ASTROLOGY IN TODAY'S WORLD

ABSTRACT

The article aims to explore the development and significance of astrology in the 21st century. In the modern world, astrology is experiencing a new round of popularity, going beyond traditional horoscopes and finding applications in various spheres of life — from psychology to business. The article examines the causes of this phenomenon, analyzes the impact of digital technologies on the spread of astrological knowledge, and explores how people use astrology for self-discovery, decision-making, and future planning. Scientific and skeptical views on astrology, its psychological mechanisms and its role in the culture of the 21st century are also discussed.

Keywords: astrology, pseudoscience, growing interest, advancement, transformation.

Astrology, as an ancient art of studying the positions of the planets and their influence on human life, continues to attract the attention of researchers and society for several reasons. Firstly, astrology is a unique sample of cultural and intellectual tradition of various peoples. Its study not only allows us to understand the history of the development of human thought, but also to see what factors and circumstances influenced the formation of cultural perceptions and beliefs in different historical periods. Secondly, modern research in astrology involves the analysis of large amounts of data, statistical methods and many other aspects that help to understand to what extent astrological predictions can be related to real events and personality characteristics. This is of interest to psychology, sociology, statistics and other fields of science.

Astrology is a practice and concept that assumes that the movement of celestial bodies - the Sun, the Moon, the planets - affects earthly events, as well as the fate and character of people. Adherents of such concepts believe that the movement and location of planets and stars can predict the future of individuals, communities and even entire countries.

Over hundreds of years, astrology has been treated ambiguously, and its main problem is that there is not even a defined concept for it. From the scientific point of view, astrology belongs to the category of pseudoscientific teachings, and the main reason is the lack of solid evidence. At the same time, scientists recognize the fact that interest in celestial bodies in the distant past served as a stimulus for the emergence and development of such sciences as mathematics, astronomy, meteorology and others.

Initially, astrology was considered a science and was in fact the main way to study the cosmos: mathematical astronomy was developed just to improve the accuracy of astrological predictions. But by the 17th century, with the advent of the concept of a heliocentric world system and Newtonian mechanics, astrology lost this status.

Earlier, last December, a commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) issued a memorandum recognizing astrology as a pseudoscience. Checks of astrologers' claims, the experts pointed out, yield negative results, and their predictions often come true with just a probability of random guessing.

As for statistics, over the past 16 years, the share of Russians who believe in astrology has fallen from 52% to 42%. This follows from the results of a survey by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM). 1600 respondents took part in the survey. In general, according to VTsIOM, the absolute majority of Russians know their zodiac sign - 97% of respondents. 3% of respondents said they take astrologers' predictions seriously, while 39% turn to them only occasionally. “Every second woman (50%) and every third man (33%) are interested in astrological predictions. The percentage is also higher among rural residents (50%). The older Russians are, the more often they say they look through horoscopes,” the sociologists note. Not interested in horoscopes about half of Russians - 45% of respondents, and every tenth survey participant (11%) called them anti-scientific. Men are more often uninterested in this topic (51% of respondents vs. 40% of female respondents).

However, astrology is increasing in popularity abroad and according to The New York Times, the change in approach and growing interest in it is due to a new generation - Millennials-nano-influencers. They have become a suitable target audience for astrologers and “social media witches” - today's teens are prone to narcissism and narcissism, especially given their love of selfies and self-expression, finding themselves and wanting to be unique. Astrology gives them a daily reading of unique stories written specifically for each one. In this, horoscopes are like BuzzFeed content that is designed to be popular and provokes sharing and finding people similar to themselves. “What's better than something that basically just talks about you?” - emphasizes investor Birnbaum.

Investors, on the other hand, believe that the revival of astrology came about because of Millennials' need to find a small and relevant online community, but not related to religion or politics. The Internet made it possible not only to get a horoscope quickly, but also to find relevant content “around” their sign: to find out what clothes to wear for Aries, what Tauruses prefer to eat for breakfast, and what position Mars should be in, in order to attract several million dollars to their astrology startup.

In Russia, astrology is not a recognized official scientific field, so there are no special regulations governing the practice of astrology. One of the achievements of Russia in the field of astrology can be considered the Astrological Academy in St. Petersburg, where the author's training course “Formula of Events” is practiced, the developer of which is Academician S.V. Shestopalov. Mastering of this program allows graduates to predict future events very precisely (up to 1 day).

There are also no generally recognized regulations abroad, but in different countries there may be laws or regulations concerning the practice of astrology as part of psychological counseling or esoteric services. For example, some countries require a license or certificate in order to counsel based on astrology. It is important to consider local laws and regulations if you plan to provide astrological counseling services abroad.

