The cat is out of the bag - some sun signs are worse drivers than the rest! A survey done by an insurance company in the USA gives us the low down on who's more likely to be a menace on the road. Next time you're involved in a fender bender, take a moment to find out what sun sign the other driver is.

Please don't shoot the messenger, but Suncorp Metway, Ltd., a multi-faceted Australian Financial Service, a few years ago ranked car accident claimants by sun sign in a study of 160,000 accident claims over a three-year period. This is what they found.

The number one worst drivers were Geminis, "typically described as restless, easily bored and frustrated by things moving slowly," explained Warren Duke, Suncorp's national manager of personal insurance. "They had more car accidents than any other sign."

No astrologer would argue with that description of the twins sign! But what about the other signs?

According to a news release dated February 10, 2002 @ SUNCORP website , Duke said the study was carried out as part of Suncorp's annual review of claims but there was no intention to use astrology to factor an individual's motor insurance premium.

"We always look for trends in claims to see if there are ways to reduce our pricing, but there is no intention to introduce astrology as a rating factor for motor insurance," he said.

Second and third place-holders for this dubious honor were Taurus and Pisces. "Taureans were thought to be obstinate and inflexible," said Duke, "while Pisceans could be risk-takers and dare devils."

Your personal astrologer would offer other explanations. First Taurus. Yes, Taureans can be obstinate and inflexible. But they are also the most introverted and self-absorbed of all the signs. Their natural path in life is to think about their own body - it's immediate comfort and needs - and to deal with only the most tangible and immediate of realities.

Their thinking as drivers may run like this. My stomach is full, the temperature in the car is pretty good, the noise level is good, I'm riding right at 60, I don't have to use the bathroom for at least another hour and there's plenty of gas in the tank. At a very fundamental level, the world outside the chassis of their car may not exist at all.

Since freeway driving requires spatial perception and processing of much abstract information (speed, flow and distance, this is counter to their natural way of processing the world around them.

Pisces, in the number three position, is the other sign that lives in a world of its own. Duke describes them as potential risk takers and daredevils. However, there are other signs we would nominate much more readily for a description like this.

Pisceans are the gentle dreamers of the zodiac. They may spend many hours a day in fantasy worlds, escaping the painful realities of life on the physical plane and more often than not the pain of being in a physical body. They often experience the whole manifest world as an illusion and their presence in it as temporary and of little importance.

This Piscean detachment from the physical can lead to unconscious feelings of invulnerability or invincibility, also to unconscious feelings of victimization and sacrifice. If you are momentarily deluded into thinking you don't have physical limits, and that your life is but a fleeting moment in the eternal life of the soul, you can respond to situations of physical danger in illogical ways. Or, at the very least, be slow on the uptake.

Please don't take these descriptions as critical. The qualities of Taurus and Pisces are invaluable in their proper spheres of influence. Astrology is not a critical tool. It is a tool of enlightenment. Something you read here and become conscious about may save your life. Duke continues, "Capricornians [sic], who came last on the list, [are] typically described as patient and careful."

No argument with that from the professional astrologer. It's no surprise Caps are the safest behind the wheel. They're the safest at everything! Their patience and sense of responsibility are legendary. Imagine the thrill I felt when I divorced my Gemini husband and began dating a Capricorn. I couldn't believe how much safer I felt in the passenger seat.

The great middle ground of this survey is held by sun signs in this order:

4. Virgo
5. Cancer
6. Aquarius
7. Aries
8. Leo
9. Libra
10. Sagittarius
11. Scorpio [and ... Capricorn]

Is this what you would have expected? There's something else fascinating about this list.

The folks at SunCorp MetWay would have no way of knowing it but the signs in the tenth and eleventh positions are the exact opposites of those in first and second positions. This tells us a great deal about polarities, doesn't it? Scorpio is opposite Taurus and Sagittarius is opposite Gemini.

