"Spiritual Divination is not fortune telling, it's not about what's going to happen—it's about trying to see beyond our numbness into what's happening now in front of our faces." ~ Martín Prechtel
Brief History of Tea Leaf Reading
Tea leaf reading is an ancient practice that originated in China. The first inklings of Western tea leaf reading or tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology, tasse or tass is an Arab root word, meaning small cup or goblet) can be traced to medieval European fortune tellers who developed their readings from splatters of wax, lead, and other molten substances. This evolved into tea leaf reading in the seventeenth century, a short time after Dutch merchants introduced tea to Europe via trade routes to China. Sometimes coffee grounds, or wine sediments are read as well.
When tea first made its way into Britain from China in the mid-17th century, it was an aristocratic beverage, but as trade fueled falling prices, the general population began drinking it. Already culturally attuned to these practices, lower classes were quick to use tea leaves instead of some of their cumbersome and often dangerous methods of divination, such as the use of molten metal (molybdomancy), hot wax (carromancy) or the entrails of animals (haruspicy))! Ack!
After tea parlors developed in the 1800s, in Europe nomadic Romani/Gypsies began performing readings in them. The Romani had long taken up the practice of tea-leaf readings, often calling door-to-door to offer their services. By the mid-1800s, the Romani had become part of the social scene, welcomed into both parlors and tea rooms to give readings for a fee. Following the First World War, it became common for women in the United States to open their own tea parlors, selling light lunches and offering readings to interested customers after a meal.
Although tasseography is commonly associated with Gypsy fortunetellers, the tradition of tea leaf reading arises independently from Asia, the Middle East and Ancient Greece. Modern tasseography has also been associated with the Scottish, Irish and cultures throughout Eastern Europe.
Certain methods, traditions and symbols of tea leaf reading were often passed down by the female side of a family through the generations, even in the present day. Reading Tea Leaves, by a "Highland Seer," is the oldest book on the subject in English. Written in the 18th century, it offered sets of symbols to interpret tea-leaf patterns. The book talks about generations of Scottish "spae wives" (from the Norse spa, meaning "prophecy") peering into their tea cups to tell of things to come.
Like any other forms of divination, tea leaf reading requires the seer to use their intuitive knowledge and clairvoyance to interpret the symbols. Typically a natural clairvoyant will be able to read many symbols, events and scenes in the cup that would be passed over by others. However anyone can learn the basic shapes and symbols that can be seen in the tea cup.
Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England have produced a number of practitioners and authors on the subject, and English potteries have crafted many elaborate tea cup sets specially designed and decorated to aid in fortune-telling. Tea leaf reading is still popular in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the USA as well as other places around the world.
From time immemorial people have needed each other and turn to each other for perspective, reassurance, direction and clarity, and that's where a good reader can help to help reveal guidance that shows up for a client.
References:
https://www.teamuse.com/article_160601.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasseography
http://www.tasseography.com/history/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/01/434621010/for-centuries-people-have-searched-for-answers-in-the-bottom-of-a-tea-cup
Etymology
tea (n.) 1650s, tay, also in early spellings thea, tey, tee and at first pronounced so as to rhyme with obey; the modern pronunciation predominates from mid-18c. But earlier in English as chaa (1590s), also cha, tcha, chia, cia. The two forms of the word reflect two paths of transmission: chaa is from Portuguese cha, attested in Portuguese from 1550s, via Macao, from Mandarin (Chinese) ch'a (cf chai). The later form, which became Modern English tea, is via Dutch, from Malay teh and directly from Chinese (Amoy dialect) t'e, which corresponds to Mandarin ch'a.
The distribution of the different forms of the word in Europe reflects the spread of use of the beverage. The modern English form, along with French thé, Spanish te, German Tee, etc., derive via Dutch thee from the Amoy form, reflecting the role of the Dutch as the chief importers of the leaves (through the Dutch East India Company, from 1610). Meanwhile, Russian chai, Persian cha, Greek tsai, Arabic shay, and Turkish çay all came overland from the Mandarin form.
First known in Paris 1635, the practice of drinking tea was first introduced to England 1644. Meaning "afternoon meal at which tea is served" is from 1738. Tea ball is from 1895.
cup (n.) Old English cuppe, from Late Latin cuppa "cup" (source of Italian coppa, Spanish copa, Old French coupe "cup"), from Latin cupa "tub, cask, tun, barrel," from PIE *keup- "a hollow" (source also of Sanskrit kupah "hollow, pit, cave," Greek kype "a kind of ship," Old Church Slavonic kupu, Lithuanian kaupas).
The Late Latin word was borrowed throughout Germanic: Old Frisian kopp "cup, head," Middle Low German kopp "cup," Middle Dutch coppe, Dutch kopje "cup, head." German cognate Kopf now means exclusively "head" (compare French tête, from Latin testa "potsherd"). Meaning "part of a bra that holds a breast" is from 1938. [One's] cup of tea "what interests one" (1932), earlier used of persons (1908), the sense being "what is invigorating."
