Shamanism and Tea Drinking

Does that look like an owl to you?

I'm reading a book called Earth Mother Dreaming by

Scott Alexander-King, which is basically a practical training guide in shamanic practices.

There was a section in it about tea leaf reading 
(tea leaf reading and shamanism?!), which I was very tempted to pass over, but I decided to give it a go.
Now, I rarely drink tea, I'm more of a coffee drinker, so I had to go to the shop and buy a packet of loose leaf tea.

Since 1888?

A billy of tea boiling over a campfire

I forgot how refreshing tea was, and it made a nice change from drinking coffee all day, so if nothing else, Scott's book was helping me to break my coffee addiction 
(not that I would ever give up coffee, though), but I was a little skeptical with tea-cup reading.
Anyway, I made myself a cup of tea and followed the instructions in the book and asked the universe,  "should I continue on the path of shamanism as a subject to study and is this book just a waste of my time with practices such as this?".

I looked into the cup hoping I could find some sort of shamanic sign, like a crow, or something along those lines, and the first thing that registered to me was the above pattern which looked like an owl to me.

Owl?

In the book it says an owl represents gossip, scandal.
But I was specifically looking for a shamanic sign here and not some fortune telling answer to my question, so I will ignore that interpretation of my reading.

I also found the section on runes most enlightening, especially the rune DAGAZ, which in the book was the #23 rune, but it can also be #24 in a lot of other rune schools of thought.

Daz and Dagz are my nicknames and my birth-date is the 23rd, so I was attracted to this rune.

Dagaz – Rune Meaning

The Rune Poem: Verse XXIV Dagaz

Day is Odin's messenger, dear to men,
The Ruler's glorious light,
Mirth and hope to prosperous and poor,
Useful to all

Characteristics
A breakthrough. A new dawn or a major change of direction. Achievement and prosperity, a successful conclusion to a passage. Darkness is behind you because a new day has begun.
Dagaz means day, and in the Nordic lands of long nights and winters, the day is strongly associated with light and life. Dagaz is the essence of natural daylight, the new light of dawn, and the strength of the sun. Spiritually, it is the divine light, the high point of the natural cycle of darkness-light-darkness. It signifies brightness, growth, progress, development, and sometimes fundamental change.
Personal Interpretation
The divine light is guiding you towards your goal. Remain true, and good fortune will be with you. You are well protected by the power of the light. It will give you clear vision to avoid dangers, but don't be blinded by your ego. Remain humble and thankful for all the good things that come to you.
Well, I like to think that I'm on the right path reading this book and studying shamanism.
So far it seems I may be.

It's not the first time that I was prompted to try tea-leaf reading either, but it's the first time that I gave it a really good go.
"Touch" the Deadman's Hand Coincidence

UPDATE: 2019

Tea Leaves a Message?