{"id":11559,"date":"2019-11-13T08:43:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T13:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/?p=11559"},"modified":"2023-09-26T14:45:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:45:13","slug":"what-tea-can-tell-you-the-art-of-tasseomancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/what-tea-can-tell-you-the-art-of-tasseomancy\/","title":{"rendered":"What tea can tell you: the art of tasseomancy"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time:<\/b> <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

People have been drinking tea\nfor thousands of years and they\u2019ve been reading tea leaves for just as long.\nTraditionally, tea leaf reading was done in the morning, to give you an idea of\nyour day \u2013 a throwback version of your Co\u2014Star push notification. But in this\nage of uncertainty, interest has returned to the intuitive arts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out more, we spoke to tea sommelier, horticulturalist, community herbalist and tea leaf reader, Amy Taylor who\u2019s been practicing Tasseomancy for over 30 years and teaching about tea for 12. In fact, she\u2019s so knowledgeable she\u2019s writing a book on the subject. Reading from The Art of Tea and Tasseomancy and Mystic Tea Room<\/u><\/a> in Hamilton, Ontario, she helps people see their way forward one cup at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DAVIDsTEA: How did you get\ninto tea leaf reading? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy Taylor:<\/strong> It started in a Chinese restaurant in Toronto in the\nlate 80s. I was having dinner with my family, I was 18 at the time, and I\u2019d\nalready begun exploring different forms of divination. That night, I poured tea\nfor everybody but before I poured the tea, I looked into their cups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t really <\/em>know\nwhat tea leaf reading was at that point, but the experience piqued something in\nme, so I did some research and found out that it\u2019s called Tasseomancy or\nTasseography. I found it really interesting, but the history of tea was the\nother thing that fascinated me. So, I got into both and it took me down a\nrabbit hole for the past 30+ years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does tea leaf reading\ninvolve intuition? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I believe that all forms\nof divination involve intuitive ability. The difficult part is whether a person\nis comfortable trusting their intuition to guide them or not. In my case, I\nlearned through years of practice. But I also learned something that confirmed\nmy ability . . . I\u2019m adopted and about 12 years ago, I reconnected with my\nbiological mum who\u2019s a huge part of my life now. I found out that I had a\ngreat-grandmother in the UK who also did tea leaf readings. So it\u2019s in my\nlineage, but it wasn\u2019t passed down in the traditional sense, so I had to\nrelearn to trust and use my gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you learn the art\nof Tasseomancy? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find out quite a lot\nthrough books, but I\u2019m a hands-on learner. I spoke with a few psychics that had\ntea reading as part of their repertoire and got some pointers. One of them,\nironically, told me that my grandmother should\u2019ve taught me. But of course, at\nthat point, I didn\u2019t realize that it was <\/em>in my lineage. Then I took off\nto California for a couple of years and started to hone my intuitive skills. I\ncame back to Toronto in the early 90s and by 1994-95 I started to read on a\nprofessional level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You offer two different\ntypes of readings: the Tasseomancy and Lenormand Tea Cards method. Can you tell\nus about the difference between the two? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenormand cards are newer\nthan the Art of Tasseomancy. Reading tea leaves can be traced back to the late\n16th<\/sup> Century, but Lenormand cards were only created in the mid 19th<\/sup>\nCentury. Lenormand card reading has a connection to tea leaf reading as the\ncards have been connected to coffee grind reading. A lot of the symbols you\u2019ll\nsee in the Lenormand deck are similar to the symbolism you find in the teacup.\nIf you look at Tasseography cups (pre-marked cups), they\u2019ll have a similar\nsymbology that you\u2019d see in the deck as well. It\u2019s all sort of connected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use the cards as part of my\npractice because once I\u2019ve tossed the contents of the teacup into the saucer\nfor a reading, and I turn the cup over to see what\u2019s left behind, the spread in\nthe cup is very static. The leaves don\u2019t move after the initial tossing. I\nspeak to what is<\/em> there and can answer some questions if it\u2019s in the cup.\nBut, if a client has questions that they specifically want answered, that\u2019s where\nthe cards come into play. We can reshuffle a deck of cards, but we can\u2019t\nreshuffle a teacup!