Transition. Connection. Creativity.
Practical Shadow Work.
Hi! My name is Sam.
It’s my honor to serve as your companion through the shadows of life.
Humble Beginnings:
A small child found a deck of pretty picture cards, and asked their mother for money to get ice cream from the traveling truck. Mom didn’t believe me, but I knew, based on what I’d seen in that tarot deck. By the time I’d convinced her to give me the money anyway, we could hear the calliope. (I got a bomb pop!)
Later that summer, I would help with the logistics of my first funeral – setting the flowers into proper bundles and learning the rituals of mourning. These two moments are the beginning of my path intersecting divination and deathwork.
My primary services are for folks in transition, with an emphasis on endings and re-empowerment for new beginnings. Like the spirit of the Phoenix, we fall to ash and are born anew in every moment.
Identity & Practice:
I carry many names and identities, and am honored to hold multiple traditions. As someone of mixed ancestry, I have harmonized who I am in all aspects of lineage to form an eclectic approach that respects my roots and my place in the modern world simultaneously.
As someone who is well outside the mainstream with multiple marginalized identities, I do not make assumptions about your own identity. I uphold the values of intersectional feminism, as well as transformative and healing justice. My philosophy is that by bringing my whole self to meet yours, we are in community during our work together. I always strive to honor the space in which we are connected, as it is our humanity.
My practice is rooted in a skeptic’s approach to spirituality. This is not to say that I do not have faith, but that my faith is tested in the experiment that is my life. I question what I am taught, including what I’ve taught myself. While I have a deep respect for traditions, I reject the notion that our magic is somehow separate from our mundane.
Teachers, Qualifications, & Collaborations:
I am grateful for those who’ve come before me and passed their knowledge and experience down. I’ve learned from a wide variety of folks, some of whom are listed here.
Tarot/Divination: Eden Grey, James Wanless, cat yronwode
Abortion & Deathwork: Angie Buchanan, Roshi Joan Halifax, SPIRAL Collective
Herbalism: chere suzette bergeron, Rowan Fakhoury, Karen Rose
Buddhism: Viki Adducci, Ani Pema Chodron, Yongey Mingur Rinpoche
Ritual, sacred object, and energy work: Anishinaabeg Elders, Haitian Houngans and Mambos, Joshua Rittenbeck, Raven Kaldera
Space clearing and object placement: Thomas Lin Yun Rinpoche, Karen Kingston, Richard Webster, Julie Morgenstern
Certifications:
- Master Reader, Twin Cities Tarot Collective
- Ordained Minister, Universal Life Church
- Certified Death Midwife, Earth Traditions
- Certified PCA, State of Minnesota
- AAS – Criminal Justice (Restorative Corrections), Minneapolis Community & Technical College
Public Memberships:
- Twin Cities Tarot Collective
- Conspiracy of Strange Girls
- Order of the Good Death
- National Home Funeral Alliance
- Minnesota Death Collaborative