This article is from May 2013. Margaret Thatcher died recently. Almost immediately, her sycophantic and adoring fans got to work reminding us of her magnificence. According to House Speaker Boehner, she was “the greatest peacetime prime minister in British history.” The present prime minister said, “She saved our country.” The way they talk, it wouldn’t surprise me if she were on her way to canonization. St. Maggie of Westminster. Some people believe it’s unkind to speak ill of the dead. I think the deceased are fair game. Plus they can’t sue. I disliked Margaret Thatcher. In fact, I used to suffer from Thatcher Tourette’s Syndrome. Every time I heard her voice I’d start muttering expletives. On the day of her funeral, the current prime minister, David Cameron said, “We’re all Thatcherites now.” Really? Not me. I lived through the Thatcher Years in London. Riots, union bashing, miner bashing, steelworker bashing, the poll tax, high unemployment, offshore tax havens, and a host of policies designed to screw the poor and enrich the already rich. I considered her an arrogant and callous ideologue whose policies caused misery for millions. Before she died, Maggie was actually planning her own funeral at an estimated cost of three million pounds. Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle commented, “For 3 million you could give everyone in Scotland a shovel, and we could dig a hole so deep we could hand her over to Satan in person.” I don’t think Thatcher was evil. More hard-hearted and wrapped up in right-wing dogma than anything else. During the 80s, she branded Nelson Mandela a terrorist, which was pretty shocking even back then. She personally defended Chile’s murdering dictator Pinochet. And in 1982, she went to war against Argentina (of all places!), allegedly in support of residents of the Falkland Islands in the southern Atlantic. Shortly after Falklands War began, I met a guy who had recently returned from climbing K2 in the Himalayas. On the descent, he called to a group of climbers on the way up, “What news of the outside world?” A voice with a thick German accent replied, “Your country is at war with Argentina!” Since hostilities had broken out only after he began his climb, he thought the fellow was joking. “No, seriously,” he shouted, “what’s really going on?” What was really going on had a lot more to do with hubris and natural resources than the wellbeing of the Falkland Islanders. At the time Thatcher was the most unpopular prime minister in history. She needed a war. She had to look strong. Young souls like their leaders to be strong because it makes them feel strong. Jingoism and nationalism are common expressions of this young soul need to avoid feeling vulnerable. Thatcher was a level 5 (young) soul. (40% into it). Her soul type was that of a Spiritualist, she had a primary Leader influence, and the Thinker, Educator and Performer influences, too. Spiritualists at Level 5 can be self-righteous and sanctimonious. And anyone who is 40% into a soul age runs the risk of being hypocritical. I believe she was all the above. No surprise that Thatcher was a Leader, too. In response to requests to do something about rising unemployment she once famously said, “The lady’s not for turning.” The negative aspect of the Leader type is intransigence. In my opinion, her refusal to change course was a sign of arrogance and a callous disregard for others, rather than some admirable strength of character. Her distant manner was, in part, the result of a fear of loss, created in a past life as a settler in America. As a young man in that life, the soul that would one day become Margaret Thatcher suffered terrible trauma after Native American warriors attacked and killed his family. This fear made her unable to ever really get close to anyone, or to overcome the illusion of separation that prevents so many younger souls from recognizing we’re all connected. Margaret Thatcher’s soul is “massively disappointed” in the life she just had. In a position of such power, she could have helped improve the financial security and wellbeing of millions. Instead, policies she championed contributed to greater inequality and division in British society. The more power a person has, the greater the responsibility. It’s generally not the foot soldier who incurs the biggest karmic debt from death on the battlefield, but the leader who put him there. Thatcher’s soul’s plan for next time involves a mission of love and a career as a healer. It will be the first of many lifetimes in which her soul will attempt to balance the negative karma she created this time around from the deaths and derailed life plans for which she can’t escape responsibility. Though her soul is in residence on the Astral Plane, Margaret Thatcher lives on in the form of a huge wealth gap, devastated communities and low wages, along with the effects of privatization, cuts to health and other social services, and under-funded education. Is it fair to speak ill of the dead? Of course it is. Doing so allows for healthy debate and the opportunity to learn from the past. As human consciousness evolves, the lessons we learn from uncaring, divisive leaders like Thatcher will remind us of the importance of choosing ones who are empathic, caring, and enlightened. There are many ways to learn about who you were in your past lives.

• Begin with a one-on-one psychic reading & guidance session with Ainslie.