Irish Examiner view: Mystic Meg's fame embodied a different time and place

Celebrity astrologer Mystic Meg, who passed away this week, became a familiar part of popular culture.

Mystic Meg belonged to an age in which celebrity astrologists could be known to millions by a nickname.

Faith in the power of astrology may vary among readers, but the power of one astrologer in recent decades was a matter of fact rather than belief.

Mystic Meg, who passed away this week at the age of 80, was the best-known astrologer of her day. Her real name was Margaret Lake, but she belonged to an age in which celebrity astrologists could be known to millions by a nickname and a first name — an age in which celebrity astrologers existed, full stop.

It would be difficult to find a current parallel, someone so dominant in a slightly mysterious field of endeavour that their name became a synonym used widely with no further explanation. Only last year, The Guardian carried a headline describing a particular academic as the ‘Mystic Meg of politics’, confident that readers would immediately recognise the reference.

Mystic Meg herself embodied a very different time and place — so different, in fact, that one of the innovations for which she is remembered is pioneering the phone-in horoscope. When she launched a dedicated astrology phone line in 1989, it was a runaway success.

She retired eight years ago, which almost robs us of the chance to use the hoary old yarn about the newspaper editor calling in his paper’s astrologer for a chat.

“Bad news, I’m afraid. You’re fired.”

“Gosh, I didn’t see that coming,” says the astrologer.

“I know,” says the editor. “That’s why you’re fired.”