January 10, 2008

Written Oracles


In connection with the last archive, I wrote about Written Oracles. They are called "おみくじ (omikuji)" and it is very popular to consult an oracle (in Japanese, it is called おみくじを引く") especially in the new year season. People go to a Shinto shrine or temple...especially Shinto shrine, and pray for good luck of the year. And they consult an oracle to know their fortune of the year. The best one is "大吉 (daikichi)", and we are glad if we get it, lol. After reading the small piece of paper, we tie it to the trees or some places there.

What is written on an omikuji is complicated because it is written in old style Japanese. However, it is not too difficult to understand. The picture is the omikuji that I got last year, and it is "大吉"!! lol.

On the top, there is a song...that is in "短歌 (tanka)" style. Tanka is a style of old Japanese songs. it consists of 5 parts with 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 sounds. About this omikuji, the tanka is,


渦を巻く 谷の小川の 丸木橋 渡る夕べの こゝちするかな

explanation: 初めは危ない谷の小川の橋を渡るような心配事があるが驚き迷うことはありません。後には何も彼も平和に収まります。凡て小さいことも用心してすればよろしい。

At first, you will have some uneasiness like going on the bridge above a small stream of a dangerous valley , however, you don't have to get surprised and worry. Later, everything will fall into place peacefully. It will be all right if you do things carefully however small they are.


And the main part is from here.

願望 できかねるように危険を覚えるが後調う
待人 さわりあり 来たらず
失物 出がたし 下にあり
旅行 吉日をえらべ
商売 買うのは損控えよ
学問 安心して勉学せよ
相場 売れ 大利益あり
争事 時を待たねば勝てず
恋愛 将来幸福になる
転居 さわがぬ方がよし
出産 産前を用心すれば安産
病気 信心すれば治る
縁談 他人の口舌に惑わされるな

Wishes: It looks that won't granted, however it will be all right later.
The person you wait for: You can feel, but won't come.
The things you lost: They are hard to find. It is in the bottom.
Traveling: Choose a lucky day.
Business: It will be a loss. Keep from buying.
Study: Study without anxiety.
The market price: Sell. It will bring you a big profit.
Arguments: You can't win if you don't wait for an opportunity.
Love: You will be happy in the future.
A move: Better not to be noisy.
A childbirth: You will have an easy delivery if you take care beforehand.
An illness: It will get well if you believe in it.
An offer of marriage: Don't be confused by others talking.


That's on the omikuji I got last year. I'm not sure how many things hit. And of course I don't believe in things like that seriously. However, consulting an oracle is fun for me, and maybe for many people too. It is one of cultural things of Japan. And I know, some temples have omikuji for foreigners...like Sensouji temple in Tokyo. The omikuji is written in English. Maybe it is because many foreigners visit there. Go there and try it if you find omikuji in Japan. It will be a topic for conversation at least :P

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

ばれえええええりいいいい。。。
Didn't my brother and i go to the temple and pick one of those ? Haa !! i still remember what your father said, hey..maybe all of them are the same ! HAA !!
Well, we didnt get the one you got last year, ours were 1 level below yours. It was good enough, anyway, we just wanted to try our luck n have some fun. As for me, i do not really believe in that sort of things too, life is rather simple for me i guess..simple is happiness. I read the papers a few days ago and found out that the Nigerians are the happiest people on earth. Wow, that surprised me as i didnt know it until then. I also think that worshipping a god or deity would not make you happy or make your troubles go away, i only believe in oneself's heart and thinking. It is the person's thinking that makes him happy, sad, angry etc. If you can think positively, you should be fine =) Just sharing my thoughts with you, i dont know how you find about this. Those you have mentioned like love, studies, career, family etc, how many had actually came true ? When i got those, i simply read n laughed it off. It can be interesting to read them but believing seems a little hard for me =( I know quite a number of people actually believe strongly in that, one of them is my mum ! haa, she is a superstitious person but a great mum ! Do you remember we threw gold coins and made wishes ? what wish did u make ? Let me guess...Ah ! ばれり: Please please please let me pass my exams...=( When i make a wish, i pray for the people i love, i wish them good health and being able to lead a better life. Sigh..sometimes when i think about my loved ones leaving me in the future, i feel sad, cant be helped, we come to this earth to experience joy and pain. After we have seen enough, we say goodbye to them. Oops, why am i talking about this Haa sorry
Is comment long enough ? じゃあね女!

Megumi said...

Yeah, you guys picked one of those. However, it was not the typical one, lol. You should try normal one when you come to Japan again. By the way...what does じゃあね女! mean? lol. Did you just translate some English into Japanese dilectly? lol.

Jeff said...

mm.. so it's like a fortune cookie.. but without the cookie part.. umm.. yeah, dunno bout that.. =P but anyways, I'm not a big fan of fortunes.. don't think they're that much different from television psychics and the horoscopes you find in the papers.. though I guess they've a bit more cred to them seeing how they come from temples.. @_@

but yeah.. fortunes.. anyone can ad lib write them.. mind you I'm comparing them to horoscopes now.. it's like buckshot.. enough people read them and you're bound to get a 'hit' eventually.. though a lot of them I find are pretty vague and generalised.. so they leave it for the reader to figure it out.. attach it to a personal experience.. and have them bs and convince themselves that yeah.. this one little shred of paper all personalized for you just happened to fall into your lap.. >.>

Megumi said...

I think that you are realist like me :P Not as same as girls who dream about happy life, lol. Maybe you can believe in some scientific things though...or do you only believe in what happened and yourself? :)

Jeff said...

mm.. for the most part, realist probably.. though being agnostic you have to admit there are times when you can't deny that spiritual side of yourself.. I'm sure everyone's had one of those experiences where they feel rather lucky.. or even that vague feeling that there's more out there.. it's hard to describe, but you know it when you feel it.. ehh.. so not.. probably not 100% realist right there.. :P

happiness.. that's another story altogether.. 前に言っただろう?考えれば考えるほど幸せに生きるのは難しくなるよね。だから僕にとっては幸せが無理かもしれない、何のことでも考えすぎるんだ。子供はこの風にラッキじゃない?まあ、頭が良くない人も同じそうけど、僕たちは違うね。

ある時に幸せは無理だって感じたことがあるのに、なかなか諦められないよね。そうすると生きる理由はもうないじゃない?僕にとって幸せと情熱に強い関係がある。後に説明する。。 :P

今寝ますよ!

(mm.. that exclamation point is soooo not me.. @_@)

Megumi said...

確かに、この間そういう話しましたよね。子供は大人のような複雑な悩みを持ち合わせていませんもんね。特に本当に小さい子供。
 小学生くらいになればそれなりに悩みも出てくるんでしょうけど、大人から見ると大したことないんですよね^^まぁ、でも、子供は子供なりに真剣に悩んでいるわけなんですけれども。
 ジェフさんはきっと頭が良い故色々に悩んでしまうんですね(汗)そういうのってストレスになりますよね。たまにはあまり頭を働かせないで、自分の感じたままに物事を進めていくのもいいんじゃないですか?:P幸せと情熱の話、また聞かせてください:)