I could feel an extra electricity in the air on the New Year's eve, entering 1999. A palpable mixture of anticipation and adventure misted from the people I encountered all day on December 31, 1998. I sensed the feeling of inevitability associated with reaching the top of a roller coaster peak, just before that giant inertia of speed.

Previous calendar systems used the founding of Rome (753 B.C.) as the starting point of year number sequences. However, our current calendar system (The Gregorian Calendar), changed all that and used the birth of Jesus as its starting point. Trouble is, the men who founded the Gregorian Calendar (a man named Dionysius and Pope John 1), couldn't decipher when Jesus was actually born.

Today, historians agree that Jesus was born shortly before 4 B.C., so the Gregorian Calendar is off at least four years. In fact, it may be off by nearly five years, since Dionysius created a calendar sequence that went from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. That means that Jesus was technically born in the year "O," in between "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini."

What this means is that the new millennium doesn't actually begin until 2001, 2004, or 2005, depending upon which scholar you stand next to at a cocktail party. However, this knowledge probably won't squelch the superstitions that come from seeing the number 2000 roll around next year. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of numerology, combined with prophecies from John the Beloved and Nostradamus, feels a little excited or on-edge about the new millennium. Even if Dionysius miscalculated when that millennium begins.

On a more personal note, though, many of us have received spiritual guidance about the millennium shift. Lots of lightworkers received "wake-up calls" within the past five or ten years that said, "The new millennium is coming. You must prepare." This preparation usually involved lifestyle changes, so the lightworker could be more peaceful, and more aware of her spiritual power. Often the guidance told the lightworkers to leave toxic jobs or relationships, and to live a life of greater integrity and spiritual service.

This powerful guidance naturally makes us anticipate being on the threshold of something powerful, as we enter the last days of the old millennium. My guides (the angelic realm) tell me that 1999 will be the final time of dishonesty. They say we will no longer be tolerant of dishonesty toward ourselves or others. The drastic drop in crime rates over the past two years, and the current Clinton situation, show our social movement away from dishonesty. Our personal shift toward honesty takes on a different form: it means the willingness to look at ourself and our current life situation, with open eyes.

It means opening our hands and allowing situations that are not in integrity to be cleansed away. It means trusting the God-force within to supply your material needs, instead of looking to external sources of security, such as jobs, relationships, and government.

Those who insist on hanging on to situations that don't work will feel increased pain from their lack of integrity. Those who make the leap in faith, will feel increased senses of freedom and lightness, combined with renewed spiritual gifts of telepathy and healing.

Some of the Millennium Fever stems from worry about the Y2K situation, and the angels have strong opinions about this topic, too. The angels say that they have been warning us for quite some time about our overreliance on machinery. They say it's not that Y2K is a "punishment" of any kind; but a result of our "external focus." The angels say that it won't cause the turmoil that is predicted, but it will create some "ripples and folds in the fabric of your existence." In other words, neither of the extreme cases (the financial collapses and the 'nothing will happen') will occur. It will be more of a moderate wake-up call, they say, that alerts us that it is time to take back possession of our knowledge, instead of relying upon engineers to orchestrate it for us. So, in the long run, the angels say that Y2K will be a wonderful blessing for humanity.

The angels have directed me to sources of information about Y2K, in answer to my prayers for guidance. These sources all say the same thing: companies will replace software that is "debugged for Y2K" and that this replacement will be very expensive, but will be less expensive in the long run compared to a shut-down occurring from Y2K. So, in other words, we do have a process for copying information onto new programs that are set up for the year 2000. While it is an expensive process to copy information, this is a very viable solution available to us right now.

The angels called 1998 "The Year of Love," because we were all called upon to open our hearts to Divine love, and to heal ourselves of unforgiveness so that we could truly love one another. In 1998, we remembered our oneness. 1999, according to the angels, is "The Year of Truth." They say that we have already been challenged to release all situations that don't mirror our higher selves.

The Clinton situation is a tool that we have been given, to help us to heal. All of the principal players involved, including Clinton, Monica, Ken Starr, and Hillary, are acting out their purpose in ways that will ultimately benefit us. The angels say that we are to use these bigger-than-life characters as shadow-figure archtypes who can help us to release our ego-characteristics. Whenever you feel pain surrounding Clinton or the others, it is because you are seeing something within them that reminds you of your own ego-self.

This creates a beautiful opportunity for releasement and healing. Here is the affirmation the angels gave to me to use in any situation where I feel pain: "I am willing to release that part of me that irritates me when I think of you." So, we can look at Clinton and become willing to release that part of ourselves that rationalizes and denies the truth. We can look at Monica and become willing to release that part that makes unhealthy choices. We can look at Ken Starr and become willing to release that part that judges and entraps others. I think you get the picture . . .

The same holds true for world situations. When we cringe at a war situation in the middle east, we can become still and affirm, "I am willing to release the war within me, now." Or, "I am willing to cease fire and stop bombing myself." If we see inclement weather, we can become willing to release the storms or floods inside ourselves.

Since every situation and relationship is part of us, we heal the world as we heal our perceptions. The angels say that they will help us to release our ego-characteristics, if we will just ask and then become willing to be healed. The first six months of 1999 may feel a little disorganized, because of this heavy-duty cleaning. It's a lot like cleaning your closets: at first, it looks worse because you have taken things out of the closet and put them on your floor. Then, as you throw things out, donate unused items, and straighten and organize, the house and the closet become cleaner than ever.

Think of 1999 as a spring-cleaning time, and you'll feel a joyous peace as we approach the new millennium together.

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. is a metaphysical psychotherapist who works with the angelic realm. She is the author of "Divine Guidance" and her newest audiotape is "Healing Your Appetite, Healing Your Life" (Hay House, 1999). For information on Doreen's workshops, books, and tapes, please call 1-800-654-5126, ext. 0 or visit http://www.AngelTherapy.com.