“What I enjoyed most about Paper Crowns were the moments where we contemplated the meaning of the portraits representing each court card. Hearing each other read the portraits from our unique perspectives was an amazing way for me to reframe my own associations. I also very greatly enjoyed the images that were chosen for us to read and discuss -- they introduced me to many new artists, and deepened my connection to artists I was already familiar with.

Paper Crowns helped me better understand and interact with the energies/ideas associated with the court cards and enhanced my reading (meaning making) and writing (inscribing via embodiment) as a writer and image maker.

Learning more about this aspect of tarot has allowed me to feel more trust in myself (my intuition, wisdom, lived experience and cultural contexts) and more willingness to use divination as a companion on my spiritual journey. I feel more confidence in using tarot to tell myself stories about myself (Audre Lorde's biomythography) that will encourage my healing, transformation, evolution and creative practice.

I also feel more compelled to create more self portraits! In my photography practice, I've mostly focused on making documentary-style images of other people (environmental portraiture), and this course has definitely introduced me to concepts and practices that will enhance my portraiture skills and approach. And yet, our self portrait assignment uplifted in me a desire to engage in some visual biomythography. Imagining and fashioning myself into these archetypal energies/characters will spark in me a self awareness and authentic self expression that I've been longing to connect with, and put me in conversation with these characters in a way that will illuminate how to live into my purpose, present and future.”

-Kendra

“Happy to share a lil of such a freaking fun ass art project. I truly did have a dope time creating this, from the pull to the learning to the execution. I'm glad I got to take another one of your classes. I hope I can take more in the future. Si dios quiere. lol. Thank you for this opportunity and all of your teachings. “

Cuidate familia
xoxo,
Santi "Larissa"

“This is one of the many classes I've taken with Chris, and I continue to be amazed by how much I learn each time. Chris is a wellspring of wisdom and has a remarkable gift for helping students uncork their own connection to source.

Paper Crowns stands apart from many tarot courses because it draws on insights from art history and critical theory to deconstruct both the court cards and itself. It's a powerful course on class subversion, re-contextualizing gender norms, and deepening intuition through a more critical engagement with images, power, and identity.

As always, every class with Chris feels like a gift, an invitation to see the world more critically and an inspiring push toward viewing it through a red lens."

-Kenah

“I cherish my time in class. I’ve been in Christopher’s classes for a few years now & I find that it’s my safe space to be with deep psychological & worldly material. Chris presents in a way that’s so cutting edge.

Their teaching comes from the roots interwoven with embodied knowledge, divinity, devotion, & the funnest venusian/jovial flair. It’s a space where everyone has a place & a voice.”

—Steph B.

“I loved how interactive our class time together was (as opposed to a lecture over Zoom with strangers I never talk to), & the variety of techniques we were asked to try out in describing/reading the cards pulled for us each week.

It was incredible that many of us felt comfortable being so vulnerable with people we've only met or talked to over screens. It's a true testament to the kind of space you have curated <3

I appreciated that you added your own interpretation of the cards to further enrich our conversations about them. I truly admire the authenticity & passion I saw in your facilitating. It further encouraged & inspired me to be the radically authentic educator that I want to be"

—Zoey K.

“Our live classes were a weekly anchor, a grounding, a return to a space for learning & processing, seeing and being seen, listening and being heard. So much richness inhabits the cards upon hearing our diverse experiences & readings of them. “Approaching the Tarot through shared readings in this way opens its potential beyond anything I could have imagined prior to experiencing it. The shadow series we did was life-changing for many of us. Laying out our birth charts using the cards’ decanic associations opened me up to astrology, which I was a complete beginner to, in a way that resonated deeply with me.

I’m so grateful to Chris for holding this space every week, & for everyone who made up our weekly circle. This was the first time I was able to find a safe, discursive, and expansive community in this way.”

—Madalena B

“It was great to be able to do this asynchronous (though I wish I could have attended live), I really appreciated the time & care you gave to everyone. You created a wonderful 10 of Cups space.”

—Lucifer H.

“Thank you so much for all you have shared with us through your book, recorded lectures & live sessions. I am deeply grateful to learn from & with you & I am grateful for how your knowledge sharing is changing my life.”

—Gloria K.

“I have been so impressed by the quality of teaching. The classes far reached my expectations and I am so glad this was the first tarot class space I have been privileged enough to join. I have thoroughly enjoyed Chris’ teaching style. The emphasis on each student to get involved- where every week we contribute & receive immediate feedback from both Chris & classmates, was brilliant. Chris gives immaculate feedback & is very encouraging. I love that the class is organised with separate lectures & the brilliant additional reading, which may not always be directly related to tarot, but incapsulate the theme of the week. Classes have been very well organised, always occurring on time. Moreover, the coherence & great amount of thought put into every aspect of the course is evident. These classes not only taught me how to embrace intersectional approaches to tarot, but also was a great example in how to approach teaching & holding space as an educator. The course has helped rekindle & fire up my practice in a really evident manner.”

