How Do I Read Tea Leaves?

Besides sipping, tea also serves another purpose. Tea is often used for exploring the past, present, and future. Interpreting the shapes and symbols of tea leaves is called the art of Tasseography, also known as Tasseomancy.

Tasseography is less popular than other divinatory methods, such as Tarot or Runes (casting stones), because it offers no definitive answers. Still, it remains a powerful way to amplify your intuition and gain insight without incurring significant expenses.

So, how does tea leaf reading work?

In divinatory practices, by focusing your energy on a question or concern, you direct your energy toward the tool used (in this case, tea leaves), which reveals one of three things.

• Past events that have led to or influenced the current situation.
• What is happening now (and usually involves a clue as to "Why?").  
• The future, as it is likely to pan out (as things stand now). 

The configuration of wet tea leaves at the bottom of your teacup reveals any messages you receive, based on their placement, density, shape, and color. For determining the meanings of these elements, the text "Reading Tea Leaves" (1881), written by a highland seer, offers over 150 tea-leaf interpretations and is the most original and comprehensive text available to date (Gutenberg.org). Of course, several modern, up-to-date references, including YouTube videos, can help you learn even more.

To read tea leaves, you must first brew a cup of tea. However, you need to set rules in place in advance. The cup must have a flat bottom and curved sides, as most original teacups were. A mug will not do. The cup should also be light-colored so the leaves are clearly visible. The cup should have a handle, and you should also provide a saucer or small plate. You must use bulk tea. Meaning the tea leaves must be loose. If bulk tea is unavailable, you may open a mesh tea bag (and pour the contents into the bottom of the cup), as long as the tea leaves retain their original texture and are not finely cut.

Never use the typical paper tea bag that contains finely cut or powdered tea. The leaves are nonexistent and will not form correctly. When you're first learning to read tea leaves, I encourage you to start with black tea, such as Orange Pekoe. However, if caffeine gives you the jitters, consider using a favorite blend that suits your taste. The important thing is the leaves. 

Generally, use one teaspoon of dried tea leaves to make a perfect cup of bulk tea. You don't need an infuser (a strainer), as the leaves will remain in the cup. On the stove, bring some water to a rolling boil (just before it boils. Water at this temperature prevents tea leaves from burning and becoming acidic, which can result in discolored tea and a bitter taste, affecting readings and impacting your energy while sipping. Pour approximately 1/2 to 2/3 cup of water over the tea leaves. Too much water can make the sipping part of the ritual take too long. Too little, and the leaves may not unfurl correctly.

For divining, drink tea plain. Additions such as lemon, sugar, or milk will only alter the reading. After the water cools, you can begin sipping the tea while focusing on a particular question or concern, which begins to absorb your energy into the tea leaves.

The seeker (you or someone else) is sometimes called a querent. Assuming it's you, your next step is to form an exact question in your mind while sipping your tea. In other words, focus on exactly what you want to know. A precise question yields a more precise answer. It can help to state your question aloud before reading your tea leaves. The reading ritual officially begins when approximately 1 tablespoon of liquid remains in the cup.

Hold the teacup in your left hand. Quickly swirl the liquid in the cup clockwise three times. Immediately, with the same hand, slowly turn your teacup upside down over the saucer. To let the liquid drain away from the leaves, keep the teacup on the saucer for one minute without disturbing it. Then, with your right hand, rotate your cup clockwise three times and turn it upright on the dish. Some say the handle should be pointing south. The cup's handle represents your environment and connects your material and spiritual worlds.

Divining the future by staring at a hodgepodge of wet leaves clinging to the bottom and sides of a teacup might seem a bit foolish. However, some standard shapes and patterns have held consistent meanings for centuries. Look for five basic symbols: animals, letters, mythical beings (such as dragons and unicorns), numbers, and objects. Each of these has a different meaning in the context of your question. Sometimes these images will be visible immediately. Other times, they will not. It may even take some searching to locate a relevant symbol.

When reading tea leaves, you read them from four different sections of the teacup. Tea leaves near the cup handle represent what surrounds you immediately. If most symbols are closest to the handle, your wish is closer to fulfillment. Tea leaves directly across from the handle represent outside influences. Three of these sections are used for prophecy. Tea leaves near the rim of the cup reflect the present. Leaves on the side of the cup reveal what is coming soon. Finally, any tea leaves at the bottom of the cup tell your "far" future. Depending on what you want to know, these areas can show timing, distance, or the depth or intensity of a situation.

Tea leaves can scatter throughout the cup in circles, dots, figures, lines, and groups. Each of these has a different meaning depending on how it lines up in the cup. For example, dots often represent finances and money. Speaking of lines, a line of tea leaves usually means a journey. A long line represents a long journey, a broken line signifies a delayed journey, a very straight line indicates a quick trip, or a very short line represents a very short trip. Where the line points adds even more meaning. A line stopping before reaching the cup handle means you will likely be moving house. If a number also appears, it will represent the journey's duration, either in days or weeks, or the time before the move.

Another example might be noticing that an individual leaf is stuck to the rim of the cup, which usually means someone is thinking of you. Finding a letter in the leaves may reveal the first letter of a name (yours, the seeker's, or someone else's). By viewing these formations from different angles and tilting the teacup this way and that, you can help your intuition and imagination kick in and make sense of them.

I once read my tea leaves and saw what looked like an angry blob with a rough line extending from it, like a flattened flower with rough edges and a crater in the middle. Not an avid tea leaf reader myself, I couldn't figure out what it was, except that it was in my near future. However, I immediately sensed it was a bad omen. Within days, I came down with a severe bladder infection that gave me problems for months. 

One thing to remember about reading tea leaves, or any other oracle, is to keep an open mind and a cheerful heart. When searching for answers to life's difficult questions, magnifying your intuition can be extremely enlightening. After all, we each have all the solutions we need already inside us if we but listen. Reading tea leaves is one way to do so. However, just as in Tarot readings, where nothing is "writ in stone", nothing is written in tea leaves either. Tea leaves hold no power of their own. Your intuition (gut feeling) is the best tool for formulating answers and making wise life decisions. Still, an occasional tea leaf reading can be just the trick to kick one's intuition into full gear while enjoying a spot of tea.