Does the Answer Lie in the Leaves?

Last night I watched the first episode of Outlander.  Yes, I know, where have I been the past year? I’m not quite sure if I’m going to like the series or not, but I must admit there was one scene which caught my attention … Claire and the minister’s assistant sitting in the kitchen having tea and then reading the tea leaves left in Claire’s cup.

Tea leaf reading, or Tasseography (from the French tasse, for cup, and the Greek suffix graph, for writing), is the ancient art of predicting the future by reading images formed from the tea leaves left in the bottom of a teacup.  The origins are a bit unclear.  Was it the Chinese or was it Greek gypsies who saw the “future” in these images?  What is clear is that you must be a bit of a mystic or clairvoyant to accurately interpret these images.

By the 17th century, tea leaf reading had traveled, along with tea, up through Europe into Great Britain.  “Tossing the cup” as it was called in Victorian England had become a very popular parlor game, but in Scotland, it was taken a little more seriously.  One of the oldest books on the subject, TEA-CUP READING AND FORTUNE TELLING BY TEA LEAVES, was written anonymously by a Highland Scotsman.  From the book,  “… (reading tea leaves) is one of the most common forms of divination practised by the peasants of Scotland and by village fortune-tellers in all parts of this country.” Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the tea-leaf reading scene was included in the tv series.

Reading-Tea-Leaves

To read the tea leaves, you must first prepare a good pot of loose leaf tea.  No, you cannot use teabags. You must use loose leaf tea and let it steep in the pot without infusers or tea balls.   I love this passage from TEA-CUP READING“China tea, the original tea imported into this country and still the best for all purposes. Indian tea and the cheaper mixtures contain so much dust and so many fragments of twigs and stems as often to be quite useless for the purposes of divination, as they will not combine to form pictures, or symbols clearly to be discerned.”

Before serving, stir the tea in the teapot and then pour a cup.  You also must use a “proper” teacup with saucer – not a mug.  The inside of the teacup must be white to see the leaves clearly and have sloping sides. The person who drinks the tea and wants to know the future is the “seeker”.  The person who will read the leaves is, obviously, the “reader”.  The seeker is asked by the reader to concentrate on what question she wants answered, or what she wants to know.

After the seeker has finished the tea and left the dregs behind, the reader takes the cup in her left hand, and turns it counter-clockwise three times, swirling the dregs, and then turns the cup over onto the saucer.  After a moment or two, the reader picks up the cup to see what images have been made by the tea leaves left in the cup.  The interpretation of these symbols is, of course, based upon the talent and divining abilities of the reader.  He or she must be intuitive, focused and creative.  Seeing images in the tea leaves takes quite an imagination.

reading tea 2The reader begins reading from the rim down.  The rim signifies those events happening soonest, while the images closer to the bottom will be further in the future.  The tea leaves which settle closer to the cup’s handle suggest home and family.

Anchor:  a good sign, symbolizing prosperity.
Arrow:  a disagreeable letter coming from the direction it points to.
Bird:  a flying bird indicates good news; a resting bird symbolizes an end to a journey.
Boat:  an upcoming journey or a removal of something from the seeker’s life.
Circles:  money, gifts or presents are expected.
Clover:  a very lucky sign; happiness and prosperity.
Cross:  a sign of trouble and delay or even death.
Dog:  a begging dog indicates someone will ask for a favor; a sad dog represents an injustice.
Heart:  love and affection
Horse-shoe:  a lucky journey or success in marriage and choosing a partner.
Human:  people in a positive stance is a good sign; aggressive stance signifies evil.
Line:  a straight, unbroken line means good progress; a broken line challenges the journey.
Numbers:  must be looked at with other symbols; numbers could signify days of the week, time, or amounts.
Ring:  at the top, means offer of marriage; at the bottom means long engagement; if broken means engagement broken off
Snake:  spiteful enemies; bad luck; illness.
Square:  being boxed in, limited or oppressed.
Sun, Moon, Stars:  all signify happiness and success.
Turtle:  a slow but profitable journey.

If you are interested in learning about tea-leaf reading, there are many books and websites on the subject.  Tea-leaf reading teacups, with the symbols on the inside of the cup and on the saucers and an instruction booklet, are available for sale online and at book stores.  Great fun if you want to have a tea leaf reading party at home.

reading teaI’ve been to many tea rooms which offer Tasseography, as well as Tarot card reading, Palmestry and other forms of seeing into the future … all of which I find absolutely fascinating.  Whether I believe it or not certainly doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of, not only the tea, but the experience.  For a fun afternoon, I recommend visiting a tea room where they have Tasseographers and enjoying a little divination from the leaves.

