TENZ
A Tarot Course in Transgressive Movement with Christopher Marmolejo
Year-long intensive
March ‘25 - March, 26. Mondays at 3pm PT
Live on Zoom, or watch asynchronously
Sliding scale from $1770
A Starry Study
Tarot is a circuit of sacred motion, or at least it can be. A circuit is a multipronged and multisensorial field. It links nodes that would seem separate otherwise, and every card is a nodal point.
Those who study the stars recognize in the tarot a mirror for the celestial map. Cards can carry the cosmos, all the more when that immanent meaning is made explicit in consciousness.
Tarot then becomes a movement practice, way of walking, a way of documenting how the practitioner imagines, processes and transmogrifies their journey within and without.
Cartomancy becomes a cartography to map Black Latinx strategies of survival, resistance and ritual.
All the more necessary for those in a diasporic context. Tarot in transit, as a starry study, becomes a quest. Our fluid immigrant syncretism becomes theory and our card-pulling and star-gazing becomes a practice of collective psychic survival. TENZ welcomes beginners and experienced readers, seekers, teachers, and healers who want to study tarot through a decolonial and intersectional lens.
TENZ is a course in decanic tarot, it is a camino. It is an invitation to read and think of tarot as transit, whereby with our personal and shared movement we write, remember, read, and gather all the dimensions of an embodied life. So as we walk together, using these cards as sign posts across an ever-turning celestial map the morphology of the body will change.
What you’ll learn
Decanic tarot as a peripatetic path. It is a borderlands course. Its circuitry aims to fuse relationships by honoring a narrative tradition which creates poetic coherence out of a life of movement and fragmentation, as is the case when modern readers traverse dissociative linguistic, colonial, cultural, psychic and physical borders. Our maps will be different and our methods may differ these cards will be our compass nonetheless.
Who this class is for
Beginners and seasoned readers. Astrologers seeking to expand divinatory literacy. Practitioners ready to study tarot through a decolonial and intersectional lens. We learn together and practice transformation.
While many may now be familiar with “the decan walk” thanks to the modern practitioners championing this work, embarked upon their own personal chronicling of a year, done decan by decan, the task of TENZ is to gather the insurgent, rebellious and affirmative traditions in Black Latinx queer life, or a faggotology as Carlos Ulises Decena describes. The aim is to touch the Divine through the abject.
How this course works
“The way Christopher teaches tarot and astrology through a queer, feminist, and ecological (to name a few) frameworks is extraordinary. It felt like some of my favorite critical theory classes mixed with spiritual development and group therapy - all things I admire deeply.”
— Alex H.
Ready to walk under starlight?
The Red Read is committed to equitable access and honoring a diversity of lived experiences. A tiered tuition model invites each participant to reflect on their access to resources and choose a price point that feels appropriate — with integrity and without shame.
This model relies on community trust and mutual care. When those with greater financial flexibility choose higher tiers, it helps subsidize access for others. This is one way we practice solidarity and redistribution within our shared learning space.
Abundant Care Rate
$2400 suggested rate
Choose this rate if you have abundant financial resources, access to wealth, or are able to give generously without financial strain. You help keep the work sustainable while honoring your own value! Once you purchase TENZ, please make an additional suggested donation of $630 to The Red Read.
Student Care
If needed, for accessibility, reach out by email for special alumni pricing rates.
Alternatively, If you’re experiencing financial hardship, are systematically marginalized, or otherwise please reach out.
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The Red Decan Walk
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Aries
History, Syncretization, Cards of the Chart
Aries season brings us to the 2-4 of Wands, the Empress, the Emperor, the Tower and the Sun.
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Taurus
Taurus tells us about the 5-7 of pentacles, the Empress, The World, The Hierophant, the Magician, and the High Priestess
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Gemini
We’ll cover the Gemini decans and cards: the 8-10 of swords, the Lovers, The Sun, The Tower, the Magician, and the Wheel of Fortune
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Cancer
We’ll cover the Cancer decans and cards: the 2-4 of cups, the High Priestess, the Chariot, The Empress, The Magician
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Leo
The sign of the Sun brings the Sun card, the 5-7 of wands, The World, Strength, The Wheel of Fortune, and the Tower cards.
