Fortune telling with Turkish coffee

Coffee is an important part of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot culture. It dates back to around the 16th century, with an Ottoman chronicler reporting the opening of the first coffeehouse in Istanbul in the 1640s. Turkish coffee is different to your average Starbucks style coffee though, being made in a specific fashion in which focus is placed on obtaining a thick layer of foam on the top.  If you’re ever in Turkey, or North Cyprus this is a must try, providing a sociable and comforting break along with a chance to mingle with locals and soak up the traditions of the culture.

What I really want to talk about though is tasseography. This is the art of fortune telling through interpreting patterns found in tea leaves, or in this case coffee grounds. This is a popular practice with Turkish coffee, its thick consistency leaving behind a gloopy layer of grounds at the bottom of each cup perfect for reading. Now, if you’re considering trying this out it’s important to note that you must first drink your cup of coffee as you would normally. You should take your time, maybe mull over in your head which issues in your life you’d like some insight into. Leaving the residue of your coffee the cup is then covered with a saucer, shook and then turned over to cool. The patterns that then form on the inside of the cup provide the psychic symbols. There are of course many different translations, but some examples of what various symbols mean are the following:

Though it is a subject of scepticism, fortune telling can often provide a therapeutic consideration of ones life, whether the details are true or not. You could even give this a go yourself and contemplate what you feel you see. It could bring up some interesting details of your subconscious! Though of course, if you’re quite happy to just enjoy a cup of coffee to escape the rush of life for a moment without thinking about the bigger philosophies of your life, well, then that’s understandable. PS – If you can, have your coffee with some Turkish delight on the side! Delicious.