When the tea has cooled to a comfortable temperature, drink until the cup is nearly empty. If you see a twig or little stick floating in your tea, that is an early sign representing an imminent visitor. There will be a little liquid and remaining leaves within your teacup. Swish them about as desired.

Before you even start the reading , there may already be some early signs to interpret:

• Bubbles on the surface of your tea or coffee means that money is on its way.
• If any tea leaves are floating on the surface, then visitors are imminent. The number of leaves shows how many days away they are.
• If two teaspoons are accidentally placed on a saucer, then you can expect news of twins soon.
• If a teaspoon is placed upside down onto a saucer then you will hear news of the ill-health of a close relative.

Finish your tea leaving a small amount of liquid in the bottom of cup of the cup. Holding the cup in your left hand, swirl the tea leaves round three times in a clockwise direction. Make sure that the remaining tea swirls around the whole of the cup.
Free tea reading

Remain quiet and meditative while you pour out the remaining liquid into the saucer. Pour slowly so that some of the tea and most of the leaves remain in your cup. Leave your cup turned upside on the saucer. After a minimum of three breaths, you may turn over your cup. The remaining liquid will have drained from your cup, leaving a leaf pattern behind.

As a general first impression, just a scattering of leaves inside the cup indicates a tidy mind and disciplined life. A lot of leaves indicate a rich, full, busy life.

To learn to read your own tea leaves, you will need loose tea leaves which are somewhat large. It is best to use a teapot with a wide spout so that when you pour the tea out of it and into your cup, the leaves can easily pass through. Some tea leaf readers recommend using only the highest grade teas and your best china, and all readers advise against using a mug, which makes it hard to look at the leaves sitting at the bottom of your cup.

The person wanting their tea leaves read should concentrate on a question or area of their life that they would like insight into. Drink the tea quietly until about a half of a teaspoon’s worth of tea is left in the cup. Swirl the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup three times while thinking of your question. You can ask a question about yourself, about the past, about the future, or even about someone else in your life. Turn your cup over onto a saucer and let the moisture drain out for about two or three minutes. Then turn your cup back over gently and see how the tea leaves have settled. If all the moisture is removed, you are ready to have the leaves interpreted.

The cup is held so that the handle points towards the questioner. The handle represents the questioner and his or her home, and the tea leaves are read in relation to the position of the handle.