"How do you do a tea leaf reading?"
In a comment to my last post, a fellow advisor asked me, "how do you do a tea leaf reading?" Now, I recently sold an extensive article on this to another site, so I'm going to try not to plagiarize myself when I write this answer! Reading tea leaves is my all-time favourite form of divination, hands down! I've performed it ever since I was a very small child, and there's something beautiful about being able to see a universe turning in a teacup. I love reading at local shops and bridal showers! Of course, this is one form of divination that, in my opinion, cannot be successfully done over the phone!
In order to do a tea leaf reading, you'll have to get yourself a round-bottomed teacup and some loose-leaf tea. The smaller the leaves are, the better. The tea must be served without straining the leaves so that there is a small collection in the bottom of the cup. While thinking of a question or topic of focus, the client should then sip as much of the tea as he or she can without sucking up the leaves! When there is only a little bit of liquid and a lot of leaves in the bottom of the cup, the reader should swirl the mixture three times clockwise and overturn the cup in the saucer. Now, when looking in the cup there should be many leaves stuck to the inside of the cup. Some choose not to read the saucer at all, while other readings take the saucer leaves as a different portent than those in the cup.
As for reading the leaves in the cup, this is where the reader must have a large bank of symbols at his or her disposal. I find that those who have experience interpreting dreams or a background in Jungian psychology take to it well. If the reader is new to the scrying category of divination (into which tea leaf reading and crystal ball reading falls), I advise that he or she read books on dream symbols to build up a library of meanings for images. When gazing into the teacup and turning it, symbols will take shape like the clouds in the sky. Those shapes in the bottom of the cup represent the past and present, and those high up on the sides represent a more and more distant future. This is one of those methods where experience and skill really do matter, so keep working at it! Find a local who can give you readings to be awed and inspired!
Thanks for asking!