Reading the Grounds
Walking through the streets of Athens, looking at the patrons drinking hot Greek coffee in the afternoons, I often saw cups overturned on their saucers, as people sat and talked.
At first I wondered if that was a sign to tell the coffee shop owner that you were finished, but one afternoon I happened to see a couple slowly lift up their cups and peek under them with anticipation.
I stopped to see what happened next. The coffee shop owner returned to the table and said, “Anything interesting?”
It was then that I realized that they were reading the coffee grounds.
Because Greek and Turkish coffee are made by boiling water with the grounds rather than by filtering them, the grounds form a sediment in the bottom of the cup as it is drunk. For more on that process, click here for an earlier blog I wrote about the wonderful world of Greek coffee.
Greek coffee pot, aka Briki
The process of reading the coffee grounds to tell your future is fun, mysterious, and entertaining. I don’t really put much stock in the fortunes, but it definitely is a convivial way to enjoy coffee with friends and family in Greece (or anywhere else, for that matter).
Here’s the process:
1. Enjoy your Greek coffee. In Greek culture, that means savoring it with friends and family over the course of several hours. :)
2. When there is about one sip's worth left in the cup, swirl it around vigorously to loosen the grounds. Take the final sip, and then make a wish.
3. Pick up your saucer and turn it over on top of your cup to cover it. Hold them tightly together to keep the seal.
4. Hold them up to your chest, and make 3 horizontal circles clockwise to swirl the sediment around so it touches the entire inside surface of the cup.
5. Flip it - lightning quick - onto the table with some oomph.
6. Wait at least 10 minutes for the coffee grounds to settle and cool.
7. For the five-part reading, first look to the side of the cup toward the handle, which speaks to love.
7. Next, to the left of the handle, the grounds speak to the present.
8. To the right of the handle, the grounds tell of the future.
9. The bottom of the cup, likely where there is the most sediment, tells of home.
10. The side of the cup across from the handle represents money.
The shapes, lines, symbols, and pictures that you see in the five-section reading have been attributed with common meanings over time. For example, the shape of a bell is meant to signify unexpected news, and wavy lines represent uncertainty. Reading the grounds together reminds me of looking for shapes in the clouds on a bright summer day. I prefer this light and entertaining view of reading the grounds over the “grim” view, ala Professor Trelawny of Harry Potter fame. For a comprehensive list of the meaning of symbols in reading the grounds, click here.
And finally, I’ll leave you with the words of William Shakespeare on the subject:
“O God, that one might read the book of fate
And see the revolution of the times”
If you’re interested in this fun activity, or if you’ve ever read your coffee grounds, leave a comment and let me know!
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