Japan - Culture - About the Omikuji / おみくじ

How much do you know about the Omikuji / おみくじ
Omikuji (おみくじ) are random fortunes written on strips of paper at temples in Japan. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good.

The o-mikuji is scrolled up or folded, and unrolling the piece of paper reveals the fortune written on it. It includes a general blessing which can be any one of the following:

• 大吉 / Great Blessing / だいきち
• 中吉 / Middle Blessing / ちゅうきち
• 小吉 / Small Blessing / しょうきち
• 吉　 / Blessing / きち
• 末吉 / Future Blessing / すえきち
• 凶　 / Curse / きょう
• 大凶 / Great Curse / だいきょう

If you got a bad fortune, don't worry. It should be tied to the strings in order to return it to the temples. If you got a good fortune, then you should take it home.