Day: 1 Sep 2021

August’s Stats 2021

Statistics for August 2021

Brief August's Stats

The stats have been a while in coming, but the August stats are here (If you’re looking for July’s, I will have moved it to the publish date of 1 August for ease of reference).   August begins on Day 213 and finishes on Day 243.  The Silence card dominates August’s stats and appears eight times.  There’s a five-way tie, with seven appearances each, for second place, and the cards are The Master, Fighting, Thunderbolt, Morality, and Exhaustion.  Like July, three cards didn’t make an appearance; they were, Transformation, Celebration and Courage

By the way, head to the Tarot Layouts page to see all the images for the month (and previous months) in one spot.  By the way, there were 2,430 cards dealt as of 31 August 2021.

A Kind Glossary

It’s not a good glossary, but here are some terms that might help clarify things. 

The Cross is the first six cards, and the Base is the last four cards to the right of any layout.

Time-based positions are Distant Past, Recent Past, Future Energy.  Note, the “Feelings” spot can also be referred to as the Immediate Future.

It is not set in concrete for the Cross and Base to act as external and internal or physical and emotional; respectively, it is something I use as a rough guide.

These can wiggle a little when it comes to the types of cards that appear and, dare I say it, one’s intuition.  There is, of course, Others’ Views which is arguably “external”, but it’s our reaction to how Others’ Views that have internal meaning. 😁

The reason I focus mainly on the highest appearing cards is that they give me the best data.  If a card appears twice in the month, it’s intriguing to ponder its significance in a pool of many and is certainly something a discord might be enjoyable to have; quantitative data is initially more fun 🤔.

Distribution Across the Layout

Silence’s presence was evenly placed over the layout without a clear preference for its position, although it appeared twice in each Now and Outcome spot.

Exhaustion has an inward focus appearing in Future Energy and Feelings for the majority of its visitations.  Morality and Thunderbolt almost mirror each other when it comes to Cross versus Base.  Morality is in the former and Thunderbolt in the Feelings.

Some of the more exciting cards for August’s stats were the ones that had six appearances.  Breakthrough, for instance, appeared as Influence position four of its six appearances in the month and didn’t venture into the Base at all.  On the other hand, Intensity and Compromise occupied Hopes & Fears and Other’s Views, respectively.  However, these two cards did venture into the Cross side of the layout in no specific pattern. 

The only cards in noteworthy positions are perhaps Receptivity, whose five appearances exclusively appear in Influence and Others’ Views, three and two times, retrospectively.  Mind makes four out of five appearances in the Cross, and Politics focuses its energy on the time-based spots of the Cross; that is, Distant Past, Recent Past, and Future Energy.

Distribution Across the Month

Let’s see what the top cards do across the month.  As we’ve established, Silence is across the layout, but its appearances aren’t restricted to consecutive days either.  Likewise, The Master, Harmony, Fighting, Exhaustion, and Morality cards have spread evenly across August’s stats. 

It’s the next couple of cards where it becomes exciting.  Mind is even more fascinating because its layout distribution is concentrated in the Cross and only in the first six days, very intense!  

Success only appears after the 17th.  And Politics occupied the middle of the month between the 9th and 22nd.  While Harmony seemed to occupy the same layout positions as Politics but on other days.

August's Stats - By Day By Position

August's Stats Top 6 card appearances. Silence 8, The Master, Exhaustion, Morality, Fighting, Thunderbolt with 6 apiece

The Story of August

The month begins with a lot of confusion (Mind), then a Breakthrough happens to dispel the Politics that existed.  The Politics get replaced by liberation of spirit, and The Master and Success’ appearance exemplifies autonomy.  All the while, feelings of Exhaustion threatened the Hopes & Fears dichotomy, the fear of Compromise and hope of Intensity.

The cards that didn’t bother getting out of bed for August were:  Transformation, Celebration, and Courage.  This lack of appearance could indicate while Breakthrough was influential, it wasn’t something life-changing to need Transformation.  And I had encountered Success, but it did not require Celebration.  The Master‘s is imbued with Courage, making the card redundant.

Year-to-August 2021

From a year-to-date perspective, The Source holds the spotlight with 42 appearances, but it is no longer alone because Harmony’s six August appearances equal 42 for the year too.  

The cards with the fewest appearances in August’s stats are the same as July’s stats, Turning In, Going with the Flow and Success.  And the message with their absence is to meditate, which encourages reflection, finding time to just drift along with the current of life, and in doing so, Success might follow.

