When word got out that I was learning to be a medium, it seemed as if every bloke who came into the barber’s shop wanted me to turn my skills to something more profitable. They wanted to know which horse would win the fourth race that afternoon or what numbers were going to come up on the lottery. They were only half joking most of the time, but there was no way I was going to help them out.

I did actually know a young couple from Liverpool who won the pools in the late seventies. A good wage was £25 a week at that time and they landed £4,000 with some lucky numbers and turned into the neighborhood cash machine – they took everyone out and showered them with banknotes like confetti. They were the most popular punters in the local pub – drinks were on them every night. They had the best-dressed kids in the city and a bunch of daft ornaments on their shelves. They could have bought a flat with that cash, but it was all gone in three months – poof! – and all they had to show for it was a letter from the bank saying they had nothing left.

Maybe you’ve already guessed that once their windfall was blown, all their backslapping mates in the pub started to look awkward, and funnily enough there was nobody to buy them a drink as a thank you for all the handouts they’d had in those three heady months of the pools win. Those false friends just fell away.

I don’t think there was much of a cosmic reason for them getting the money; it was just pure dumb luck. It was the aftermath of their spending spree that was significant, because that was where they really learned the meaning of the word “value.”

Luck is a force which does affect our lives, but it’s not something that we can control. It comes and goes, whether we hang a horseshoe over the front door or not, and it’s very subjective. Were that Liverpool couple lucky to have lots of money for three months? It didn’t change their lives in the end. Similarly, is it really bad luck if your car is stolen when it isn’t insured? You still have your kids and your friends.

It’s a matter of perspective: if one man loses ten million dollars and ends up with two million more than another man earns in a lifetime, is he unlucky? A lot of the things that people deem to be “bad luck” aren’t all that terrible really and if you have the grace to realize what’s important in your life, you can accept that there will be ups and downs no matter what you do. If you want to win the lottery, perhaps you should ask yourself why.

What about creating your own luck? I knew a young man who was a serious gambler in his spare time and always reckoned that when he was doing well at work it was a “good sign” that he should hit the bookie’s or the casino. He’d gamble more and often win more on those occasions, and if he did lose, he claimed it was never “much.” I think it was more likely that he just felt more confident then and was in too good a mood to get upset about losing some cash.

But it was also a matter of karma, which he was in tune with in a funny way. Simply put, he took action in a way that brought him good fortune – he never could have won if he hadn’t taken part in the first place and given himself the chance to hold the winning ticket. The “karmic probability” behind that is pretty straightforward!

And what about spirit? If we kiss the dice before we roll them and think of our Gran, is she going to intervene and turn up a couple of sixes for us? Those in spirit can influence the flow of cash into and out of our lives, but they aren’t some kind of munificent genie who will fulfill our wildest dreams of piles of pointless loot. Sometimes spirit holds us back from scooping up the banknotes. At other times there are pennies from heaven when we need them most.