Pythia was available only on the seventh day of each month because according to the Delphic calendar the seventh day of the month of Bysios (March-April) was considered Apollo’s birthday. Moreover, she was only available nine months of the year because in the wintertime Apollo entrusted Delphi to the god Dionysus and departed for the mythical land of the Hyperboreans. The number of visitors, though, necessitated the employment of additional methods of divinations that were perhaps less official but perfectly adequate for the common questions. One such method required Pythia (or a priest) to “read” and interpret signs using a set of randomized objects.