Tea leaf reading is an ancient practice that originated in China. The first inklings of Western tea leaf reading or tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology, tasse or tass is an Arab root word, meaning small cup or goblet) can be traced to medieval European fortune tellers who developed their readings from splatters of wax, lead, and other molten substances. This evolved into tea leaf reading in the seventeenth century, a short time after Dutch merchants introduced tea to Europe via trade routes to China. Sometimes coffee grounds, or wine sediments are read as well.
When tea first made its way into Britain from China in the mid-17th century, it was an aristocratic beverage, but as trade fueled falling prices, the general population began drinking it. Already culturally attuned to these practices, lower classes were quick to use tea leaves instead of some of their cumbersome and often dangerous methods of divination, such as the use of molten metal (molybdomancy), hot wax (carromancy) or the entrails of animals (haruspicy))! Ack!
After tea parlors developed in the 1800s, in Europe nomadic Romani/Gypsies began performing readings in them. The Romani had long taken up the practice of tea-leaf readings, often calling door-to-door to offer their services. By the mid-1800s, the Romani had become part of the social scene, welcomed into both parlors and tea rooms to give readings for a fee. Following the First World War, it became common for women in the United States to open their own tea parlors, selling light lunches and offering readings to interested customers after a meal.
Although tasseography is commonly associated with Gypsy fortunetellers, the tradition of tea leaf reading arises independently from Asia, the Middle East and Ancient Greece. Modern tasseography has also been associated with the Scottish, Irish and cultures throughout Eastern Europe.
Certain methods, traditions and symbols of tea leaf reading were often passed down by the female side of a family through the generations, even in the present day. Reading Tea Leaves, by a "Highland Seer," is the oldest book on the subject in English. Written in the 18th century, it offered sets of symbols to interpret tea-leaf patterns. The book talks about generations of Scottish "spae wives" (from the Norse spa, meaning "prophecy") peering into their tea cups to tell of things to come.
Like any other forms of divination, tea leaf reading requires the seer to use their intuitive knowledge and clairvoyance to interpret the symbols. Typically a natural clairvoyant will be able to read many symbols, events and scenes in the cup that would be passed over by others. However anyone can learn the basic shapes and symbols that can be seen in the tea cup.
Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England have produced a number of practitioners and authors on the subject, and English potteries have crafted many elaborate tea cup sets specially designed and decorated to aid in fortune-telling. Tea leaf reading is still popular in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the USA as well as other places around the world.
From time immemorial people have needed each other and turn to each other for perspective, reassurance, direction and clarity, and that's where a good reader can help to help reveal guidance that shows up for a client.
References:
https://www.teamuse.com/article_160601.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasseography
http://www.tasseography.com/history/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/01/434621010/for-centuries-people-have-searched-for-answers-in-the-bottom-of-a-tea-cup
Etymology
tea (n.) 1650s, tay, also in early spellings thea, tey, tee and at first pronounced so as to rhyme with obey; the modern pronunciation predominates from mid-18c. But earlier in English as chaa (1590s), also cha, tcha, chia, cia. The two forms of the word reflect two paths of transmission: chaa is from Portuguese cha, attested in Portuguese from 1550s, via Macao, from Mandarin (Chinese) ch'a (cf chai). The later form, which became Modern English tea, is via Dutch, from Malay teh and directly from Chinese (Amoy dialect) t'e, which corresponds to Mandarin ch'a.
The distribution of the different forms of the word in Europe reflects the spread of use of the beverage. The modern English form, along with French thé, Spanish te, German Tee, etc., derive via Dutch thee from the Amoy form, reflecting the role of the Dutch as the chief importers of the leaves (through the Dutch East India Company, from 1610). Meanwhile, Russian chai, Persian cha, Greek tsai, Arabic shay, and Turkish çay all came overland from the Mandarin form.
First known in Paris 1635, the practice of drinking tea was first introduced to England 1644. Meaning "afternoon meal at which tea is served" is from 1738. Tea ball is from 1895.
cup (n.) Old English cuppe, from Late Latin cuppa "cup" (source of Italian coppa, Spanish copa, Old French coupe "cup"), from Latin cupa "tub, cask, tun, barrel," from PIE *keup- "a hollow" (source also of Sanskrit kupah "hollow, pit, cave," Greek kype "a kind of ship," Old Church Slavonic kupu, Lithuanian kaupas).
The Late Latin word was borrowed throughout Germanic: Old Frisian kopp "cup, head," Middle Low German kopp "cup," Middle Dutch coppe, Dutch kopje "cup, head." German cognate Kopf now means exclusively "head" (compare French tête, from Latin testa "potsherd"). Meaning "part of a bra that holds a breast" is from 1938. [One's] cup of tea "what interests one" (1932), earlier used of persons (1908), the sense being "what is invigorating."