One of the successful cases in the field of astrology abroad is the Co-Star app. The Co-Star app has received $5 million in investment from venture funds Maveron and a Libra, Aspect Ventures and 14W. It makes a natal chart for free and for $2.99 offers to compare it with friends' charts and check them for compatibility. The personalized daily horoscope is created by an algorithm based on machine learning: it takes into account all sorts of astrological factors, and receives data from NASA to track the movement of the planets. With 3 million downloads, the app has made it into the top 10 most popular apps in the Lifestyle category. Co-Star now has over 3 million downloads on the App Store and an Instagram* account with 435,000 followers. Despite the success of the app and five million dollars in investments, the co-founder of the company, Banu Guler, admitted that not all investors appreciated Co-Star's activities and refused to invest, considering astrology a pseudoscience.

Spotify's “Cosmic” playlists are also a successful case study. In February 2019, Spotify signed an agreement with a popular social media female astrologer Chani Nicholas (227 thousand followers on Instagram* and 35 thousand on Twitter, monthly blog audience - 1 million readers). Since launch, the playlists have gotten over 400 thousand subscribers. Together with Nicholas, Spotify launched “cosmic” playlists for each zodiac sign, which fit the sign's horoscope and mood. Each month, Nicholas suggests 2-3 songs for the sign to Spotify editors and talks about the theme of the month, and then Spotify complements the selections themselves.

With the advent of the internet and digital technology, astrology has become more accessible and convenient for a wide audience. Websites, apps, online consultations and horoscope software make astrological services more accessible and convenient.

Promoting astrological services can be done in a variety of ways: from developing a professional website/blog where you can present your services, experience and client testimonials to partnering with psychologists, coaches, personal growth coaches to offer comprehensive consultations. It is also very important to utilize social platforms such as VK, Telegram and YouTube where you need to regularly publish interesting content, discuss astrology topics and generally engage your audience through social media. Social media is the easiest and fastest source of attracting customers for astrologers and other experts. There today you can sell, buy, partner, establish communications, create a brand image, increase trust, spread information about the expert and services, expand the audience and much more. And social media is also a great place to build a strong personal brand. Organizing events is also an effective way to promote. Offline events related to astrology are becoming increasingly popular among stargazing enthusiasts. These can be meetings of astrologers with the public where lectures, seminars and workshops on astrology are held. Such events allow participants to get information about their zodiac sign, aspects and transits of planets, as well as ask questions to experts. In addition, offline astrology evenings may include one-on-one consultations, tarot sessions, and astrological charts.

Because of its integration with other disciplines, astrology is constantly evolving and developing new techniques and approaches. For example, psychological astrology, evolutionary astrology, medical astrology, and other fields that help apply astrology to various areas of life.

The field of astrology is expected to grow rapidly in the future due to technological innovations such as programs and applications for astrological calculations and forecasts. The field of astrology expects rapid development in the future due to technological innovations, such as programs and applications for astrological calculations and predictions. The emergence of new research methods will allow astrologers to analyze birth charts and predict events more accurately and in depth. New astrological systems and techniques may be developed that take into account modern realities and people's needs. We can also expect to see an increase in interest in astrology among the younger generation, which will lead to a wider audience and an increase in its importance in society. Overall, the future of astrology will be filled with new opportunities for the study and practice of this ancient science.

*Instagram (социальная сеть, запрещенная на территории РФ, как продукт организации Meta, признанной экстремистской – прим.ред.)

References:

1. Forbes.ru. The share of people believing in astrology has decreased in Russia. Forbes.life editorial. March 06, 2024. //https://www.forbes.ru/forbeslife/507600-v-rossii-snizilas-dola-verasih-v-astrologiu-ludej
2. Forbes.ru. Experts of the Russian Academy of Sciences declared astrology a pseudoscience. Forbes.life editorial board. December 19, 2023. //https://www.forbes.ru/forbeslife/502798-eksperty-rossijskoj-akademii-nauk-ob-avili-astrologiu-lzenaukoj
3. VC.ru. A huge market that no one takes seriously. April 26, 2019. //https://vc.ru/services/65864-ogromnyy-rynok-k-kotoromu-nikto-ne-otnositsya-serezno-pochemu-investory-i-korporacii-vkladyvayutsya-v-astrologiyuhttps://royalcheese.ru/education/kak-poyavilas-astrologiya-i-pochemu-ona-do-sih-por-aktualna/
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