Tasseography

Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy, tassology, or tasseology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.

[citation needed] Western tasseography can be linked to medieval European fortune tellers who developed their readings from splatters of wax, lead, and other molten substances,[1] which are related to many similar and established rituals in Asia such as pagtatawas.

These shapes are then interpreted intuitively or by means of a fairly standard system of symbolism, such as: snake (enmity or falsehood), spade (good fortune through industry), mountain (journey of hindrance), or house (change, success).Melton's described methods of pouring away the tea and shaking the cup are rarely seen; most readers ask the querent to drink the tea off, then swirl the cup.

Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing to the present, English and American potteries have produced specially decorated cup and saucer sets for the use of tea-leaf readers.

[citation needed] Coffee reading (Arabic: قراءة الفنجان, romanized: qirāʾat al-finjān; Persian: فال قهوه; Turkish: kahve falı; Greek: καφεμαντεία; Serbian: гледање у шољу) is traditionally practiced using Arabic or Turkish coffee, as they produce a very thick sediment.

Other readers may adhere to the belief that the cup is capable of revealing insights about the past, but it cannot predict events beyond forty days into the future.

[7] Symbol interpretation can be drawn from history, statistics, pop culture references, and often nature or how we interact with the world.

[citation needed] There are also many classic image interpretations that were developed in Great Britain in the late 1800s as tasseomancy gained popularity as a parlour game.