manekami · sixty-cycle canon
Lots of Good Fortune
The temple’s canon holds sixty fixed lots; 24 of them carry the grade “Good Fortune”. Open any lot to read its verse and keep its blessing slip. A ritual, not a guarantee.
- Omen No. 1・甲子The river keeps its word, the tide its hour;
- Omen No. 4・丁卯A thousand stars contend to blaze the night
- Omen No. 7・庚午A single lamp burns on through the deep of night,
- Omen No. 9・壬申The east wind speaks not, yet comes to the door,
- Omen No. 11・甲戌A single ripened seed holds all the year's slow grace,
- Omen No. 14・丁丑A thousand words burn down to one grey heap;
- Omen No. 17・庚辰A far-off spring alone keeps rivers long;
- Omen No. 19・壬午A lone boat moors where moonlight floods the bay,
- Omen No. 21・甲申Sheathe the blade till dew hangs thick at dusk,
- Omen No. 24・丁亥Why drape the river with a thousand lines of thread?
- Omen No. 27・庚寅Lay not your bridge upon the rushing spring,
- Omen No. 29・壬辰Tall bamboo stands hollow-hearted by the court,
- Omen No. 31・甲午The tide keeps hours, the moon her phase,
- Omen No. 34・丁酉Ten thousand stars crowd the sky, beyond all count,
- Omen No. 37・庚子One lamp competes not with the crowded flames,
- Omen No. 39・壬寅The long wind crosses ten thousand miles in silence,
- Omen No. 41・甲辰A seed lies furled, awaiting the dawn-wind's breath,
- Omen No. 44・丁未A thousand words burn down to one grey ash,
- Omen No. 47・庚戌A single thread of water leaves the deep hills
- Omen No. 49・壬子One leaf of a skiff crosses the cold ford alone,
- Omen No. 51・甲寅Draw the blade while the hour still sings,
- Omen No. 54・丁巳Hold one rod—envy not the tangled hundred lines
- Omen No. 57・庚申To cross the river, envy not the passing raft;
- Omen No. 59・壬戌Fresh bamboo in the wind, each leaf rinsed clear,