Tasseography
Divination seems to weave its way into the paranormal tradition at large, from connections to cryptids to folklore passed down through generations, being able to tell the future plays a critical role. People have claimed to be able to tell the future through a variety of things - bones, animal innards, mirrors, fire, and tea leaves. The practice of reading tea leaves, also known as tasseography, involves studying the remnants leftover to learn more about humanity’s precarious future.
Put as simply as possible, those practicing tasseography look to insight into a situation r the future by examining the patterns left behind by tea leaves after the teacup has been trained. According to NPR, “When tea first made its way into Britain from China in the mid-17th century, it was an aristocratic beverage, but as trade fueled falling prices, the general population began drinking it. Already culturally superstitious, lower classes were quick to use tea leaves instead of some of their cumbersome and often dangerous methods of divination, such as the use of molten metal (molybdomancy), hot wax (carromancy) or the entrails of animals (haruspicy).” Although the practice was popularized and brought into Western imaginations during the Victorian Era, it is plausible that other cultures practice tasseography long before written records of it exist.
To best practice, white or light-colored china teacups were used so the patterns of the tea leaves would be easily discernible. It was also common to use loose leaf tea with larger leaves to ensure the patterns would be easily read. Common teas included Darjeeling and Earl Grey. Before the water was poured, the leaves would be dropped into the dry cup and the person who wanted their fortune told would stir the tea with their finger while focusing on the specific inquiry that they had. Boiling water would then be poured into the cup and the person who wanted their fortune would drink all but the very last sip of tea. Once just a few drops of tea remained, the cup would be taken in their hand and swirled clockwise three times with a white napkin draped on the top. Then the teacup would be overturned, the person would count to seven and the cup would be placed upright and ready for analysis.
Another method is to use a teacup specifically prepared for tasseography. These tea sets usually have patterns or symbols within the teacup and it is believed that whatever sign the tea leaves land on should be interpreted as the answer to the inquirer’s questions.
When analyzing the tea leaves, the image’s placement in the cup is also important. The cup, typically, is divided into three parts - the rim shows the present, the side shows the near future, and the bottom of the cup shows the distant future. The closer these images appear to the handle indicate that these events will soon be set into motion.
Some of the common signs included acorns, celestial images, birds, and hearts. Acorns symbolize health, celestial images symbolize good luck, birds symbolize good news, and hearts symbolize a lover. However, not all symbols are positive. Daggers or swords symbolize a warning of impending doom, a coffin-like configuration warns of death, and snakes warn of betrayal. These are not all of the symbols one could see in the tea leaves, but they do make up many of the commonly seen images.
If you are interested in practicing tasseography by yourself, you can follow the directions above. Or, click on the sources linked in the beginning of the story for more detailed instructions. I should note, it is warned that cutting up a tea bag may not reveal the purest of truths. Also, the tea in most tea bags is so fine it may be hard to create the images needed to analyze. Like dream divination, tasseography is deeply personal so keep in mind and focused on what you want and need from this reading.
If you do conduct a tasseography, let me know how it goes below!
The above image is from Gunnar Creutz, Falbygdens Museum and s licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0. Uported.
