Tea leaf reading: what are my leaves telling me?
Tea leaf reading which is also called Tasseography was popularized by gypsies but has its origins in China. It is a process of reading the tea leaves that are left at the bottom of the tea Cup after the tea had been consumed. The hot refreshment itself is consumed by the person who is receiving the reading and read by the psychic performing the reading. This is a type of reading that anyone can actually do whether you have psychic ability are not. The only thing that is required is the knowledge of what the symbols represent and how you are able to interpret them. As with anything practice makes perfect. Before you start the reading you should take the time to figure out what question or questions you would like to know the answers to. Whether this is life itself or questions you may have about business, family or love related issues. In terms of divination this is called Tasseomancy.
How to do a tea leaf reading:
Items required:
Tea cup and saucer
spoon
tea leaves
water
teapot with an open spout ( that doesn’t hold the tea back in the pot if you choose to boil your tea that way)
As you can imagine the first step is actually boiling the water to make a cup of tea. Now most people say that you have to use the actual tea leaves without a teabag, which in most cases is true but if you can’t do that you can always cut the teabag open and use that as well if you don’t have access to just the leaves, but make sure this is done prior to the tea being brewed. The important thing to remember is that the cup of tea must have loose leaves in it. Psychics believe the best tea leaves for reading are Earl Grey or Jasmine but any will do. The cup itself cannot be a mug but has to be a cup on a saucer and should be plain inside. The larger the bowl of the cup the better. The reason for it to be plain on the inside is so that there is no misinterpretation of the leaves. Milk or sugar can still be used if you add them to your tea as it will not cloud the reading that you are about to have.
Step two is to get the person that is having the reading drink the tea. While they drink the tea the person who is asking the questions to do their best to clear their mind and relax. The person being read or querent should then make sure that they leave a little bit of tea still in the bottom of the cup. The cup should then be swirled around anticlockwise three times before the contents are poured out easily and not forced onto a napkin or paper towel that is been put on the saucer. Putting the cup upside down on the saucer is the last step for this part.
Step three is to now look at the symbols that the tea leaves have left and to interpret them. your reading begins by starting at the handle moving clockwise around the cup. Watch the video below for the proper way of reading the cup starting with the handle.
In this video it shows how to properly conduct a reading of the leaves:
Tea leaf reading symbols:
Now just like dream interpretation the leftover leaves can create tons of symbols and have a lot of meanings associated with them. Here’s a website or you can go to that has over 200 possible signs that your cup of tea can be telling you.
How Often can i do a reading?
It’s best to do readings no more than once a week as you have to give time for the short term energy to change. If you are reading them yourself, then you can do them daily if you want, but then they are just a guide for the day.
I want to buy tea leaf cards, any suggestions please!
Unfortunately, they are out of print at the moment. You could contact US Games Systems, Inc. and ask them when they plan to reprint them. Other than that, there are some available for sale on Amazon.com from private sellers but these are very expensive. Sorry, I can’t be more help than that at the moment.
Any Books you can suggest to learn the meanings?
I recommend Tea Leaf Reading for Beginners, by Caroline Dow, or Tea Cup Reading: A Quick and Easy Guide to Tasseography. That one’s by Sasha Fenton. Both are available for Kindle, which is how I got them.
Can there be images within the images?
Absolutely. A symbol can be one image or made up from many different images.
Who should drink the tea?
The person whose fortune is being read is the person who should drink the brew or coffee.
Can you use a teabag?
You have to split the teabag. The readings are better with loose leaf tea because the tea leaves in a tea bag have been ground up very small and float when you put hot water on them. Split the teabag, take out a small amount of tea about 1/2 tsp and put in cup. Pour a small amount of boiling water over it and let tea steep. You don’t have to drink the tea unless you want to, but you must hold the cup with both hands to let your energy flow, thinking of the questions that you want the cup to answer.
Have you ever seen Zodiac signs in the tea leaves? I’ve never heard of that happening before. But in my tea cup morning there were two very clear ones: a Taurus the Bull, and below it very clearly, Scorpio the Scorpion. Any thoughts?
Phiomena in my opinion, it is either a warning that you are putting your physical world and needs above your spiritual needs or if you have been lately too involved in spiritual work, you are advised to do some grounding work and enjoy a bit more the physical world around you.
What type of disposable cups would you use given each person would need a new cup and the cup should show the leaves/grounds easily? If you were at a fair or something and wanted to read for others?
Do you want them to drink the tea before your read? Or do you just want to read tea? When I workevents I don’t have time for people to drink a cup before they sit down with me. And – I have a line of people waiting. The first time I did a promotional event, I read tea leaves out of white Styrofoam cups for 5 hours straight in a department store. After I finished reading, the cup just went in the trash. I now read at some really upscale places and for bridal showers, so I now prep the tea in small Saki cups with just enough water to soften the leaves but not enough to make a mess when I dump the cup. I clean out my cup between readings. I prep about 12 small cups and then reload.
I have a newbie question. I’m looking for a tea pot and find that most of them have a built in strainer. Do you brew full pots in this kind of tea pot and more importantly, how do you get the tea leaves in the cup? TIA!
If you can’t find a pot without a strainer you can also put some tea leaves in a cup and pour boiling water over them.
I read with tea bag tea most of the time, and I usually set the bag aside until after I’m nearly finished with my tea before I tear it open and scrape the tea into the cup. I’ve gotten good results with this method
Pro tip when it comes to timing
f you’re reading for a year, divide the cup equally into 12 parts (months) and starting with the handle and reading in a clockwise direction, the first 1/12 represents the first month, the second the second month and so on.
If you’re reading for a month, divide the cup into four equal parts (weeks) and use the same methodology.
If you’re reading for a week, divide the cup into 7 equal parts (days).
If you’re reading for a day, read the cup as a whole.
I find that the timelines can be elastic and the further out that you’re trying to read, the more likely things are going to change because so many things can impact long-term energy. Four months is basically the end of short-term energy and I find that fortunes within that period are the most accurate.
Thank you for that addition Ashil :)
Question is there special tea that you need to do this?
Loose leaf . One that I like best is Earl Grey as it has a nice blend of different sized leaves, but any kind is fine. Even tea from teabags is okay. However, some of the tea in bags is ground so fine it is like dust and this can make for muddy, unreadable symbols. Also the extremely large leaves of some of the herbal ones are not good for reading either.
the kind of tea is a personal preference, the smaller the cut of leaves, the easier the images will present themselves. My favourite is Good Evening from T2, it has a mix of fine and larger pieces, the larger pieces float which gives another dimension to the reading.
Good advice, Mercie. :) The only type of leaves that don’t work are the extremely large herb leaves. Ones out of teabags is okay as well except for the ones where the tea leaves are so small they are like dust. Other than that, use one that you like to drink. I find that Rooibos or Earl Grey tea work well for me.
Thank you for sharing. Would most of your advice be applicable to coffee grounds as well? Tea leaves and coffee grounds tend to have the same symbolic meanings
I would think so, Darsie. The only difference I would advise for a coffee cup is when you’re nearly finished drinking it that you add a pinch or two of coffee grounds to make sure there is something to read. Remember that Turkish coffee and Greek coffee are two totally different animals and they have completely different ways of being prepared.