My name is Stephanie SilverWing.
I received the name SilverWing from my mentor, Mari Redmoon who has been reading tarot and astrology for over 50 years. In addition to learning of the Sweet Medicine Sundance Teachings from Mari, I’ve also been trained in Reiki from master Crystal Gilbert. I started learning about tarot when I lived in Milwaukee Wisconsin, where I studied fine art in forms of video, photography, performance and visual arts. I have a completed bachelors and masters degree in Expressive Arts Therapy. In my master’s thesis, I wove together the ideologies of Jungian psychology of archetypes, internal family systems and parts work, as well as the medicine wheel. These schools of thought can help us in how we consider the Self. The expressive arts can help us to explore these aspects of the self. As I like to say, the more we know ourselves, the more we can heal ourselves. That is my mission with these tools I have learned to wield, for myself and others.
My story…
I was born and raised outside of Chicago, in the northwest suburbs. I grew up surrounded by trees, marshes, and my parents’ businesses, blending nature, art, and profession together from a young age. My mother was born and raised in Italy and wove Italian culture throughout my upbringing as well.
It was clear from birth that I was a very expressive and sensitive being. I started voice and dance lessons at age 4, joining choir in fourth grade. I loved being in musical theater and choreographing dances. I was in AP photography, spending most of high school behind the camera and in the dark room.
Throughout school, I wad riddled with mental and emotional health struggles, like many others. I used art as a way of communicating with these parts to understand and empathize with them. At age 17, mental illness turned physical with the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. For ten years, I struggled severely with physical health, being hospitalized several times a year and needing to be in a wheelchair when I turned 22 due to POTS.
During those ten years, I learned so much about integrative health and what it means to live in a highly sensitive body. I learned about neuroplasticity from functional neurologists and discovered I had been having absence seizures throughout my entire life. For years, I researched the connection between the brain and body, learning about the interconnectedness and communication within. It had been very difficult to interact with the world around me and so my inner worlds became ever more vibrant. My mind becoming a haven to meet with ascended masters in prayer.
When I was 27 I opted to have a surgery to remove my colon and create an ileostomy pouch. It gave me my life back in a way I hadn’t dreamed possible. When I was 28, I finished my master’s degree in Expressive Arts Therapy.
Today, I am 31 years old, working in behavioral therapy, teaching voice lessons, directing a choir, writing music, and reading tarot for the Santa Fe community. When I first was introduced to tarot ten years ago, it spoke to my soul immediately. Learning about the archetypes through the major and minor arcanas helped me make sense of my human journey. Tarot has helped me realize that even though I may be unique, I am not special in my struggles. Everyone has something they’re going through. The tarot helps us to not be a victim in our story. It helps us to get the lesson and keep going.
