Hitting the Target: Tarot Shots

Last week I went to an air rifle range. Yes, me. Uncomfortable with speed as I am – I have an aversion to jet skis and even riding a bike downhill – I found myself agreeing with the Prof that it might be ‘a laugh’. Me, the Prof, a grandad, father and his son aged about nine who was probably going to shoot the pants off us all, we’re sitting at tables in a grey warehouse in Washington (that’s Tyne and Wear, not the US, btw) and given instruction by hefty Scotsman Andy, the Range Officer. We’re taught how stay safe, then how to load our rifles with fiddly wee pellets.

Rather than feel I was about to enter some kind of Call of Duty hell, the quiet descends. There’s no machismo and I’m feeling strangely comfortable and calm. We start popping our rifles. The great thing is, no one can see my target – so they’re not going to see how shit I am at this, I think. I have evidence of past poor performance. The Prof advised me strongly before arriving that I wasn’t to refer to shooting as ‘pointing the stick’.(We’d been clay pigeon shooting once and had to abandon it because I was incapable of pointing. Actually pointing at a moving target. Ended up giving my shots to the Prof, but that’s another story.)

Andy comes to check on our progress and gives me a few pointers (ha ha), and my shots begin to improve. I actually hit a bullseye! For the next hour, all five of us are in deep concentration mode. We’re collectively thinking about lining up our shots, keeping the trigger depressed for two seconds after firing to let the pellet reach the end of the barrel… oh yes, it’s getting technical. And I realise I’m really getting into this. The precision involved in preparation. Rather like Temperance, carefully balancing volatile factors to get the right formula: the hold on the rifle, body position, intention, the timing.

I begin to get shooting the way I get fishing. That maybe it’s not the target or the catch, but the process – like a meditation, becoming more attuned to your breathing, movement and thoughts, which impact upon the outcome. On the way home, I thought how I’d express this in tarot. Say we begin with an outcome card, or target, then the question is – how do we get there? What’s the catalyst that creates the right outcome?

Here’s the spread I put together. First, consciously choose a ‘target’. Go through your deck, and select a card that most expresses your ideal outcome or goal. Lay it to the right.

Then shuffle and choose three more cards, laying them as below:

The Tarot Shot Spread

1

What to focus on

3

The trigger: access to the target                                Target card

2

What position to adopt

You can repeat the reading as needed, choosing different target cards.