Rites of divination
Omikuji fortune slips
A paper fortune drawn at a shrine or temple, kept if it is good and tied to a branch if it is not.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Omikuji are small paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples. A visitor shakes a box until a stick falls out, or takes a slip from a tray or a vending machine, and reads a rating, from great blessing, daikichi, to bad luck, kyo, with comments on love, travel, health and business. A tradition traces the form to the Heian monk Ryogen.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Fortune slipObjectA printed paper fortune.
- Shaken boxToolHolds numbered sticks.
- DonationOfferingA small coin placed before drawing.
- Tying rack or pine branchSpaceWhere bad fortunes are tied.
- PrayerWordA silent question put to the kami.
- ReadingGestureThe slip is unfolded and read slowly.
- Object
- Tool
- Offering
- Space
- Word
- Gesture
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Offer Place a small coin in the box and bow at the shrine. Step 2: Speak Hold a question silently in mind. Step 3: Cast Shake the box until a numbered stick falls, or draw a slip. Step 4: Read Read the rating and the lines on love, travel and health. Step 5: Bind Tie a bad fortune to the rack, or fold a good one and keep it.
What to do with it
A good fortune is often kept in a wallet, and a bad fortune is tied to a pine branch or a rack at the shrine, where, in the common explanation, the ill luck is left behind. A few shrines explain that the bad slip is a message to take care, not a curse, and that the god listens to those who try. Some also give omikuji in English, Chinese and Korean for visitors.
Meaning today
Fortunes drawn at New Year, when millions visit shrines, are the most common. Many people draw a second one if they dislike the first, which shrines tolerate. Scholars of religion see the custom as light divination, a ritual of asking guidance with an easy, shared frame.
What it is for
- Ask for guidance at a shrine
- Mark the new year
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Omikuji (The fortune slip.), Ryogen (The monk linked to its origin.).
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Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Shinto shrine: No machine-readable author provided. Fg2 assumed (based on copyright c, Public domain, source