The Magic of Tea and Reading Tea Leaves

Tea is on of the most popular drinks in the world. Over three billion people drink tea every day. There are flavors to please almost everyone.

Earl Grey, a lovely black tea with bergamot, Chamomile, a delicate, green flavored tea which helps us relax, Hot Cinnamon Sunset, one of my favorites, is a hot, sweet, and spicy tea by Harney and Sons that tastes a bit like Dentyne gum and needs no sugar because it is made with sweet cloves, and hundreds and thousands of others. BUY HERE Another delight comes from Teavana, called Oprah Chai Tea. With ginger, cardamom, cloves, and black tea, it is just the best chai. What makes it even better is a portion of the proceeds go to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation. BUY HERE

Tea is delightful with breakfast, tea time in the afternoon, or to calm you down before bed. With lemon and honey it makes our sore throats feel better. Choosing the perfect cup is almost as fun as drinking the tea!

Some believe that certain teas can help us see into the future, or help another fall in love.

For instance, if you add lemon balm, mugwort, eyebright and rosehips to black tea, you might get a glimpse of what is behind the veil.

If you add damiana, chamomile, mullein, and rose hips to black tea and sip very slowly during a full moon, a vision of your true love might appear in the dark. Please visit this site for even more magical tea spells:  http://www.wicca-chat.com/magicktea.htm

Some use tarot to see into the future, some the Ouija board, and others read tea leaves. 


Tea leaf reading, or tasseography, has been practiced since medieval times as a form of divination. 

Cups have been designed to make it easier for the reader to decipher the signs left by the leaves.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to reading the leaves; using the traditional symbols passed down from generations, or use intuition. For example, if the reader sees an S shape at the bottom of the cup, this could be read as misfortune if using traditional symbols, but the reader might not feel a negative at all, and interpret the S as something completely different. 

Set up a lovely area for yourself, and turn off anything electric, cell phones, TV, etc. Say a prayer of protection of doing a reading for someone else.

Reading the leaves is very simple. First, the tea is brewed, preferably in the traditional method with a pot and loose tea. If only tea in bags is available, the tea can be make by breaking the bag into a cup, or making a regular cup of tea and then breaking the bag and adding a pinch or two to the cup. Use a light colored, sloping cup. Use a tea that has a special meaning to you, or one whose scent has a spiritual meaning.

Before the tea is sipped, there are a few things to look for in the cup according to Serena, who has been reading tea leaves for generations.

Bubbles on the surface of your tea means that money is on its way.

If any tea leaves are floating on the surface, then visitors are imminent. The number of leaves shows how many days away they are.

If two teaspoons are accidentally placed on a saucer, then you can expect news of twins soon.

If a teaspoon is placed upside down onto a saucer then you will hear news of the ill-health of a close relative.

Then the tea is enjoyed. This is an important part of the ritual because you calm down and your thoughts are not erratic. While sipping, three questions can be thought of if there is no specific purpose for the reading.  Leave a small amount of liquid at the bottom, and swirl the remains three times clockwise. Now pour the liquid into the saucer, and look at the leaves left on the bottom of the cup. Some say if there are only a few leaves that your life is orderly and planned.

Some say it means you are not living your life to the fullest. If there are many leaves you are busy, hurried, but fulfilled. Some say it could mean you are doing too many things, and should slow down.

Now turn the handle toward yourself. Here is a list of the "zones" according to Wiki: 

Zones from top to bottom may represent either "distance" or "weight" of the omens. Images near the top (rim) are close while images near the bottom are distant. In terms of time, the distance from rim to base represents approximately 6 months. However, "distance" may also refer to relationship to a person or goal. The other way of looking at it is that images at the base of the cup can represent a "heavy" (ill) omen and, as they come nearer the rim, are "light" or joyful omens. The context will determine which is applicable. Context and symbolism are most important. Trust your instincts.

The handle of the cup is known as the "domain" and images near the handle are images related to home life and family. The further from the handle an image is the more "outside" the omen. Symbols opposite the handle relate to work or strangers, somewhere in between might relate to non-immediate family or "a friend of a friend." Images to the RIGHT of the handle indicate something coming TO the querent while images to the LEFT of the handle represent things coming FROM the domain.

A big clump of tea leaves with no discernible image might augur trouble on its way. If it is opposite to the handle, the trouble will likely be not of your making but if it is under the handle, it is considered to be of your making.

If there remains a drop or two of liquid tea that didn't come off with the draining, these are considered to be tears. It might indicate past or future sadness, dependent on the context of the rest of the reading.

Now you can begin looking for symbols. Apples, spiders, candles, and more have traditional meanings, but going with your intuition is always a great idea when reading the leaves.

Look here for a complete list of symbols and their meanings. http://www.readingtealeaves.info/asymbols.html

Reading can also be done with coffee grinds or the sediment left over from wine.

Here is my reading: There were some drops of tea left of the bottom after I drained the cup. 

Great Gramma reading leaves and bones

These are known as "tears" and mean I will probably experience sorry. Or maybe it means I already did! I also noticed the leaves on the right near the handle looked like a cat, and on the top away from the handle is a little flag. On the bottom there is a dancing person and smiling kid or face. OK let's see...Oooo!! The flag is danger from wounds inflicted by an enemy. Great. And yikes. Since it's the left of the handle it is FROM me. The cat...difficulties caused by treachery. And it is close to the handle so it comes from home. Finally. The smiling face is pleasure and love and the little dancing figure means a pleasant omen of coming pleasure and gratification, good news, happiness in love and friendship; it also means that you will receive an unexpected invitation.

I hope you will read tea leaves today and tell me what happens, or tell me if you ever had your fortune told. 

I'd also love to know your favorite tea since I seem to be a bit addicted. 

xo