About Tea and Coffee

TEA

How to make tea

Older people will consider it silly of me to include a section on tea making, but for the vast numbers of people who only know how to throw a tea bag in a cup and pour hot water on it, tea making has become a lost art.

You will need to equip yourself with a teapot and a packet of loose tea. It doesn't matter whether the teapot is china, glass or steel but you must choose one that doesn't have a filter inside, because you need some of the tea leaves to fall into the cup. It is unlikely that you will have a proper tea caddy around, so treat yourself to an inexpensive container that has a well-fitting lid. Don't use an old jar that has had other foodstuffs kept in it because residual smells will taint your tea.

Warm the teapot. Traditionally, this would have been done by keeping it on the warm part of a range or old-style oven or by keeping the pot on a trivet close to a coal fire. Nowadays it is probably best to pour some hot water into the pot, swill it around and then throw it out again when you are ready to make your tea. Fill your kettle with freshly drawn water - stale water loses its oxygen content, so only freshly drawn water will do. While the kettle is coming to the boil, empty out any water that you have used to warm your teapot and take the pot to the kettle. Put in the tea and then pour briskly boiling water over the leaves. Put the lid on the teapot and leave it to infuse for a few minutes. The amount of tea that you put into your pot will vary with the number of cups of tea that you want to make and also the strength of tea that you prefer. A good rule of thumb is to use one rounded teaspoonful per person. If you like strong tea, you must leave the tea to infuse for a while and you can use a tea-cosy to prevent it from becoming too cool. Don't use a strainer. You or your inquirer can add milk, sugar or sweeteners if desired, as this won't affect the outcome of the reading. If you and your inquirer prefer China tea, Earl Grey tea and speciality teas with or without a slice of lemon, that's fine.

When I was a child, I can remember arguments raging as to whether the milk or the tea should be put into the cup first. If the milk is put in first, the tea will mix together with the milk in an instant; if it is put in afterwards the tea will need to be stirred. As it happens, the latter is correct and it is for this reason that a teaspoon should always be provided, whether the tea drinkers take sugar or not. Of course, as far as divination is concerned, it doesn't matter one bit whether one drinks tea with or without milk or sugar.

Any kind of tea can be used for tea-leaf reading and if you only have tea-bags to hand, these can be snipped open so that the tea can be brewed in its loose form, but it will be difficult to keep such tiny tea shavings from getting into your mouth. It would be better to buy a packet of loose tea. If you want to experiment with the more exotic larger leafed teas such as Darjeeling, you can do so. Herbal or fruit based teas will do, as long as there is something than can be left in the cup for the purpose of divination. By experimentation, you will soon discover which kind of tea best suits your purposes.

Here are some important tips relating to tea-leaf reading

1. If two spoons are accidentally placed in one saucer, there will be news of twins.
2. If a spoon is accidentally placed upside down in a saucer, there will be news of a close relative becoming ill.
3. A single leaf floating on a full cup of tea means that the inquirer will come into money.
4. A single leaf that is stuck at the side of a full cup signifies news of a stranger entering the inquirer's life. Check to see whether this will come from the inquirer's immediate neighborhood or through friends or family members (i.e. close to the handle), or from afar (away from the handle).
5. If the leaves are piled against the side of the cup that opposes the handle, trouble is on the way. This is not of the inquirer's own doing and it will come without warning.
6. If the leaves are rounded up on the handle side, there may also be trouble, but this time the inquirer has nobody to blame but herself.
7. Letters of the alphabet should always be noted, as they often give the initial of a significant person.
8. Numbers represent time, such as minutes, hours, days or weeks, depending upon the inquirer's situation.
9. A stalk represents a person, often a stranger. A long firm stalk suggests a man while a shorter, thinner one represents a woman. If the stalk is straight, the stranger will be honest; if it is bent, he or she will be fickle. Slanted stalks suggest unreliable or untrustworthy people. The color of the stalk will give a clue to the coloring of the person's skin or hair.
10. Lucky signs are horseshoes, circles, rings, flowers, trees, animals and crowns and also the number seven. Triangles are thought to be lucky, but if they are found at the bottom of the cup with the apex pointing downwards the luck will run out. A triangle with the apex pointing upwards denotes a legacy, a windfall or an important meeting connected with money.
11. Squares suggest protection or restriction. A dangerous symbol, such as a knife or a gun that is surrounded by a square, shows protection from a potentially harmful situation.
12. Crosses denote sadness or losses.
13. Mountains suggest efforts to be made and troubles that will be overcome.
14. Dots always symbolize money. If the dots are close to another symbol, read them in conjunction with it. For example, if a letter appears, this would be good news about money.
15. Lines mean journeys; if the lines are straight the journey will be trouble free, if they are wavy, there will be uncertainty and difficulties en route.
16. Rings signify marriage or a committed relationship and a broken ring suggests a split or unhappiness in marriage. A double ring could signify two marriages but it can also denote a marriage that the inquirer rushes into and regrets later.
17. A bell is a sign of a wedding.
18. Clear symbols are better omens than muddied ones.