Sagittarians may stay safe in their cars the same way they do in life, by having highly developed neutral or higher minds (Ninth House). Another name of this mind is intuition. The highly developed sense of flow and good timing characteristic of Sagittarians is what makes them the lucky sign. Furthermore, their minds are right at home dealing with traffic patterns, flow and spatial relations.

Scorpios, on the other hand, may stay safe because they are intimately involved with the inner lives of others in the same way their opposite sign Taurus is defended against this information. Scorpios are sensitive to energy - whether it is a foot away or thousands of miles away -- and can feel someone "coming up from behind" at many different levels. Scorpios know if you've had a fight with your wife the night before or if you're thinking about embezzling or having an affair with your best friend's husband. That's why we always feel like they can see right through us. They can.

Scorpios would be the drivers who would instinctively "wake up" in time to let a cocaine addict pass them at 90 or give a wide berth to a passive aggressive soccer mom hassling two kids in the back seat and a phone conversation with her husband all at the same time.

Where does your sign fall in this survey? Whatever your sun sign, let's all learn from this survey and be safe on the road.

DRIVERS IN ORDER OF THE SURVEY FROM WORST TO BEST

1. Gemini: May 21 - June 21
2. Taurus: April 20 - May 20
3. Pisces: February 19 - March 20
4. Virgo: August 23 - September 22
5. Cancer: June 22 - July 22
6. Aquarius: January 20 - February 18
7. Aries: March 21 - April 19
8. Leo: July 23 - August 22
9. Libra: September 23 - October 22
10. Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21
11. Scorpio: October 23 - November 21
    and the winner is
12. Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

HOW'S YOUR KAR KARMA?

"You'll never guess what happened to me?" I'm a professional intuitive consultant and when someone says that to me on the phone, it's never good news. I'm one of the first people someone calls when they've been visited with a car accident by the fickle finger of fate.

Car accidents are frightening experiences. But is it really fate? Let's get into this topic and see what we can find out.

Dear Friend, when we have car accidents, it's not fate at all. There's something you can do about this, to get it out of your life for good.

I'd like to put the spotlight on car accidents in a non-critical, observant way, so you can heal yourself. It makes me angry to see people walk away from one accident only to have another a few years later. As a healer, I don't like to see people in pain. And if you've been in an accident, you know the aftermath of shock, rage and terror, sometimes resulting in post-traumatic shock syndrome. Why go through this experience again? Let's get things like this out of our lives. Let's take control of our personal energy. Here's the way.

The universe is mental. It responds to you the way you think it will. The Bible says, "It is done unto you as you believe." (We interpret the Bible metaphysically for the great book of wisdom that it is. The language in the Bible is metaphorical.)

So does this mean you "believe in" accidents? Hey! you're thinking, I'm metaphysical but I'm not stupid. No, that's simplistic.

Here is a quote from Stanley Kubrick that I love:

"The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent, but if we can come to terms with the indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." - Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick's statement is very spiritual. Like many science fiction writers and film producers, he is a very spiritual man. I used to have my daughter watch "Star Trek" when she was little rather than go to Sunday School because there was more truth in it.

Kubrick speaks of infusing the indifferent matter of the universe with meaning. I agree with him one hundred percent, but for this article, I would like to emphasize his observation that the basic matter of the universe is indifferent. We mean indifferent like neutral.

The laws of physics are neutral. One plus one equals two and if you push your glass off the table it will fall to floor whether you are an average person, an enlightened person, a genius, a two year old in a highchair or eating your last meal on death row. The laws of metaphysics are neutral, too. We study them so we can use them to our advantage. They don't care how they are used.

Please understand, in a mathematical universe, there are no accidents. This is a hard principle to establish in mind when something bad has happened but it will do the most to heal the energy that presented you with this lesson in life. Car accidents are costly on many levels and we want them to stop.

The second principle is, there are no victims of accidents. Everyone is a volunteer. For this reason, I'm going to switch from victim and perpetrator to the projecting driver (perpetrator) and attracting driver (victim).

