Guan Yin Oracle

Guan Yin in one of her many poses

The Oracle of Guan Yin remains a popular sortilege method today.  Through the ages, people have faced challenges and encountered difficulties even as they tried to create a meaningful and abundant livelihood for themselves and their loved ones.  Whenever one was lost or caught in a troubling situation, many prayed for protection and guidance.  And among those who reside in Heavens, who else could better empathize with the poor people beside the merciful and benevolent Goddess Guan Yin?

Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is a well-known and respected goddess in many parts of Asia.  Scholars believed that the Guan Yin was a male Buddha Bodhisattva in India before it evolved into the non-sectarian Goddess of Compassion who is worshiped in many Taoist, Buddhist and even Hindu cultures today.  She has been depicted in as many as 33 different forms in artefacts and places of worship.

The Oracle of Guan Yin, also known as Guan Yin’s Book of Divination, usually contains 100 Lots, each accompanied by a short poem and an associated story.  Each poem is a quatrain with 4 lines of 7 characters each, 28 characters in all.  As an oracular system, it probably came into written form only in the recent few hundred years.  Although the oracle is attributed to the goddess, it have some resemblance to other Chinese divinatory systems, including the Book of Changes(“易经”) and is believed to have evolved from older divination tools.  The message represented by each Lot is described in the 28 characters poem, an associated story and how it relates to different aspects of an agrarian life.

The Goddess’ answers to prayers are oftentimes vague and interpretations will vary depending on the time and situation.  Both the poems and their interpretations were passed down from generations and spread among different groups, thus creating several versions. As societies evolved from the agrarian lifestyle to modern life we know today, attempts to re-adapt the oracle lead to conflicting and differing interpretations.  Different versions and various interpretations create an interesting system.  Sometimes, even the Lot may conflict within itself, like Lot 17.

The Chinese version adopted here is relatively common and many copies of this exist in the Internet.  This contains 100 lots instead of 130 lots.  For these 100 Lots, the accompanying stories will differ depending on which temple one goes to and only one story is mentioned here.

This version also does not contain many details on the different aspects of life, just a general comment in less than 10 characters for every aspect in each Lot which is often vague. This makes interpretation somewhat challenging.  For example, “安(an)” can refer to safety or peace and which meaning to apply really depends on the individual context.

In addition, this version also excludes the trigram (“卦(gua)”) and description of the elemental influences(“五行(wu xing)”) on the Lot. Considerable inconsistencies in the different source texts are also not reproduced here but the readers can refer to the different websites and books available.  The original divination poem is included together with an interpretation and related allegory.

Readers are encouraged to adopt a contemporary interpretation and apply that to your own concerns and issues.  As in any divination, whatever is the message you may receive, it is important to remember that at any time, anything can change for the better or the worse.  Bide your time, be kind to others, work hard and build your strengths, you will be rewarded in time to come.  Remember to always be generous to both yourself and others, treat all fairly and with kindness and good things will naturally come.  Open your heart and mind sincerely to the vast universe, the answers you are seeking will present themselves to you.