Tasseography

Fresh herbs from Jagannath Vallabha Gardens!

Tasseography or Tasseomancy is the art of reading tea leaves. After a cup of tea has been poured, without using a tea strainer, the tea is drunk or poured away. The cup should then be shaken well and any remaining liquid drained off in the saucer. The diviner now looks at the pattern of tea leaves in the cup and allows the imagination to play around the shapes suggested by them. They might look like a letter, a heart shape, or a ring. These shapes are then interpreted intuitively or by means of a fairly standard system of symbolism, such as: snake (enmity or falsehood), spade (good fortune through industry), mountain (journey of hindrance), or house (change, success). Now Don't read this and wonder why I'm talking about Tasseography and about tea when we vow to not take any intoxicants,tea or coffee included. Nope, I'm not breaking my 4 regs here. The drinker of the tea in question here is transcendental and the message I received is transcendental too..Read on.. So, The Lord was sick all these days and my good friend Geeta Mataji wanted me to have something as a gift for our wedding anniversary, something that will stay as a reminder to serve our worshipable Lord Jagannath through thick and thin. So, she gifted me this cute teapot and tea cup to serve Jagannath some tea during His Anavasara and also handed me some fresh herbs right out of her Jagannath Vallabha Garden at her home. I promptly used it to serve the Lord some fresh mint leaves, rosemary and ginger tea with honey and squeezed some fresh lime, set out the table with some poda pitha, and cashewnut cookies. After the Lord was done drinking I drained the contents into another cup and tried reading the pattern, using my imagination, and I once again received the message so often repeated in the Bhagavad Gita. I felt privileged to serve the Lord and receive such confidential knowledge. I vowed to take this reading to heart and intensify my faith in rendering service to the best of my abilities. Here is the message for my future and my present, as read from the tea cup of the transcendental Lord:

ksipram bhavati dharmatma sasvac-chantim nigacchati kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati

TRANSLATION He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

Bhagavad Gita 9:31.