Yut Divination
Cast four yut sticks for today’s luck — Do, Gae, Geol, Yut, or Mo.
A Korean folk divination that casts four yut sticks to read today’s luck as Do, Gae, Geol, Yut, or Mo. It comes from cheoksajeom, the New Year practice of divining the fortunes of the coming year: the same sticks as the yut board game are used, but no piece is moved and only the single cast is read. Each of the five outcomes carries an old divinatory verse handed down with it. Yut and Mo each come up once in sixteen throws, which is what makes them prized.
How it works
Throw four yut sticks and the number landing flat decides do, gae, geol, yut, or mo. This is the old New Year practice of casting for the year ahead, where yut and mo each come up only once in sixteen throws.
What you'll get
You get the name and animal of the cast, what it means and the advice it carries, and how bonds, work, money, and health are running today.
How four sticks make five outcomes
Each yut stick has a flat back and a rounded side, so throwing four of them gives sixteen possible arrangements. One flat gives do, two gives gae, three gives geol, four gives yut and none at all gives mo. That makes do and geol four in sixteen each, gae six and therefore the commonest, and yut and mo one apiece. Yut and mo are prized not only because their meanings are good but because they genuinely are rare.
The old throw was made three times
Among the forms of this divination that have come down to us is one where the sticks are thrown three times and the numbers laid together to give one of sixty-four readings. Each reading carried a short verse that drew the shape of the year to come. This page looks only at a single throw, so it sees at that coarseness. The interpretations attached to the five outcomes carry the grain of those old verses, but they are not the same thing as the sixty-four-reading method.
Reading a new-year custom as a daily one
This divination was originally done between the first day of the first month and the full moon, to see how the year ahead would run. Here it has been moved over to stand for the fortune of a day. A scale meant for a year has been laid on a single day, so taking the outcome as a pointer to what to watch for today, rather than as the shape of the whole day, keeps it close to its original use. Weighing one day with the weight meant for a year makes small things look large.
How to use the re-throw
Throwing again until an outcome you like turns up makes it a draw rather than a divination. Better to throw once in the morning and close it, and keep the re-throw for when several people are looking together or when you want to check another date. Get into the habit of throwing again because do came up, and all you are left holding is whatever you most wanted to hear that day. Leaving the first outcome as it fell also gives you more to read.
Do not let a throw make the decision
Yut divination is a game that lays old verses over the chance of how four sticks land. Please do not hand it decisions that are hard to undo, such as a contract, a move, or something between people. We would not suggest skipping a check you owe yourself because a good outcome came up, nor postponing a planned step because do did. A family sitting around together laughing at new year is about the right place for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I throw again?
Yes. Traditionally it is cast once at the start of the year, but here you can throw as many times as you like.
Yut and mo hardly ever come up.
All four sticks have to land the same way, so each appears about once in sixteen throws. That rarity is why they count as the lucky casts.
When was yut divination traditionally done?
At the start of the year, to read the year's fortune. Between the first day of the lunar year and the first full moon people threw the sticks to gauge what lay ahead, sometimes as a village or a household together.
Is 'do' a bad result?
No. Do is the step-by-step result, read as going slowly without going astray. Each of the five results gets its own reading for today's bonds, work, money and health, along with something to watch for.