RITUAL AND METHOD OF USING THE TEA-CUP
Reading the Tea Leaves or Coffee Grounds
Method
First of all sit, down and enjoy your cup of tea. Remembering of course, that you need to make your tea the old-fashioned way using a teapot, so that you end up with a fair few tea leaves!
You need a teacup with a wide mouth, sloping side of cups, and a plain, undecorated surface inside of cup.
Do not strain the tea as you pour it.
If you prefer coffee, simply brew your favorite variety of coffee and add a pinch or two of dry coffee grounds to the coffee so that there will be enough grounds to read.
If you add the grounds before drinking, then let the cup sit for a few minutes so that the grounds sink to the bottom. Otherwise add the grounds to the remaining coffee dregs after you have drunk your cup of coffee. You will find that different varieties of coffee, such as Turkish or Greek coffee, are more suitable for coffee reading.
Part of the ritual of this form of divination is to sit down and enjoy the tea and the company of your fellow drinkers before you get started. This is not as frivolous as it sounds as it allows you to relax and also gather your thoughts.
Before you even start the reading , there may already be some early signs to interpret:
- 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 of liquid in the bottom of cup of the cup.
Holding the cup in your left hand, swirl the tea leaves round three times in a clockwise direction. Make sure that the remaining tea swirls around the whole of the cup.
Then, upend the cup on the saucer and let the liquid drain away.
Coffee drinkers can use the same method with the remains of their coffee, or they can pour the remains across a plate and interpret the patterns that are left on the plate.
Variations with Coffee Reading:
In Romania the coffee grounds are swirled so that the most of the inside of the cup is covered.
In many Middle East areas, before the start of the reading, the drinker “opens the heart” by by placing the right thumb at the inside bottom of the cup and twisting clockwise slightly. The impression that is left by this small action is then interpreted by the reader as the drinker’s inner thoughts or emotions.
Now you can examine the cup and the patterns of the tea leaves inside.
As a general first impression, just a scattering of leaves inside the cup indicates a tidy mind and disciplined life. A lot of leaves indicates a rich, full, busy life.
Reading the Leaves
The cup is held so that the handle points towards the questioner. The handle represents the questioner and his or her home, and the tea leaves are read in relation to the position of the handle.The rim of the Cup represents recent events. Leaves lying closer to the bottom of the Cup indicate events that are more distant in time. The very bottom of the Cup represents misfortunes.
Leaves that lie to the right of the handle indicate the future, and leaves to the left of the handle indicate the past.
The further away the leaves lie from the handle, the further away the events are in either time or even physical distance.
First take a quick look inside the cup to see if there are any signs that jump out at you:
- Any distinct drops of tea or coffee that remain in the cup despite the swirling and emptying of the cup, represent tears.
- A very large clump of tea leaves indicates trouble. Near the handle – trouble caused by your own making. Opposite the handle – the trouble is not your fault.
- Tea-stalks indicate people. Long stalks indicate men. Shorter stalks indicate women.
- Pale or dark stalks indicate colouring. Slanted stalks indicate untrustworthy people.
- Most tea leaf readers interpret the patterns that the dark tea leaves make against the light background of the cup. However, some also read the images formed in white (seen on the cup itself), with the dark clumps of tea leaves forming the background.