A few years ago I was out having dinner with a good friend who was visiting from abroad. It was fall and we ended up at a restaurant with squash soup on the menu. We both ordered some, which the waiter brought in large white bowls. As we began to gobble down the yummy concoction, I started to see shapes forming in my bowl. I peered into the bowl and along the brim to see a clear shape of a swan, followed by a pumpkin, and then a baby. My main personal animal totem, the swan represents transformation and clairvoyance. The pumpkin jumped out at me, signaling Spirit wanted me to use the soup as a medium. And, I took the baby to represent something born new. Before dinner I’d actually promised my friend that I’d do a reading for her using coffee grounds when we got home, but it seemed Spirit wanted to speak to us through the soup instead. So, I told her we’d do the reading using our squash soup.

As our waiter looked on with curiosity, I prayed to Spirit to speak to us through the figures and reveal a message for my friend. Then I asked my friend to turn her bowl three times clockwise and then turn it over on her dinner plate. (At this point our waiters curiosity turned into obvious frustration!)After letting it sit a few minutes, I asked her to hand me the plate with the overturned bowl. Then I turned it over and proceeded to read the images on the bowl, just as I would have done with tea leaves or coffee grounds.

My friend was shocked by the accuracy of everything I was saying. Even I was amazed at how easily it was to connect with Spirit through the soup. We were both excited at my newly created oracle. But there was one thing that didn’t seem to resonate with her. I got an image of a stork and a cradle, which of course led me to ask her if she was pregnant or trying to have a baby. Flabbergasted, she vehemently denied this. She was seeing someone new and they’d only just begun a physical relationship. Babies, she said, were not on her mind. I saw the relationship had great potential, but didn’t mention more about a baby.

The next day, my friend called me in hysterics. After we left the restaurant, she couldn’t get what I said about the baby out of her head. So she bought three pregnancy tests on her way back to her hotel.  She took them one by one and they were all positive! She was indeed going to have a baby. The soup didn’t lie!

My idea for the soup oracle actually stemmed from tasseography, the sacred art of reading tea leaves or coffee grounds. Tasseography, which is also know as tasseomancy, has been used by cultures all over the world since ancient times as a way to seek deeper knowledge of the will of the Divine. My father actually used to practice tasseography with leftover coffee grounds. He used to tell me that the soul, and mind need to get together to know the whole picture. In the case of tasseography, your intuition combined with your capacity for symbolic thought and the physical substance and shapes can result in a profoundly accurate reading.

While substances like soup, tea leaves, and coffee grounds might seem so simple and everyday, they are still sacred mirrors through which you can connect with the Divine. Spirit is within them just as it’s within all of life. As long as you pray for a message, you can engage Spirit anytime and anywhere. I talk in more detail about this in my book Messages From Spirit. You can also use this method with any kind of thick liquid, such as thick hot chocolate, mashed potatoes with gravy, and even oatmeal.

Exercise:

Get an oracle from your soup!

Ideally you’ll want to exchange readings with a friend or get a group of people together for this exercise. In tasseography, the cup or bowl is traditionally read by someone other than the person eating or drinking the substance. It’s always better to have an objective perspective, and this also engages the bridge between the consciousness of the two people. Whenever I’ve taught this form of divination in workshops, participants always love passing their bowls around to each other for insight. So, get together some friends for a fun lunch of soup reading! (That said, if you’ve tried but are unable to get a partner this week, I invite you to try it on your own until a friend is free to join you.)

Here are the steps:

Get or make some pureed soup such as pea or squash. You can also use very thick hot chocolate. Next, get a white soup bowl or mug and put it on a plate.

Start with a prayer to Spirit and thank the soup for it’s nourishment. (I know it sounds funny to pray to the soup, but no laughing!) Remember Spirit is with all things. Envision the life energy within your substance and see it connecting with your energy and moving out to connect with all of the Universe. Then ask Spirit to reveal a message to you through the substance.

After you eat or drink your substance, turn the bowl clockwise three times. Then gently turn it upside down towards you and onto the plate. Let the bowl sit upside down for a few minutes until the contents have dried.

Now switch bowls with your partner or take turns passing the bowls around your group. You’ll see patterns along the bowl and plate. What do you see? Remember to allow your awareness to expand and engage your oracular consciousness. Your intuition will start to recognize the symbols. Use your intuition and tell a story as it unfolds through the symbols. If you’d like more insight into the meaning of certain symbols, my book Messages From Spirit includes an extensive symbol dictionary that will help you with your reading. And of course, chat about what you see with your friend or group!

Be sure to come and tell us what you experience with the soup oracle!

In service and love,

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