During the pandemic, Americans spent millions of dollars on astrologers' services

People turned to astrologers more often in a turbulent 2020, with US entrepreneurs saying the $2,2 billion industry is booming. What people ask about and what the stars promise us all, says Business Insider.

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Let's start with the good news, right from the stars.

“2021 will be a much better year,” says Jade Sykes, 23 (Leo sun and moon). She's just one of the astrologers who experienced a boom in business in 2020. She is also the personal astrologer for singers SZA and Kehlani.

Insider spoke to five astrologers, some of whom were optimistic about 2021—saying almost everything will be better than 2020. But they all said 2020 was a good year for the astrology business.

For a year that has no analogues in economic and cosmic terms, astrology seems to have become one of the industries that have achieved significant success. With the uncertainty surrounding the global pandemic, a crumbling economy and deadly hornets in the US, Americans are looking for clarity.

Astrologers feel the results

Sykes has noticed an increase in demand for her services (she answers questions from clients). Her Patreon, where she charges clients $9,98 a month for services, has become popular, with 3820 subscribers and more than 100 followers on her social media channels. She soon plans to offer six-hour natal chart reading sessions for $000.

Veteran astrologist Samuel Reynolds, who has been practicing for more than 30 years (his sun is in Scorpio and his moon is in Leo), said he usually has five to six students in his virtual astrology class for beginners. This time he had 30 students - and for the first time he had to hire a teaching assistant.

Reynolds said his schedule is usually around two weeks. But as of mid-December, everything was booked through March.

Ross Clark (Sun in Leo, Moon in Capricorn), CEO of the popular astrology app Sanctuary, told Business Insider that the number of paid apps has shown "real growth" in 2020. And it's not just new users, customer retention rates are also high.

Astrologer, writer and educator Kira Taburn (Scorpio sun, Aries moon) actually made astrology her full-time job in early March. She just hit 20 Instagram followers, up from 000 in June. She said she has done about 5000 sessions this year.

Legendary astrologer Susan Miller (who does not divulge her sun and moon data, believing it would distract her readers) told Insider that the business has remained stable this year. She explains this by the fact that she is already "big", and her multimillion-dollar audience continues to remain close.

“Everything is stable. And thank God. I have people to pay,” she said.

But she launched the app over the summer; she said it was too early to tell how successful the idea was, but "it looks like things are going great."

Other astrologers are also launching new products: famed astrologer Chani Nicholas announced that she is launching her own app (she also keeps her sun and moon data secret). Taburn, an astrologer who went full-time in March, has created her own paid community.

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Astrology is on the rise

Astrology as a business did not start in 2020. The industry was already booming, fueled by the confusion and life-changing conditions of the pandemic this year.

As Insider's Barbara Smith reported, revenue from astrology apps grew to nearly $40 million in 2019—a 64% increase, according to SensorTower data. According to IBISWorld, from 2016 to 2019, demand for “mystical services” increased by 1,4%. The industry as a whole is worth $2,2 billion.

From March 15 to March 21, the query "astrology coronavirus" has grown sharply in Google Trends; Astrology has remained high for a year and has grown in popularity over the past month.

Nicholas, who has been in astrology for 20 years and has worked full-time for the past seven years, said she has seen "steady growth" in the course of her business.

One big boom came in 2016 after the “collective crisis”. This sentiment is reflected in the 2019 New Yorker article Astrology in an Age of Uncertainty, although the uncertainty of 2019 may seem a little odd these days.

Nicholas said that over the course of the year she saw an increased interest in workshops and general astrological information.

“I think it's quite natural, because of the environment we're in, that people have become a little more open or curious about what other people have to say about why we are where we are,” she said.

What people want to know

If you were paying attention to astrology in 2020, you would be closely following the January conjunction of Saturn and Pluto. Astrologers found it important. The last time this happened was at the start of the AIDS epidemic; and also, according to Nicholas, during the bubonic plague.

But while a destabilizing pandemic may have prompted more people to seek astrological services, their fears were not necessarily related to the virus.

"I expected people to ask specifically about things related to COVID-19: 'Am I going to get sick, am I sick?' It’s uncomfortable to answer such questions, and I wouldn’t do it,” Reynolds says. “But I was only asked this question once.”

Instead, his clients were more reflective. Stuck at home, they began to reflect on their relationships with families, loved ones, and careers. Reynolds said the people who approached him were not in a panic.

“I think people are dealing with deep-seated thoughts and they are ready for further change,” he admitted.

Sykes said the biggest question among her clients is their career.

“Instead of defining an exact career—I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's more difficult—we tell the client what they need to do in their career to feel fulfilled,” she said.

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So will 2021 be a better year?

Taburn says the astrological forecast for 2021 is "less intense." We should expect a boom in the tech industry and the stock market, Sykes said.

But the most interesting period should be from mid-May to July. Taburn, Nicholas and Reynolds have identified these months as particularly important from an astrological point of view.

Reynolds said we will continue to deal with the fallout from the pandemic in the first quarter of the year and there will still be some unrest to deal with.

According to Nicholas, during this time, the situation may improve.

“It feels like either something really good is happening with the economy, or maybe we'll have enough vaccine at that point to feel a little more free. But I dare say: there is something that relaxes and helps. Maybe even from mid-May to the end of July,” says the astrologer.

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