Off The Record
by Mike FarragherMike has followed Irish and Irish American music, in all its many forms, for years in The Irish Voice.
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Off The Record for May 2012
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Friday, May 25, 2012 at 09:42 AM
Reading the tea leaves - “only lovely fortunes in my teacups”
Licks of purple and brunt orange from the sunset licked the peaceful shoreline on this chilly night in Santa Monica. The mood on the shopping promenade was festive as tourists emptied their pockets of spare change to the jugglers and folk musicians that lined the sidewalks.
Licks of purple and brunt orange from the sunset licked the peaceful shoreline on this chilly night in Santa Monica. The mood on the shopping promenade was festive as tourists emptied their pockets of spare change to the jugglers and folk musicians that lined the sidewalks.
I found Patricia McCarthy Donnelly sitting demurely at a table, swaddled in an Aran sweater with a thin, gauzy scarf around her neck. The sign on the card table read “Irish Tea Leaf Readings: Only Lovely Fortunes in My Teacups!”
I heard the phrase “read the tea leaves” but had never pinpointed it to an Irish origin. According to the LearnAboutTea.com website, the ancient art of reading tea leaf patterns within a cup is called tasseography. Though the art of reading tea and wine sediments originated in ancient Greece, the Celtic nations perfected the art of reading tea leaves.
