The history of coffee cup readings, known as tasseography, is long, dating back centuries.

This form of fortune-telling is a familiar ritual in Greece where fortune tellers would analyse the shapes and symbols created by the sediment at the bottom of your cup of coffee to predict the future. In the past, people would book appointments or wait for their gifted aunts to read their coffee, but these days, coffee cup readers, fortune-tellers and psychics are taking over the internet, providing readings and predicting the future through their apps to hundreds of clients every day.

The popularity of these fortune-telling apps is phenomenal. The people using these apps are estimated to be hundreds of thousands, as the process is simple and immediate.

“Do you want your coffee read and you can’t find someone to read it? You can take pictures of your coffee cup and saucer and send them through for a reading. Our kafetzou does personalised coffee readings any time of the day…” says the popular fortune-telling app Kaave which has… 10 million users! Available in Greek, Arabic, Turkish and English, multilingual fortune-tellers Aunty Maria and Jasmine read around 500,000 coffee cups a day!

“Aunty Maria specialises in issues of love, relationships and family, whilst Jasmine is good at predicting friendships, careers and financial opportunities. They are available any time of the day”.

As time is money, how easy is it to have your personal profile made with an electronic psychic whom you can consult at any time, day or night? The number of reviews for this app has reached nearly a million.

So we decided to try out a similar fortune-telling app, Faladdin, during our break at the office, and report to you our experience. After two Greek coffees (that kept me up all night), and fifteen minutes, my future appeared in all its glory on the screen of my phone. The lovely digital fortune-teller warned me about a certain peacock in my cup and then signed off … with much love. Faladdin expanded his reading to touch in most areas of my life, giving positive advice on all these issues. Was he right in his predictions? Only time will tell. Maria’s coffee cup, from the desk across, held a symbol of a sword fish, a lucky omen promising surprises and happy news in the near future. It’s a hard competition for our traditional coffee cup readers… such a quick and easy app.

The ‘cost’ of the prediction is to view an advert, though if you wish to accelerate your reading, you are welcome to spend some money to pay your digital fortune-teller for an express reading. Don’t like what you’re told, pay money and get another, or else wait another 24 hours for your next free reading. Kaave also offers live readings at a set price.

We contacted them, trying to find out how it all worked. How did they manage to read so many thousands of coffee cups a day? Do predictions come true? We have not received an answer to were left to draw our own conclusions.

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Coffee cup ready to be read. Photo: NK

 

How it is done

“The photographs of your cup are analysed according to thousands of symbols and shapes”, Kaave explains on its information page. “The predictions are made especially for you and according to your zodiac sign, and the personal information you give us”.

It is worth mentioning here the method of cold reading, a fortune-telling technique used to convince a client of the relevance of the prediction. A common method of cold reading is the use of Barnum statements. The cold reader offers a huge quantity of very general information. And while seemingly specific, such statements are often open-ended or give the reader the maximum amount of room to identify his personal situation in a reading. The statements can then be developed into longer and more sophisticated paragraphs and seem to reveal great amounts of detail about a person.

Other apps

But it is not only fortune-telling that has moved into the digital world. Xematiasma, which is the ritual for getting rid off the evil-eye, a tradition in Greece, has also become available online. Reactions were also caused with the growth of online sites offering religious people the opportunity to light a candle remotely, or make a religious offering known in Greece as Tama from the other side of the world. The cost of which can be quite high. A simple mention in a priest’s prayer may be for free but if you send a photo the price is 40 euro. The prices continue to rise to 100 and 170 euro depending on the size of the candle and whether you want the offering recorded.

It seems the energy of a reading, of faith in general does not need to be restricted in the boundaries of physical presence. We do know from extensive research in recent years of how the mind has the power to heal the body and how even placebos can benefit the health of individuals. And these services are a form of placebo to those who want their fortune told, are they not? The well-being brought on by sudden certainty around the uncertain future is the reason people cast their reason aside to place their faith in a reading of their future. Or many times, it is just for fun.

I may be old-school but I prefer my coffee cup read by a traditional Greek, wise, old fortune teller. Her theatrics and advice; her comments and prodding; along with a group of friends to share the experience as we analyse the mysterious signs of our lives, outlined in our cups, in our memories and in our hopes. It is so much more fun!

So if you know of a good kafetzou, a real live one that is, as they are fast diminishing… please let us know.

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