Instructions
From Mystic Tea Room
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| + | [[File:California-in-the-Kitchen-Liselotte-Glozer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|"California in the Kitchen: An Essay Upon, and a Check List of, California Imprimts in the Field of Gastronomy from 1870(?) - 1932" by Liselotte F. Glozer, and William K. Glozer,, 1960.]] | ||
| + | ; William K. Glozer: | ||
[[File:Aynsley-trifold-interior.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Aynsley Cup of Knowledge trifold interior]] | [[File:Aynsley-trifold-interior.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Aynsley Cup of Knowledge trifold interior]] | ||
[[File:Harry-Roseland-Reading-the-Tea-Leaves-at-Table-Undated.jpg|right|300px|thumb|"The Orancle II" (Reading the Tea Leaves at Table) by Harry Roseland, circa 1899. This is one of a series of oil paintings of African American fortune tellers created by Rosemad in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.]] | [[File:Harry-Roseland-Reading-the-Tea-Leaves-at-Table-Undated.jpg|right|300px|thumb|"The Orancle II" (Reading the Tea Leaves at Table) by Harry Roseland, circa 1899. This is one of a series of oil paintings of African American fortune tellers created by Rosemad in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.]] | ||
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A question i am often asked is, "How did you learn tea leaf reading?" | A question i am often asked is, "How did you learn tea leaf reading?" | ||
| - | As a child in the 1950s, i learned primarily from a particular older woman, a neighbor, who was also a card reader and numerologist. She told me that i would become a professional psychic, and she taught me many things. Her name was Mrs. Hare. | + | As a child in the 1950s, i learned primarily from a particular older woman, a neighbor of ours, who was also a card reader and numerologist. She told me that i would become a professional psychic, and she taught me many things. Her name was Mrs. Hare. |
| - | My parents owned an antiquarian book shop, | + | My parents owned an antiquarian book shop, Beginning in the late 1950s, my mother, a librarian, was compiling a bibliography of cookbooks and recipe pamphlets published in California, which eventually was released as "California in the Kitchen" in 1960. As her eager teen-aged helper, i scouted thrift stores for these undervalued treasures, and brought her many a startling find. While searching through the piles of cookbooks at the Goodwill, Saint Vincent de Paul, and Salvation Army shops, i became fascinated with the illustrated recipe pamphlets issued by food companies. Among these pamphlets there were many not published in California, and so of no interest to my mother's project, but i could not bear to see them left behind where we found them, and thus i began my life-long accumulation of such ephemera. Among these pamphlets i found quite a few issued by tea companies that contained instructions in tea leaf reading. |
Then, through one of those marvels of synchronicity which make life ever so interesting, my parents purchased the personal library of a female occultist and metaphysician who had recently died, and they gave me the job of cataloguing the books for resale. in going through her incredible collection i discovered her copies of the books by The Highland Seer, Cicely Kent, and Minetta -- and carefully wrapped with them was an Aynsley Nelros Cup of Fortune from 1904. This served as my introduction to the subject of marked fortune telling cups and saucers, and i have collected them ever since. | Then, through one of those marvels of synchronicity which make life ever so interesting, my parents purchased the personal library of a female occultist and metaphysician who had recently died, and they gave me the job of cataloguing the books for resale. in going through her incredible collection i discovered her copies of the books by The Highland Seer, Cicely Kent, and Minetta -- and carefully wrapped with them was an Aynsley Nelros Cup of Fortune from 1904. This served as my introduction to the subject of marked fortune telling cups and saucers, and i have collected them ever since. | ||
Revision as of 22:49, 22 November 2020
; William K. Glozer:
A question i am often asked is, "How did you learn tea leaf reading?"
As a child in the 1950s, i learned primarily from a particular older woman, a neighbor of ours, who was also a card reader and numerologist. She told me that i would become a professional psychic, and she taught me many things. Her name was Mrs. Hare.
My parents owned an antiquarian book shop, Beginning in the late 1950s, my mother, a librarian, was compiling a bibliography of cookbooks and recipe pamphlets published in California, which eventually was released as "California in the Kitchen" in 1960. As her eager teen-aged helper, i scouted thrift stores for these undervalued treasures, and brought her many a startling find. While searching through the piles of cookbooks at the Goodwill, Saint Vincent de Paul, and Salvation Army shops, i became fascinated with the illustrated recipe pamphlets issued by food companies. Among these pamphlets there were many not published in California, and so of no interest to my mother's project, but i could not bear to see them left behind where we found them, and thus i began my life-long accumulation of such ephemera. Among these pamphlets i found quite a few issued by tea companies that contained instructions in tea leaf reading.
Then, through one of those marvels of synchronicity which make life ever so interesting, my parents purchased the personal library of a female occultist and metaphysician who had recently died, and they gave me the job of cataloguing the books for resale. in going through her incredible collection i discovered her copies of the books by The Highland Seer, Cicely Kent, and Minetta -- and carefully wrapped with them was an Aynsley Nelros Cup of Fortune from 1904. This served as my introduction to the subject of marked fortune telling cups and saucers, and i have collected them ever since.
My story is unusual, and few others who come after me will have lived the kind of life i have, so rather than try to take you through my voyage of discovery, i will open a few doors for you as you follow your own path to tea leaf reading. In doing so, i will change the question from, "How did you learn tea leaf reading?" to "How is this system of divination transmitted -- and how can i learn?"
Here are the paths of knowledge.
Contents |
Learn From Family and Friends
Divination by means of tea leaf reading is a long-cherished form of domestic fortune telling. It may be performed at home for oneself, family, or friends. For generations, learning to read the leaves from a cherished old grandmother or auntie was a tradition kept alive in many families, particular those with a cultural connection to Scotland, Ireland, or England. In a similar way, the reading of coffess grounds was transmitted within families of Greek, Turkish, and Arabic descent.
Learn from Company-Issued Instruction Booklets
Brief instructions in tea leaf reading come primarily from two sources -- those issued by tea companies, as promotions for the drinking of tea, and those issued by pottery companies with their fortune telling tea cups, for the ease of understanding the unique designs and methods that are found on cups decorated with symbols from other divination systems, including astrology, cartomancy, numerology, and folkloric signs or omens.
Learn from a Professional Tea Leaf Reader
Over the years the oral transmission of the methods and "rules" of tea leaf reading travelled from Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales to North America, Australia, New Zealand, and other regions that were populated by English-speaking colonists. In the United States, close contact between enslaved African people and their "owners," led to a strong interest in these methods among African American diviners and mediums. After Emancipation, many Black women read tea leaves for clients, both Black and White.
When the Tea Room Movement took off in the early 20th century, the field for professional tea readers suddenly expanded. This was the era of the "free reading with every meal," a brief reading offered at many tea rooms in America.
Although the days of the subsidized "free reading areProfessional tea leaf readers who will brew a cup for you, allow you to drink it, and read your leaves for you; if you express interest, they may teach you how it is down, if you offer to pay for lessons..
- Tea Rooms
- Harry Roseland
Learn from Books, Cards, and Web Sites
The information in my article on How To Read Tea Leaves will help you get started.
