Tasseography

Origin and traditions

The word "tasseography" comes from the French tasse ("cup") + Greek graphein ("to write"): "writing in the cup". The technique developed in different forms in different cultures: tea reading (popular in Britain, Ireland, and Eastern Europe — there where tea is traditional drink), coffee reading (popular in Turkey, Greece, the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa, traditional Hispanic-America). The practice is at least 200-300 years old in current form, although the antecedents (interpret residues of liquid drinks) are surely much older.

In Britain and Ireland, the tea reading was popularised in the Victorian era as parlour entertainment in the houses of the bourgeoisie and the working class. Traditional manuals were published with figure interpretations. In Turkey and Greece, the coffee reading (tasseografia in Greek, fal kahvesi in Turkish) is still widespread today: any traditional café knows how to do it for clients, the grandmothers transmit it to granddaughters as familial cultural heritage.

Common technique

Method (variants according to tradition): 1) The consultant drinks tea or strong coffee (Turkish coffee or Greek, with sediment, is ideal — works less well with filtered coffee), without removing the residue. 2) When little liquid remains in the bottom, the consultant turns the cup upside down on a saucer with rotational gesture, while concentrates on the question. 3) Wait a few minutes for the liquid to drain and the residue to set on the walls of the cup. 4) The reader takes the cup and observes the figures formed on the walls and base.

Common interpretive guidelines: top of the cup = near future, immediate matters; middle = medium term; base = end results, far future or ancestral matters. Right of the handle = positive matters approaching; left = matters going away or being released. Iconographic figures: heart = love; ring = marriage; bird = good news; tree = prosperity, family; snake = enemy; key = solution coming; bridge = important transition; cross = sacrifice or burden; star = success; flower = romance; etc. Each tradition has its specific lexicon of figures.

How to learn

1) Get a beautiful inner-white teacup (essential, for the residue to be seen well; preferable porcelain). 2) Use real tea with leaves (not filter teabag) or Turkish/Greek coffee. 3) Practise frequently first without querying anything (just see what figures form for you and develop your eye iconographic). 4) Get a beginner manual (in Spanish there are several). 5) When you start querying real questions, practise long for friends without commercial intentions — develop your reading style without pressure. 6) Trust your intuitive reading more than rigid manual lists; the figures arise as personal symbols, not as universal codes. With months of practice you develop genuine fluency.