On Tarot and Divinatory Literacy for Liberation (In-Person)

Thu May 23 2024 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm UTC-07:00

California Institute of Integral Studies - Main building | San Francisco

CIIS Public Programs
Publisher/HostCIIS Public Programs
On Tarot and Divinatory Literacy for Liberation (In-Person)
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A Conversation with Christopher Marmolejo
About this Event

These tickets are for the in-person version of this event. To buy tickets for the livestream event .

Books are available to add to your order at check-out.

Brown, queer, and trans writer, diviner, and educator Christopher Marmolejo frames literacy as key to liberation, exploring tarot as critical literacy. Through their work, Christopher reveals how the cards can be read to subvert the dynamics of white supremacist-capitalist-imperialist-patriarchy, weaving historical context and spiritual practice into a comprehensive overview of the tarot. 

Situating tarot imagery within cosmologies outside the Hellenistic frame—Death as interpreted through the lens of Hindu goddess Chhinnamasta, the High Priestess through Aztec goddess Coyolxauhqui—Christopher’s work and writing is a profound act of reclamation and liberation.  

In their latest book, Red Tarot, each card’s interpretation is further bolstered by the teachings of Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, José Esteban Muñoz, and others in an offering that integrates intersectional wisdom with the author’s divination practice—revealing tarot as an essential language for liberation. Christopher’s work speaks to anyone othered for their identity or ways of being or thinking—LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC folks in particular—presenting the tarot as a radical epistemology that shifts the authority of knowing into the hands of the people themselves. 

Join Christopher in a conversation that moves beyond self-help and the Hellenistic frame of tarot to reclaim it for liberation, self-determination, and collective healing. 

Christopher Marmolejo, MA, is a Brown, queer, and trans writer, diviner, and educator. They use divination to promote a literacy of liberation. They were born and raised in San Bernardino, California, among the pines, in community with the Yuhaaviatam clan of the Maara’yam (Serrano). 

With nine-plus years of experience as a trained educator focused on cultivating classrooms of emancipatory possibility, they work with students around the world to plant and nurture the seed of a divinatory practice, finely weaving tarot, astrology, and curanderismo with critical, decolonial Black queer feminist epistemology. They are available for readings, and they are enrolling students in ongoing divination classes at www.theredread.com. Follow them on Substack for more writing.  

We are grateful to our Bookstore Partner

Marcus Books is the nation’s oldest Black-owned independent bookstore celebrating its 60th year. Marcus Books’ mission is to provide opportunities for Black folks and their allies to celebrate and learn about Black people everywhere. Learn more about Marcus Books.

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Accessibility

If you need to request accessibility accommodations, please email [email protected] at least one week prior to the event. For more information, explore our Accessibility web page.

Recording Policy
Ticket holders will have access to an ad-free replay of the event for one week after the live event. A replay with ads will be released on our YouTube channel one week after the livestream. Portions of the audio will also be released on our podcast. Only registered ticket holders who choose to watch live can participate in the chat and Q&A.

Refunding Policy

All tickets and donations for this event are nonrefundable.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

California Institute of Integral Studies - Main building, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, United States

Tickets

USD 0.00 to USD 25.00

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