Yue Lao Oracle Lot 100 · Excellent

花好、月圓、人壽。 Flowers in bloom, a full moon, a long life together.

The lot

Text notes (in Chinese): 旗山天后宮本等第作「上」.

Background: what the original says

Flowers at their best, the moon at its fullest, and a long life: this is a favorite blessing offered to newlyweds.

"Lovely flowers, a full moon, long life" is a traditional blessing for newlyweds, written on wedding banners, couplets and cards. Its exact origin cannot be traced.

Pairing flowers with the moon, and wishing that the flowers stay lovely and the moon stay full, was already a familiar motif in Song-dynasty poetry, and Mid-Autumn poems often linked the full moon with families reunited. Su Shi's famous Mid-Autumn lyric wishes that loved ones may live long and share the same moonlight though a thousand miles apart; he wrote it thinking of his brother Su Zhe. Popular custom gathered these images together: flowers for youth and beauty, the full moon for reunion, and long life so the couple may grow old together. Easy to remember, the phrase spread through wedding customs, and "flowers lovely, moon full" later turned up in popular song titles too.

There is no story behind this lot. It is a blessing in itself, putting into plain words the most ordinary and most lasting hope people bring to a marriage.

What it means

This is a happy, complete match, the kind where you grow old together.

Reminder: When everything feels complete, cherish each other all the more.

This is a plain reading of the words and their source. How it applies to your own question is best settled with the interpreter at the temple where you drew it.

How to ask Yue Lao for a lot

1. Yue Lao, the Old Man under the Moon, usually has a side shrine inside a larger temple, such as a City God temple or a Mazu temple. Follow the temple's route: pay respects to the main deity first, then go to Yue Lao.
2. Tell Yue Lao your name, birth date and address, describe where you are in love right now, and state the one question you want to ask (for example, "Will this relationship last?" or "When will I meet someone?").
3. Cast the moon blocks (jiaobei, two crescent-shaped wooden blocks) to ask whether you may draw. One face up and one face down means yes; then pull one stick and cast again to confirm it. Many temples ask for three yeses in a row; if not, draw again.
4. Collect the slip with the matching number. Yue Lao lots are quotations from old books, so the meaning often depends on the original passage. If it is unclear, ask the temple's interpreter.

Ask about one thing at a time; the more specific the question, the easier the lot is to apply. Yue Lao lots are for love and marriage only; for other matters, use the temple's general fortune poems.

Common misunderstandings

Previous: Lot 99; next: Lot King.