Time for Tea TeaINTERNAL.indd 1 3/11/06 10:32:16 AM TeaINTERNAL.indd 2 3/11/06 10:32:25 AM Lindel Barker-Revell Time for Tea The Gentle Art of Reading Tea-Leaves TeaINTERNAL.indd 3 3/11/06 10:32:33 AM To the spirit of tea-leaf lovers of the past and to the wise women to come—Megan and Kara First published in 2007 Copyright © Lindel Barker-Revell 2007 Images copyright of individual providers All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. Inspired Living, an imprint of Allen & Unwin 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Barker-Revell, Lindel, 1948- . Time for tea : the gentle art of reading tea-leaves. Includes index. ISBN 978 1 74114 996 8. 1. Fortune-telling by tea leaves. I. Title. 133.3244 Design and illustrations by Zoë Sadokierski Set in 11/18 pt Adobe Garamond Pro Printed by Tien Wah Press, Singapore 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 TeaINTERNAL.indd 4 3/11/06 10:32:33 AM Contents 1 R The pure magic of tea 2 R Choosing your teacup and teapot 3 R Finding the ideal tea 4 R Time to read the tea-leaves 5 R Staging the perfect afternoon tea 6 R What the tea-leaves reveal 7 19 27 43 51 67 Acknowledgments 142 List of symbols 144 TeaINTERNAL.indd 5 3/11/06 10:32:35 AM TeaINTERNAL.indd 6 3/11/06 10:32:36 AM [ 1 \ The pure magic of tea T ea has a wonderful quality that draws people together and, mysteriously, a shared cup of tea always seems to taste better than tea drunk alone. Tea-leaves bring their life and spirit to our cups. When we make time for tea, we make time for ourselves and for each other—time to watch the tiny leaves that have travelled so far, slowly unfurl. One of the forgotten joys of taking leaf tea is the opportunity to see the magical images that appear in our cups and to learn from these pictures what we might need to know. Reading tea-leaves is a wonderful art. It will surprise and delight you, and bring much fun and laughter to gatherings with old friends and new. TeaINTERNAL.indd 7 - 3/11/06 10:32:37 AM The gentle art of reading tea-leaves What the ancient Chinese—the first tea-drinkers—made of the shapes and patterns that appeared in their teacups we can only imagine, although we do know they believed in signs and portents. It was the wandering Romany people who brought tea-leaf reading to Europe. This art has been largely nurtured and practised by women, who have carefully passed on its secrets from one generation to the next by reading the tea-leaves whenever family and friends gathered. When tea bags became popular this delightful art, also known as tasseomancy or tasseograph