Fundamentals of Tasseography

Tasseography is the form of divination using tea leaves or even coffee grinds left behind after a cup has been consumed. TASSE French for cup and OGRAPHY the study of. So together you have ‘the study of the cup’. MATERIALS: Tea pot: any glass, ceramic, I use metal. Just be sure the holes behind the spout are large and plentiful enough to allow the loose leaves to flow freely from the pot into the cup. CUPS: Any teacup can be used. Just be sure there are no ridges or inserted decorations that will hold leaves. A light colored interior will help you see symbols, images, and letters. No latte cups or tall mugs. There are also cups sold with planetary symbols on the interior for those who are astrologically inclined. WATER: use spring or tap never distilled. Most teas steep the best when the water is boiled to 190 degrees. TEAS: Any loose tea may be used. Chinese green tea, English tea, black, orange, decaf all will work. Bags will not. You need loose teas. Do not just rip open a teabag. The leaves are ground too fine to allow this to be accomplished. I usually have a cup while the client drinks theirs to relax and also to gain some insight into my condition while reading their leaves. ADDITIONS: You can add honey, lemon, sugar, sugar substitute, milk even. Most leaves will settle to the bottom of the cup after stirring. To avoid swallowing the leaves when drinking the tea, use your upper lip or teeth to strain. PREPPING: Boil water, add loose tea and steep about 10 minutes. Customarily add 1tsp per cup to pot plus one for the pot for good measure. Relax and drink the tea with your client. Have them take their time and put their thoughts out of their mind. Be sure you leave a small amount of liquid at the bottom of the cup with the leaves. Only about a quarter inch. Not too much it will flood your table when the cup is dumped over into a saucer to be read. PROCEDURE: Meditate on the cup and the future. Relax, take a deep breath and with your right hand and ask it a question out loud or silently. If you don’t have a question ask it to show you the month ahead. Turn the cup upside down onto the saucer or a plate. Allow extra liquid to drain out, leaving the tea leaves inside. These will be read! Turn the cup on the saucer three times clockwise, while thinking of the question. When they are ready turn the cup back over and read the leaves left inside. Look for patterns, symbols, letter, images, words, numbers. Read the cup clockwise direction from handle out. The timeframe of the events go from soonest, nearest to handle to the most future occurrences by rim. Don’t read the saucer. Just what’s in the cup! Like with black mirror or ball scrying some images will have to be determined by the person for only they will know what they mean to them. Of course, as in everything I do the demonic divine and Father can be invoked or even summonsed to gain insight or deeper interpretations into the reading of the leaves in the cup.