Japanese traditions - How to change your luck, Omikuji

I was writing yesterday about one of the most popular Japanese good luck charms, Maneki Neko. In the Japanese tradition the good luck is very important, so it is good to know what to expect from the future and to change it when it is unfavorable...

That's why at the Shinto shrines and at many Buddhist temples you will find for sale omikuji, fortune telling slips of paper. Randomly selected, they include predictions varying from "great blessing" (dai-kichi) to... "great misfortune" (dai-kyō) (see here for the various degrees). And the tradition says that if the prediction is favorable, the omikuji should be kept, but if the prediction is bad (or not as good as you hoped for), you should fold the slip of paper and hang it on a tree or on the special stands installed around the shrine (like in my photo). That way, you may avoid the predicted bad luck and even try again - but not immediately (^_^)...