Omikuji Enthusiast
I am a bit of an "Omikuji enthusiast."
I visit shrines quite frequently, and whenever I do, I always draw an omikuji. And I draw "Daikichi" (Great Blessing) with a relatively high probability.
...Or so I vaguely thought, but my blood for quantification started to stir.
So, I decided that today is the day to act (pun intended, since it's about omikuji). I decided to quantify the omikuji I've drawn. (Since I return a year's worth of omikuji during my first shrine visit of the year, I only have the ones from this year's New Year onwards...)
The results are as follows.
In the nine months from January to September of this year (I probably won't be visiting any more shrines this month), I have visited shrines 24 times. That's a pace of two to three times a month. My personal rule is to draw one omikuji per visit and to take them home instead of tying them up.
Calculating the results, the one I draw the most is indeed "Daikichi." It's the clear leader at 37.5%.
And strangely, I haven't drawn any Kyo (Bad Luck) or Daikyo (Great Bad Luck).
Looking into it, the general inclusion rate (?) of "Daikichi" seems to be 15-30%. Considering that, there is no doubt that my Daikichi rate of 37.5% is high. On the other hand, since the inclusion rate for "Kyo" is said to be 10-30%, perhaps I can say I am "lucky" for not having drawn a single Kyo.
By the way, it seems that Senso-ji Temple has a higher probability of giving out "Kyo," and Fushimi Inari Taisha has omikuji that are subdivided into 17 different types.
When I looked, I found that I had drawn "Kichi" (Blessing) at Senso-ji and "Sue-daikichi" (Small Great Blessing) at Fushimi Inari Taisha this year. I had never seen Sue-daikichi before...
Having said that, I don't let the results of the omikuji make me overly happy or sad. I don't ask the gods for anything either.
I simply love the aesthetic beauty of shrines and temples.
Bowing once, passing through the torii gate, walking down the approach, purifying my hands and mouth at the water basin, tossing in an offering, performing two bows, two claps, and one bow, and drawing an omikuji as part of that flow... I think that is what it means to be Japanese.