— Feven E.

“Your style of teaching is raw & attentive. In a world where it feels like so many play safe on the outskirts of relaying information you cut straight to the reality of what we're analyzing. It calls into question where we are in relation to what we're analyzing in the cards. It can be a little intense but I think that speaks to the reality of what it is reading tarot. Tarot is direct & descriptive & even in your face at times. The way you teach feels like meeting this form of divination on it's terms. I wouldn't want it to be any different. ”

—Majdy B.

“What's left to say except for gratitude? You have helped me level up my consciousness, connect me to community, & guided me through my own personal transformation with tarot. It is not just a part of my daily ritual but it is an integration into the whole, a new way of navigating the world... I appreciated taking time to tune in each class, check in, & allow moments for everyone to come to voice. I love how you encourage each individual to express their thoughts without judgement, highlighting the innate wisdom in our own unique experiences. I loved the spreads that confronted me with aspects of myself that I hadn't faced directly or spoken out loud.”

—Destinee A.

“Christopher did a great job creating and maintaining the container for the group: establishing a reverent space, spurring the group on or slowing us down as needed. Thresholds completely transformed my relationship to tarot. It brought me into a fresh, living relationship with my intuitive capacity to engage my deck, and nurtured my confidence in my ability to trust my cards and my interpretive ability.”

—Amelia C.

“Thresholds is an initiatory crucible. Chris has crafted the content with devotion and visionary brilliance, and facilitates with care, warmth, discernment and humor. They are skilled in creating conditions for the emergence of real connections and community among the students, and a real intimacy and trust developed in our cohort that made the experience deeply nourishing for me.”

—Lauren W.

“I've participated in a lot of online learning containers, and I was incredibly impressed with how Christopher held intentional, educational, integrative, and joyous space every week for ritual, community, and group reflection. This cohort SHOWED UP every week, and made Thresholds even more transformational through shared experience with the tarot cards.

This intensive in Red reading couldn't have come at a more synchronistic time for me and my professional tarot and astrology practice development.”

—Sarah P.

“I really enjoyed the live classes and hearing all the different perspectives and experiences helped contribute to my overall understanding of tarot and the course material. I liked the shadow key pieces and felt it was a very reflective and personal experience that required intensive journaling on my own. Hearing your read for myself and for others was enlightening. I feel much more connected with the cards and my personal decks of choice. I am consulting my cards a lot more and journaling on the reads more often than I had in the past. Understanding the minor arcana suits and their connection to body, mind, emotion, and spirit has helped me listen to my own self better and reflect more on my well being.

Honestly, the lecture notes and material should be another book you write. It helped me understand the cards and the connecting points a lot better.”

—Skyye B.

“I loved the live classes so much, getting to know my cohorts and listen to the Chris's knowledge seep into everything was brilliant. My favourite part was how although each of us were allowed to hone our skills we still had Chris guiding us through each of the cards. I feel rich with knowledge from my classmates and Chris. I was also accommodated in being able to attend from bed, lie down and rest while still participating in class. Always a huge win for accessibility!

I loved the way the class was structured as it worked very well with my brain. I loved the lectures and reading the books and taking the class. A perfect fit for me.”

—Graph O.

“I'm so grateful to have been able to take this class. I'm at a strange and transformative time of my life, and deepening my relationship with the tarot is exactly what I needed. Chris, your understanding of the tarot and the spiritual lens through which you see the tarot is one of my favorites ever. I've gained so much from the time I was able to spend with this material and I feel it naturally aligned with the personal growth I'm doing right now. I'm also so so glad that I will have continued access because it is certainly something I will return to over and over again. There was a huge amount of information covered and it was more than I could have asked for! The pre-recorded materials and homework assignments were my favorite part of class! I really appreciated that there were transcripts included.”

—Aria S.

“This course just expanded my capacity for literacy, both as a creator but also as a reader myself. It taught me a way of relating matter (Pictures, symbols and actions) with argumentation of the social, the political and of course the personal. It taught me a new way of witnessing, a more liberated one.

I wanna say thank you for providing us a space of intimacy and politics, thanks so much for the vulnerability and strength and the generosity to share your practice with us and being flexible and letting it adapt to our needs. I loved how you opened the circle and closed it by making us stay in our bodies regardless of how hard it may have been to do so considering the times this course was happening in.”

—Ander B.

“I highly recommend checking out The Red Read, Chris Marmolejo's Tarot teaching, reading and books. Working and studying with Chris has been breathing life into my Tarot practice and helps me feel so seen by always challenging the status quo and queering and decolonizing the Tarot”

-Kadir

“The final portrait project for this course had a greater impact on me than I thought it would. By placing ourselves in the image and forming an artist statement, we got to participate in tarot in a new way. The reader becomes the card. The archetypes of the courts offered plenty of inspiration to draw from, and the act of taking and sharing the portrait photos and our process in class become a lesson in being seen, heard, and being on display. “

-Sara