Reading Tea Leaves

by A Highland Seer

Find your fortune sip by sip

Reading Tea Leaves is your ultimate guide to the ancient art of tasseography—divination with tea leaves. Traditionally a practical, everyday form of divination often practiced by women, tea-leaf reading gave glimpses into the drama of daily life—who was stopping by after supper and if a letter was on the way. The process is simple: brew yourself a cup of loose-leaf tea, settle down somewhere comfy, and sip it intentionally. Once you’ve reached the bottom of the cup, the tea leaves that remain will take the form of shapes and symbols that can give you guidance, spark your intuition, and even give you a hint of the future.

Originally published by an unnamed "Highland Seer" in the early 20th century but now updated for modern readers, Reading Tea Leaves will teach you everything you need to know to begin reading the leaves yourself. Inside you’ll find a dictionary of symbolic meanings to help you successfully interpret the images you see in the cup, along with ten illustrated example readings to allow you to hone your interpretive skills. The art of reading tea leaves is a warm-hearted invitation to celebrate the small, magical moments we encounter every day.

Genres: Divination, Nonfiction, Witchcraft

112 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learnt a little bit about tea leaf reading but it was a little confusing, I would still read it again though.

[LittleRead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every day I have a ritual of reading my Tarot cards for the day while enjoying a cup of freshly brewed tea. When I saw this book, I figured why not add this into the daily ritual as well?

The book is well written and clearly laid out to help you understand the art of Tasseography. I’m looking forward to expanding my daily ritual and skills at the same time. What a great way to tap into the energy around me and direct it in a way that will benefit me and my life.

[Christine Whittington · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Reading Tea Leaves" is a lovely little book about the gentle practice of divining through tasseography. My grandmother read tea leaves and this activity with her is one of my favorite memories. Her ancestry was British Isles, which coincides with the identification of the author of this book as "The Highland Seer." The forward to this updated version says that the original edition was published at the beginning of the 20th century, but the edition available on Project Gutenberg lists the date as "late 19th century." Either way, the book is a product of its time, long before the internet or even television, and at a time when people were worried about their loved ones being killed in the line of duty. The forward to this new edition, published in 2022, was written by Leanne Marrama and Sandra Mariah Wright, psychics and occult practitioners. As far as I can tell, the only additions to the older edition are the foreword, preface, a publisher's note, and an occasional footnote from Marrama and Wright.

The book is very soothing to read--the way reading tea leaves should be. Marrama and Wright invite the reader to "brew a fresh cup, settle in, and enjoy reading Reading Tea Leaves." No demonic stuff or intricate rituals here. The book advises what kind of tea to use--gunpowder or another kind of looseleaf tea. Tea bags will not work! Your cup should be plain and light colored inside with slightly sloping sides. It is also very clear on the teachnique. The tea-brewing instruction is followed by ten diagrams with examples of tea leaf distribution and interpretations. Some of them seem to involve a bit of imagination. Also, many relate to household life around the turn of the 20th century. Tea leaves are interpreted as showing rifles, cannons, and pistols. There are many that show letters depicted as plain rectangles, accompanied by letters (such as an L) indicating a sender. The prognostications are very practical and specific. The instructions state that tasseography predictions things that will happen in the very near future as opposed to a more general and individual interpretation, such as those associated with tarot. Examples: "A letter containing good news expected very soon" or "the [reader] will be annoyed by someone whose name begins with J assisted by someone with the initial Y." There is a list of symbols and their significance. Some of these symbols are very specific and I had a hard time imagining how they might show up in the dregs of one's cup of tea: Not only "animals" or "birds" but specifically owls, pigeons, ducks, eagles, apes, and elephants. Here, I believe that tasseography requires some of the intuition also at work with tarot. The practice is similar to looking for images in clouds.

The book ends with a list of omens that do not relate to tasseography, but appear in everyday life. Even 21st century people are familiar with some of them, like black cats and spilled salt being unlucky, tingling ears meaning someone is talking about you, crickets and spiders in the house being good luck, and horseshoes being lucky.

"Reading Tea Leaves" is a very pleasant book to read. The reader can try out the advice for very little investment beyond a plain teacup, some boiling water, and looseleaf tea.

[Ann Dudzinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is said to be the oldest English guide to reading tea leaves, or tasseography, updated for a more modern audience. I’ll admit, I’m drawn to all forms of divination and have toyed with the idea of reading tea leaves, so thought I’d give this a go.

