Reading Tea Leaves

Besides sipping, tea also serves another purpose. Tea is often used for exploring the past, present, and future. Interpreting the shapes and symbols of tea leaves is referred to as the art of tasseography, also known as tasseomancy.

Tasseography is not quite as popular as other divinatory methods, such as Tarot or Runes (casting stones), because there are no absolutely definitive answers. Still, it continues to be a powerful way of magnifying one's intuition and receiving enlightenment without spending a fortune.

So, how does tea leaf reading work? In divinatory practices, by focusing your energy on a question or concern, you direct your energy toward the tool used (tea leaves, in this case), which reveals one of three things.

• Events from the past leading up to or influenced the current situation.
• What is happening now (and usually involves a clue as to "Why?").  
• The future, as it is likely to pan out (as things stand now). 

Any messages you receive are revealed by the configurations of wet tea leaves in the bottom of your teacup and are based on the placement, density, shape, and color of the wet tea leaves. For determining the meanings of each of these elements, the text, Reading Tea Leaves, 1881 (written by a highland seer), offers over 150 tea leaf interpretations and is the most original, comprehensive text available to date (Gutenberg.org). Of course, there are several modern and up-to-date references, including videos on YouTube, to learn even more.

To read tea leaves, you must first brew a cup of tea. However, there are rules to put in place in advance. The cup must have a flat bottom with curving sides like most original teacups were shaped. A mug will not do. The cup should also be light in color to clearly see the leaves. The cup should have a handle, and there should also be a saucer or small plate made available. The tea must be bulk. Meaning the tea leaves must be loose. If bulk tea is unavailable, a mesh tea bag may be opened (and the contents poured into the bottom of the cup), but only if the tea leaves retain their original texture and are not finely cut.

Never use the typical paper tea bag that contains finely cut or powdered tea. The leaves are nonexistent and will not form correctly. When you're first learning to read tea leaves, I encourage you to use black tea, such as orange pekoe. However, if caffeine gives you the jitters, use a favorite blend that matches your tastes. The important thing is the leaves. 

Generally, one teaspoon of dried Black tea leaves is used to make a perfect cup of bulk tea. There's no need to use an infuser (a strainer) as the leaves will remain in the cup. On the stove, bring some water to a rolling boil (just before boiling). Water at this temperature keeps tea leaves from burning and becoming acidic, making for discolored tea and a bitter taste, which can affect readings and influence your energy while sipping. Pour approximately one-half to two-thirds of a cup of water over the tea leaves. Too much water can make the sipping part of the ritual take too long. Too little, and the leaves may not unfurl correctly. A half cup is just about right. 

Tea, for divining, should be drunk plain. Additions, such as lemon, sugar, or milk, will only serve to alter the reading. After the water cools down, you can begin to sip the tea while focusing on a particular question or concern, which starts the process of your energy being absorbed into the tea leaves.

The seeker (you or someone else) is sometimes called a querent. Assuming it's you, your next step is to form an exact question in your mind while sipping your tea. In other words, to focus on precisely what you wish to know. A precise question brings about a more exact answer. It can be helpful for you to state your question aloud before reading your tea leaves. The reading ritual officially begins when approximately one tablespoon of liquid is left in the cup.

The teacup is to be held in the left hand. Quickly swirl the liquid in the cup three times clockwise. Immediately, with the same hand, slowly turn your tea cup upside down over the saucer. So that the liquid has a chance to drain away from the leaves, the teacup should remain on the saucer for one minute without being disturbed. Then, with your right hand, rotate your cup clockwise three times and turn it upright on the dish. Some say the handle should be pointing south. The cup's handle represents your environment and connects your material and spiritual worlds.

Divining the future by staring at a hodge-podge of wet leaves clinging to the bottom and sides of a teacup might seem a bit foolish. However, some common shapes and patterns have had consistent meanings over the centuries. There are five basic symbols to look for: animals, letters, mythical beings (dragon, unicorn, and so on), numbers, and objects. Each of these has different meanings as it applies to your question. Sometimes, these images will be seen right away, while other times not. It may even take a bit of searching to locate a relevant symbol.

When reading tea leaves, they are read from four different sections of the teacup. Tea leaves near the cup handle represent what immediately surrounds you in your environment. If most of the symbols are closest to the handle, it means your wish is closer to fulfillment. Tea leaves directly across from the handle represent outside influences. Three of these sections are used for prophecy. Tea leaves near the rim of the cup reflect the present. Leaves on the side of the cup reveal information about what is coming up in the near future. Finally, any tea leaves at the bottom of the cup tell your "far" future. Furthermore, depending on what you wish to know, these areas can provide information on timing, distance, or the depth or intensity of a situation.

Tea leaves can end up scattered all over the cup in various circles, dots, figures, lines, and groups. Each of these carries a different meaning according to how it lines up in the cup. For example, dots often represent finances and money. Speaking of lines, a line of tea leaves usually means a journey. A long line will reveal a long journey, a broken line, a delayed journey, a very straight line, a quick trip. Where the line is pointing provides even more meaning. A line stopping before reaching the cup handle means you will likely be moving house. If a number also appears, it will represent how many days or weeks the journey will last or how long it will be before the move.

Another example might be noticing that an individual leaf is stuck to the cup's rim, which usually means someone is thinking of you. Finding a letter in the leaves may reveal the first letter of a name (yours, the seeker's, or someone else's). By viewing these formations from different angles and tipping the teacup this way and that, you can help your intuition and imagination kick in and help to make sense of them.

I once read my tea leaves and saw what looked like an angry blob with a rough line extending from it, like a flattened flower with rough edges and a crater in the middle. Not an avid tea leaf reader myself, I couldn't figure out what it was, except that it was in my near future. However, I immediately sensed it was a bad omen. Within days, I came down with a severe bladder infection that gave me problems for months. 

One thing to remember about reading tea leaves, or any other oracle, is to keep an open mind and a cheerful heart. When searching for answers to difficult questions in life, magnifying your intuition can be extremely enlightening. After all, we each have all the solutions we need already inside us if we but listen. Reading tea leaves can be one way of doing so. However, just like the Tarot, where nothing is "writ in stone", nothing is writ in tea leaves either. Tea leaves hold no power of their own. Your intuition (gut feeling) is the best tool for formulating answers and making wise decisions in life based on those answers. Still, an occasional tea leaf reading can be just the trick to kick one's intuition into full gear while enjoying a spot of tea.