Astrology why believe

And, often within daily horoscopes, it encourages us to look within to find strength. The majority of people who consume astrology content are women , which is also not all that surprising.

For one thing, astrology has always had feminist roots and icons. It empowers women in particular to take more control over their future; it encourages us to learn more about ourselves and go confidently in the direction that makes the most sense for our well being.

But the needs of their clients have changed, too. This all sounds pretty good. In some ways that's an asset, in some ways it's a liability. But I think that connects a lot to why astrology is being seen as a more serious pursuit and as another tool for some understanding for how to develop oneself. This changed in the 18th century, he says, with the age of Enlightenment. Prior to that, it was very much believed that astrology had a real effect on our lives.

Nobody really says that when they're talking about the history of astrology. But times are certainly different now. She remembers in university how an astronomer friend would always insist they meet at a coffee shop. They never met again, Cox notes, and now he's an astronomer at the University of Arizona. Astrology seems to exist a bit at the extremes. Aims to explain the natural world?

Astrology uses a set of rules about the relative positions and movements of heavenly bodies to generate predictions and explanations for events on Earth and human personality traits. For example, some forms of astrology predict that a person born just after the spring equinox is particularly likely to become an entrepreneur. Uses testable ideas? Some expectations generated by astrology are so general that any outcome could be interpreted as fitting the expectations; if treated this way, astrology is not testable.

However, some have used astrology to generate very specific expectations that could be verified against outcomes in the natural world. For example, according to astrology, one's zodiac sign impacts one's ability to command respect and authority. Since these traits are important in politics, we might expect that if astrology really explained people's personalities, scientists would be more likely to have zodiac signs that astrologers describe as "favorable" towards science. Relies on evidence?

In the few cases where astrology has been used to generate testable expectations and the results were examined in a careful study, the evidence did not support the validity of astrological ideas. I talk about the good, the bad and the ugly, because it's important for the client to know everything about their chart. And I give them guidance to work with the things that may be a bit ugly.

After consultation requests spiked in April, she was doing readings for as many as 80 clients per month — a surge she attributes in part to people being bored in quarantine and coming across her content on social media. With Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius — the sign ruling technology and collaboration — for most of , the energy is right, she says.

Plus, the channels are both creative outlets and new potential income streams. While few astrologers likely get into the field for the money, those with significant followings are increasingly finding new ways to monetise their talents. Chani Nicholas, one of the most popular astrologers working today, has parlayed her million-plus monthly readership into best-selling book You Were Born for This published in January , it sold more than 14, copies in its first week , a Netflix deal and a new standalone app, Chani.

And unlike other popular astrology start-ups , her business is entirely self-funded. Financial astrology is her main passion and what she plans to pursue for her business. Whether newcomers will stick around once their day-to-day lives regain some measure of normalcy remains to be seen. As Brennan points out, in the Western world, popular interest in astrology has come in waves — in the mids, some astrologers were worried that few young people were getting into the field. How We Live.

The anxieties and apps fuelling the astrology boom. Share using Email. By Hilary George-Parkin 9th February