For nearly a quarter-century, Sana Kuma has been staring into the bottoms of coffee cups to divine the future for top Israeli models, actresses and businessmen...

This year, Kuma became one of the few people ever to be charged in Israel with practicing magic, a unique crime punishable by up to five years in jail...

Kuma’s transgression is something known to its practitioners as tasseography. Put more simply, it is the ancient art of overturning a coffee cup — usually a demitasse used for Turkish coffee — and looking for answers in the patterns left behind by the grounds...

It was the praise of people like [former Miss Israel Nicole] Halperin that attracted Avraham Beihou to Kuma.

In 2004, the Israeli police officer was looking for help on the eve of his marriage.

According to the government charges, Kuma looked into the coffee grounds and saw a cursed bride.

To remove the curse, Beihou agreed to pay Kuma about $1,000 for the help of a special “Jordanian sheik” brought in to deal with the problem.

When that was done, Beihou turned to Kuma for advice about his ailing father. Kuma told the police officer and his sister that their father was likely to die in two months if they didn’t act quickly.

So Beihou paid another $2,200 for a series of amulets, which he was to dip in honey, burn or throw into the sea.

But Beihou’s father didn’t get better. So, earlier this year, he turned to the government, which filed fraud and magic charges against Kuma.

If you ask, Kuma will tell you that she is the descendent of a famous fortuneteller, that she has seen dwarfs, and walked in the company of saints.