These principles may be new to you but if they're stirring something inside, you can learn more. I will recommend some books and resources at the end of this article to further your understanding of metaphysical principles.

It's hard to contemplate when one has just been rear-ended, or - in the case of a woman I know, broadsided nearly to death - but this is no accident. Instead, this is a highly synchronized meeting of two people on the same wavelength at precisely the same moment. Yes, that's right. The projecting and attracting drivers would have to be perfectly synchronized to find each other in this world of limitless possibilities.

Since most of my readers are good people, kind, spiritual and well meaning, I address this issue from the point of view of the attracting driver. Projecting drivers are not likely to read anything that will enlighten them voluntarily. They're more likely to wind up in court-appointed psychiatric evaluations or mandated recovery programs for alcohol, anger or stress management. These are all roads to enlightenment.

What are the odds that the two of you would meet at the exact same moment in time and space? Astronomical, wouldn't you say? You can change your energy. You can be safe on the road, on a plane and in an airport. There is power in what I'm going to tell you.

State of mind is what determines our wavelength at any give time and that can change. It's like tuning your radio to a different place on the dial. You could say that you and the projecting driver are tuned to the same channel of the radio if you meet in such an intimate way. So let's look for a moment at the nature of mind. That's how your wavelength is determined.

Actually, we have two minds: the rational and the neutral mind. In astrology they are the higher and lower mind, and they are represented by the signs Gemini and Sagittarius or the 3rd and 9th houses.

The neutral mind is what Kubrick calls the indifference of the universe. True indifference is actually much closer to the spiritual state of mind than any amount of love, fervor, devotion or other emotion. You know if you have ever witnessed love die while caring and kindness continue for a lifetime.

Yoga instructor Gururattan Kaur Khalsa, Ph.D. , one of my favorite spiritual writers at the moment, explains: "The [mind] we normally operate from is the rational mind. The rational mind has two functions, known as the negative mind and the positive mind. The negative mind warns us why we shouldn't do something and the positive mind tells us the benefits of certain actions. The two dialogue in an attempt to figure out the best course of action.

"By itself, the rational mind never reaches a complete solution. The neutral mind is the choice maker, the arbitrator, and the final judge." Great spiritual advice and it also comes in handy on the road! Here's why.

The neutral mind is described in the astrology chart - our human version of it - by the 9th house. It's called the place of long distance travel and it describes driving on the freeway as against tooling around the neighborhood. It's also the house of meditation because it is the long distance use of the mind - far seeing, prophetic, intuitive, looking for patterns ...

If you drive on the freeway, you're in a meditative state of consciousness at least part of the time whether you realize it or not. To drive on the freeway, we look for patterns and spaces. This is a function of the higher or intuitive mind, like the spatial relations tests on college entrance exams. It's using the same part of the brain.

I've read for many people in my 25 years as an intuitive consultant, astrologer and spiritual teacher/healer. I'm one of the first people someone calls when they've been involved in a car accident. I've talked to people from their hospital bed and I learned a lot about this kind of energy during the years. I got good sense of the energy that surrounds people who are going to attract a projective driver into their personal space.

I try to warn people for sure when I see it coming. And if they won't listen to my warning, I try to "talk them down" out of the state they're in anyway. Sometimes I can do this and sometimes I can't. That's why I'm writing this article. Maybe you will learn something here that will keep you safe.

I have read for a man who wrecked his own car and then totaled the rental car the very next day. He had no insurance and had bought none with the rental. I read for a woman who was raped not once, but twice. I read for a girl who knew she would someday drive off a bridge and did so. This girl is now in a wheel chair for life. I am writing this article to wake people up!

The states of mind I feel put us on a collision course with a projective driver are these:

• Repressed hostility, anger or rage
• Victim mentality
• Trying to do more than one thing at a time (multitasking)
• Being rushed or being late
• Overextended lifestyle
• Talking on the cell phone
• Separation from self through over activity and busy-ness (superman)
• Living entirely outside the self, causing deep depression, self loathing, self hatred and self destruction

Let's take a closer look at each of these.