If your inquirer is keen to find a new lover, try this experiment for her. Take a clean dry teaspoon and balance it over the rim of a cup and drip liquid into the spoon counting the drops as you go. The number of drops that fall before the spoon tumbles into the cup signals the number of years the inquirer has to wait before finding the right lover.

If you fancy iced tea for a change, this is how you make it. Make a pot of tea in the usual way, steep for three to five minutes and pour into a jug. Add evaporated milk and sugar to taste and pour the concoction over ice cubes. If you want leaves in the drink for reading purposes, use loose tea and don't strain it.

Here are some useful home remedies and tips relating to tea

1. When travelling in countries where the water supply is not clean, always boil your drinking water. While you are boiling the water, you might as well throw a tea bag into some of it and enjoy a quick cuppa!
2. If you one of the many women who suffers from monthly cramps, try drinking a cup or two of chamomile tea or the lovely tasting raspberry tea.
3. For morning sickness or migraine, try peppermint tea.
4. Try a little ginger in your tea when you are down with a cold, a stomach upset or rheumatism.
5. An old cure for a colicky baby is to add a little Chamomile tea to the baby's milk.
6. Warm teabags make a great soother for tired eyes and cold tea gives instant relief for sunburn. The same goes for sweat-rash, sun allergy or jellyfish stings, mosquito bites and even the small cuts that you can get when handling paper. In fact, any minor skin ailment is helped by the application of a used teabag.
7. The tannin in tea is wonderful for mouth ulcers or for a sore throat. Make up some strong tea and allow it to cool and then use it as a mouthwash or a gargle. Put a warm teabag directly on an ulcer for instant relief.
8. Breast feeding? Sore nipples? Try black tea in teabags. Drinking anything aids milk production, so a cup of tea can only help; then place the used teabags on your nipples.
9. If you have brown hair, chamomile tea and even ordinary tea can be used for an after shampoo rinse, as this will make your hair shine. Some teas give a slight reddish tinge to brown hair but chamomile is great for black hair.
10. If you suffer from blocked pores, try holding your face over a bowl of hot tea for a while and then washing your face well and finally rinsing it thoroughly with cold water.
11. Smelly feet? Soak them for 20 minutes in a bowl of hot tea once a day for three days and once a week thereafter. A peppermint tea soak will revive tired or sore feet.
12. Put used tea and teabags on your compost heap or around your plants.
13. A few used teabags kept in the fridge will absorb strong odors.

A useful if slightly crazy idea

If you need off white shoes for a special occasion and you can't find them, experiment by buying those inexpensive white satin ones that are sold as wedding or party shoes, and steep them in tea or coffee juice for a while. The same goes if you need an ivory colored evening bag to match a dress. Buy an inexpensive white satin one and color it the shade you want.

COFFEE

Most of the information that relates to the reading of tea leaves applies to coffee in exactly the same way. The ritual of turning the cup upside down and using the left hand to turn it three times towards the left is exactly the same. The location of events, the timing of events and the way the grounds are piled up or spread around the cup are also the same. Obviously, comments about tea stalks can't be translated to coffee but the bubbles that form in a coffee cup can be substituted in order to provide extra information. If for instance, the bubbles form a specific shape, use them to guide you intuitively towards a conclusion or look up the symbol for that shape in the dictionary of symbols.

Types of coffee

Some people prefer to use the kind of fine grounds that are familiar to Greek, Turkish and Arab coffee-drinkers, while others prefer a coarser grind, which may be put through a filter or a cafetière. If you use a coffee-filter or cafetière or any other system that keeps the coffee grounds away from the coffee, simply take a half-spoonful of the filtered coffee grounds and toss them into the inquirer's cup of coffee so that there is some sediment left in the cup for interpretation purposes. Once again, you will have to experiment with different kinds of coffee before you find the method that works best for you.

The technique

How does cup reading work?

Cup reading works in much the same way as dream interpretation because the symbols that you notice in the cup will have something to say. For example, a ring indicates a marriage-type relationship and it doesn't take a super-brain to work out what a broken ring or two rings might mean. A symbol that looks like a castle indicates safety and security in some area of life. Some of the symbols in this book are less obvious, but these have been tried and tested over such a long period of time that we simply accept them as being indicative of the strange way in which messages of fate and destiny are passed to the cup reader.