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References:  Newfound Info, TEA CUP READING, The Daily Tea

A Perfect Cuppa

Yes, I know, everyone knows how to make a cup of tea.  Right?  Wrong!  I am simply amazed at how many people make tea BADLY.  The water is generally not hot enough, or too hot.  If they use a teabag, it’s left in the cup or pot FOREVER!  And these are the very same people who would never think of serving a badly prepared cup of coffee.  A well made cup of tea is delicious. Please don’t offer me a tepid cup with a teabag hanging out.  If you do, of course I will accept, but don’t be offended if I don’t drink it.

It’s not complicated.  There are really just three simple steps:

HEAT THE WATER
Get a tea kettle or a saucepan, fill it with as much water as you think you will need for the pot or cup you are making. DON’T use water that’s been sitting in the kettle most of the day.  The oxygen has dissipated and now it’s flat.  Use freshly drawn water from the tap. Bottled water is not necessary.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You don’t need any fancy appliance.  By all means, if you have an electric kettle, use it, but if not, put the kettle or a saucepan on the stove.  Please do not use a microwave.  It’s just not possible to know what the temperature of the water is when using a microwave oven.  And, if the water gets too hot, there is a chance the cup will explode. Yes, it does happen!

WATER TEMPERATURE
The temperature you heat the water to is very important.  If you use boiling water (210°) for green tea, you will stew the leaves and it will be bitter.  If you use water that’s under the boil (180°) for black tea, it will be flat and insipid.   When making black tea (English Breakfast, Earl Grey, etc.), bring the water to a rolling boil.   When making green tea (Jasmine, flavored or unflavored greens), bring the water to a soft boil and let it cool for a minute or two before pouring over the tea.  It’s not complicated.

POT OR NO POT
Yes, I use a teapot every time I make tea.  Must you use a teapot?  No.  But I truly believe it adds to the ceremony, the enjoyment and the taste.  Using a teapot doesn’t mean you need to get Grandma’s old 6-cup porcelain pot from the back of the cupboard.  Teapots come in all sizes and styles.  In the morning I use a three-cup ceramic pot, perfect for making two large mugs of tea.   Later in the day, I use my two-cup glass teapot, for an afternoon pick-me-up.

LOOSE OR TEA BAG
Do you drink instant coffee?  No.  Then why would you use a teabag, which is nothing more than instant tea?  Yes, teabag offerings have become much better recently.  This is only because the large tea companies were losing market share as consumers started buying more and more loose leaf tea.  As a result, these large tea companies had to step up their game to compete with the loose leaf tea market.  Certainly you can use a tea bag if you’d like, but given the choice, use good quality loose leaf.  Don’t you deserve it?

MEASURE THE TEA 
 Use one teaspoon of tea for each 8 oz. cup.  An 8 oz. measuring cup is not the same as a teacup. Teacups are usually 5 oz.  Mugs are usually 12 to 14 oz.  All the more reason to use a teapot for accurate measurements.  A three-cup teapot uses three teaspoons of tea.  What is the capacity of your teapot?  Just get a measuring cup and find out.

Green teas and white teas are lighter in weight than black teas.  You may want to use a bit more green or white teas than a teaspoon.  Black teas are heavier.  You might want to use just a bit less than a teaspoon.  Your taste will ultimately determine how much to use.

Then put the tea into an infuser or directly into your teapot.  Pour the boiling water if it’s black tea (cooler than boiling if it’s green tea) over the tea.  Cover and let it steep.

TIMING – HOW LONG TO STEEP
This is also a critical point.  You need to steep the tea long enough for the flavor to be extracted from the leaves.  30 seconds is plenty of time for a tea bag, but certainly not enough for loose leaf tea.  For black tea, steep for 3 to 5 minutes.  For green tea and white teas, steep for 2 to 3 minutes.  Start with these times and then adapt to your own taste.  If you like your tea steeped a little more, or less, adjust the steeping time slightly.  But, please, remember you must take the tea bag or infuser out of the cup or pot at the end of the steeping time.

POUR AND ENJOY
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAgain, please remove the infuser or the teabags from the teapot or cup.  Don’t leave them in the pot or your tea will oversteep and become bitter.  Do you take milk and sugar with your tea? Feel free.  Now relax and enjoy!

To recap, all you need to make the perfect cuppa is:
.. good quality tea
.. water at the right temperature
.. steeped for the correct amount of time

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