The art of Tea Leaf Reading or Tasseomancy has been around for centuries. Like any of the other forms of Divination, there are many ways to approach this special mystical task. Tea Leaf Reading can provide powerful insight into one’s life simply by interpreting a few stems and sticks.
This article is geared for the beginner Tea Leaf Reader to feel comfortable in a simple style of reading.
Of course, it all starts with a cup of tea.
The cup itself should have a handle. It is best if the cup is white or has no design on the inside so that you can see the tea leaves better. There are many opinions on whether the cup should be flared or wide mouthed and so on. The best cup is the one you can read with confidence.
There needs to be a saucer to go with the cup. They don’t have to match but it will be necessary to invert the cup onto a plate or saucer to empty out the excess leaves.
The type of tea needs to be loose leafed, not in a bag. It doesn’t matter what kind of tea it is as long as there are twigs and sticks and possibly berries to read.
You will want to keep a bowl or bucket handy for you to dispose of tea water and paraphernalia in- between clients if you’re reading at a party or other large event.
The entire ritual begins with the boiling of the water to make the tea. You may pour the boiling water into a teapot or you may pour the water into individual cups. If you steep the tea in a pot and then pour it into a cup, be certain that you’ve put enough tea into the pot to let each cup have about two tablespoons of tea leaves in each cup. If the leaves don’t pour into the cup from the spout, it’s perfectly acceptable to use a spoon and scoop out two spoonfuls of leaves and put them into the tea cup.
In tea leaf reading, it’s not really how delicious the tea is, although it can be. In tea leaf reading, the reader should be focusing on the question or questions while sipping the tea. There doesn’t need to be a specific question but thinking about issues while drinking will get the energies moving in the cup.
The client should drink nearly all the tea. When there’s only a tiny bit of water left and a bunch of leaves, take the cup by the handle and gently swish the remainder, if there’s enough water to swish. You don’t want much water left or it gets messy.
The client should turn the cup upside down on the saucer and then turn it three times. This is where having a handle comes in handy so that you can keep track of how many times the cup has been turned.
The reader will then pick up the cup and holding it by the handle; can peer into it to read it.
The handle serves as a good base point. Some people use the handle as a specific signifier. Since this is Beginning Tea Leaf Reading, just use the handle to hang on to and as a starting point to read.
Think about the cup being divided into three parts. The bottom third of the cup including the bottom is the past. The mid-section of the cup is the present. The top of the cup is the future. Sometimes leaves will even perch on the rim of the cup which can be considered future or dreams or angels or heavenly matters being attended to on your behalf.
There are many ways to approach reading the leaves.
You can look up symbols and meanings in a variety of excellent books on Tasseomancy or on the Internet if you’re reading for yourself or practicing on friends. However, in a professional situation, you won’t be able to refer to any manuals so you need to trust and believe in your gut instinct.
Tea Leaf Reading is quite intuitive. The reader should relax and blur her eyes while examining the tea leaves remaining in the cup. At first the leaves will just look like clumps that should be whisked down a rain drain but eventually, shapes will take form.
Shapes and images are important. They mean nothing to the reader but they may mean the world to your client. Say what you see as you see it. Describe any feelings that you experience while reading the images.
Use the sections of the cup as a rough guide for past, present and future. Describe images and feelings for the client. Try to create a story using the images.
It can take much longer to read tea leaves than cards or runes since tea leaf reading is very much intuitive and any one of thousands of images can pop into a reader’s head. Reading tea leaves is a lot like reading with crystals or tarot. You are opening up to images, patterns, and tapping into more of the subconscious than the conscious mind. This is why it’s important to read FOR the client openly and without censoring. When the reader attempts to bend ideas and feelings into what she thinks the client wants to hear, there is a danger that the reading won’t be as accurate.
Some readers like to examine the images in the saucer as well.
Practice tea leaf readings on friends and see what style of reading you prefer. Try different cups and blends of teas as well.
There are no right or wrong answers, it’s just a matter of relaying what the reader sees and feels from the leaves left in the cup.
Should you be interested in bringing a bit more harmony to your life, give Psychic Susan a call. Susan is available at 1-866-327-9032 (toll free USA and Canada).
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