Luck is a big part of playing this game. Not in the way of chance and nothing you do matters, but literally built into the game like the codes of real life karma. For example, wearing a four leaf clover on your shirt can increase your game luck, so can visiting Katrina, the blue cat at Harvey’s island. If I had to take a guess I would ponder the thought that Katrina is meant to be a depiction of Neith, the Egyptian goddess of creation, wisdom, weaving, and war. She was often worshipped as a funerary goddess.
When you walk up to Katrina she will offer her services. You will be asked to choose between knowing your luck or asking details about a particular friendship with one of your fellow villagers.
After choosing which subject you want to gain knowledge on, the sky will mysteriously turn dark as Katrina begins her reading, calling upon the spirits for guidance.
Inside the crystal ball you will see an image of yourself. An aura will form around your head, from fire to ice blue or nature green. A flash of light will beam from the crystal ball in front of her, her hands will dramatically fly out to her sides and she will scream. She will then give you a reading, with no guarantees that it will come true.
There is a chance you will be cursed, where she will then offer you to lift the curse for a price, 10,000 bells. It is best to alway show up with cash on hand in case this does happen. The good news is, for every curse that is cast upon your island due to your reading, a gift will be mailed to you the next day, assuming you paid her off to lift the curse that is. A win if you have the money, I think. I still have to figure out if being cursed and having it lifted in her purifying ritual is a gain or a loss in some way, as some of the gifts she sends can only be obtained through a curse. But I believe it is a personal preference, or maybe just a case by case thing. Some are wins and some are losses. Depends on how you look at it. If one of your goals of the game is to acquire every available item, you are going to have to get yourself cursed on purpose, knowing you can control the situation.
If you chose to collect knowledge on a friendship there is a chance you might get the friendship cursed. All the more reason to bring your bribe money along, unless keeping true friendship is not your top game priority. If you chose to know about your own personal luck, the curses can be annoying, from all of your tools breaking to tripping and falling when you run. If she grants you good luck however, you might find your turnip Stalk Market prices soaring at an unusually high rate or your money trees producing a higher amount.
I once invited Katrina to the local island cafe. She showed up, but I found that she left me a curse. All of the tools I was carrying in my pocket broke on the first use. A lesson learned about the ins and outs of the spirit realm. Smarter game play on my part was to follow.
