I was in a car accident in May. For months prior to this event, I had visions of that vehicle hitting me, but I couldn't put all the pieces together until it was too late. I even consulted a psychic, and he told me to get rid of a black cloth. I now think the black cloth he was referring to was my black vehicle. Why wasn't I warned more accurately? Last night I had a dream that I was in an accident with my new car, but the accident happened behind me, like in my rearview mirror. A woman with dark skin died. Is this a warning? I am terrified of driving again, and I must get over this to get on with my life. What are my dreams trying to tell me?

-Donna

Dear Donna,

You created this accident. The universe doesn't hear whether we want something or do not want it - the universe sees what we are focusing on, and that is what we get every time.

If we focus on debt, we get debt. If we focus on bad health, we get sick. If we focus on having a car accident for four months, we will have a car accident.

So congratulations, Donna: you have just proven to yourself that the law of attraction really does work! Fortunately, it will also work if you decide to turn it around by focusing on what you want and thinking positive thoughts.

I can't explain another psychic's readings. I have no idea what he was referring to when he said to get rid of the black cloth. You should have asked him to be more specific. If you don't understand something in a reading, you should stop the reader and ask for clarification. Then the reader should rephrase things in a way that makes sense to you.

Sometimes we are given messages that don't make sense at the time, but WILL later on. When that's the case, the reader should be able to tell you something like, This may not make sense now, but it will in the future. You didn't receive more of a warning because you didn't ask the questions the reading brought up for you.

You say that you dreamed of being in an accident in which a woman with dark skin died. Donna, that was a dream, not a warning. Don't get obsessed with this and start to think about it all the time, because you do NOT want to create this in real life.

Dreams like this are your soul's and mind's way of trying to purge this accident stuff from your psyche. You focus on accidents (both the one you had the ones you are afraid of having) WAY too much. At this point, you are obsessed with accidents!

If all a person can focus on is accidents, then yes, I imagine that would make them terrified to drive again. What you need to realize above all is that we create our worlds, for what we focus on is what comes to us. You showed this to be true by creating the car accident.

I know you are saying, But I would NEVER create something bad for myself like that! Well, who would? You did indeed create this - you've proven that to yourself.

Given how powerful your thoughts are, just imagine if you started focusing on what you want! Imagine if every time you found yourself thinking negative thoughts, you found a way to change that and to think happy thoughts. Would you like to know how to do that? The Secret at www.thesecret.tv will show you how.

I wish you success in changing the way you think so you can transform your entire life.

Astrea responds:

Dear Donna,

Last spring as I was entering the freeway, a young girl who was talking on her cell phone and had a baby bunny in her lap (!) smashed into me from behind. That was just the beginning of that horrible experience, but we all get through things like that.

After this accident, I was frightened of driving on the freeway. Even now (a year later), I'll do whatever I can to avoid that section of road. Unfortunately, I often find myself right where that accident happened.

Since I have no choice but to drive, and since there isn't any other place to get on the freeway without going back several miles, I brace myself, aim my car, and shoot onto the highway. So far, so good!

There are few experiences that are more traumatizing than a car wreck. When you're hit from behind, it's especially unsettling.

Then there are the injuries, repairs, replacements, police investigations and insurance company stuff one has to endure afterwards, so the hurt just keeps on coming for a while.

To overcome my awful fear of driving, I adopted a magical attitude. I use anything and everything to protect myself before I take the wheel and while I'm in the car. I make magical gestures, pray, and use spells and incantations so I'll be safe.

The most effective thing seems to be throwing a net of Blue Stars over my vehicle. I stand at the driver's side door and pray in my own way, while in my mind I see a huge net that encompasses me and the vehicle.

While I know on a logical level that this is only mental imagery, it does give me a more positive attitude about driving. I see myself making a safe journey and having a safe return, and since I believe it will work, it really does!

I don't feel I'm just fooling myself into thinking I'm protected, of course. I believe that this ritual gives me extra awareness of the kind of defensive driving I have to do in order to avoid accidents. So far, it's worked just fine.

It's up to you to figure out what will work for you, just as it was up to you to figure out that the psychic meant not a cloth but your black vehicle.

As far as your feeling that you weren't adequately warned, perhaps at the time you were a bit too scattered for the psychic to see the exact situation that involved you getting rid of something black. I think she did a great job just getting the color, since having a car accident wasn't what you asked her about in the first place.

When I get warnings like that (especially for air signs), they're often highly symbolic and require a lot of interpretation. Since the reading was for you, it was your job to help the psychic figure out what the message was all about.