Bow and Arrow

What this is

A drawn bow with the arrow nocked, set at the head of the thirteenth folio. It is the emblem of aim, of intention loosed toward a mark, and of the swift outcome that follows a true draw. Its verses speak of purpose, the decisive shot, and fortune sent flying toward its target.

What it governs

Presides over aim, intention, the decisive act, and the matter aimed at. Folio 13. It rules the moment of release, when purpose becomes flight.

Its properties

Its colour is the brown of yew and the bright of the iron head; its number thirteen, the number of a sharp turn. The quality is focus, the steadiness of hand that sends the shaft true. In shadow it is the rash shot loosed in anger, the aim taken without thought, the arrow that cannot be called back once it flies.

Where else it appears

The same note is the arrow of Sagittarius the archer, the centaur drawing his bow toward the heavens; the shaft of Eros that fixes love where it lands; Artemis and Apollo with their unerring bows; the single-pointed aim the contemplatives call concentration, the mind drawn to one mark. One arrow, many strings.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

It surfaces as the Folio of the Day and as a closing folio, and it is the natural folio for questions of a present pursuit, of the decisive move, and of whether your aim will strike. When it heads your day, aim once and loose cleanly; the day rewards focus and punishes the scattered shot. In a reading it answers questions of pursuit with success for the true aim and counsels you to be sure of your mark before you draw.

Why it matters

It stands thirteenth because intention is the engine of every outcome, and the Bow and Arrow is the oracle's emblem of purpose made flight. It asks you to aim at what you truly want before you let it fly.

Correspondences

planet

Jupiter, Mars

element

Fire

zodiac

Sagittarius

number

13

colour

Yew-brown, iron

metal

Iron