The flame

Archetypes

During this campaign I have been drawn to noticing archetypes, as a short-hand way for me to communicate, decipher and plan responses. I have enough archetypes in my opponents to create my own deck of personality types.

Archetypes serve as easy access to universal and mythic characters and the orientations they bring to the world. I was introduced to the beautiful work of Kim Krans who created The Wild Unknown Archetypes deck by Coralus founder Vicki Saunders (She/Her) . Each week during the campaign I have taken time for reflection that has also included pulling a card to still myself and reach into the world of archetypes and point to myself, rather than others. The last one I pulled was the Flame, the first one was the River.

From the River to the Flame

The River was a very reassuring card to draw with the City of Onkaparinga being named after Ngangkiparingka, is Kaurna for women only places along the river. Pulling the Flame for the last week of the campaign, where the flame is a sign of connecting to your inner spark and true self, the inner eternal flame that connects us to our true purpose has been equally reassuring.

I am reflecting on we draw into ourselves for fire and water, essential elements in any kind of leadership. Fire in our belly as fuel for justice and water is the source of all life and we all know how awful we feel if we aren't hydrated.

Return Rate

The number of ballots in so far continues to be lower than four years ago. Our electoral roll should be in the best shape ever with State and Federal elections being held earlier in the year, so it is unlikely to be due to a significant number of people not being at the location they are registered. A postal election is reliant on Australia Post to deliver on time and people were still getting their ballots last week, three weeks after they were posted, in some of the regional corners of the City.

Missing ballots have been reported to the Electoral Commission from people who have lived at their address for years. There will no doubt be plenty of stories to collect and share with the Review post the election.

Theories about why the trend line looks the way it does will no doubt feed into the archetypes world views - there will be conspiracies, an epidemic of voter apathy, a pox on Australia Post and more.

On Saturday the Mayoral vote will be counted so next week I will let you know how it all panned out. Thanks dear readers for being on the journey with me.

Daily return of all ballots Statewide as at Friday 4 November