Tasseography

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Spring Pouchong tea leaves that may be used for tasseography divination

Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that in western traditions interprets patterns in tea leaves. The term also refers to the reading of coffee grounds, especially in the Middle Eastern tradition, or the reading of wine sediments.

The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).

1 History
2 Psychology
3 Coffee reading
4 "Opening the heart"
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The practice of tea leaf reading originated independently in Asia, the Middle East and Ancient Greece. Cultures of the Middle East that practice divination in this fashion usually use left-over coffee grounds from Turkish coffee turned over onto a plate.

[edit] Psychology

The Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, Fifth Edition, Vol. 2 edited by J. Gordon Melton, notes:

One of the most popular forms of fortune-telling, depending largely upon psychic intuition. After a cup of tea has been poured, without using a tea strainer, the tea is drunk or poured away. The cup should then be shaken well and any remaining liquid drained off in the saucer. The diviner now looks at the pattern of tea leaves in the cup and allows the imagination to play around the shapes suggested by them. They might look like a letter, a heart shape, or a ring. These shapes are then interpreted intuitively or by means of a fairly standard system of symbolism, such as: snake (enmity or falsehood), spade (good fortune through industry), mountain (journey of hindrance), or house (change, success).

In certain western circles that take this form of divination seriously, it is considered ill-advised for one to attempt tasseography using tea from a cut-open tea bag, to substitute loose coffee in place of tea, or to use a symbol dictionary.

[edit] Coffee reading

Traditionally, this uses Turkish coffee, or any coffee that has grinds that sit at the bottom of the cup. Most of the liquid in the coffee is drunk, but the sediment at the bottom is left behind.

There are at least two forms of coffee readings. Both require that the cup be covered with the saucer and turned upside-down. However, some traditions such as in Romania require that the sediments in the cup be swirled around the inside of the cup until they cover the majority of the cup's inside surface. Other traditions such as Armenian and Middle Eastern do not require this swirling but do require that the cup be turned towards yourself for showing your own fortune. The drinker of the coffee cannot read his or her own cup.

The coffee grinds are given time to settle and dry against the cup before a reading begins.

Many interpretations for symbols exist, but one common thread is the color of the symbols. Since most cups used are white or ivory and the grinds are dark, good contrast exists for the symbols. White is considered as a "good" symbol foretelling of generally positive things for the drinker, while the grinds are considered to form "bad" symbols.

Symbols can be many things including people, animals, and inanimate objects. Usually, the fortune teller will group nearby symbols together for a prediction.

[edit] "Opening the heart"

After a reading, in Armenian or Middle Eastern traditions, the drinker will be asked to "open the heart". This is done by placing the right thumb at the inside bottom of the cup and twisting clockwise slightly. This will leave an impression behind that the fortune teller will interpret as the drinker's inner thoughts or emotions.

[edit] References

Fontana, Marjorie A. Cup of Fortune: A Guide to Tea Leaf Reading. Wis.: Fantastic, 1979.
Posey, Sandra Mizumoto. Cafe Nation: Coffee Folklore, Magick, and Divination. Santa Monica: Santa Monica Press, 2000.
Sheridan, Jo. Teacup Fortune-telling. London: Mayflower, 1978