L’Oracle du Jardin,
Safe Places, and me:
An Interview with Clara Feder
There is no other perfume house quite like Le Jardin Retrouvé and no Creative Director quite like Clara Feder. Le Jardin Retrouvé has a unique history, an eco-friendly ethos and decades of expertise behind every product. But now, they can lay claim to being the first maison de parfum to produce their own artisan designed Oracle Cards. Creative Director Clara Feder is following her deeply rooted plan to expand the mission of the brand - protectiveness – to the inner self, addressing the need we all have for a benevolent inner voice.
Why Oracle Cards?
Following Clara Feder’s insight, Le Jardin Retrouvé (which means the Rediscovered Garden in English) is creating a new Wellbeing collection. L’Oracle du Jardin is the first output of this new collection, dedicated to the Inner Garden each and every one of us needs to nurture to face the growing demands of world’s changes and upheavals. Oracle cards are a help for focusing on positive energies, recharging with meditation, and creating an inner safe place where we feel rejuvenated.
Clara, tell us what inspired you to create these Oracle Cards?
I've always been intrigued by premonitions and other coincidences. Acclaimed psychologist Carl Jung used to call that Synchronicity. For me, it began as dreams I had in my youth, sometimes being awake, and sometimes asleep, which I came to understand to be a preview of the future, or a form of it. I had one of my first premonitions when I was eight. This led me to a lifelong search and interest in what some people call the invisible, but what is, in fact, very tangible when our intuition manifests itself. How many times have we wished we had understood the hint and acted upon it?
From my twenties to my thirties, I started to unravel a quest within me. I had an unquenchable thirst to dig deeper. This led me to experience and explore many things from Tarot to numerology to astrology to Sufism in Morocco, and the ancient wisdom of Native Americans. I even joined a sweat lodge in New Mexico.
As time passed, I never stopped practising Rituals from these ancient wisdoms, although in moderate and sometimes circumstantial ways. I was engulfed in very practical and demanding matters, such as raising three children, publishing books, having art exhibitions in different countries and setting up Le Jardin Retrouvé.
At one point, I realised that times have changed, what was then an exploration has now become a real need for a growing number of people, and maybe I could help in my very humble way.
As an artist, I started to make safe places to recover from our encounter with the big busy world, and it became my trademark. Until I came to understand that it is precisely what Le Jardin Retrouvé is about -a safe place. Again, the synchronicity manifested itself and led me on to the Inner Garden project and the Wellbeing collection.
“How many times have we wished we had understood the hint of premonition and acted upon it?”
Clara Feder
Do you use them yourself? How are they helping you?
I use them daily, and it is a real joy to see those beautiful images drawn by Kaya Bagamaz, combined with the name I picked for each of them, all related to a perfume from our collection. They make me feel protected and supported. It puts me in tune with my inner voice, a voice I can’t afford to ignore even in my busy life.
How can the Oracle Cards help improve your wellbeing?
In many ways, all encompassed into 3 rituals, one in the morning, one to close the day and one to go to sleep. In my opinion, rituals are essential, and you can choose the one, or the ones, you wish to make you feel good.
First of all, the cards are a meditation support. And we all know by now the incredible benefits even 10 minutes of meditation a day can have for your health and general wellbeing. Therefore, whether you believe in the power of words and energies is irrelevant to the benefits you can reap by simply drawing a card and meditating on it.
Second, as a mindfulness tool, it is remarkable. Let’s suppose on a given day you drew the card Flexibility. Chances are that on that day, because you drew that card, you will focus and notice how much flexibility is needed from you, and you might then realise the utmost importance of flexibility in an ever-changing world. This also might lead you to some other discoveries that you might not have made in any other way.
In other words, let yourself be surprised! Sometimes you will think that the card you have drawn is unrelated to what you had planned for the day. Are you so sure? Sometimes the card will reveal something deeply buried, which can be very useful for the day you have to go through. That's why at the end of the day, you might be surprised when you realise what the card really meant for you…
“You might be surprised when you realise what the card really meant for you…”
Clara Feder
Why do you recommend using candles alongside L’Oracle du Jardin?
There’s something primal and peaceful about a candle flame. It focuses the mind and calms the swirling chaos of your thoughts. It helps you to block out intrusive anxieties and to centre yourself. Light it, watch it, and feel yourself relax. You’ll be surprised how effective such a simple act can be! Besides, the five fragrances our candles come in have a variety of uplifting scents, evoking beautiful thoughts. For example, Rose Trocadéro can be soothing , Mousse Arashiyama evokes the calm of forest bathing , Tubéreuse Trianon can inspire creativity, Osmanthe Liu Yuan might take you back to happy childhood thoughts while Cuir de Russie was inspired by love and family. Choose the one you feel drawn to.
What are you working on next?
I’m developing more products around the theme of Le Jardin Retrouvé’s Wellbeing collection and the Inner Garden we all have inside us. It’s important to connect with that sanctuary inside us, so you’ll soon be seeing relaxing pillow mists to help you sleep and scented notebooks to write down meditations, dreams or affirmations. These are very practical roads to Wellbeing, and I’m glad the first stone in this new garden is L’Oracle du Jardin, which offers a more spiritual approach.
Thank you, Clara!
You can purchase your own deck of L’Oracle du Jardin here, along with a fragrant candle to set the mood!
(Clara Feder was in conversation with Samantha Scriven.)