Reflection #6

This week I found out how to use hanafuda cards to tell your future. Before you start fortune telling you must know that one can only read the cards for oneself. If another person touches the cards during the reading then it is nullified and you must start over from the very beginning. The cards divine the near future unless a specific question is asked.

First you must shuffle the cards. Then you lat out four rows of cards with four cards per row all face down. Then you deal out a fifth row face up looking for matches. When you find a match then you remove it and set them aside. Then you you continue to deal the rows of cards trying find more matches. If you come to a face down card in a row then you flip it over. If it matches then remove it. You then continue dealing, until there are no more cards left. When you are done look at all the matched cards. The ones with a matching set of all four cards are used in your reading. Lay them out and read your fortune. Here are the meanings:

January : Matsu = pine (with crane) = messenger
February : Ume = plum blossom (with nightingale) = love
March : Sakura = cherry blossom (with camp curtain) = voyage
April : Fuji = Wisteria (with cuckoo and moon)) = fight
May : Ayame = Iris (with plank bridge) = eating something good
June : Botan = Peony (with butterflies) = happiness
July : Hagi = Bush Clover (with boar) = luck
August : Susuki = Silver grass (with geese in flight & full moon with red sky) = going out and spending money at night
September : Kiku = Chrysanthemum (with sake cup) = drinking and meeting people
October : Momiji = maple (with deer) = worry
November : Yanagi = Willow or Rain (with lightning, swallow, and Ono no Michikaze with an umbrella and frog) = Visitor
December : Kiri = Paulowina (with Chinese Phoenix) = spending money

Here is a link to a video that shows how to do it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYi7vX-FzYE