Nicole Rallis is an artist and gardener from New York City, “a place where every bit of green stands in stark, beautiful relief to concrete backgrounds.” Her love of illustration and plants forms the basis of her three hand-painted sister card decks that she sells through her company Leila + Olive: The Pythia Botanica Oracle, The Ophidia Rosa Tarot, and the Maiden Oracle.
What does natural magic mean to her? “The connection I feel to nature,” she says, “along with the inspiration it brings, are the proof and pudding of its magic for me. When I go outside, creative whims no longer need to call from within, because out among the leaves, buds, and blooms are limitless patterns, colors, and textures growing all around us.” One of her favorite rituals is to read oracle and tarot cards in her garden. “The plants, bees, bugs, and butterflies are a welcome buzzing distraction,” she says, “where conscious worries of life can be held at bay. It’s a perfect place to find meaning from the deck. I made the cards with the garden in my heart, so this is the place where I bring them back, and the garden meets the cards.”
She stays enchanted by staying open to possibilities, and by relating her life to the garden that inspires her. “So much in my journey is about growing things and watching things grow. But it is also about pruning, weeding, or even clearing a lost branch to find a little garden snake who has made a mysterious place its home among the green. There are so many mysteries to uncover, above and below the leaves.”
Visit Leila + Olive online at leilaolive.com.
