Confession time: I am one of those people who love horoscopes. Come Monday morning I’ll source out my horoscope to see what to expect for the week. I know there’s no truth in it, but it’s almost like a ritual.
So I was incredibly surprised to find out that a study showed 58 per cent of young Americans actually believe astrology is a science. And its approval is growing more and more every year.
Astrology dates back as early as 3000 BC, where Babylonians used it to make sense of the world. They believed that the planets and constellations at the moment of someone’s birth, could predict a person’s character.
But since then it has been discredited as not real. Study after study has shown that claims made by astrologers are inaccurate, with most readings kept so vague they can be relevant to anyone’s life.
So with all this evidence discrediting astrology, why is it still so popular?
You don’t have to look too far online to find a community of totally normal, smart young people believing in star signs.
Popular websites amongst under-30s regularly post about horoscopes including BuzzFeed, Yahoo7, Cosmopolitan, Broadly and Teen Vogue. Not to mention the widespread popularity of memes claiming which star sign is the most chill or if your sign hates country music.
According to experts, one of the key reasons horoscopes are so desirable are they give information and assurance about the future.
Lecturer Xing Tingting, said on Sixth Tone “when we purchase fortune telling service, [we are hoping] to combat the less-heartening reality of daily life.”
Astrology helps people understand the good and the bad in world around them- and who doesn’t want that?
It also gives an excuse to be liberated of their current situation or traits. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something along the lines of “I can’t help that I’m aggressive, I’m a Scorpio.”
For a generation that’s shying away from religion, and more into spirituality, horoscopes also provide a feeling of being connected to the entire universe.
For me, it’s a bit of all of these reasons, as well as the entertainment.
And who doesn’t love blaming a bad day on ‘Mercury being in retrograde’- whatever that means.