A follow-up story on making something whole again. 🌸
I just opened up an envelope from Germany to find a piece of my own artwork.
[This story begins here in When Part of Your Exhibition Runs Away about what happened to my photographic tarot deck in a Tokyo gallery.]
On my last day in Japan three weeks ago, I took the remaining deck to my favorite neighborhood area under some cherry blossoms — tapping them on tree trunks to reset their energy, creating a new sakura tarot spread, and inserting a fresh-fallen flower and some petals between the cards before wrapping them in a furoshiki cloth for travels home.
When I returned home in Zürich, I had waiting for me a new deck from the original printer that I’d ordered to be able to replace the missing cards.
To properly integrate the new cards, I introduced them to the still-wrapped original deck by tapping them together against tree trunks around my home and lastly the intended destination — “my” newly-bloomed cherry blossom tree in Zürich.
I finally opened the original deck to the Swiss air, and gifted the travelling sakura to the local tree. The little flower that grew in Japan likely never dreamed its petals would flutter to the ground on the other side of the world.
Properly recharged, I took both decks to the middle of the forest, to the same table I had first activated the original deck last autumn — and there I integrated the missing cards. Finally whole again.
I also later painted the edges of all the cards silver by hand to truly unify them — and make the deck even more beautiful than before.
A week or two passed, and then this morning I finally (!) got around to looking through some mail that had arrived while I was away — opening a red envelope from my artist friend Susanne to see… The Sun.
It took my breath away.
Only three other people in the world that I know of have my deck, and it almost felt like looking into a mirror. How beautiful and generous to do this. I am profoundly touched by her kindness.
I will return it to her with a small print — and bring to a gentle sunlit close this wild journey and circle of art.
Thank you as ever for reading and joining me in the magic. 🌿
JILL.DESIGN 
Leave a comment