KAHVE FALI: AN INTRODUCTION TO A FAL BAKMAK ORACLE

© Amir Bey, 2003

         There are indications that it originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but people have used this oracle in Turkey for centuries.  I would like to share some basic principles of it through interpretations of sample images.

TOOLS

         The tools of Kahve Fali are a demi tasse (a small coffee cup with a handle); a saucer; a coffee pot; and Turkish coffee.  The photo shows a demi tasse with a saucer and a Turkish-style coffee pot.  If this type of pot is not available, a small pot will do.  Turkish coffee will give the best results however; some people have gotten good images using finely ground coffee, because the finer the coffee the more precise the images will be. 

         Preparation of the coffee is important.  For each demi tasse of coffee, put slightly less than one demi tasse-full of water; one small teaspoon of coffee per cup; if sugar or other sweetener is desired, add that in the pot also.  Place this over a low or medium flame, and allow this to heat but do not let it boil!  Just before boiling, remove the pot or turn the fire off.  Since the saucer will also have images to be read, do not place the cup on the saucer until the coffee has been poured into it.  This ensures that no coffee will spill onto the saucer, allowing it to be clean at the beginning. 

         There is a social aspect to Kahve Fali, since friends will often drink coffee together, and afterwards they might even interpret each others’ cups if more than one person present can read!  

         A question or theme can be focused on while drinking.  However as with oracles such as the I Ching and tarot, the results may be in response to other issues that were actually more on our minds.  There are times when a Kahve Fali should not be read, which is consistent with other oracles and also with horary astrology, which requires that the astrologer verify the validity of a chart before proceeding with an interpretation of it.  In Kahve Fali judging a cup’s validity requires experience, but the coherence, or lack of clarity of the images can be an indication.

         “CLOSING THE CUP” After drinking the coffee, take the saucer and cover the cup and with one hand holding the saucer over the top of the cup and the other holding the bottom of the cup, move the cup in a horizontal circle, and concentrate on a wish or thought, then turn the cup over so that the bottom of the cup is up and the grounds will run down towards the saucer.  Important!! Before closing the cup, make sure that the coffee is drunk down to the grounds.  If too much water is left, it will not permit the grounds to solidify into reliable images, and too much of the grounds will run into the saucer, leaving too little grounds in the cup to be read. 

         Before “OPENING THE CUP”, make sure that the grounds have had time to cool.  They will need to cool so that the grounds can congeal into forms that are firm.  By touching the bottom of the cup, one can feel the temperature of the grounds, as it will no longer feel warm there when ready.   Lift the cup up: if the cup disengages from the saucer easily, the answer is “No” to the wish; if it sticks so that the saucer does not disengage the answer is “Yes”.  Afterwards, take a look at the images in the cup, beginning from the handle and moving counter-clockwise. 

A SAMPLE INTERPRETATION

         Remember, photography made these images two-dimensional, modifying the appearance of the original textures and contours of the coffee grounds.  The interpretations given for them here were made when they were three-dimensional, and when they were still inside the cup or on the saucer.

BOXER

         This Kahve Fali was done for a man who had been recently laid off from work with no immediate relief in sight.  The first image was of a boxer.  Please note the tip of the handle which is visible at the top of the cup rim, in the middle of a group of images, and thus divides them.  The boxer is the furthest image to the left and has both hands raised in victory over his head; the head of the boxer is just under the right “mitt”, with a Muhammad Ali-style haircut, and he is facing to the right.  His back leg stretches all the way down on the left side, and is the only leg that is visible.  The boxer is facing two vertical lines.  Those lines symbolize the contest he is facing at that time.  The image suggests that he must wage a heroic struggle to be victorious.

VOLCANO

         The next image was an erupting volcano.  A volcano that is erupting is releasing pent-up energies with often explosive and destructive results.  Even volcanoes that are not violent but are slowly and continually flowing lava such as in Hawaii, are releasing excess matter and energy.  This volcano’s shape and its apparent eruption are associated with the more violent type, mind you!  As with volcanoes, this represents a release of repressed energies or resources for the querent –but of what kind?  It certainly indicates a turning point, possibly a drastic change in his situation.  It should be noted that the volcano image is about three quarters around the cup from the handle, whereas the boxer was near the handle.  In a time frame, this could represent some distance in time from the present, which the boxer image referred to. 

MOTHER AND CHILD

         The last image in the cup (the boxer is visible to the far left, the volcano to the far right) is a mother and child, which is the triangular-shaped mass in the center.  It actually only shows the form of the woman holding the baby up in her arms, as if the infant was wrapped in a blanket.  This represents a time of caring for something in its early dependent stages.  In most cases it is important to view each image in the context of the others, however sometimes different issues can be alluded to.  The one preceding the mother and child, the volcano, could represent a birth, or a painful beginning, with the mother and child symbolizing the nurturing of that new phase.