First off, it’s a really quick read. I breezed through it in an hour. Think of it more as a guide book than something you need to memorize. If you do decide to try your hand at it, you’ll want to keep this handy. The author covers a short history of tasseography (especially in Scotland), gives a few pointers on what types of tea to use, provides some guidelines for reading the leaves based on where they are situated in the cup, and wraps up with a comprehensive list of symbols one may encounter and their meanings.

This is kind of a first for me because I’m basing my review on what was included in the ARC I received. Meaning, I don’t think I had a complete version. There was a space left for a Foreward that, I’m assuming, may have contained some cool history on tasseography. There was also mention of several diagrams of tea dregs in the cup with interpretations, but they weren’t included in the ebook I had access to. And I really, really wanted to see those diagrams. I’m a picture kind of gal and a little nudge helps me out a lot.

That’s okay, I bought a tea cup and saucer anyway (why not?), brewed up some loose-leaf Honeybush, thoroughly enjoyed it, then flipped and spun the saucer. First thing to note - don’t use too much tea or you’ll get a bunch of blobs that don’t mean anything. I had heard that the pictures on a Lenormand deck closely match tea leaf symbols, so I tried that. Nope, they didn’t help too much, so I wound up on Pinterest looking for diagrams that I thought might have been close to what the book mentioned. That helped a little but, like any divination method, you really just need to sit with it and trust your own intuition as to what you’re seeing in the cup.

To wrap up, the information provided was clear enough that I felt armed with adequate knowledge to give interpreting my own cup of tea a shot. It’s probably a great beginner’s resource if the diagrams are included. Without them, it felt incomplete and left me scrambling for other sources of information. So while I’d recommend it if you’re thinking about giving tasseography a try, I’d flip through it first to make sure everything is there.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC. I’ve left my review honestly and voluntarily.

[Meow558 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Tea Leaves is a book by the anonymous Highland Seer.
This book is very straightforward and short. It goes over how to read tea leaves, common signs, and common omens. I like how this book is very clear and explanatory. It even has a chapter devoted to examples, to help guide you.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about getting into tasseography. This is a great starting point, for both people who want to do it for fun and for people who genuinely want to know their future. It is a handbook meant to be used while reading tea leaves, not so much for standalone reading.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this ARC on NetGalley.

[McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in learning about the art of tasseography, then this book is definitely for you. It's a well-written and comprehensive guide to learning how to read tea leaves, which could make an excellent addition to your morning routine. It gives a bit about the history, some basics, a guide to symbols and their meanings, and some actual practice in the back. Short, sweet, and useful.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an eARC of this guide. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

[greyreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent an ARC by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is an updated and revised version of the original book published in 1881, by the anonymous Highland Seer. This is a short and to the point guide to tassomancy, the art of tea leaf reading. And as far and instructional guides go, it was very good. My only dislike was that the author has very strong ideas about whether or not accepting payment for fortune telling is ethical. It’s definitely a biased opinion. Otherwise, a very good book I’ll be coming back too. 4/5

[bresinabook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NETGalley for sending me a copy of this book for review.

I enjoyed this book, it’s a concise guidebook for tassography. I wanted to learn more about the art and this book is certainly a good stepping stone.

I’m not an avid tea drinker and the practice doesn’t really call to me, but if it did, I would certainly purchase this book for reference.

The publishers did a good job of translating this 20th century guidebook into an easy to read book for this day and age.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a quick read and a pleasant surprise.

The book dives right into the art of reading tea leaves, which I appreciated as many of these types of books tend to draw out lengthy explanations. The background on this fascinating practice was engaging, and the list of symbols and their meanings was a handy reference.

It's a quick and informative read, making it perfect for anyone curious about this mystical art! 🍵🍵🔮🔮

[Damiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction and primer to tasseomancy. This is an art that focuses on omens so I do wish that the chapter on symbols was a bit more clear that a person's reading of a certain symbol will be more personal to them than the general keywords given. However, this is still a great recommendation and edition to recommend to anyone interested in this form of divination.

[Ashley Elliott Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read through this book super quickly as there isn't a ton of meat to it. There is a very helpful guide to what the symbols in your tea leaves might mean, but I wasn't actively applying it to drinking loose tea, so I think some of that was lost on me. If you are into this style of divination, then this is most likely going to be helpful!

[JadersCorner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book that gives you all the basics to start and understand the process. Well worth a purchase or read.

[Mckynzie King · Rating 5 out of 5]

super interesting theory