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Virgo
The season of the great Maiden brings us to the 8-10 of pentacles, the Magician, The Hermit, The Empress, and the Sun
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Libra
We’ve made it to the Lovers week, where six shows us harmony and the divine disruption to that harmony in the tower. We shall traverse the elemental sixes to find orientation.
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Scorpio
Death holds life accountable. Scorpio shows us the 5-7 of Cups, Death, The Tower, The Sun, The Empress.
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Sagittarius
The sign of the Archer, the cards of 8-10 of wands, Temperance, the Wheel of Fortune, The High Priestess, The Magician, and the World
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Capricorn
Cardinal Earth, Capricorn, the 2-4 of pentacles, the Devil, the World, The Wheel of Fortune, The Tower, the Sun
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Aquarius
Fixed Air Aquarius, the water-bearer, Saturn, the Star, the 5-7 of wands, The Empress, The Magician, The High Priestess.
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Pisces
The end of one cycle, the beginning of another. Pisces and the Moon card, the 8-10 of cups, the Tower, the World, The Wheel of Fortune.
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Questions?
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Our first live class will be March 23rd, 3 pm PST.
Please note times may be subject to change to accommodate the various time zones of students.
Classes will be recorded in case you ever can’t make a class!
Aries Season Sessions:
Orientations - Class 1
March 23th, 3-5 pm pst.
updated due to travel
History, Syncretization, Cards of the Chart
Aries 1 - Class 2
March 27th, 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 2-4 Wands
Reading:
Making Face, Making Soul, Haciendo Caras edited by Gloria Anzalúa
P. 51-64, 36 Faces, P. 1-11, 36 Secrets
Aries 2 - Class 3
April 17th 3-5pm
Integration & Aries in the Chart
Taurus 1 - Class 4
May 1 - 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 5-7 Pentacles
Reading:
Theories of the Flesh by Julie Avril Minich
P. 69-80, 36 Faces, P. 17-30, 36 Secrets
Taurus 2 - Class 5
May 15 3-5 pm pst
Integration & Taurus in our Charts
Gemini 1 - Class 6
May 22 - 3-5 pm
Tarot: 8-10 Swords
Reading: Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion By Jia Tolentino
P. 86-97, 36 Faces, P. 36-49, 36 Secrets
Gemini 2 - Class 7
June 5, 3-5pm pst
Integration & Gemini in our Charts
Cancer 1 - Class 8
June 20 - 3-5pm pst (note shift to Fridays)
Tarot: 2-4 Cups
Reading: The Fantasy Bond by Robert W. Firestone
P. 103-115, 36 Faces, P. 56-71, 36 Secrets
Cancer 2 - Class 9
July 11 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Cancer in our Charts
Leo 1 - Class 10
July 25 - 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 5-7 Wands
Reading: And The Category Is….Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker
P. 121-133, 36 Faces, P. 80-95, 36 Secrets
Leo 2 - Class 11
August 8 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Leo in our Charts
Virgo 1 - Class 12
August 22 - 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 8-10 of Pentacles
Text: The Sense of Brown, José Esteban Muñoz
P. 138-150, 36 Faces, P. 104-118, 36 Secrets
Virgo 2 - Class 13
Sept 5 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Virgo in our Charts
Libra 1 - Class 14
Sept 26 - 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 2-4 of Swords
Reading:
All About Love, by bell hooks
P. 156-168, 36 Faces, P. 134- 150, 36 Secrets
Libra 2 - Class 15
Oct. 10 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Libra in our Charts
Scorpio 1 - Class 16
Oct 24 - 3-5 pm, pst
Tarot: 5-7 Cups
Reading:
Eros and Civilization by Herbert Marcuse
P. 174-186, 36 Faces, P. 150-168, 36 Secrets
Scorpio 2 - Class 17
Nov 14 3-5pm pst
Integration & Scorpio in our Charts
Sag 1 - Class 18
Nov 21 - 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 8-10 Wands
Reading: Feminism Without Borders by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
P. 192-204, 36 Faces, P. 175-189, 36 Secrets
Sag 2 - Class 19
Dec 12 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Sagittarius in our Charts
Capricorn 1 - Class 20
December 21 - 3-5pm pst (Note shift to Sunday, tentative date based on Holidays)
Tarot: 2-4 Pentacles
Reading: Belonging: A Culture of Place by bell hooks
P. 210-221, 36 Faces, P. 196-211, 36 Secrets
Capricorn 2 - Class 21
Jan- 16, 3-5pm pst
Integration & Capricorn in our Charts
Aquarius 1 - Class 22
Jan. 23 - 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 5-7 Swords
Reading:
Red Skin White Masks by Glen Sean Coulthard
P. 226-238, 36 Faces, P. 219-238, 36 Secrets
Aquarius 2 - Class 23
Feb 13 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Aquarius in our Charts
Pisces 1 - Class 24
Feb. 20 3-5pm pst
Tarot: 8-10 Cups
Reading: The Inner Reaches of Outer Space by Joseph Campbell
P. 244-258, 36 Faces, P. 247-263, 36 Secrets
Pisces 2 - Class 25
March 13 - 3-5pm pst
Integration & Pisces in our Charts
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Forever! You’ll have 24/7 access to all course content as it’s released and a copy of your live cohort!
