Drawing a Fortune Slip: How to Ask Mazu and How to Read the Poem
Drawing a fortune slip is the most common way to ask a temple a question. Tianyun Temple put the whole process online: first cast the blocks to ask whether Mazu will grant a slip, then shake the cylinder and draw one. This guide shows you how to ask and how to read it.
Three steps
1. In the main hall, bow to Mazu and state your name and what you want to ask.
2. Press "blocks" and say: "I would like to draw a slip; please grant me a sacred block." Continue only on a sacred block.
3. Press "slip", shake the cylinder, and draw one Mazu fortune slip. Read the poem.
Reading the poem
Most slips are four seven-character lines. Start with the keywords: 遲, 緩 and 守 (late, slow, hold) usually advise waiting; 速, 行 and 進 (fast, go, advance) say you may act; 貴人 and 相助 (benefactor, assistance) mean someone will help. The grade — upper, middle, lower — is only the broad direction; the lines carry the detail. If it does not read clearly, the traditional move is to cast the blocks again to confirm.
The rules
One slip per question: one a day for the same matter is enough, and re-drawing because you dislike the answer is the big taboo. A bad slip is not a reason to panic — most poems are telling you what to watch for, not pronouncing a result.
What suits a fortune slip?
Whether to stay or leave a job, exam prospects, the direction of a relationship, the timing of a move — all common. For health, a slip is only a reference; if you feel unwell, see a doctor.
Enter the temple — free, no signup →Frequently asked questions
A low slip is a warning, not a sentence. Traditionally you can leave the slip at the temple rather than take it home, symbolically leaving the bad luck behind. Online, read it and set it down; the point is to understand the warning.
There is no technical limit, but the tradition is one slip per question. Ask too much and nothing is accurate.
The common systems are the sixty-cycle set and the hundred-poem set, each with its own allusions. Tianyun Temple also prints a daily fortune in the Empress of Heaven Daily.