REPRESSED HOSTILITY, ANGER OR RAGE

If you aren't expressing your own emotions, someone will come right over and do it for you. Or do it to you, I should say. Some of the "nicest" and "sweetest" people in the world are involved in collisions for this very reason. If they weren't so nice or so sweet, they might have been safer.

There are many socially acceptable ways to get out the aggressions we all feel (yes, even the nice and sweet ones). Frustration is the price we pay for our hard-won civilized behavior. Frustration has to have some healthy outlet.

Some healthy outlets are working out, formal competitions - such as sales figures, foot races and beating last month's records - athletics, strenuous yard work, strenuous housework, cleanup, reconstruction or remodeling projects, private journaling, confiding in a friend and Yoga or meditation.

Please do one of these things to keep yourself safe.

VICTIM MENTALITY

People with victim mentalities are accidents waiting to happen. Why is it the same people are robbed twice, rear-ended twice, even raped twice?

Here are some ways to get out of the victim position. Go on a victim-free diet for three months. Do not read about, listen to stories about, watch movies or television shows, sympathize with or even think about any people or animals who are victims.

If someone tries to tell you a victim story, tell them you just remembered you have to be somewhere to see a man about a horse!

If you're volunteering at the animal shelter or working in a field that interacts strongly with other victims, such as social welfare, nursing or recovery and rehabilitation programs, please consider that this may not be the career for you. Some can work in these fields and remain accident free because they don't participate in victim mentality. If you've had an accident, this counts you out. Don't worry, someone will walk in the front door just as your leaving out the back

Many people who are attracted to these fields have had histories of neglect in their own childhoods and are working out issues of victimization. We want to heal these issues. We want you to create a safe and comfortable aura around yourself. Then the projective driver will past right by.

TRYING TO DO MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME (MULTITASKING)

Have you ever tried to rub your head with one hand and pat your stomach with the other? A recent article on MSN Internet revealed that people eat, smoke, read, shave, apply makeup and have sex while driving. Multitasking is becoming a way of life for some people and these are some of the most likely people, unfortunately, I'll peg for accidents in the years ahead. Multitasking is wonderful if you're sitting at a computer and it's a lifesaver if you're stuck at home bored but if you're sitting at the wheel of a $30,000 lethal weapon, no!

Where driving is concerned - and hear me on this, where life is concerned - more is not better. Faster is not better. When you alter your driving, it will change the rest of your life, too.

BEING RUSHED AND IN A HURRY

Being rushed and in a hurry already has us out of sync ... with ourselves. When we are out of sync with ourselves, we are out of touch with good timing in all matters. Timing is a very important feature of spiritual life. You can tell how far you're coming toward wholeness by how appropriate your sense of timing is.

We know a few old sages who don't own watches or clocks. They wake up naturally and arrive on time effortlessly. Their inner timing is perfected. Meditation can help.

If you find yourself rushing, at least watch the self-talk. Many people who "run late" accompany this habit with a state of mind involving "Why do you do this? When are you going to learn? It's so rude to be late! You are so inconsiderate! Why did you have to make that last phone call? Can't you ever just be on time? ..." Stop the chatter. If you're late, you're late. Get there alive.

If being late is a chronic condition for you, I have some articles of great interest to you on my website.

OVEREXTENDED LIFESTYLE

We are holistic beings in spite of ourselves. We are absolutely consistent in our behavior across the full range of our activities. If you doubt this, take some time to observe others first, because it's easier, and then yourself.

If someone eats fast and unconsciously, they also drive fast and unconsciously. And their sex is that way too!

What this principle of consistency means if that you can't be overextended in one area of your life and not in another. Borrowing Peter to pay Paul, living on money you haven't earned or living beyond your means will also be reflected in the way you drive.