When it comes to first appearances in positions, basically has a card not showing up in a layout position?  If so, what positions are still vacant against which cards?  You can look for yourself in the First Appearances stats, but when it comes to a summary, 94% of positions used, leaving 6%, which is 43 spots still, to have the first appearance in some layout positions.

That’s August’s stats done.

Overall Yearly Trend - Highest to Lowest

Only August's Stats - Highest to Lowest

August's Stats Only. Sorted Highest to Lowest

Day 244 – Bathroom Renovation Commitment

Wednesday, 1 September 2021

Day 244. Renovation start. Cards in order of appearance: The Master, Traveling, Stress, Turning In, The Lovers, The Burden, Morality, The Dream, Letting Go, Understanding, Deck pile shuffle

Bathroom Renovation Context

Hi. Yep.  That’s all I got and a dad joke, or should that be a “bad” joke!  I’m just kidding.  Although on Day 219, I mentioned I would keep it short and sweet to 1 September.  I haven’t managed to catch up, and it’s looking more and more like a pipedream.   My notes are simply:  bathroom tiles, vanity and cabinet ordered.  Booked quote visit from bathroom renovator.  Booking is for two weeks!

Builders and trades are super busy at the moment because people can’t travel; they’re investing their money in renovating.  I suppose you’re in lockdown; you might as well fix up all those things you’ve meant to fix.

It’s got nothing to do with the bathroom renovation theme, but the dad joke aligns with Father’s Day on Sunday (in Australia, it’s the first Sunday in September).  Here goes:  every year, I buy my dad some comic themed shampoo, and this year he’s expressed a desire for batman shampoo; the shops were out of stock, so I bought him, Conditioner Gordon.  Groan!  🙈 🙉

On that last note, let’s move to the analysis.

Today's Cards

Renovation Start. Day 244. Cards in order of appearance: The Master, Traveling, Stress, Turning In, The Lovers, The Burden, Morality, The Dream, Letting Go, Understanding, Deck pile shuffle

The Cards - Bathroom Renovation Analysis

Carryover Cards

One card carried over from yesterday; The Master moved from Recent Past to Now.

Cross

Regular Turning In in the Distant Past paved the way for me to live in my truth, The Master who is in the Now position.  The Master is another way of describing the “lead by example’ except you’re “leading” by example.  In the Osho Zen book, I like the words, “The butterfly cannot prove that the caterpillar can become a butterfly; there is no logical way.  But the butterfly can provoke a longing in the caterpillar – that is possible” (p. 47). 

Travelling influences The Master, and it kind of does.  In the absence of any other notes, I’m taking the travel card to refer to the journey to the tile shop where we purchased the bathroom products.       

Not sure if anyone has had to make choices on colours and cabinets, and even though I went in with eyes wide open, I set myself up for the Stress.  So, Stress occupying the Goal does not come as a surprise.

Once my husband and I were at the store, we worked well together to select a mutually agreed aesthetic.  We have mutual respect for the other’s contribution, and since it happened recently, it’s in the Recent Past and reflected by The Lovers.

Alas, purchasing cabinets, vanity, tiles and putting down a deposit means that Future Energy will have The Burden.

Base

So, what are my Feelings about this bathroom purchase?  It makes me feel prudish, and to some extent, I know I’m doing the right thing (Morality) for my visitors, if not directly for me/ us.

Others’ Views of the bathroom renovation or me with the renovation are deluding myself regarding what I hope to achieve with the change.  Alternatively, I’m finally making the change I’ve wanted to make.  Others might be concerned that the difference I’m more romantically attached to the idea than the reality will be, aka it’s The Dream.  This concern could be on the contractor selection.

Hopes & Fears is all about Letting Go.  The hope would be about Letting Go of the existing bathroom and look.  Just to be clear, I like the existing bathroom.  The only thing I haven’t enjoyed since we moved in is the squashy shower (written about on Day 085).  Of course, the fear is Letting Go of the money I’m going to spend and the existing bathroom – where’s that miser card when you think you need it 😉.

Finally, the Outcome has Understanding, which seems like an odd card to have given the other cards. The first words that confronted me were, “you are out of jail, out of the cage” (p. 63) and immediately, I knew what it meant.  Basically, it’s saying, “you’re out of the starting blocks when it comes to the bathroom renovation”.085

References

  1. Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7.  If you like the deck here is a link.  Neither Osho or the purchase site are sponsors.
  2. Day 120 Moving or Renovating Dilemma 
End Day 244
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