Telling Fortunes By Tea Leaves: How to Read Your Fate in a Teacup

by Cicely Kent

The turning of the cup before inverting it over the saucer is equivalent to the shuffling of the cards. It is as a direct result of those few seconds turning that the pictures and signs are created, the subconscious mind directing the hand holding the cup. The following simple ritual is all that is necessary to those consulting the tea-leaves.

The cup to be read is held by the seer and turned about as necessary, so that the symbols may be read without disturbing them. This is important, but no disturbance will take place if the moisture has been properly drained away. The handle of the cup represents the consultant, also the home, or, if the consultant be away from home the present abode.

It is necessary to have a starting point in the cup for the purpose of indicating events approaching near to, or far distant from, the person consulting. The leaves near the rim denote such things as may be expected to occur quickly; those directly beneath the handle indicate present and immediate happenings; those on the sides of the cup suggest more distant events; whilst those at the bottom deal with the far distant future.

This method of fixing the time, coupled with intuition, renders it possible to give a consultant some idea as to when an event may be expected; but if there be no intuitive sense of time, it will be found wiser not to be too positive.

The turning of the cup and the draining of the moisture having been carried out as directed, the tea-leaves will be found distributed at the sides and bottom of the cup.

For those who wish to use the saucer as a further means of divination, the following suggestions will be useful.

There must be a definite point to represent the consultant, and for this reason the saucer is usually rejected. There is also the objection that it is more difficult to manipulate in the turning. Nevertheless, it is found to give excellent results, and, if the cup is bare of events, it is useful to be able to find information in the saucer.

First of all, then, to determine the position of the consultant. Take the centre of the saucer for this purpose. The circle round it represents the home, or if the consultant is away from home, the present abode, and also events near at hand. The more distant circle indicates those things which are not to be expected for some time. The outer circle and rim suggest events as yet in the misty future.

When the saucer is used as an additional means of seeking knowledge of coming events, after the symbols in the cup have been exhausted, it will often be found that this secondary divination confirms or enlarges upon that which has already been foretold in the cup.

The moisture and leaves drained from the cup, having remained in the saucer, should be turned by the consultant three times with the same swirling motion as for the cup, and the moisture carefully poured away. The saucer should be held inverted for a few seconds, otherwise when it is placed upright, the remaining moisture will disturb the tea-leaves. The symbols are read in exactly the same way as in the cup, the only difference being the positions representing the consultant, the home, and the indications of time. These have already been explained.