Astrid did as she was instructed and stirred her tea from left to right. Then she turned her teacup over onto the saucer to drain the remaining liquid.

While she waited for the teacup to finishing draining, she raised her hand to say,

"Professor, in addition to saying that the present time is located nearest to you and the future/past is further away, I also heard this explanation given to my great Aunt Tessie.

She was told to examine the cup clockwise to predict events by months (and up to a year) into the future. Start at the handle of the teacup; it represents the time and place of the reading. Hold the cup in your left hand, as if you were about to drink from it, and imagine a line across the bottom of the cup from the handle to the opposite side. This opposing side will indicate six months into the future. The top of the cup, or the farthest part of the cup above this line, indicates three months into the future and the part furthest to the bottom indicates nine months ahead. An easy way to visualize this is to imagine a clock placed over the cup. The handle, or nine o’clock, represents now, the top, or twelve o’clock, represents three months into the future, the opposing side, or three o’clock, represents six months into the future, and the bottom, six o’clock, represents nine months into the future. Lastly, if something is located between any of these sections, assign a month to it the same way you would an hour on a clock. For example, if a symbol is halfway between twelve o’clock, or three months, and three o’clock, or six months, it will happen about four and half months into the future."