by Elizabeth Farrell

Created on: January 03, 2011

Tea leaf reading is an ancient form of divination whose origins go back to different areas of the world including Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe. Technically referred to as tasseography, tea leaf reading is used by some people purely as a form of entertainment. But for other people it is a helpful divination method that can offer spiritual insights and guidance. Tea leaf reading basically involves the interpretation of patterns created by steeped tea leaves after the liquid has been drunk or drained away. The interpretations of the patterns created by the leaves depends much upon the diviner's clarity of mind and their level of intuition. Those who have the gift of psychic abilities may find tea leaf reading to be fairly easy, but you don't need to have psychic gifts in order to read tea leaves. With practice, good intuition and a little imagination nearly anyone can become proficient at tea leaf reading.

What you will need:

A teapot in which to prepare the tea.

A wide mouthed, shallow teacup with a saucer.

Loose, big-leafed tea, preferably Black, Green or Jasmine tea. Do not use tea from a cut open tea bag. Most tea bags have tea that is too powdery to give you a good reading. It's also a good idea to use the more expensive loose leaf tea, as the inexpensive kind usually has dust and small bits of twig that can confuse the reading.

Now it's time to start

Prepare the tea as you normally would by pouring boiling water directly over the loose tea leaves in the tea pot; let steep several minutes. Pour the tea into the teacup but don't use any type of strainer.

If you are doing the reading for yourself go ahead and drink the tea until only about a teaspoonful is left at the bottom of the cup. If you are doing the reading for someone else they must be the one to drink the tea.

Take some time to focus upon the question or concern that you wish to address. Then take the tea cup in your left hand and gently swirl the leftover liquid three times in a clockwise direction. Invert the cup into the saucer and let the tea liquid drain.

Gently pick up the cup and observe the tea leaves within the cup itself. It's important here to note that the position of the tea leaves within the cup represent different periods of time. The handle of the tea cup represents the enquirer, so any leaves here represent things that are close to the person doing the enquiring. The rim of the cup stands for the present and the bottom of the cup represents the distant future. Be sure to take

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