TALKING ON THE CELL PHONE

Talking on the cell phone is a function of the lower or rational mind. Driving on the freeway, as we know from earlier in the article, is a function of the higher or indifferent mind.

Just as it is impossible to be two places at one time, it is impossible to be in both of these minds at the same time. The reason we teach people to meditate is that as soon as they reach the higher mind, the lower mind must vacate. This is called "stilling the mind". When we are in the higher mind, the lower mind must vacate. These two minds are mutually exclusive.

Conversely, when we are in the lower mind, the higher mind must vacate. Talking on the cell phone uses the lower mind. It vacates the higher mind and that is the one we need for freeway driving - the mind that looks for spaces, patterns and flow. Is it any wonder that talking on cell phones causes so many accidents?

Cell phones are actually a sub category of the ones above, trying to do two things at one time and leading a rushed, crowded or overextended lifestyle.

SEPARATION FROM SELF THROUGH OVER ACTIVITY AND BUSY-NESS (SUPERMAN)

What happens when you have an accident? You wind up flat on your back for a while, staring at the wall and wondering how this could have happened to you?

Well, productively, let's concentrate on the first half of the sentence rather than the last. When was the last time you sat around and did nothing?

Accidents happen to many people who are so out of touch it takes a zap from the universe to get them back together with themselves for a little quality time. Many people grow to see their accidents as one of the best things that could have happened because it forced them to stop and think about where they were headed in their lives and to touch in with what's really important, especially in serious accidents where one's whole life flashes before them.

What I'd like you to do is skip the part about the accident and promise that you'll spend more down time. Promise yourself two hours a week of journaling, listening to music, taking a walk, playing with your kid or someone else's and holding hands with your significant other. You'll be glad you did and I'll be glad you did, too. I don't like it when my phone rings and someone says, "Nancy, you'll never guess what happened to me?"

LIVING ENTIRELY OUTSIDE THE SELF, CAUSING DEEP DEPRESSION, SELF LOATHING, SELF HATRED AND SELF DESTRUCTION

I'm going to tell you a story that will convince you how serious this section is but first, let's review what we know about being true to ourselves. Simply put, nothing is more important than finding whom you are and being that person. I, or any astrologer, can certainly help you with this. Few of us escaped the conditioning of early childhood and school years that may have encouraged us to ignore our true selves and conform to family or society's expectations. As adults, we want to uncover our authentic selves. The astrology chart is the most faithful blueprint I know for revealing the authentic self.

Not only is it the most stressful thing in the world to try to be something we're not (and I mean this neutrally not critically), it is offensive at some level to the part of us that is whole. There is something in us that, when split off from our whole self, revolts and takes revenge.

When I first began reading, 25 years ago, I had a client who often called with what were very insignificant problems but I knew something was brewing in the background. Her calls were about the brand new home which had a few little deficiencies. Her husband was slow in putting in the new sod. And her sister-in-law was very depressed although she, too, had a wealthy husband, new home and was expecting a second baby in a few months. This client didn't call very often and would limit the calls to these few items. I never had a chance to get very far with her.

One day much to my horror she called to tell me her sister-in-law had been hit head on by a semi. She and the baby (in utero) were killed instantly.

Policemen deal with people at a very basic level just like psychics and intuitive consultants. I mean by this that people will lie on Gallup polls and in psychological research interviews but not in situations where police and psychics find them.

Police call the sort of thing this young woman did in their line of work, "suicide by cop". I expect O. J. Simpson to do this one of these days. He has Saturn in the 12th house. Be that as it may be, this young woman found a tragic way out of her predicament. Was this her fate? No! She could have healed herself. But sometimes - and I say this with more love in my heart than many people can feel for themselves at certain times - they would literally rather die than change.

If you are desperately unhappy in your life, your marriage, your job, there is a projective driver who will subconsciously drift to that energy and fulfill your deadly wishes. This is a horrifying and very real possibility. Please wake up! You can heal yourself.

