Tasseomancy

When we switched tea brands (the store was out of the black tea I normally get), I needed to add milk to my morning mega-mug of caffeine (Mark was a dear to buy tea when we ran out, but he likes his blends with more bite than I do).

After I added the milk (pause to wonder if the milk should be poured first and then the tea...) sometimes I would see little images turning within the cobalt darkness of the mug.  Then I would either channel my inner Centauri Noblewoman and whisper prophecies about the Shadows, or else I would channel Stevie Nicks and sing "Now here I go again, I have a crystal vision..." (pause to imagine Stevie Nicks as a Centauri Noblewoman).

After a week or so, I thought, "Hey! I could tweet these."  So I have.

April 20 - This morning's tasseography: a dog, a mask, an animated speaker with hand gestures.  (This one sort of came true, in that shortly afterward, I saw a mask (actually a bicycle banana-seat with handle-bar horns) that looked like the mask in the teacup.)


April 21 - Today's tasseogaphy (to Wagner): a rose, three circles in a triskellion, a sled, an Art Nouveau woman in harem pants.


April 22 - Today's tasseogaphy: three dolphins, sort of like a saint Brendan cross. And... um, milk diffusing into the tea.  (This one also sort of came true, in that we were listening to a book on tape, and St. Brendan's Cross being mentioned.)


April 23 - Today's tasseogaphy (to Beethoven): X and O - a tic-tac-toe game; broken glass (from a rock?); colliding worlds, colliding electrons.


April 24 - Today's tasseogaphy: very swirly roses, two dolphins, an eye (vaguely Egyptian), and a hawk-like bird's profile.  (Too early to signify the UO Osprey Nest at Hayward Field, as that happened the next day...)


April 25 - Today's tasseography: a nose, a - er, Freudian image. Later a giraffe, a longhorn steer with someone riding it.   (Let me tell you, that Freudian image was burgeoning, too).


April 26 - Today's tasseography: Hmm. Difficult to see. Always in motion is future. Just a funnel of milk spinning in tea.


April 27 - Today's tasseography: an elongated monogram combining J and M, which turned around and became a swimming long-necked dinosaur.   (Maybe Mark and I will go to Loch Ness....)


April 28 - Today's tasseography: an open sled on curled runners being pulled by an antlered reindeer.

April 29 - Today's tasseography: a rearing white horse. Then lots of bat-winged dragons with serpentine necks and chomping jaws.   (I was hoping that I'd see the dragons - there was a whole flock of them, with a really detailed close-up of the last dragon's muzzel.)


While I am hopeful that what I interpret in the mug might happen, I'm not holding my breath.  What I notice looking over this is that sleds, horns, steers, wings and bird-shapes seem to be a trend.  Dripping milk off of a spoon produces primarily rings and also numbers like 3 6 8 and 9.  Also, if I stir my tea too vigorously, the milk turns into a flower shape.

My friends noticed the tasseomancy.  In a recent Facebook exchange, one of my friends, JB, said, "You must have lots of fun during Rorschach Tests."  To which I replied, "You know, I've never taken one."  His conclusion was, "Oh, I think you are ALWAYS taking one."  

I think I need to put that into my e-mail signature.