Sorry, dear Generation Z. Astrology won't help you "zoomers" make sense of the world (finally)

"Beaver" full moon and Mercury retrograde
I don't want to seem extra cynical, but I can't help it. I'm witnessing how interest in star signs is slowly changing from the domain of teenagers reading the weekly horoscope in Mizz magazine (always full of vague phrases like "15th, stick to your guns: you know what's right!") to a guarantee of accuracy - because now even large groups of Generation Z adults are taking the horoscope seriously. It makes me feel confused, out of touch and old. So, so old.

Nowadays, the whole thing has gone far beyond platitudinous horoscopes. Contemporary practitioners of a vague solar system-based "spiritualism" are far from just knowing their star signs: They know their moon signs and ascendants; they have birth horoscopes in which the exact minute they left the womb and came into the world has far-reaching implications for their entire lives; they know the 12 different full moons that occur each year, and they know what they mean (the perpetual teenager in me particularly enjoys November's "beaver" full moon). They know when Mercury is retrograde as well as how to adjust to it, and they have a sense of when major shifts in planetary conjunctions indicate that we are "entering a new era" globally.

Zdroj: Giphy

TikTok full of astrological "one-liners"
When I say "they", I'm not referring to some sort of superstitious astrologer Mystic Meg-style demographics. I mean every person between the ages of twenty and thirty who owns a smart phone and a TikTok account. The social network has become a hub for astrology content - at the time I wrote this article, it contained more than 4.5 million videos with the hashtag "astrology." Much of it is inherently superficial popular astrology, the equivalent of the nonsensical horoscopes from Mizz magazine - extremely short clips designed to hold viewers' attention just long enough to convey a short, easily digestible message.

Bella, a London-based content creator who has 1.2 million followers on TikTok, told The Times that her young followers have found a "sense of agency" through astrology in troubled times. "Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have made astrology widely accessible," she said. "Bite-sized, visually engaging content like memes, Reels and zodiac-based trends resonate deeply with Generation Z."

A fortune teller? Almost like elementary school.
But some astrology apps that go more in-depth have also seen a huge surge in popularity. Co-Star, a US app combining Nasa data and content from astrologers, has rocketed: from 7.5 million global users in 2020 to 30 million in 2023, with money spent on astrology-related products estimated to grow to $22.8 billion by 2031 (up from $12.8 billion in 2021). Paid astrology services include "romantic compatibility reports," which remind me of the days when my friends and I in grade school used to put the names of boys we liked in a paper "fortune teller" and let fate decide which one would become our husband (the methodology of this prediction still has a zero success rate).

Although all of this makes me feel like the most misanthropic version of myself, I actually understand why astrology is appealing to the younger generation. With the world becoming more and more divisive, climate change already causing damage around the globe, the rise of the far right to positions of power a daily reality, and some of the worst people in human history also being the richest in history (just FYI: the wealth of the world's billionaires increased by $2 trillion in 2024), who wouldn't go straight to the galaxy for help? In a world that is inherently chaotic, astrology provides a much-needed sense of comfort and control. It offers the theory that there is something bigger at work in our lives that we don't fully understand. It gives us a reassuring explanation of who we are as individuals on a fundamental level and why we are having a bad day/week/year (delete as appropriate).

Does astrology substitute for church "ministries"?
In an increasingly secular society, astrology actually offers what people used to get from organized religion. According to a 2023 study by King's College London, the British public are now among the least likely to believe in God internationally - less than half (49%) identified themselves as believers, compared with 75% in 1981. Yet YouGov data shows that 35% of women and 22% of men in the UK claim to be 'spiritual'. On average, British men were 10% more likely to describe themselves as such than as 'religious'.

And hand on heart: who am I to judge where people are finding emotional comfort amidst the current disaster of world events? No one. Yet a natural uneasiness grips me as I see some of the roughly sketched implications emerging.

Paying for a romantic compatibility test may sound harmless, but it is indicative of the abuse of a generation that has trouble trusting its own instincts and approaching its own decisions with confidence. Turning to the heavens for answers may sound no sillier than many of the world's religions if we dissect them in detail. But I think that when one in three members of Generation Z and millennials actually believe that astrology can replace therapy, we have reason to be concerned.

The stars don't have a patent on your life.
I once overheard someone I get on well with declare, quite seriously, that he didn't "trust" Pisces - my star sign - "very much," and though we laughed about it, I couldn't help myself. Because of the narrowness of thought - which often comes when you make sweeping generalizations about what people are like based on such a random factor as the 30-day period during which they were born - a discontent echoed in me.

The whole thing also fits eloquently with the rampant individualism of the modern age - a smug obsession with myself, who I am and what my life means, rather than a concern for how I might fit into a wider collective or community.

Sure, take comfort where you can. Life is short and it's often hard to navigate. But don't make the mistake of taking it into your head that burning orbs thousands of light years away know you better than you know yourself - or that studying lunar nodes will actually help you regain control in a chaotic universe. After all, if Brexit couldn't do it, what hope does an astrological chart have?

© Independent Digital News & Media Ltd

Prepared for the Independent by Helen Coffey.