearer narrative for interviews and a more confident pitch in networking situations.

Ethics, boundaries, and accessibility

Transmedia work increases client exposure: serialized check-ins, visuals, and shared artifacts require clear boundaries.

• Consent & ownership: Clarify who owns visuals and journal content. Offer clients downloadable copies and the option to delete stored files.
• Data privacy: Use secure client portals and avoid public posting of client-created art without explicit written permission. See practical privacy & classroom practices at Protecting Student Privacy in Cloud Classrooms for approaches to consent and storage.
• Scope: Graphic novel therapy techniques are coaching and creative therapy tools—not a substitute for clinical mental health treatment.
• Accessibility: Offer text-only options, audio prompts, and large-font versions of any visuals for neurodiverse clients or those with low vision.

Advanced strategies for practitioners in 2026

Once you’ve piloted the six-session arc, consider these higher-leverage moves aligned with 2026 trends.

• Serial micro-products: Create low-cost serialized zines, downloadable card spreads, or short illustrated PDFs inspired by your methodology. These build an ongoing relationship and can be repurposed as session boosters.
• Collaborate with visual artists: Partner with illustrators who can translate client metaphors into simple panels (commission-based or revenue share). See a related case study on community market collaborations: Turning a Two‑Week Speaker Residency into a Sustainable Community Market.
• Integrate timing with astrology transits: Offer mini-readings timed to key transits—use these as “issues” or “episodes” that the client can subscribe to.
• Evidence & outcomes tracking: Track simple metrics (self-reported agency, number of experiments attempted, satisfaction) across cohorts to build an evidence base for your practice.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Pitfall: Overproducing visuals that overshadow client agency.
  Fix: Keep client-generated content front and center. You’re curating, not creating their story for them.
• Pitfall: Blurring therapy/coaching boundaries.
  Fix: Use screening questions and a clear statement of scope at intake. Consider privacy-forward checkout and storage patterns from the Discreet Checkout & Privacy Playbook.
• Pitfall: Relying on tech without consent.
  Fix: Offer low-tech alternatives and explicit consent for any online artifact storage.

Practical takeaway: three actions to implement this week

1. Create a one-page visual mission log template and offer it as a free intake add-on for new clients.
2. Run a pilot 6-session arc with one or two clients and track outcomes (client satisfaction and two behavioral markers).
3. Identify one recurring motif (color, icon, or phrase) to use across sessions and homework for the next three months.

Why this approach helps clients re-author their lives

Re-authoring is not about rewriting experience; it’s about finding a new relationship to existing facts. Graphic novels teach us to compress complex emotion into image and beat. Transmedia storytelling gives clients multiple entry points to that reframe: a spread they hold in a moment of doubt, a sketch they revisit during a difficult transit, a serialized mission log that makes progress visible. In 2026, when audiences are primed for multimedia and studios are investing in transmedia IP, practitioners who adopt these methods can offer clients durable, actionable transformation.

Final call-to-action

If you’re ready to pilot transmedia tarot or astrology storytelling in your practice, readings.life can help. Download our free mission-log template, try the six-session arc with one client, and join our upcoming workshop where we break down a chapter of Traveling to Mars to show how panels map to planetary transits. Sign up now to get the template and an invite to the next cohort—let’s help clients rewrite their stories, one illustrated session at a time.

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