page_title: Tasseography
section_title: Coffee reading
hierarchical_section_title: Tasseography / Coffee reading
caption_attribution_description: English: Coffee reading (Tasseography) ქართული: მკითხაობა ყავის ნალექზე Русский: Гадание на кофейной гуще
context_page_description: Tasseography is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments. In more modern practice, residues of other beverages such as hot chocolate, beer or juice can also be read and interpreted.
  The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic loan-word into French tassa, and the Greek suffixes -graph (writing), -logy (study of), and -mancy (divination).
context_section_description: Coffee reading (Greek: καφεμαντεία, Serbian: гледање у шољу, Turkish: kahve falı) is traditionally practiced using Turkish coffee as it produces a very thick sediment.  The coffee in the cup is consumed, and the sediment is left to settle. Superstition dictates that the querent should not read their own cup, however in modern practice this is not considered to be a barrier.
  There are several variations of coffee reading. They commonly require for the cup to be covered with the saucer and turned upside-down. In the Turkish tradition, coffee-readers often interpret the cup as being divided into horizontal halves: symbols appearing on the bottom half are interpreted as messages regarding the past, and symbols on the top half are messages regarding the future. The cup may also be interpreted in vertical halves to determine "yes" or "no" answers as well as the overall outcome of the events represented by symbols. For example, some fortune tellers may "read" symbols in the "left" half as "negative" events or outcomes, while symbols in the "right" half are "read" as "positive". 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. The saucer may also be incorporated into the reading. As with the cup, different variations exist for what the saucer represents, including whether the saucer sticking to the cup indicates a "positive" or "negative" outcome.
  Some Romanian methods require that the sediments be swirled around until they cover the majority of the cup's inside surface.  Other traditions, such as Turkish and Middle Eastern, do not require this swirling but do require that the cup be turned towards the querent in revealing the fortune. The coffee grounds are given time to dry against the cup before a reading begins.
  After a reading, the querent will be asked to "open the heart". This is done by placing the right thumb at the inside bottom of the cup and twisting clockwise slightly.  This will leave an impression behind that the fortune teller will interpret as the querent's inner thoughts or emotions.
caption: Coffee reading
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