Each card within Midnight City Tarot was inspired by a memory and a moment in time within New York City. It’s an honor to be able to share the story of The Fool’s personal and spiritual growth in the city that never sleeps.
Nostalgic magic was infused into the illustrations, imbuing the essence of NYC and conveying meaning into each card.
Many of the cards are made up of a layer of places, circumstance, sounds, images, conversations, thoughts, feelings and atmospheres. Like the sound of a swan’s wings flapping, the scent of roses on an early morning walk, or feeling of sunshine on your shoulders.
So many little moments came together, and those electromagnetic imprints were held and transmitted through the process of drawings of the deck.
A lot of magic took place while living in the city. I didn’t set out to make a tarot deck when I first moved there, I just followed the spark of inspiration, one step at a time, saying YES to every adventure that I could, and learning, making mistakes, and growing as I went.
The moments that inspired the cards felt destined, meaningful and guided. Looking back I think it was so that I'd have all of the pieces of what would later become Midnight City Tarot, so that I could share this adventure with you.
Today I want to tell you about one of the most destined places within the deck - Flower Power! - and how it inspired the 9 of Cups and Queen of Coins.
I sat in a circle at Maya Rose, the scent of incense wafting through the air, curtains billowing as each additional person came to join the circle.
A glow of lights outside the window. Water infused with rose quartz in our cups. I was seated next to the editor of the Midnight City Tarot guidebook (of course we didn’t even know the deck would exist at that time.) She was telling me about a magical little shop that I needed to visit, called Flower Power, located in the East Village. They offered a course on how to create Flower Essences, and all of it just sounded so divine.
A few weeks later, instead of making my normal commute home, I remembered the story of Flower Power and decided to go on an adventure, taking a different route and experiencing this special place for myself. I was hoping to find lemon balm and mugwort (to enhance dreaming) and figured that might be the perfect place.
I got off the train, and the closer I got to the shop, the more and more dreaminess I felt. Like I was being guided. As I got to the doorway I looked down and noticed a feather (just like the one that appears in The Portal in the City of Dreams Deck, and in the Temperance card.) It was a sign.
Inside was warm, cozy, mystical - there were trinkets, magical potions, tinctures, essences, balms, and jars and jars of all types of flowers and herbs. A little ladder leaned up against wall made of shelves and filled with jars of herbs.
I realized why I felt so guided - I had been having dreams of this shop for years prior, since before moving to NYC. Those dreams consisted of walking to special shop, greeting the woman at the counter, and perusing the shelves, but it wasn’t really a shop - at the time I didn't understand. It was full of magical and mystical things, not material things. It’s hard to describe, but it always felt like ‘coming home’ whenever I had the opportunity to visit in my dream life.
I saw the lemon balm on a shelf up high, and I turned to the woman at the front desk asking if I could step on the ladder to get it. She looked at me and said, 'Have you been here before, I’m having the strangest dejavu.'
It was the most multidimensional experience I’d had up until that time. The magical store from my dream realm was real, and maybe a part of me who had ‘visited’ many times before had been perceivable after all.
I got the lemon balm, and a bottle of mugwort dream oil. I worked with that mugwort as part of the ritual to create Midnight City Tarot.
Drawing the cards was a spiritual experience. It involved a practice of prayer, getting into a meditative state, applying mugwort to my third eye, and listening to the music from my playlist that took me back to all of those magical moments. Each brush stroke held the intention of connecting with those special moments in time.
If you have a chance to visit Flower Power in NYC, this is your sign! It’s incredible, and not only full of organic herbs, magical items from local businesses, but there are classes and workshops so that you can learn from amazing beings who are truly mystical and loving.
And if you are not local, you are still in luck! Ordering is available on their site. I hope you’ll find it just as magical as I did and I’d love to hear your experience of this incredible store!
Check out my top 10 favorite items from Flower Power here!
A big thank you to Lata the wonderful, welcoming, magical owner (and QUEEN!) of Flower Power, and all of the incredibly talented people there who make it a such a magical hub for the community!
Lots of love!
Jackie