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Tasseography: Tea Leaf Reading Symbols And Meanings

Tasseography, or tasseomancy, is the art of tea leaf, or sometimes coffee grind, reading. It’s an ancient practice with roots stemming from many different cultures around the world including Asia, the Middle East, Ancient Rome and Greece.

It was popularised across Europe and adopted by fortune tellers throughout the 17th Century when tea was introduced from China. Deciphering the shapes and images the tea leaves behind after drinking a cup of tea are said to be able to tell your future. At the very least, as with most other divination practices, they are an exercise in intuition and connection to your internal guidance. Who knows, you may also gain some accurate insight to what your day may hold!

Reading tea leaves is a great way to flex your creative muscle and imagination, spend a quiet moment with yourself, and a chance to get more in touch with your inner voice. Here’s our easy guide for how to interpret what the tea leaves in your cup are trying to tell you:

Two Wander - Tea Leaf Reading Symbols And Meanings

How To Read Tea Leaves

I personally like to read my tea leaves every morning because it allows me to get a feel for what the day might bring and start it from a centred, grounded mindset. The frequency at which you decide to read your leaves can vary, from weekly to monthly to seasonally or more- it can also depend on what messages you have gleaned from the leaves!

Generally, it’s recommended to use gunpowder green tea, or another type of green tea leaf, because it is the best at unfurling itself and creating detailed images, however black tea also works well, some people also use coffee grinds although they may be a bit harder to interpret.

To add an extra layer of meaning and symbology, and incorporate a bit of astrology, I absolutely love using this special teacup for my tea leaf reading practice. I also like the idea of allocating a dedicated cup just for this purpose, but of course any cup will do as long as it is relatively plain and light-coloured so that you can see the tea leaves, and shaped like a traditional tea cup and saucer with sloped sides so that the leaves have something to stick to (as opposed to a standard mug).

Tea Leaf Reading Ritual

You can read tea leaves for yourself or others- whoever the person is that is asking the question/looking for insight is called “the querent” and should be the one drinking the tea. After you have picked your beverage of choice, brewed yourself a cup and let it steep for a few minutes, here is a tea leaf reading ritual you can perform:

When you are ready to begin your reading, ground yourself by taking some deep breaths, clear your mind, and call in any guides if you want. If you have a specific question you would like answered, ask it now. Drink up and muse upon it as you enjoy your tea and then stop when there is about a teaspoon of liquid left in the bottom of the cup.
Next, swirl the cup three times counterclockwise with your non-dominant hand, flip it over onto a saucer, turn it clockwise three times and/or tap the bottom of the cup three times. Rituals on this vary but something along these lines seems to be the most popular- do what feels right for you (or nothing at all)!
Flip the cup back over and take in the symbols clockwise starting with the handle pointing towards you/the reader. The bottom of the cup is said to represent the distant future (i.e. one month or more), the middle section represents roughly a week or more, and the top outer rim is said to be the immediate future (so within the next couple of days).
However, some tasseographers say the opposite- like with any divination tool, it is important to simply decide what resonates most with you and announce your chosen layout before you begin your reading, either silently or out loud, and the tea leaves will align themselves accordingly. Then you can stick with this format going forward so you will always know what timeframes you’re dealing with.

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Tasseography Symbols and Meanings

Once you have swirled and overturned your cup, take a moment to just sit with the images and see what immediately jumps out to you. Many times there will be nothing obvious that comes to mind, but as you turn the cup slowly, adjusting your focus in and out, relax, and simply wait and allow the messages to come to you, they will become clearer and easier to decipher. Often, the thought or image that first popped into your head is the most accurate one- there’s no need to overthink it! With practice you will also get quicker.

Certain symbols will hold a special significance for you so always make sure to go off of what your inner guidance is telling you first and foremost. The Cup of Destiny I mentioned above that I use also comes with its own book but there are many other tasseomancy books out there as well as tutorials you can watch online for more detail. Here’s an overview of some common symbols and themes:

ANIMALS: The meaning of animals generally goes off of culturally accepted representations of those animals. For example, birds will represent freedom, travel, and news coming to you. Fish are considered lucky. An elephant could represent good health and longevity, a bee indicates that you will be very busy. Butterflies are symbols of fate, cats are a message to beware of secrets coming to light, while a dog is, of course, indicative of a good friend. An angel means that you are protected and watched over etc.
LETTERS: Generally letters are taken to represent someone with that initial. Look for figures around the letter or even faces to try and decipher who it can be. Together with the other images, you can then try and piece together a story.
OBJECTS: Many symbols are self-explanatory, such as a cross indicating a blockage of some kind, a heart representing new love or harmonious relationship, a lightbulb or candle indicating new ideas and insight coming to you. A bed can represent a need to rest while triangles are considered omens of good fortune. The sun is always a symbol of success and happiness entering your life and apples represent knowledge, if you see a kite or horseshoe- make a wish! A dagger, knife or sword can represent danger etc. Often the tea leaves will arrange themselves simply in lines or dots. Lines can indicate a journey or being chained, depending on the thickness and feeling you gauge from them, while dots can foretell of an upcoming increase or flurry of activity.
NUMBERS: Often numbers are said to indicate time, so when the surrounding messages will come to fruition. This can be days, weeks or months, depending on where in the cup they are.

Many of the symbols you see will not be clear cut and will take some imagination and a lot of intuition to know whether an image is a dog or a cat, say. With practice, you will become more confident in your readings and understanding of what the leaves are trying to tell you. In the meantime, here is a list of 144 common symbols you may find in your cup.

So that’s a beginner’s guide to tasseography and how to read tea leaves with their symbols and meanings. I hope it gave you some valuable insight and I’m curious to know how you get on with it- let me know in the comments section below! Or, if you have any other insights or questions to add, I’m here for that too :)

I personally love starting my morning with a quiet little practice of introspection, creativity, and intuition channelling. If you want to learn more about other divination practices to strengthen the connection to your inner voice, check out our posts on How To Use Rune Stones and What Your Palm Lines Say About You.