A little touch of magic in your cup : the ancient tradition of coffee fortune telling
Greek coffee, except for a timeless favorite, is also kind of magical. Magical not only in its taste but also because of its assumed ability to predict the future.
It is certain that there is no Greek who has not enjoyed a cup of Greek coffee. It is also almost certain that there is no Greek who has not told him - even for fun - the "cup", even for once in his life! Coffee fortune telling, an attempt to predict the future based on used ground coffee, is an ancient method, with roots going back in time and widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin and the Balkans.
Already since the years of ancient Greece, the random shape of melted objects was a divine sign. The sorcerers tried to predict what was going on in the shape of the molten metal when it fell into cold water, a habit that was maintained in medieval Europe as well. When tea arrived in Europe, the magicians began to read the tea leaves, while with the introduction of the coffee, they fully embraced the old oriental habit of reading the cup. Although the practice of fortune telling is widespread in all the Balkan countries in the Eastern Mediterranean (in every county in which Turkish coffee is prepared), the countries in which this habit still survives is Turkey, Serbia and, of course, Greece.
The method of preparation of Greek or Turkish coffee played a significant role in the development of these beliefs, as the coffee grounds are left in the cup and not removed, as with almost all other forms of coffee brewing. Superstition suggests that the one who drank his coffee affected the formation of the plateaus, which in this way can show what is going on. Anyway, it is a common place for magic to use personal items, as in the case of the greek coffee cup.
The basic procedure for reading the cup has remained the same for centuries: someone first drinks his coffee, then waits for a little to sit down and then he turns the cup over. Someone with a magic charisma, usually a woman, undertakes to read the echoes from the shapes of the used ground coffee. The shapes can relate to many things, such as an initial letter, a means of transport, a house, an animal, or even other, inexplicable symbols, translated into marriage, success, money, but also to death, bitterness or sickness.
The "rules" surrounding the proper reading of coffee are really countless, but every country and region has its own, separate habits. Initially, it is supposed that no one should predict his one future through the coffee cup, since not only will he lose the divine charisma, but he will put himself in danger, since he has somehow disturbed the secular order. Many strongly claim that the top half of the bottom of the cup shows the future, while the bottom half shows the past while others read the bad on the left half and the good on the right. Similarly, the white designs (the loopholes) are positive news, but the dark patterns, created by the ground coffee beans themselves, are bad news. It is unnecessary to say that divine art is transferred from generation to generation and from person to person, usually from mother to daughter or grandmother to granddaughter, as well as that whoever discloses it loses his charisma forever.
Almost all habits that surround coffee cup reading are ancient magical traditions and reflect stunning magic patterns. Needless to say, coffee is condemned as a practice by the Orthodox Church, but also by other Christian doctrines and other religions. On the other hand, today, the reasons that draw the world towards reading the cup are more folklore, unlike the past, which fortunte telling was taken very seriously.
Even if you do not have the divine charisma (who has it?), the next time you drink a greek coffee, turn the cup over and look at the patterns that were created. A prediction is certain: we will continue to enjoy our Greek coffee as long as we are going through, and even if the plans do not tell us whether we will take a long way or whether we will go through a big door!
