I was at a store that I hadn't been to for at least a year - my instinct kept telling to go back there, that I'd find something waiting for me that I needed. It was on this day that I learned about the Secret Order of the Magi.

In the next room I'll give you much more specific information; right now I just want to tell you how this basically works. We're talkin' about a study - an ancient esoteric science - that dates back earlier than the 12th century. In those days, our deck, the deck most of us now use solely for entertainment purposes, was sacred. The Order of the Magi was a secret society that, using extremely specific mathematical calculations, used the cards - which they referred to as The Book of Destiny - to study the past, present and, most significantly, the future.

These mystical orders began in ancient Egypt, it is believed. Their secrets were carefully preserved for centuries because , theorhetically, they did not want the public at large to have access to this extremely powerful information. It has been only recently that this profound knowledge has resurfaced.

In brief, everyone has a birth card. This is the starting point, the genesis, for studying the cards in depth. Once you know your birth card, you can find out about any year (or day, or month) of your life and read the cards of your Yearly Spreads, which give you specific, detailed and astoundingly accurate knowledge about every important area in your life. When I first discovered the Order of the Magi, of course I was interested most in my card, finding out which card in the deck I was represented by. I found out that I was the Seven of Clubs.

This made sense immediately, just that bit of information alone, before I'd even read what it actually meant. I have always been into the number 7 - as a child I found that "lucky" things happened to me on number 7 days, I've always been into "numerology" - long before I found out there was even a word to describe an awareness of numbers. And my favorite suit has always been the Clubs; for some "reason" I was always drawn to them the most.

So needless to say, I was more than receptive to this "new" piece of information - being represented by the Seven of Clubs. And when I read what it actually meant, I was amazed, virtually slack-jawed with the shock of recognition.

I've been into astrology for a very long time; I've studied it for years. And when I first did my chart and examined it, I was light-headed with elation because all the things in my personality and in my life - all my quirks, proclivities, desires, conflicts, confusions, talents, weaknesses, everything that added up to the delirious contradition that was me - it was all there. I understood for the first time in my life why, say, I was obsessed with certain subjects, why the same situations would "seem" to create themselves again and again, over and over, why I would react the way I did to these situations, time and time again. It was a revelation, studying my astrological chart - it was as if I was finally told why I was the way I was, shown a map of my "interior" self. Having this infomation, I was able to change many negative patterns and use my inner resources much more intelligently and with more conviction, since I knew for a fact they were there now. I could never begin to articulate how profoundly astrology has helped me, and still continues to help me , inform me, every day of my life.

But there were still things missing - pieces missing from the puzzle, if you will. And when I read and researched the meaning of the Seven of Clubs, all those missing pieces fell into place. The Seven of Clubs, I learned, is , among other things, the card of the seeker, the card of spiritual knowledge itself, the card that most represents freedom through knowledge, through positive use of the mind, the learning of painful lessons in order to transcend the negative, to throw it off and cast it aside once and for all. It was, in short, a description of my life. Everything I was into, everything I'd been striving to achieve and attain and get rid.of. . .it was all there. So, needless to say, at this point I was extremely open-minded to this "new" knowledge.

And the more I studied it - using my friends and acquaintances as subjects, looking up their birth cards and seeing what they meant - the more obvious it became to me that this system - this science - was valid. Profoundly valid.

Once you know your birth card, as I said, you can apply this information to the Yearly Spreads, to find out in advance what's "in the cards" for you, what trends are likely to be in effect at any given time. A lot of the so-called "psychics" doing "readings" on those psychic hotlines are using this system. Surprise! You don't need them! Using this information, and with a bit of practice, you can become your own "psychic."

Knowledge is power. This is a fact. Those who are not afraid or close-minded have much to gain by opening themselves to these ancient secrets whose time has once again come.