The Huntress by Phoenix LeFae

The Huntress

I pull the string back to my ear. With a breath, I steady myself and focus on the target ahead of me. In reality the target is only a paper bull’s eye, but as I aim I see more than just rings of concentric circles. In my mind’s eye, the wind is whipping through my hair, as I stalk the deer in front of me. In my mind’s eye I am covered in earth tones, mud rubbed onto my skin, hair, and clothing. In my mind’s eye I am deep in the heart of the forest, connecting to the spirit of the animal in front of me.

As I let go of the string I feel the plastic fletching from the tail of the arrow wiz by my fingers. In reality my aim is true and I watch as the arrow disappears into the target. Not in the center bull’s eye, but close enough to make me happy. In my mind’s eye the arrow also hits its mark and my prey falls to the Earth. It has given me the gift of its life and I am honored, knowing that one day I will also fall and feed the Earth with my own body.

My obsession with bow shooting all started with a book, as these things usually do for me. In this particular book, the world as we know it had stopped working and people had to revert to ancient ways for survival. One of those ways was in taking up ancient weapons, like the bow. For me it felt like a weapon from the Otherworld; classic, smooth, and sexy. I fancied myself an Elvin Warrioress in training. When the bow was gifted to me it was more than I could have imagined. I cried tears of joy when I opened the package, waves of Lord of the Rings imagery flooding through me. I felt like I was about to take my place among the great warriors of ancient times. I felt surrounded by golden light as I lifted the bow in front of me…and then the reality set in. I had no idea how to shoot the thing.

My shooting lessons were taught by a small firecracker of a woman. I found it very fitting that a woman would teach me how to use this artful weapon. In my first lesson we practiced aiming with a shoelace. We learned the proper way to hold the bow and how far back to pull the string. We learned about the proper stance and bow etiquette. That felt good and safe. In the second lesson, I finally got to shoot arrows.

Standing on the line I raised my new bow. Holding the bow with my right hand, I drew the cord back with my left. Holding the string close to my ear, I listened to the instructions from my teacher, on how to correct my stance and where I should be looking to aim. I let go of the string for the first time and watched my arrow fly across the range and impact several feet below where the target sat. Although I missed my mark, I didn’t care. My body felt like it was singing. It felt like this was meant to be.

When I stood with my bow in the proper shooting stance I felt like Artemis. When my position was right on the mark I could feel it, because there seemed to be a shift in the world. When holding the bow properly I feel like I have tapped into a great and mysterious secret. There is no other feeling in the world that I can compare it to. I don’t know that I will ever really be able to take down an animal. It is not something that I aspire to do at this point in my life. But when I am shooting, something inside me knows what it feels like to shoot down an animal; it feels like I have done it many times before. I am a Huntress and the forest is my playground.

Bow shooting connects me to something so primal and sacred within myself. Sometimes I want to go to that place and run with the wolves, never to return to the land of the mundane. The most powerful magickal tool that I have is my bow. With it I can transform myself into the Huntress and claim the power that lives deep within my cell memory.

If you get the chance, I highly recommend it.