Heavenly business
Sir: Petronella Wyatt's fine piece on astrol- ogomania, (`Signs of the times', 6 March) stirred old memories. Some decades ago when I was a struggling writer, a chum on the now defunct Sunday Despatch got me to fill a vacancy caused by the death of their stargazer. I knew nothing of the constella- tions, the signs of the zodiac or anything else about astrology, and still don't. Howev- er, my youthful imagination churned out weekly prognostications of my readers' diverse fates. It came under increasing pressure as I strove for variety and fresh ideas, and I was reduced to urging Aquari- ans not to sit on the left-hand side of the bus on Wednesday or Capricornians not to pat unfriendly dogs on Sunday. I'd spend Monday mornings dictating the column to my typist and the fee of £10 paid her wages for the week. But I felt compelled to forgo this rewarding activity not only when my inventiveness ran threadbare, but when readers wrote to me saying, `We took your advice and sold our home', or, 'I took your advice and left my husband', when all I'd written was something like, 'You'll make an important domestic decision on Tuesday.'
Rayne Kruger
Chastleton Glebe, Nr Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire
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