The basic rules of cup reading

The basic rules apply whatever beverage is used. Use a proper cup rather then a mug and if your cup is somewhat wide and shallow, so much the better. Ensure that the inside of your cup has no pattern or decoration on it and that the surface is smooth rather than fluted or shaped. The cup doesn't need to be a white one; any color will do as long as it is easy to see the shapes made by the leaves or grounds. Before you hand your inquirer her drink, look at the surface to see if there are any stalks, leaves, grounds or bubbles visible. After your inquirer has finished drinking, ask her to swirl the remaining liquid around in the cup in an anticlockwise direction three times, using her left hand. Then ask her to place the cup upside down on to the saucer. If there is so much liquid in the cup that it is likely to wash the leaves or grounds out, provide your inquirer with an extra cup or bowl and ask her to gently drain some of the excess away without losing the solid matter. Now either you or the inquirer should turn the cup three times in an anti-clockwise direction, once again using the left hand. Once this has been done, hold it in both hands, turn the handle towards yourself and tune in.

Location and timing of events

The handle represents the inquirer herself, so any leaves or grounds in that area suggest events that will concern her personally. Symbols in the handle area also refer to home and family matters. The opposite side of the cup concerns the actions of strangers and to events that occur in some sphere of life that is away from the home and family. A salesman, an executive or an entrepreneur who makes new contacts on a regular basis will have more activity routinely going on away from the handle, while a housewife is more likely to find most of the activity around the home area. In some cases, activity away from the handle side signifies people or locations that are at a distance from the inquirer.

Symbols that point towards the handle represent people or matters that are approaching the inquirer, while symbols that point away from the handle suggest people or situations that are moving away. The bottom of the cup shows sorrows and disappointments, and this is especially true when there is liquid left in the bottom of the cup. The top of the cup shows joyful and happy news, if a symbol that appears at the top of the cup is not a pleasant one, the chances are that the problem won't be too great and that it will soon be over.

Fig 1. Location of Events

Some traditions suggest that the rim of the cup represents the near future, halfway down suggests events that will come about within a few months, while the area close to the bottom shows the distant future. If there are any numbers visible in the cup, this will help with the timing of events. A better tradition perhaps is to start at the handle and move towards the left. The area close to the handle shows the past and its bearing on the immediate situation, moving around the cup in a leftward direction brings the timing into the present and then onwards into the future.

Fig 2. Timing of Events

Some traditions suggest that the happiest outcome of an event will occur if the symbol is found close to the rim of the cup, but if the same symbol is found at the bottom of the cup, sadness will result. A little tea left in the bottom of the cup represents tears.

Fig 3. How the Events Fell

Remember that if you have a vivid dream and you want a quick interpretation and you don't happen to have a dream dictionary to hand, you can use this book for a quick answer. A proper in-depth dream interpretation would be the correct approach but in an emergency, this book will give a surprisingly effective idea of what is behind your dream.

Psychic ability

Do you need to be psychic to read tea cups?

You don't need to be psychic for this kind of divination but it is helpful to have the kind of “eye” that can see patterns, images and shapes in a cup. If you have any latent psychic gifts or if you are naturally intuitive, you will find your talents increasing the more you use them. While cup reading may not strike you as the best way to develop your ESP, it works as well as any other method. This is due to the fact that anything that focuses your mind in a disciplined way while at the same time allowing you a form of free-wheeling association of ideas is at the heart of creative visualization.

There are highly developed clairvoyants who can tune in to an object that a person has worn in order to create a psychic link; this form of work is called psychometry. When an inquirer holds a cup and drinks from it, she leaves a little of her own vibrations or perhaps a trace of her aura on it, and this will help an intuitive cup reader to create a link with the inquirer. It might be worth asking your inquirer to hold the cup in her hands rather than simply to hold the handle (after the drink has sufficiently cooled) as this would boost any psychic transference.

A personal story

I have been an astrologer, palmist, Tarot reader and psychic for many years and during this time I have had dozens of readings given to me by other professionals, but none of them has ever used tea or coffee as a medium for their work. However, the very first reading that I ever had took place when I was about nine years old and this was indeed an old-style teacup reading. I remember it clearly. I was visiting a neighborhood friend and the day was dull and wet, which meant that my friend and I couldn't play outside. As we were beginning to become rather bored and irritable, my friend's mother decided to cheer us up with a cup of tea and slice of cake. When we finished our drinks, she proceeded to read each of our cups.

I don't remember what she told my friend, Jeanette, but I will never forget her words to me. She told me that I would have a very up and down life with many changes. I would travel a great deal, that I would write books. She was emphatic that despite the many ups and downs of my life that I would not spend my old age in poverty. Oddly enough, many other consultants have told me much the same thing in readings over the years, and it is a comforting thought to have confirmation of a pleasant old age.