Also called o-mikuji, mikuji, Japanese fortune paper
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples, ranked from great blessing to great curse, with advice on matters like travel, love and lost items. Unlucky slips are traditionally tied at the shrine to leave the bad luck behind.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Follow each shrine's rules on where to tie slips, and do not tie them to trees that are roped off. Respect worshippers and photography rules on shrine grounds.
Many temple omikuji follow a set of one hundred verse oracles credited to Ryōgen, the Tendai monk known as Ganzan Daishi, who died in 985. Legend says the verses were revealed to him by Kannon. A wooden container of oracle lots dated 1409 survives at Tendai-ji in Iwate.
At temples such as Wong Tai Sin in Hong Kong, the asker kneels, shakes a bamboo cup of about 100 numbered sticks until one falls, and confirms the answer by tossing two crescent-shaped moon blocks. The number leads to a written oracle, often explained by an interpreter. Japanese omikuji are thought to be modelled on this practice.
In Thailand the same fortune-stick method is called seam si and is widely available at temples, with numbered paper oracles matching each stick.
Omikuji are believed to derive from Chinese kau cim, temple oracles chosen by drawing numbered sticks. In Japan the sequence of one hundred verse fortunes is traditionally credited to Ryōgen, a Tendai monk of Mount Hiei who died at the start of 985 and is popularly called Ganzan Daishi. A container for oracle lots dated 1409 at Tendai-ji in Iwate shows the method was established before the later Muromachi period.
Today almost every major shrine and temple offers omikuji, from simple paper slips to versions in English or hidden in small charms. Grades run from daikichi, great blessing, to kyō or daikyō, curse. The custom of tying bad fortunes to a pine tree plays on the word matsu, which means both pine and to wait, so the bad luck waits at the shrine. As with other lots, the slips are taken as guidance and encouragement rather than fixed fate.
Small brocade pouches sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan, each holding a blessed paper or wood slip for a specific kind of protection or luck. You carry one unopened for about a year, then return it to be burned with thanks.
Tanabata is Japan's Star Festival on the seventh day of the seventh month, honouring the weaver Orihime and the herdsman Hikoboshi, lovers who meet once a year across the Milky Way. People write wishes on narrow paper strips called tanzaku and hang them on bamboo.
East Asian belief that destined partners are tied by an invisible red thread, honored in Japan by en-musubi prayers for good bonds at Izumo Taisha and in Chinese communities through the matchmaker god Yue Lao. This entry gives an open home practice inspired by both.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
