What’s a tea leaf reading?

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Tea leaf reading is the practice of seeing signs of the future through tea leaves. Similar to Turkish coffee or palm readings, the practice of visualizing symbols or flashes of divination through tea leaves has garnered many skeptics and believers.

Ancient cultures often invited individuals to interpret the future. In Egypt, there was the oracle; in Greece, there was Delphi; and centuries later, there would be traveling gypsies, soothsayers, alchemists, and pagans. Each of these witty people would use various forms of objects to channel their ability to see the future. Some would use stones or crystals, others herbs and roots and finally, some would use tea leaves.

In a tea leaf reading, dried tea leaves are dropped freely into a teapot, hot water is added, and once brewed, the tea is poured into cups without the use of a filter. The tea is then consumed by the person seeking to know their future. In some practices, the cup is held in the palm of the finder’s hand while being rotated clockwise. At the first sip, the tea is relatively easy to drink. However, towards the bottom of the cup, it will be more difficult to drink the tea without consuming the leaves. Most tea drinkers resort to swirling the remaining liquid and some don’t finish, leaving behind traces of tea. Once the researcher has determined that they are done, he will hand the cup to a reader. Most tea leaf reading practitioners do not recommend reading your cup.

The cup is then studied by a reader who will look for symbols, images, certain feelings, or flashes of energy when viewing the leaves in the cup. In general, leaves scattered across the bottom of a cup symbolize a full, busy, and productive life. Tufts of tea leaves in a teardrop pattern can indicate pain in the future. If the tea makes stains in the cup, this can symbolize many things, from longevity in life, to the amount of children someone can have, to the number of decisions that will come before them.

Tea leaf reading is a popular pastime usually shared at women’s gatherings throughout the Middle East and Asia. While most attendees will concede a certain amount of skepticism to tea leaf readings, they’ll also share that it’s a fun and engaging way to spend time with one another. Instead of paying a fortune teller, tea leaf reading has become a popular and inexpensive way for friends to interpret each other’s futures. More important than predictions is often the amount of laughter that erupts with each tea-leaf reading.

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