Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 42 of 100

Cassia Blossom Before Spring

吉 Kichi, Good fortune

桂華春將到

雲天好進程

貴人相遇處

晴月再分明

Cassia blossom: spring is about to arrive.

Under cloud and sky the way forward is good.

Where a person of standing is met,

the clear moon is distinct once again.

What this lot says

Fragrant cassia stands at the threshold of spring, and the road ahead opens under a high sky. An encounter with someone of rank comes next. At that very place the moon is sharp and clear again.

Kichi, Good fortune, is given in print by the book. Season, road and moon each improve in turn, and the encounter in the third line is the hinge that the grade seems to swing on.

Speaking for the present day, this is about how one conversation can restore a clarity that had faded. Who has helped you see a familiar thing properly again?

A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

The printed text

Where the 1684 printing differs

  • Line 4, character 1: 1684 printing has 暗.

The 1813 printing is cut as 晴, but the kana printed beside it contains ん, which fits 暗, the 1684 reading, better than 晴.

Credits

The verse and grade were read from the two scanned printings named here. The title, translation and reading are our own and modern.

Our own English. The kana commentary printed under each verse in the old books was not read.