Tea leaves at the bottom
The dregs of leaves at the bottom of a cup — the small residue people have long read for signs.
Tea leaves at the bottom in a dream are the dream's image of the small residue people have long read for signs of what is coming. The leaves are not the tea any more; the leaves are what was left when the meal was finished, and a long folk tradition treats the pattern as a kind of message. The dream brings the leaves when something in your life — the end of a phase, the after-conversation in a long meeting, the moment after a relationship has shifted — is being looked at carefully for what the small leftover is now saying. Tea leaves looked at with calm attention are the dream affirming that the residue is being read honestly. Tea leaves forced into a predetermined meaning are the dream noting that the desired answer was decided first, and the leaves are being rearranged in the head to confirm it.