Margaret Anne Lake (born 27 July 1942), best known by her stage name Mystic Meg, is an English astrologer who has a regular astrology column in '' The Sun'', and until its demise, the '' News of the World''. She also hosts Mystic Meg's Wheel of Destiny for Sun Bingo. She came to greater public attention when she hosted what became a regular item on the first broadcast of the National Lottery draw in 1994. Her image also appears on various astrology-related books and merchandise.

Early life

Mystic Meg was born Margaret Anne Lake on 27 July 1942. Of Romany descent, she was raised in a terraced house in Accrington,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, where her grandmother taught her astrology. She studied English at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, and joined the '' News of the World'' as a sub-editor, eventually becoming deputy editor of its weekend colour supplement ''Sunday''. In the 1980s she changed her name to Eileen Anderson and became the paper's regular astrologer.

Career

From 1994 to 2000 Mystic Meg appeared weekly on The National Lottery Live in 'Mystic Meg Predicts' – a 45-second reading during which Meg attempted to predict facts about the future winner. In the first edition of the ''News of the World'' for each year, Mystic Meg traditionally made predictions for the coming twelve months. These predictions were a popular feature of the paper and garnered Meg many loyal fans. In April 2015 Mystic Meg partnered with bookmaker

Gala Coral Group Gala Bingo is an online bingo and casino offering under the ownership of Entain. Gala Bingo was created in 1991 as a division of Bass plc. It later became an independent company, and then became the Gala Coral Group after acquiring Coral Eur ...

and was the face of their

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

"You’re Guaranteed a Fortune" marketing campaign. Images of Meg and her crystal ball featured in all of Coral's 1,850 shops via window posters and Coral TV Meg owns a number of racehorses under the company name Mystic Meg Limited, which is based in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. The horses include ''Astrodonna'', ''Astroangel'', and ''Astronova'' and other horses with celestial names. In 2015 Meg launched a website, featuring horoscopes, personalised readings and a telephone hotline hosted by a selection of her favourite professional psychics. She left ''The Sun'' on 2 January 2015 but returned on 3 April 2016.

References

External links

* *https://www.mysticmeg.com/ 1942 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds English astrologers 20th-century astrologers 21st-century astrologers People from Accrington {{astrology-stub