| Gōtoku-ji Maneki-neko | |
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Origin |
Gōtoku-ji Temple, Tokyo |
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Type |
Clay cat statuette, maneki-neko |
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Effects |
Affects positive luck |
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Downsides |
Requires gifts of gratitude |
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Activation |
Constant |
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Collected by |
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Section |
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Date of Collection |
February 02, 2015 |
| [Source] | |
Origin
The Maneki-neko, or "lucky cat" has been a fixture in Japanese business culture for almost 300 years. There are many suspected origin stories, but the most common comes from the Edo prefecture in the 17th century.
A poor monk lived in small Zen temple, the Gōtoku-ji, in Setagaya, Tokyo. Although his life was very difficult, he shared his own meager meals with his pet cat which strayed into the temple. One day, a lord samurai Ii Naotaka of the Hikone Domain district was on his way to hunt when suddenly a storm came, and he had to seek safety under a big tree near the temple. Sheltering there, he noticed the cat, raising one paw as if waving him to the temple. Curious, he left his cover and headed for the temple to have a better look at the strange cat. As he did so, a lightning bolt destroyed the tree beneath which he had just been standing. Nakaota was so grateful, he became the patron of the temple, repaired it to become more spacious. When the cat died, he was buried in a special graveyard for cats. In the temple, a statue of Maneki-neko was made to commemorate this special cat that has been revered ever since.
It is believed that a statue of a maneki-neko with its paw held up brings fortune and prosperity to its home or business.
Effects
When in a position where fortune requires luck, the statue will activate itself. As long as the paw remains raised, all endeavors relating to money will work either directly in the favor of, or at the very least not against the interest of its owner. As compensation, the artifact requires an offering of gratitude, typically a coin or other precocious item. Interestingly, the artifact seems to take the lifestyle of the owner into account, and will happily accept food or other tokens of thanks as long as the gratitude is genuine.
If appropriate offerings are not given regularly, the artifact will lower its paw and all positive luck will abandon the owner, potentially even drawing negative energies into their lives. If a week passes with no positive change, the artifact has been known to simply vanish.
Collection
The artifact was collected from the offices of Craig Macmillian, an incredibly rich stockbroker who had very suddenly come into massive success playing the market. The good news lasted less than a week, however, and he was quickly audited and arrested for multiple accounts of fraud and tax evasion. It was discovered the artifact had been given to him by his mother, who had inherited it from an aunt who had been married to a WWII veteran.
The mother, Jasmine Macmillian, subsequently hired the team of Leverage C&A to retrieve it from the Warehouse.