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READING TEA LEAVES FOR FUN

©2005 Tales of a Tea Leaf~The Complete Guide to Tea Cuisine by Jill Yates, Square One Publishers

"Matrons, who toss the cup and see the grounds of fate in grounds of tea."

~Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

The art of reading tea leaves is centuries old.  While it's highly respected in the East, its popularity was lost in the West with advent of the tea bag.  As the use of loose leaf tea increases, so do the opportunities to practice this ancient art.  To see what your cup of tea has to say about the future, follow these simple steps:

1. Brew loose leaf tea in a pot and pour; unrestrained, into your cup.

2.  Drink all but the last sip, leaving a teaspoon of tea and the leaves in your cup.

3.  Swirl the tea and leaves three times counter clockwise.

4.  Turn the cup over and place on the saucer.  Wait for the tea to drain out.

5.  Turn the cup right side up and examine the pattern of the leaves.

6.  Leaves near the top deal with the near future, leaves on the bottom of the cup, the distant future.  Leaves near the handle are said to relate to the home.

7.  The formation of symbols in the leaves is used to tell the future.  A few include:

Triangle~inheritance

Ladder~promotion

Star~good luck

Ring~marriage

Tree~success, happiness

Cow~prosperity

Dog~a good friend

Cat~treachery

Umbrella~shelter

MORE TEA FACTS

     Tea Processing (opens to a new page)

     Constant Comments (opens to a new page)

Above from Tales of a Tea Leaf~The Complete Guide to Tea Cuisine by Jill Yates, Square One Publishers, $13.95 ISBN 0-7570-0099-1  ©2005 The following information is used by permission of Square One.  This is copyrighted property and may not be re-printed or used in any manner without proper authority from the publisher. 

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