Tea leaf reading

[Earth-Daughter]

Just wondering if anyone out there had any experience with tea leaf reading. I'm thinking of trying it and would appreciate any tips you guys are willing to share.
Blessed be!

[Max]

My grandmother used to do this The person who she would do the reading for would drink the tea, then my grandmother would read the leaves. In my experience, I found there are two ways to do readings of any sort. One is to get a book/website and use the traditional symbols (eg in a dream a ladder might mean a promotion, or a death means a baby on the way) or just see what the symbols mean to you. I imagine it would be like most forms of reading, I found the more I did it the better I got at recognising symbols and interpreting what they mean. Keep a notebook to see how right you are. Let us know how you get on!

[Willow]

No I don't, but right on with the topic we have never had before.

I am curious, how would you go about the reading process?

[Dark Waters]

Tea reading is like any other "fortune telling" process, such as Tarot or Runes, just the tools are different. It is up to the Reader to find the scrying tool that works best for them. The tool is the means through which the Reader exercises their gift. You may even find that different types of tea will work better that others, just as different styles of decks or material of stones work better for different people. For me, I do fairly well with the Rider Tarot Deck, although I'm thinking of making my own set of Rune Stones, haven't decided on the material yet. The key thing before trying is to do research, get the "basic rules" for that tool down first then find a variation that works best for you.

Also once you have chosen what you are going to work with, you need to infuse it with your energy. Keep it with you for a time in a pocket or satchel. I understand this is easier with non-perishable items like cards and stones, but here are a few ideas. keep a few serving size packets with you, then as you use one, add another, just use the older packets first as they have the most connection. Conversely, if you would like to ensure a continuity, you could have a packet of leaves with you. Before a reading, take the packet out. Mix the packet with a larger tin of leaves, then refill the packet with the mixture and use some of the leaves in the tin for the reading. This will allow your energy to be carried from one tin to another.

[Earth-Daughter]

No I don't, but right on with the topic we have never had before.

Why thank you!
And thanks to everyone who answered, I am very excited to try a reading.
Good idea about carrying the leaves with you by the way. Although, for a second when I was reading I was afraid you were going to suggest carrying a china cup around, which given my habit of tripping might not be such a good idea...
Thanks again!

[Earth-Daughter]

Well I just did my first reading and figured I would run my thoughts by you to see if you thought of anything I missed.
Firstly on the left hand side I saw a dog near the bottom of the cup with a cat over top of it and a mountain over top of that. This combination I took to mean troubles/quarreling with a friend being an obsticle. This makes sense for me because I recently had a small falling out with one of my close friends and while we are still on speaking terms I still feel like it is a barrier between us. Next I saw a rabbit that was very close to the mid-line of the cup but off to the left a little, which I took to symbolize my own timidness which I am risking carrying into the future and have recently been trying to get over. Just to the right of the mid-line was a mother caring for a baby. I took this to mean that I will soon have to care for many little worries. Again this makes sense to me because school is about to get very stressful again. Lastly I saw a boat at the bottom of the cup closest to the handle. I think this has to do with finding my safe harbour/shelter because I lost what had been my greatest emotional shelter a few months ago when my horse had to be put down. I think this means that I have to seek out shelter if inorder to deal with the issues that are coming my way, such as school and friendship issues.
Sorry if this was a little long winded, but it was my first attempt and I wanted to get as much out of it as possible.
Thanks for listening!

[Max]

Sounds like you're getting the hang of it!
Out of curiousity, were you asking a specific question or looking for a general reading? I occasionally use tarot (but will try crystals for reading at some point) and tend to ask "what would the outcome be if..." You seem to have a range of subjects in that reading, which is good! I was wondering what kind of response you would get if you asked a specific question. From my experience tea leaf reading always seems to be general readings (contradict me if any one has seen differently).
I'm not sure how well I worded that, my mind is fuzzy today...

[Crazy Healer Lady]

This may not vibe with others, but this is how I teach readings (of cards, of sky, of nature, of anything).

When you read, the medium is not important. What is important is what they mean to you. If I pull out a card with the goddess Kali on it, one person may see death, another a rebirth. If my card has a tepee on it, one may see refuge, one may see flight from their struggles, another may see retreat into the depths of the soul. The medium acts as a tool to give focus to the mind so that it can get out of the way, and the words of the divine flow through. It's one step away from channelling, in a sense. In one respect, the medium shows the picture of the message, but in the other, each person will experience that vision differently based on the message that needs to come through. I've had identical card layouts for some people, and yet the reading has been entirely different.

It sounds like you did very well, and as you do this more and more, you will gain a lot of skill

[Kitsune]

Nice reading, very informative. It's great that you're able to read for yourself... I have a superstition about reading for myself. It screws up my readings for myself a little, though I am getting over it.

I also agree with Crazy. I can lay down the same cards for people, and see a different meaning in them each time. It's truly a wonderful art.

Please let us know about the General to Specific reading changes when you do one. I am quite interested in finding out the answer.

[Earth-Daughter]

Okay, I did a few more readings testing out the general vs specific thing and I got a few interesting results. During the first of my readings my mind was wandering and only a little chaotic. However looking back it seems like most of my thoughts were following a similar theme (I had just watched Into the Wild, which is very good at setting me to thinking about what I want from life and the kind of person I want to be). This reading ended up giving me one very large, very clear symbol (a possum in case you were wondering). A few days later I tried another reading, this time asking a specific question and while I again got one large symbol, it was very difficult to read and looked like at least three different animals depending on how you looked at it. I am also wondering if maybe I didn't want to see the answer as much this time... it's not even that personal of a question, I just don't know what I want the answer to be.

Also I've been noticing that the large majority of the things I am seeing are animals. Does anyone else find that one type of symbol appears to them more?

[Max]

Well it seems like the reading is becoming more specific if it is showing you less symbols. Don't worry about not knowing what a symbol means straight away, this is why I wrote notes of what I saw, to follow trends with readings and events. As a suggestion, perhaps before your specific reading focus your mind on your question thinking only of that, and then let your mind empty for your reading so you don't get distracted by the question and miss the answer. That's hard to explain, and you won't understand that last sentence unless you did it!

Interesting about the majority of animal symbols. It probably just shows that your interest lies in natural forms! I don't recall that in my readings one symbol was more prevalent than others, mine tended to be simplified versons of real objects.

Do you know I am feeling very inspired by this post, possibly because I am indescribably crazy about tea (yumyumyum), I am going to try this tonight.

[Crazy Healer Lady]

Awesome You're doing great!

Animals are very personalized. They have characters and a great depth of meaning, and their impact on certain people is incredible. Take a busload of angry street kids to the zoo, and they'll open up out of their shells while there; bring a cat to a retirement home, and residents live longer and happier, and pet therapy is even used for pain management in certain hospices.

Going into the depth of animals and their meanings in symbology, Red-Tailed Hawk, for example, I still read up on, and still get new information, even after over a decade of reading about him.

Check out some of the old stories about the animals you see for clues into hidden meanings that may not be apparent during your initial reading. Opossum, you may want to check out some native mythology since it's a North American animal.

You're doing awesome!

[Earth-Daughter]

Hey, just a quick update. After having done a few more readings I finally got my first non-animal symbol showing up. A crescent moon in the waxing phase that circled most of the ring around the bottom of the cup. I read that the crescent represents a journey, which fits well with the what is going on in my life right now.
Just thought I'd keep you all in the loop
Hope everyone is doing well!

[Max]

That's really interesting. Glad to hear that you are still doing readings and getting good results. Nice to hear from you, thanks for keeping us updated