Guanyin fortune stick
9
Middle stick
Please don't do anything for private gain;
this matter is best laid out openly and fairly.
A clear heart shines bright and clean,
like the full moon in the middle of the sky.
jadealmanac.com
Most temple lists cite a scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms here, Zhuge Liang Assigns the Generals. Newly brought down from his mountain retreat to serve Liu Bei, Zhuge took command when an enemy army marched on them and handed out orders that the veteran generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei openly doubted. The battle at Bowang Slope proved him right, and the two sworn brothers accepted his authority from then on. The fit with a full moon at the zenith is plain, impartial judgment that is questioned at first and seen clearly in the end. Master Sean Chan's edition and a Taiwanese list give instead Zhao Pu, the Song chancellor said to have governed the empire with half a copy of the Analects. Either way the stick is middle: fairness wins, but only after doubt.
The line opens with a polite request, roughly please do not, and names private schemes. Temple readers take it as a direct caution against self-interest hidden inside the matter you are asking about.
Asking openly, before others, is set against the private dealing of the line before. Readers hear advice to bring the question to a fair third party, a court, or the people affected.
A clear heart, bright and clean, is the Buddhist and Confucian picture of a mind without hidden motives. The line makes your own honesty the source of light.
The full moon at the center of heaven sheds light on everything evenly. Interpreters read it as the promise that a fair matter becomes clear in time, whatever the early doubts.
烦君勿做私心事
此意偏宜说问公
一片明心光皎洁
宛如皎月正天心
Seven characters a line, as printed in the BW Monastery edition.
Sources for the story: https://www.k366.com/guanyin/28786.htm; https://services.shen88.cn/chouqian/guanyin-9.html; https://www.masterseanchan.com/guanyin-oracle/lot-9/; https://ask101.tw/result/9; https://www.fatekeep.com/blog/3640.
Optional: the temple way
At a temple the stick is not yours until two moon blocks agree: one flat side up and one round side up, a holy cup.
Stick 9, "The Bright Moon in the Sky", is a middle stick, a mixed stick, good with conditions. Keep an upright heart and reason runs smooth, the law runs easy; the sages speak without bias, and all comes clear.
Success.
Middling for investment; business thrives.
Be generous and dedicated; study steadily.
Draw another stick , or for a straight yes or no, throw the moon blocks
The verse follows the BW Monastery edition of the Guanyin set; the English rendering and reading are Jade Almanac's own. A drawn stick is a tradition and a prompt for reflection, not advice about health, money or the law.
