Tea leaves and the future.

I’m going to continue on the theme of tea. But not to praise the benefits of drinking it, rather looking at the empty cup. Almost from the very start of tea drinking, the leaves left at the bottom of the cup have been used by fortune-tellers. At first sight its ridicules to believe that the dregs at the bottom of the cup can be used to predict the future.

I have never studied tea leaf reading, so I cannot judge whether it is hogwash or has a degree of authenticity. What I can, based on personal experience, discuss is Tarot reading.

I had heard about Tarot cards, but knew nothing about them. Some years ago I became sufficiently intrigued to read books on the subject. The more I read, the more I was drawn into the subject. I finally bought a deck of Tarot cards. I read more books and practiced with various spreads. There are various spreads, number of cards and the way they are laid out. I used a 12 card spread, 3 columns of 4 cards. The first column represents the past, the second the present, the third the future. The four cards in each column represent the subject, the cause, the action and the result. It is important to appreciate the success of a reading depends on building the right ambiance and frame of mind of both the reader and the subject. This can be done by making a ritual of selecting the cards to be read.

When I had sufficient confidence I started to give readings to family members - with some startling results. They told their friends and very soon I was being asked to give readings to total strangers. These readings brought home to me both the power and dangers surrounding Tarot cards. Let me give you two examples:

I knew nothing about the woman who had requested a reading, other than she was originally from Cuba. The reading started with looking at the first column, representing the past, as the reading progressed the woman began to perspire. Within minutes the persperation was pouring out of her, and then she fainted. The reading had revealed events from her past, which were so horrific; she had blotted them out of her memory.

Because of the highly personal facts a reading can reveal, I preferred to give readings on a one to one bases, in the absence of a third person.

One day a young woman asked for a reading, she was accompanied by her husband and her mother. They had been married for less than a year. I suggested to her we should go into another room for the reading, but she insisted her husband and mother should be present. As the reading progressed the husband and mother became more agitated. I suggested the reading should stop, but she insisted it should continue. The reading revealed both events that had occurred in her childhood and her ingrained fears and phobias. I’m pleased to say that following the reading she was able to have an open discussion with her mother, and husband.

That’s enough for today; tomorrow I’ll blog about why I think Tarot readings can, under the appropriate circumstances, work.