Tasseography

Tasseography is the art of reading omens in the sediment left at the bottom of a cup, whether coffee grounds, tea leaves or sometimes wine. The word combines the French “tasse”, cup, with the Greek graphein, “to write”. After drinking and leaving a little at the bottom, the cup is swirled, turned upside down or emptied, and the resulting shapes are interpreted: animals, letters, objects, depending on whether they sit near the rim or the bottom. The practice is still alive in many family traditions.