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Payment plans are available!
(scroll to sign up)
Feel free to email with any other questions you may have about this course.
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You will need to download and install Zoom to participate in our classes.
While I am excited about all of the curated texts for this course, I understand that students may not be able to afford or keep up with the reading pace of the course per season. Thus you will be more than welcome and able to participate by listening and reviewing the accompanying lectures & slides. These provided resources link the decan with the accompanying text and may inspire a deeper decanic consideration / application for the decolonial practitioner.
I would recommend getting T. Susan Chang’s 36 Secrets as a primary resource for your decan walk.
I highly recommend purchasing Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacyto accompany your learning experience. (students will get a discount code for the book after enrolling) The only other thing needed is your own tarot deck of course! Let me know if you need any recommendations, or feel free to check out my blog to see the variety of decks I work with regularly. No other material or experience is required for the course!
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Well first, any one that calls to you! But here’s a list of some of my favorites:
Mahogany Tarot
Smith-Waite Deck, Centennial Edition
Afro-Avatar Tarot
Tarot Yohualli Ehécatl
Pagan Otherworlds Tarot
Botan Tarot
Star Spinner Tarot
Terra Volatile Tarot
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This course is designed for you! The decans are a foundational aspect of learning astrology and this will give depth insight into the beginnings of horoscopic astrology and the processes of each sign. Further, how and where these signs function in your chart!
By the end of the course you will be able to give an astrology reading using only your tarot cards ✨💫
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This course is designed for you! If you’ve always wanted to learn tarot but have trouble learning from “the little white book” then this course will give you a comprehensive understanding to all Tarot has to offer.
Meet your instructor,
Christopher Marmolejo
I came to tarot as a queer, brown, de-tribalized native from an under-resourced community, already transgressing the status quo. Tarot sharpened that power, and in Thresholds I teach you to do the same.
My background blends training in critical race theory, a Masters in Education, years of classroom teaching, and professional practice as both astrologer and diviner. I do not aim to reform colonial institutions but to cultivate thriving communities outside them.
In this work, education becomes liberation. I build safe, inclusive spaces where the spirit is welcomed. Thresholds expands our reading of tarot and our imagining of freedom, guiding you toward radical self-expression and the practice of liberation.
What my students have to say
Ready to walk the starry camino?
The Red Read is committed to equitable access and honoring a diversity of lived experiences. A tiered tuition model invites each participant to reflect on their access to resources and choose a price point that feels appropriate — with integrity and without shame.
This model relies on community trust and mutual care. When those with greater financial flexibility choose higher tiers, it helps subsidize access for others. This is one way we practice solidarity and redistribution within our shared learning space.
Abundant Care Rate
$2400 suggested rate
Choose this rate if you have abundant financial resources, access to wealth, or are able to give generously without financial strain. You help keep the work sustainable while honoring your own value! Once you purchase TENZ Y2, please make a suggested donation of $700 to The Red Read.
Community Care Rate
40% OFF
Select this tier if you’re experiencing financial hardship, are systematically marginalized, or would not be able to access this offering otherwise. No explanation is needed. This is an invitation to receive with dignity and grace.
If you’d like to access this rate, please use the coupon code COMMUNITY at check out.
Rather do some solo seeking?
No matter if live enrollment is open, you can always do some solo seeking with this stand-alone option. This is a bundle deal with the lectures, slides, prompts and spreads from TENZ offered at a discounted rate. Available for immediate access upon purchase. You can also purchase individual lessons from each season of TENZ via the workshop page here.