From The Garden– Leila + Olive

Discovering the Poisonous Plants of the Maiden Oracle

by Nicole Rallis

Poison plants of the Maiden Oracle offer an empowering purpose for this most bewitching of seasons. As we grow past harvest, blooms may haunt the heart with noxious forces, and yet that same fatal venom may be pruned to create. Be one plucked from peril or mended when once maimed, the Maiden turns the harm of another's poison into repellents of the shame.

Our Garden Journey: Uncovering the Pythia Botanica

by Nicole Rallis

It’s been 5 years since this deck of plant magic first bloomed! Join me in celebrating Pythia Botanica Oracle’s half-decade of garden reads, perennial spreads, and weathered fate from the stem to the Sun. To take on 5 more years, a Second Volume has sprouted with 48 all new cards, plants, blooms and guidebook. Rooted in mythology and infused with plant magic, find futures among these 96 cards, either with a single set or with both Volumes combined.

The Garden Is Seen, Yet Also It Sees

by Nicole Rallis

New blooms have sprung with a flurry under the warm Summer Sun, where light found its way from the surface to the root, to the garden at large, from the face of the bounty to the face of the cards. In the Spring, this garden was planted with intention, drawing from these sister decks with hope that seeds sown from below might find my eye in an above-ground future.

Which Botanical Deck is For You?

by Nicole Rallis

An ode to the garden (Pythia Botanica Oracle), to transformation (Ophidia Rosa Tarot), to empowerment (The Maiden Oracle), to the boundless realm of imagination (Ad Orbita Tarot). Each their own, together as one.

Find your deck below through an eight question quiz.

Drawing Sun-Beamed Meaning

by Nicole Rallis

My garden, having burst with its first bounty of blooms and first session of deadheading stems, has taken note of Solstice season, too. And as always, this led me to look to the cards. Would they align with some of these stray thoughts and feelings?

The Ophidia Rosa Tarot's Sun card strikes a note with the closeness mentioned earlier: "Swelling with heat from the closest of stars, we connect to the beat of hearts here and afar."

Blooming Truth Into View

by Nicole Rallis

Shears in hand, my face sidled by sun-bleached puffs of Crown Princess Margareta Roses, a most cherished time of year arrives joyful to the eye. This small yet somehow endless space is where I find a boundless stream of inspiration, where I learn from and with the plants, where the Pythia Botanica was born nearly five years ago, the Ophidia Rosa four years ago, and the Maiden three. I come here to create, to read cards, to sit, to greet the day's emotions, to process the catharsis that only inhabiting a garden may bring.

Iris Magic From the Garden to the Cards

by Nicole Rallis

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." - Matisse

If Winter's garden was a blank canvas, this Spring's first buds have felt like imagination sprouting from the page. Art and plants oft-entwine in these ways for me: An idea, like seeds, below the surface, then sketching out a vine to where one's hues become painted blooms.

From Spring's Garden

by Nicole Rallis

Greetings from the garden, where Spring mysteries emerge and bend to the light of Summer. All Winter long I dream of this place, my favorite spot to pull a card from these sister decks. Do the plants have a say in what emerges? Pythia only knows, but I can tell you many times I've pulled the Rose card mere inches from an English Rose herself. Other pulls have been more opaque, even spreads that dare me to muse on what's at stake. One's journey, like their garden's seasonal rise, is unique to each.

Turning Light Into Poppies

by Nicole Rallis

In honor of and inspired by the Ophidia Rosa this week, I wanted to share a favorite form of transformation, one that I continue to learn from, in and out of the garden, that shapes my being and my art: the conversion of seed into bloom. It is among the most wondrous, imaginative and accessible ways to connect with nature: to witness the magic of plants unfold before our eyes. A humble packet of seeds is all one needs, sunlight, water and a vessel to enjoy its unfolding.

An Ode to Roses

by Nicole Rallis

One of my favorite ventures in gardening over the years has been growing, tending to and connecting to English Roses. While the Rose has many symbols, in the Pythia Botanica Oracle, I write about this enchanting bloom as a beacon of compassion. In my eyes, it is a botanical that inverts traditional understandings of love, that uplifts us on even our saddest days and may serve as a mighty force of healing. It's a strong, soft and powerful bloom whose beauty is unparalleled. In growing Roses, I have found this to be true and the joy, excitement and love they provide to be most fulfilling.

Planting A Garden With Intention

by Nicole Rallis

Keeping a garden where the botanicals hold such depth and meaning, and being able to read my cards with the very blooms depicted, has been one of the most joyful experiences. So I thought I'd go more into depth with this practice, taking you along for the journey.

For the Love of Tulips, or Frankly, My Tulip, I Don't Give a Damn

by Nicole Rallis

There's beauty in simplicity, in whimsical, cupped blooms embellished with long, winding green leaves that dance along a stem.

From Winter's Garden

by Nicole Rallis

As Rose canes peek through blankets of snow and the garden is quietly hibernating, I've been working day and night on a flurry of new artworks and projects that will be shared soon. In the meantime, here are some notes from my garden, and a reading from Pythia's garden.

Currency

From The Garden