When we are as depressed as this young woman, something wants to die, yes, but it does not involve the physical body. We are dying to old ways to thinking, believing, acting. Perhaps we are dying to a whole way of life. Or our old way of life has died. But it is a psychic death that is taking place. None of this is meant to involve the physical body.

I'm going to list some of the astrological energies that are implicated in car accidents but do not take this as a post hypnotic suggestion that you if you have one of these placements or someone you know does, that you will have a car accident. Use your free will. Choose to use these energies constructively. Take this article as a gentle nudge to wake up. Be especially attendant and aware when you get behind the wheel. A most certainly avoid as many of the items above as possible:

MARS/URANUS

Mars in square or opposition to Uranus is the "accident prone" aspect. Usually the person is moving too quickly for circumstances; these people also react extremely poorly to being confined, such as in a traffic jam, or having their customary route blocked - they can become quite irrational in their responses

GEMINI PLANETARY ENERGIES

Gemini planetary energies means having Gemini prominent in your chart (Sun, Moon, South Node or Saturn) or having important placements like the Sun, Moon, South Node or Saturn in your 3rd house.

A recent Survey by SunCorp which studied 160,000 accident claims over a three year period by sun sign showed Geminis as the worst drivers. They speculated this was because Geminis are distracted and impatient when things move too slowly. Geminis are also the sign most likely to rush, do too many things at one time and talk on the cell phone while driving.

TAURUS AND PISCES PLANETARY ENERGIES

'Pisces and Taurus planetary energies' means important placements such as Sun, Moon, South Node or Saturn in one of these signs, or in the 2nd or 12th houses.

Taurus and Pisces are the two archetypal energies that tend most to live in their own little world. This is lovely and fine when you're home cleaning the garage, washing the car, balancing the checkbook, watching your favorite video or writing in your journal.

Driving on the freeway is an extremely complex social and abstract conceptual activity, requiring the ultimate awareness of far immediate surroundings and an acceptance of the complexities of human behavior ... like it or not!

LIBRA PLANETARY ENERGIES

'Libra planetary energies' means important placements such as Sun, Moon, South Node or Saturn in Libra or in the 7th house. These energies often present passive aggressive personality dynamics (seething with resentment?) that is very attractive to projective drivers.

PLUTO ON THE NORTH NODE

Pluto on the North Node or by transit is always a little bit tricky. If you're looking for a way out of the responsibility of living your authentic life - it is rigorous and difficult to be thoroughly alive - Pluto has a seductive side to it. It has a way of darkly fulfilling idle and foolish wishes through the powers of the subconscious. I have seen people live through amazing accidents only to die in a very mundane way at the next possible opportunity. Presumably, this was their wish.

Pluto invites transformation and does not necessarily mean to involve the physical body but sometimes there is a misunderstanding in the ego of the individual.

Tow truck drivers, like policemen and psychics, interact with people right after extreme car accidents. I once had a revealing conversation with a tow truck driver who was driving me back to my house. We passed a stretch in the road where there have been many fatal accidents. We both agreed that there was a black hole kind of energy that gathered around places where fatal accidents had occurred and which actually began to build up. "Dead Man's Curve" was a popular song when I was a teenager. The grim reality is that if you pass through one of these places while you are unconscious, you can be pulled off into the void.

Please don't be alarmed by this reality. If you're alive to read this article, chances are you've already driven safely through at least one of these places. Always drive alert and always give yourself a reason to be alive. If you are unhappy in any area of your life, do something about it, no matter how difficult.

I've given several important things not to do; now I'll give you two important things always to do: give yourself a reason to live, and stay conscious of that fact.

If you have one of these planetary energies accented in your chart and the shoe fits, please wear it. Wake up. Be aware. Be alive and alert behind the wheel! We want you to drive responsibly and get there safely.

If you don't relate to anything in this article, then it is not for you that it was written.