The stereotypical British drink of choice, reading tea leaves is a practice which is purported to have been around for centuries. It doesn't seem to be as popular as tarot readings, or pendulums, for example, and is often overlooked. However, if you like tea, then why not give it a try?
Like most forms of divination, the 'complexity' lies in being able to interpet your answers. I will discuss this a little further on, but don't let it put you off!
All you need is a cup, a saucer, some boiling water, and some loose tea. Unfortunately just emptying out a teabag into a cup won't do, as the tea will be too fine to stick to the cup and form the sorts of patterns you will need to keep an eye out for. Loose tea is quite readily available, and you can even experiment with mixtures; I personally use loose tea mixed in with a variety of different herbs. You could include herbs which are known for aiding in divination such as dandelion (it will affect the taste though, so keep that in mind when you are deciding which herbs to add in).
Make your tea, and wait for it to cool enough so you can safely drink it. Spend a moment with your hands wrapped around your cup, focusing on your question. Keep your question in mind as you drink your tea, willing the tea leaves to provide you with the answer that you seek.
Like most forms of divination, the 'complexity' lies in being able to interpet your answers. I will discuss this a little further on, but don't let it put you off!
All you need is a cup, a saucer, some boiling water, and some loose tea. Unfortunately just emptying out a teabag into a cup won't do, as the tea will be too fine to stick to the cup and form the sorts of patterns you will need to keep an eye out for. Loose tea is quite readily available, and you can even experiment with mixtures; I personally use loose tea mixed in with a variety of different herbs. You could include herbs which are known for aiding in divination such as dandelion (it will affect the taste though, so keep that in mind when you are deciding which herbs to add in).
Make your tea, and wait for it to cool enough so you can safely drink it. Spend a moment with your hands wrapped around your cup, focusing on your question. Keep your question in mind as you drink your tea, willing the tea leaves to provide you with the answer that you seek.
It is best not to drink the entire cup, as you will find you end up with a mouthful of tea and not much left to use for your divination! One of the best methods I have found calls for you to leave roughly a teaspoon worth of water at the bottom of your cup. When you have reached this point, swirl the remaining water round in the cup three times in a clockwise direction, using your left hand. Once you have done this, place the saucer over the top of the cup, and slowly (as not to get water everywhere), turn the cup upside down, and let the water collect on the saucer rather than in your cup.
Leave it like this for about a minute, before placing the cup the right way up again. You're ready to do your reading!
Now you can start to look for patterns formed by the remaining tea leaves. You could find letters, numbers, animals, symbols, etc. I would recommend listening to your intuition, and your first impressions. If you analyse it for too long, you will start to 'overlook'; go with your gut.
Different parts of the cup are also said to have different 'meanings' which can be used in your reading. The top of the cup, or the rim, represents the present, the sides of the cup represent the near future, whilst the bottom of the cup represents the long-term, or the far future.
Similarly, the handle can also be used. If you wish to incorporate the position of the leaves to the handle in your reading, then you will need to make sure you are sitting due south, with the handle facing south (to signify your 'current environment'). If you end up with leaves near the handle, it suggests elements relating to your immediate, or personal, environment, where leaves falling opposite the cup (due north) represents external issues and influences.
With tea leaf reading being such a well practiced form a divination, many different lists or dictionary's of the various symbols you could see and what they mean have been built up. Below I have listed some of the ones which I recommend; remember though, anyone can say anything on the internet (yes, including me!), with little basis for truth, so I recommend that you visit more than just the one site when interpreting your tea leaves, to make sure you find the most commonly agreed upon meaning of the symbols:
https://www.auntyflo.com/tea-leaf-dictionary
https://www.mystictearoom.com/wiki/A_Basic_List_of_Tea_Leaf_Symbols
https://divinationbytealeaves.com/a-dictionary-of-symbols-a.htm
Also remember, that symbology can be subjective. If the dictionary's are telling you one meaning, but your intuition is telling you something completely different, then make a record of both. You may find that your subconscious was trying to tell you something on a more personal level!
Leave it like this for about a minute, before placing the cup the right way up again. You're ready to do your reading!
Now you can start to look for patterns formed by the remaining tea leaves. You could find letters, numbers, animals, symbols, etc. I would recommend listening to your intuition, and your first impressions. If you analyse it for too long, you will start to 'overlook'; go with your gut.
Different parts of the cup are also said to have different 'meanings' which can be used in your reading. The top of the cup, or the rim, represents the present, the sides of the cup represent the near future, whilst the bottom of the cup represents the long-term, or the far future.
Similarly, the handle can also be used. If you wish to incorporate the position of the leaves to the handle in your reading, then you will need to make sure you are sitting due south, with the handle facing south (to signify your 'current environment'). If you end up with leaves near the handle, it suggests elements relating to your immediate, or personal, environment, where leaves falling opposite the cup (due north) represents external issues and influences.
With tea leaf reading being such a well practiced form a divination, many different lists or dictionary's of the various symbols you could see and what they mean have been built up. Below I have listed some of the ones which I recommend; remember though, anyone can say anything on the internet (yes, including me!), with little basis for truth, so I recommend that you visit more than just the one site when interpreting your tea leaves, to make sure you find the most commonly agreed upon meaning of the symbols:
https://www.auntyflo.com/tea-leaf-dictionary
https://www.mystictearoom.com/wiki/A_Basic_List_of_Tea_Leaf_Symbols
https://divinationbytealeaves.com/a-dictionary-of-symbols-a.htm
Also remember, that symbology can be subjective. If the dictionary's are telling you one meaning, but your intuition is telling you something completely different, then make a record of both. You may find that your subconscious was trying to tell you something on a more personal level!