BEAR

         For the last image, a bear on its haunches with its head raised is visible to the left in the saucer –the cluster of flowers at the top right is the decoration on the porcelain, and should not be confused with being coffee grounds.  This bear gives the impression of one that is lying in wait for a fish, or that its head is raised as if to catch the scent of possible prey.  This is a bear on the hunt.  It implies that the querent is waiting and searching for an improvement in his situation.  Overall the Kahve Fali suggested that the outlook for the future was hopeful, even though the querent’s situation was not promising at the time.

         In Kahve Fali there are many ways to interpret images.  Just what symbols are seen can be determined by a variety of viewpoints: traditional, social, cultural, or personal as well.  For example, the reader saw the image of a bear waiting for food or prey.  Indeed, there seems to be a fish just beneath the head of the bear.  This is a common image from nature, a bear waiting patiently for a fish swimming upstream to jump out of the water so that it can catch it.  Traditionally fish often represent a good result, often an award of some kind, or a salary promotion.  However, the traditional meaning for the fish was combined with the bear image.  For the querent, the bear described a friend who was always drawing bears and who had helped him materially in the past, and could be in a position to help him in the present.  Both interpretations can apply, and the reader should be open to the different associations possible with images.  This shows the importance of dialogue; while a Kahve Fali reading is not a consultation it does involve interaction through the act of drinking coffee and discussing the unfolding images.  

         Another example of a non-traditional image was the “Muhammad Ali-style” hair cut for the boxer.  It is important that readers become familiar with the traditional concepts of Kahve Fali but also that they utilize the collective and personal visual vocabularies which they are familiar with.  

SELECTED IMAGES

         Here are some selected images from other Kahve Fali oracles that are unrelated but were chosen because they are instructive of the different ways that symbols may appear.  However it should be remembered that while reading them during a session images should not be viewed separately, but within the context of a story.

PEACOCK AND A FLYING BIRD

         Here is an image from a Kahve Fali that shows two types of images: one that is formed by the grounds, the other by the negative space created within the grounds.  First, the bird formed by the negative space is easier to see; it is flying and has a cross-shape that is comprised of the two wings, the tail and head.  It lies in the middle of the largest mass in the saucer. Next, let’s look at the peacock. The left wing of the negative-space bird divides the peacock’s tail from the body.   Starting with a view of the profile of the peacock, the head is small, lying at the center of the saucer and facing left.  The neck and body are away from the head towards the right.  The peacock’s tail is just above the body, and as mentioned before it is divided by the first bird’s left wing.  How do we interpret these images?  Birds are an indication of good news.  The peacock also refers to aspects of the querent’s social life, which was quite active at the time.  Together, he should expect good news regarding a love interest, which did materialize. 

DOG

         Some images are faint, and although the stronger, obvious images are more significant, the faint images should still be considered important.  Here we can see a small dog in the upper portion of the cup that is facing to the left.  A dog represents loyalty and/or a good friend.

BUFFALO SPIRIT DANCER

         “Buffalo Spirit Dancer” is not a traditional Turkish image, but is derived from the Plains Indians of the United States.  Ceremonial dances would often feature dancers wearing masks that resembled buffalos that were often made from parts of their heads, including horns.  The dancer would wear a robe made from buffalo skin, and this image is reminiscent of a dancer with a buffalo mask wearing a robe.  The querent desired to know about the results of an endeavor.  This symbol reflected her desire for a good outcome to an enterprise, as well as showing how to have good results: through adherence to established practices. 

         Kahve Fali is an occult art form that involves the utilization of the practitioner’s intuition and the ability to objectively recognize and explore the meaning of symbols that are derived from traditional, social, environmental and personal sources. Experienced practitioners are not merely indulging themselves in a Rorschach examination, then offering what they see as the gospel truth.  The process of reading the images involves linking them so that they flow into a cohesive story.  What is fascinating about this oracular technique is how the images, often with sharp clarity can be specifically related to a situation or experience with amazing depth and complexity.  It is different from tarot, which uses set images that appear in different combinations.  In Kahve Fali, a heart or a mountain may appear in a variety of ways but still be recognizable as a heart or mountain, the same way that life manifests in its variable forms. 

What is behind the images?  One concept is that "Spirit Guides", entities that are with every individual are sending messages through oracles like Khafe Fali, I Ching, tarot and other occult art forms.  Spirit Guides can also be those voices -intuition- that send us communications, warnings, and impulses that help to inform us of what our choices might be, what directions we might take, and the results of those choices.  They are different from one's conscience, because they do not represent morality or a collective value, but help to protect us and present references for us to make judgements.  Could they be intimations from ancestors?  Mother Wit?  Instinct?  One benefit of Khafe Fali is that it sensitizes readers to recognize images -messages- in other forms, such as clouds, designs in sidewalk cracks, tree bark textures and anything else found in nature that contains a communique from Spirit Guides.