Tasseomancy-The art of tea reading

Tasseomancy or Tasseography or tea leaf reading was traditionally practiced the woman in a family at family gatherings.

To read tea leaves you have to make tea the old fashioned way using a tea pot so you get leaves left. You also need a cup with a wide mouth and sloping sides to get a good reading also free of design on the inside. When you pour the tea do not strain it. To do this reading with coffee just brew a cup and then take two pinches of coffee grounds and place them in your cup allowing them to settle before drinking. The general ritual for this type of divination is then to sit down and enjoy your cup with family, friends and good conversation (this relaxes you and allows symbols to come) but enjoying it alone always works too.

There are certain things to look for early in your reading before and as you drink they are:

• Bubbles on the surface of your tea or coffee means that money is on its way.
• If any tea leaves are floating on the surface, then visitors are imminent.
  The number of leaves shows how many days away they are.
• If two teaspoons are accidentally placed on a saucer, then you can expect news of twins soon.
• If a teaspoon is placed upside down onto a saucer then you will hear news of the ill-health of a close relative.
  
  

Finish your tea leaving a small amount in the cup. Holding the cup in your non-dominant hand swirl the cup clockwise three times making sure the remaining tea covers the entire inside of the cup as you swirl it. Then turn it upside down on the saucer. The same method goes for coffee or with the coffee you can spill the remainder out onto the saucer and read the grounds that way. Now you take the cup and read. The first general impression you should take from the cup is are there a lot of leaves or fewer. This indicates if you have rich, full and busy life or a tidy mind and a disinclined life. 

Two ways to look at the cup:

The first way is to hold the cup with the handle away from you and look down into it. The section with the handle on it represents the home life and events that surround you personally. Moving clockwise around the cup in equal sections is how many months away events are from the reading starting with one month away directly to the right of the handle and ending at 12 months away directly to the left of the handle. The rim of the cup is the beginning of the month closer to the center is the end of the month. The center of the cup its self are events that are soon to happen. 

The second way is holding the cup with the handle towards you. The section with the handle represents self and home. The near the rim (not on the rim) of the cup represents things that are in the near future with distant future toward the bottom of the cup, the very bottom of the cup represents outcome. Leaves along the rim to the right of the handle represent the present and leaves on the rim to left represent the past. The further the leaves are from the handle the further they are from you physically or in time.

Signs to look for:

-distinct drops of tea that remain despite being swirled set upside down represents tears

-a very large clump of leaves indicates trouble, near the handle means its your fault away from the handle means it is not your fault.

-Tea stalks represent people. Long stalks are men, shorter stalks are women, slanted stalks indicate an untrustworthy person.

Tea leave symbols can be read in both the shape the leaves make and the pattern in between the leaves on the cup itself.