be translated to us symbolically is apparent to everyone--who could
doubt it, and still believe in anything at all?

Tea-leaves are habitually used by many people as a means of divination.
To some it is an easier method than the cards, there is less to
memorise, or the crystal.

There is in Paris a famous clairvoyant who always uses tea-leaves as the
medium for her powers of divination. Some are inclined to jeer at the
fortune in the teacup, but if the language of symbolism is rightly
understood, the medium through which it is seen matters little.

Tea-leaves have the advantage of being simple, inexpensive, and within
the reach of everyone. It cannot be claimed that the cult is of the
greatest antiquity; for although it seems to have been used in China
from very early times, tea was not brought into Europe until about the
middle of the sixteenth century. For many years after its introduction
into this country, tea was far too costly to be used except by a
comparatively small proportion of the population. It has, however,
proved its extreme usefulness as a means of divination, as well as its
merits as a beverage, for close upon three centuries.

It is a very favourite method with the Highlanders, where it is
customary for the "guid wife" to read in her cup of tea at breakfast the
events she may look for during the day. Simple though they may probably
be, there are to be seen in the tea-leaves, a letter, a parcel, a
visitor, a wedding, and so on. It is said that no Highland seer would
take money for making prognostications as to the future. This, no doubt,
is one good reason for their powers as clairvoyants.