[FROM THE LUCY FIELD VAULT]

As a single girl who’s recently come out of a break up I have, like many others, become once again addicted to seeking answers for the travesty that has become my life, from the horoscopes. Whether I am on line or have picked up the latest trashy fashion magazine in the checkout line, my horoscope is the first thing I look for.

Is the answer there today I wonder? Does the universe have a wonderfully fabulous gift-wrapped package waiting for me later today, this week or this month. The answer will be there, I’m sure of it.

Horoscopes are like the spiritual chiropractor for the single girl. They help us to redirect our energies and crack our splintered spirits back into shape.

Of course, sometimes they are terribly misleading. And we willfully misinterpret them as we look for answers that will validate our deepest desires and dreams. Yes, he will come back and it will be wonderful. Yes, your boss will turn up at work tomorrow and finally appreciate your talents and the very real and positive contribution you are making to the organization.

And when the news is bad, what then? When the messages are ‘there are challenges ahead’ or ‘change is coming’, we convince ourselves that those challenges and changes will only be positive. Or, if we are feeling really really low, we read those comments and they become a reflection of our belief that our lives are truly in the toilet and the chances we will make it to the other side are slim to non-existent.

And then of course we try to get the jump on those other people by reading their horoscopes. And we will read them with only ourselves in mind. We read the comments in how they affect us and hope they provide us with some guidance on how best to approach that person and to get them to do whatever we want them to do, or say.

Is it all futile? Many would agree. In fact, I once worked with an old journo hack who recalled with fondness his younger days when he and some of his mates often earned a few extra coins composing horoscopes for the local paper. And no, he nor his mates were then or would claim to be now, psychic or otherwise.

Men indeed seem to be far more cynical of the whole horoscope business. They don’t believe “in all that rubbish” and I have rarely come across one who would pay to see a clairvoyant.

So do psychics, horoscopes and card readers have any merit at all? Is it all charlatans, imagination and wishful thinking? Is the universe truly random and is any claim to seeing the future or the “other side” merely pretence and arrogance?

My way of thinking is as follows.

Some of those who claim to successfully seek the answers to the questions of the future are liars, pretenders and the worst kind or deceivers. They claim to give hope to some and their provision of dire predictions and bad news do nothing but damage the innocent and naïve.

But I believe that some do have that power. How else can I possibly explain the clairvoyant I saw the other day?

I placed photos face down on a table and he told me about those people. He knew their names and things about their lives that I knew to be true. And he told me about things I did not know but later confirmed with others to be true.

And how did I feel about this experience? I felt the way I do every time I see a clairvoyant who does see the way ahead. Unnerved, with fleeting chills down my spine and the knowledge that there is a path and design in play that is far beyond my understanding.

As for the horoscopes, I have seen repeated patterns in those who share the same star sign. The desire of the Virgo for order, the Capricorns constant strive for security, the Aquarians esoteric take on life combined with a grounded common sense. And then there is the repeat of certain signs around me at different times in my life. Surrounded by Capricorns and Scorpios one minute, and then Virgos in every key position in my life, my lover, my best friend and my boss.

I have no explanation for any of this of course. In fact, many people would no doubt dismiss it all as coincidence and rationally argue away the existence of any pattern or explanation.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t for a minute claim that for example, each and every Libran is the same person in a different body. We do not all have the same beliefs, values and attitudes because we are born in the same month. These are shaped by our lives, our families and our culture.

What I do think that intrinsic characteristics will make themselves known, dependent on when you were born. And there will be times when certain signs are attracted to each other simply because the energy is right. This is merely, as they say, the pattern of life.

So keep on seeking the answers from whatever spiritual chiropractor you choose, it’s all part of the journey.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just need to check the prediction for Libra this week – I’m feeling lucky.

PS. A good friend of mine once told me that at the end of every year she buys all the trashy magazines and seeks answers from within their horoscope pages.

If the predictions are negative or don’t meet her expectations, she throws them out.

But she always keeps the good ones.