What is tasseomancy?

Tasseomancy or tasseography is the art of reading tea leaves by identifying and interpreting symbols in the cup which are perceived from the reader’s own imagination.

History Of Tea Leaf Readings

Emperor Shen Nun was the first person to discover tea according to legend in 2737BC. It is said that his servant was boiling water for his master and the wind blew some leaves from the wild tea tree (camelia sinensis) above into the water. He proceeded to drink the liquid.

Thus began a ritual amonst tea drinkers to analyse the leaves to tell them something about their past, present and future life.

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians also may have had their own early tradition of tea leaf reading rituals.

Dutch tea merchants are believed to have started this tradition in Europe using their trade routes from China.

The Romany gypsies adopted this tradition into their own culture in the 1800’s helping tasseomancy to spread throughout Britain, Europe and the rest of the world.

For the purposes of a tea leaf reading, use loose leaf tea as this will give a better reading. It is possible to use a tea bag but expect less than desired results. Only use ¼ of a teaspoon. Less is definitely more. Believe me!

You can tailor your tea type or even use herbs to gain the answers you are seeking. Supermarket tea is absolutely fine to use. Tea leaf reading doesn’t need to be an expensive hobby..

Some people like to perform coffee ground readings and it is even possible to divine from wine sediment.

Everyday readings - Any loose black tea eg Ceylon, Assam, Oolong, Earl Grey or green tea

Romance - Rosehip

Mediumship and psychic development - Mugwort

The shape of the cup is important. Do not try to read from a mug. I would advise practising with a larger cup to start with to make the symbols easier to read.

Once again this does not have to be your expensive bone china. Cups sold in supermarkets these days are fancy yet practical these days and can be bought for less than a fiver.

The Cup of knowledge is based on playing card symbology

A basic dictionary of symbols to help with your tea leaves, charm casting and dream interpreting.

See the dictionary here https://www.gypsyrosedivination.com/symbolism-dictionary

It can be interesting to read with a speciality cup. There are some vintage ones and more modern fortune telling cups which offer different perspectives and can help learn about symbology in the early stages of tea leaf reading analysis.

Some examples of fortune telling cups can cover topics such as astrology, playing cards, tarot and even flowers.

An astrology cup

A modern Alice in Wonderland fortune teller cup by Australian designer

Karin Dalton-Smith

The traditional Romany Gypsy cup

A modern fortune telling cup based on the Victorian language of flowers

by Karin Dalton-Smith

There are many ways to read a read an ordinary teacup. The diagram opposite shows one such example.

I would advise you to do your own research using books, courses, google etc to form your own ideas and design your own system. Of course the best way is go purely by intuition, otherwise you could get overwhelmed with all the information out there. I firmly believe there is no right or wrong way to learn the tea leaves as with any divination system.