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you use a specific type\nof tea for readings? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve used a lot of different teas.\nI started with a monk\u2019s blend, a traditional black tea with grenadine and\nvanilla. But some leaves are very large, and I wanted a tea that would create smaller\nshapes among the white space in the cup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also the brewing, if a black tea steeps for 20 minutes \u2013 you\u2019re ruining the flavour profile of the tea. For the last 10+ years, I\u2019ve used a Rooibos<\/a><\/u>. The leaves are small, they don\u2019t change shape in the water, and they give a very comprehensive spread in the cup.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond your job, how does\ntea fit in your day-to-day life? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a constant for me \u2013 I\u2019m\ndrinking a cup of Earl Grey right now! Tea is part of my daily ritual, it\u2019s\npart of my spirituality, it\u2019s so ingrained in my life, I can\u2019t imagine it any\nother way. I\u2019m also a THAC Certified Tea Sommelier Professional, which has\nallowed me to feel more confident when discussing and teaching tea, as I\u2019m\nnearly always discussing tea at some point in my day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s one of your\nearliest memories of tea? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mum was an interior\ndesigner and she would take me to Chinatown in Toronto and we\u2019d go to all these\ncool shops and pickup wares. In the 70s the whole look was bold colours with\nChinese accents and a lot of these places were in Kensington Market and Spadina\n\u2013\nshe\u2019d take me along and I just loved<\/em> the experience. Some of the stores\nare still there, so I can visit and have my nostalgic moment.
\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was at a Chinese restaurant that I first experienced Chinese tea. Those white porcelain teapots that are always on your table and the tiny Gong Fu cups \u2013 I was 7 or 8 years old at the time and I was like, \u201cThese are the perfect size for my hands, these are meant for me!\u201d It\u2019s also where I tasted my first Chinese tea, a Jasmine Green<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You suggest clients only\nreturn every six months to a year, why? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want clients to put space\nbetween their readings to allow for things to develop, grow and change as\nneeded. With other forms of readings, like astrological charts, they give you\ninformation for two to five years. Tea leaf readings were originally done first\nthing in the morning to give you an idea of what your day was going to be like \u2013\nthey were never meant to be long-term. Most tea leaf readings are shorter term,\nlike at max, a year to a year and a half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most part, my\nreadings are a touchpoint. Are you on track or do you need to adjust? I think\nthat\u2019s a healthier way to look at things because nothing is written in stone.\nPeople can take the information given in the readings and move forward or do\nnothing. It\u2019s totally up to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you share some\nmemorable experiences from your readings?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently sat with someone\nwho\u2019d been doing a lot for a family member. But they no longer needed, so this\nperson was able to focus on their own life, which was a first for them. I was\nable to give them a feeling of, \u201cI did all I can, I can own that, and I can\nmove forward,\u201d which was cool. Other cool stuff are things like clients coming\nback and saying, \u201cYou\u2019re right! I changed my job\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019re right, I\u2019m having\na girl!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the more difficult\nthings are when people come to you with major relationship, family or health\nissues. That\u2019s an opportunity to help walk them through how they want to deal\nwith it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My role isn\u2019t to tell people what\nto do or to fix their problems. My job is to tell people what they should focus\non, so they can fix the situation themselves. I\u2019m just here to help people move\nforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to learn how to read tea leaves yourself? Amy offers a number of intensive workshops throughout the year. Find out more at: taotat.ca<\/u><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time:<\/b> <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>People have been drinking tea for thousands of years and they\u2019ve been reading tea leaves for just as long. Traditionally, tea leaf reading was done in the morning, to give […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":14307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11559"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11570,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11559\/revisions\/11570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}