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Fortune-telling through water divination and prayers to the votive picture and tablet |
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Because the shrine is dedicated to the guardian deity of water, water divination is practised using the water at the shrine in a rite known as Mizuuramikuji. In order to have their fortune told, visitors to the shrine pull a wooden stick, called Omikuji out of a box, and when they put the stick into the water in the Mizuurayu Garden, Chinese characters appear on the surface of the stick, telling their fortune. When the stick dries out, the characters disappear. This water fortune-telling is very popular with visitors to the shrine due to its mysterious aspect. In ancient times, successive generations of Emperors prayed for rain or relief from excessive rainfall at the shrine, presenting a horse as a dedication offering, a black horse when praying for rain, and a white or red horse when praying for relief from rain. In place of the live horse, it has been said that a votive painted picture of a horse on a wooden tablet was also offered as a dedication, the source of the present day custom employing a votive picture and tablet. There are statues of the black and white horses that represent the source of this custom on the grounds of the Hongu main hall. |
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| Mizuura-yuniwa Garden |
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| Bronze horse statue |
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