by Andrew Fabian
Introduction
The Ogham Tea Ceremony combines elements from a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and aspects of Ogham divination. The ceremony offers the participant a semi-traditional tea ceremony whilst receiving an Ogham reading focusing on the past, present, and future.
In preparation for performing your Ogham Tea Ceremony, you must create your own tea service. Creating your tea service can be an extremely creative process and will enable you to imbue your ritual objects with your own personal intent. You may wish to craft your tea service in clay, like the service shown in the pictures, or you may want to purchase readily available blank items and decorate them yourself using ceramic pens and paints, which are available from most hobby stores. Details of the items needed for your tea service are in the next section.
Ceremonial Items and Ingredients Needed
Below is the list of ceremonial items and ingredients required for the Ogham Tea Ceremony:
Teacups (20), each with a design dedicated to one of the Ogham trees. (Please note that it is essential that the design can only be visible from
one side of the cup.)
Teapot (1) will need to be able to hold enough water to fill three teacups during the ritual.
Tea Caddy (3) will contain the ritual’s three tea blends (past, present, and future).
Tea Strainer (3) is needed to collect the loose tea leaves when preparing the tea during the ceremony.
Saucer (3) to rest the tea strainers on when not used.
Teaspoon (3) to decant the tea from the tea caddy into the tea strainer during the ceremony.
Tablecloth (1) to create a sacred space upon which to perform the tea ceremony. For this ritual, I decided to purchase a botanical design which included the triple moon of the goddess – representing the divine and providing three clear areas in which to place the teacups during the ceremony to represent the past, present, and future.
Ogham Book (1) to assist when providing the reading during the ceremony.
Past Tea Blend: the blend can be of your choice but should include herbs that can aid divination, such as Vervain and Mugwort. The blend should also include at least one ingredient that comes from the roots of a plant (such as Ginger) for its association with the past.
Present Tea Blend: the blend can be of your choice but should include herbs that can aid divination, such as Vervain and Mugwort. The blend should also include at least one ingredient that comes from the bark of a plant (such as Cinnamon) for its association with the present.
Future Tea Blend: the blend can be of your choice but should include herbs that can aid divination, such as Vervain and Mugwort. The blend should also include at least one ingredient from a plant’s leaves, flowers, or fruit (such as Cherry Blossom) for its association with the future.
Water – enough to fill the teapot and for 3 cups of tea during the ritual.
Preparation Steps
Several preparation steps will need to be completed before the ceremony, which are outlined below:
Collecting Herbs – Collecting the herbal ingredients for the tea blends will most likely take up most of your preparation time. It is entirely up to you whether you grow and forage your herbs, purchase individual herbs, or purchase a premade tea blend. However, as mentioned earlier, your tea blends should contain herbal ingredients associated with divination, the past, the present, and the future.
Collecting Water – How you collect the water for the tea ceremony is entirely up to you. Whether you use tap water from home, purchase bottled water or collect rainwater or water from a nearby well. Providing it is safe to drink.
Blessing the Tea Blends and Water – Once the herbs and water have been collected, they should be blessed the night before the tea ceremony. Preferably, this should be done on the night of a full moon for additional potency; however, this is not essential if the lunar calendar doesn’t align with your planned ceremony.
For the blessing, you should set up an altar outside or near a window if this is not possible. Including objects you associate with herbs, healing, and water, such as a simple green and blue candle. The collected water and herbs are placed centrally on the altar.
Once the altar is set up and you are ready to perform the blessing, you should open your ritual space in your usual manner, with the blessing of the water and herbs being the main rite of the ritual. I usually invoke the Goddess Airmed for this blessing due to her connection with herbal healing and wisdom. A simple outline of these blessings is provided below:
Goddess Airmed, mistress of healing and herbal wisdom, please shine your divine light upon this sacred water and herbs. Help me to remember the ancient ways of the plant spirits and their virtues, that I too may learn to bring wholeness and healing during my tea ceremony tomorrow. Beannachtai
Once the blessings have concluded, you should close your ritual space in your usual manner and leave the water and herbs out to bathe in the night sky and collect them the next morning when they are required for the tea ceremony.
Opening and Blessing the Space – Before the ceremony and the guest’s arrival, you must open and bless the ritual space. For this, you should cast the circle to surround the ritual area and open the quarters in your usual manner, in addition to performing the following prayer to deity:
O Great Spirit, O Spirit of this land, this space, I ask for your blessings, guidance and inspiration on this Ogham Tea Ceremony.
