There is no doubt that our fondness for the tea bag has made tea leaf reading or Tasseomancy fall out of favour. But if you want to improve your divination skills then it is a great place to start. You just need some proper loose tea leaves…It goes without saying that it is better to buy a tea that you like the flavour of – but some work really well such as Earl Grey, Oolong, Assam etc. as they have leaves of different sizes that is better for making shapes. Teas such as Jasmine will not work due to containing petals rather than leaves and the same goes for fruit or herbal teas.
Then choose a teapot and a cup & saucer, the cup needs a rounded bowl so that the tea can swirl around the cup and the leaves can stick. It should be a plain cup & saucer so that you can clearly see the pattern the leaves create. The cup should have a handle, and the teapot should not contain a straining element. (more…)