Setting up the Ceremonial Space – Once the ritual space has been opened and blessed, it is time to set up the ceremonial tea area. To do this, you must place the tablecloth upon the table with each of the tea caddies (past, present, and future) running down the middle of the tablecloth and equally distanced apart with an accompanying saucer, tea strainer and spoon directly beside each caddy. The teapot should be towards the back of the tablecloth, placed directly in front of where the host will be sitting. All items should be facing towards the guests’ seat with designs visible as shown below:
The 20 teacups should be placed to the side of the tablecloth, ready for guest selection during the tea ceremony. The Ogham designs should be facing towards the host and should not be visible to the guest, as shown below:
Ogham Tea Ceremony
There are several steps which make up the tea ceremony, which are outlined below:
Welcoming and Greeting the Guest – Once the guest is comfortably seated, welcome them and provide an overview of the ceremony they will participate in. Explain to the guest that the tea ceremony will combine the Ogham divination and Herbal teas to offer insights into the past, present, and future. Ask the guest if they have any allergies before serving the team and if they have any questions before the ceremony’s commencement. Answer any necessary questions if required.
Selecting the Cups – Present the 20 teacups to the guest. The teacups should be placed so that the guest cannot see the Ogham designs and that only the blank side of the teacups should be shown. Advise the guest to pick up each teacup individually whilst contemplating their intent for the reading. Encourage the guest to feel each teacup within their hands and feel the form of the teacup but without viewing the design from the other side.
Finally, ask the guest to select three teacups, explaining that each one will represent the past, present, and future within the reading. Once the guest has chosen, place the teacups in front of the relevant tea caddy and saucer. Ensuring that the design is facing the host and is still hidden from the guest, as shown below:
Serving the Tea (Past) – The host should make a subtle mental note of the Ogham tree on the teacup before serving the tea. When the host is ready to serve the tea, slowly turn the teacup around so that its Ogham design is visible to the guest, place the strainer into the cup and start to decant a heaped teaspoon of the Past Tea Blend into the strainer – finally adding the hot water from the teapot.
While the tea brews, the host should explain to the guest the ingredients in the tea blend, mentioning any herbs that can aid divination and explaining any components that come from a plant’s roots and their association with the past.
Note: – I use a pre-blended Liquorice Twist herbal infusion containing peppermint (65%) and liquorice (35%) with added vervain and mugwort leaves from my garden.
Once the tea has been brewed, remove the strainer, and place it upon the saucer before handing it to the guest to drink whilst the host performs the Ogham reading, explaining that the past reading may represent a combination of the following:
Energies and events that are in the past yet still affect you.
How your past either holds you back (blocks) or helps you move forward (growth).
What you need to take from the past and use to your advantage today.
Serving the Tea (Present) – The host should make a subtle mental note of the Ogham tree on the teacup before serving the tea. When the host is reading to serve the tea, slowly turn the teacup around so that its Ogham design is visible to the guest, place the strainer into the cup and start to
decant a heaped teaspoon of the Present Tea Blend into the strainer – finally adding the hot water from the teapot.
While the tea brews, the host should explain to the guest the ingredients in the tea blend, mentioning any herbs that can aid divination and explaining any components that come from the trunk of a plant and their association with the present.
Note: – I use a pre-blended Cinnamon & Vanilla Chai containing Cinnamon (40%), Ginger (18%), sweet fennel (18%), liquorice (16%), cardamom seeds (5%) and bourbon vanilla extract with added vervain and mugwort leaves from my garden.
Once the tea has been brewed, remove the strainer, and place it on the saucer before handing it to the guest to drink whilst the host performs the Ogham reading, explaining that the present reading may represent a combination of the following:
What is going on for you right now?
The energy of the present moment.
Opportunities and challenges that are currently being presented to you.
Serving the Tea (Future) – The host should make a subtle mental note of the Ogham tree represented upon the teacup before serving the tea. When the host is reading to serve the tea, slowly turn the teacup around so that its Ogham design is visible to the guest, place the strainer into the cup and start to decant a heaped teaspoon of the Future Tea Blend into the strainer – finally adding the hot water from the teapot.
While the tea brews, the host should explain to the guest the ingredients in the tea blend, mentioning any herbs that can aid divination and explaining any components that come from a plant’s fruit, flowers, or leaves and their association with the future.
Note: – I use a pre-blended Cherry Blossom green tea containing green tea (95%), peony flowers (1%) and rose petals (1%) with added vervain and mugwort leaves from my garden.
Once the tea has been brewed, remove the strainer, and place it upon the saucer before handing it to the guest to drink whilst the host performs the Ogham reading, explaining that the future reading may represent a combination of the following:
Outcome of the situation.
The direction that things seem to be moving in.
What you are wanting.
Concluding the Reading – Once all the tea has been served, and the readings have taken place. The host should invite the guest to ask any final questions they may have or feedback they wish to share. The ceremony has been completed once all questions have been answered, and the guest may leave.
Closing the Ceremony
You must close the ritual space following the ceremony and after the guest’s departure. For this, you should uncast the circle and close the quarters in your usual manner, in addition to performing the following gratitude to deity:
‘O Great Spirit, O Spirit of this land, this space, I give thanks for your blessings, guidance and inspiration on this Ogham Tea Ceremony.’