why is the most popular astrology so awful

ethical astrology cannot exist in today's attention economy

The most popular astrology does not contain any astrology whatsoever. There is no explanation for the delineations, no substance behind the image. Rather it’s the drivel of some mysterious caricature of a prophet explaining why you feel the way you do today in a completely depersonal and lobotomized way. And we are all meant to trust them, because they get their data from Nasa. Whenever people tell me that they don’t like astrology, I fully understand why and never try to argue with them.

Of course, to refine the astrology from your astrology, is an elegant aesthetic choice, much like dinosaur shaped “chicken” nuggets. Sometimes it is an editorial decision as well, if word count should fit on one single page. However, the “astrology” that contains no astrology at all is not as useful, or empowering, as it is entertaining or pleasant. What is empowering about uncited, sugar coated niceties? There is nothing helpful about telling your friend that she looks fine when she has a giant booger hanging out of her nose. It is dishonest, spineless, unethical, careless, narcissistic, selfish, I could go on.

Astrology at its core should be respected, and by not showing your work, by not explaining the reasoning behind the horoscope, you are degrading to the entire field, and perpetuating a negative or frivolous view of astrology as a whole, setting us back another century.

What’s sad is that this is what people want to buy. The most popular “astrology” is the astrology that is completely devoid of astrology. No one wants to see the trap door, they just want to see you pull a rabbit out of a hat. Astrology isn’t a magic trick. It isn’t a psychic art. It is a field of study and research that any living person with the desire to could (and should) practice.

It makes sense that consumers do not want to be astrologers. We don’t want to understand the how or why. We want to be hypnotized for a brief moment, to forget any responsibilities, any sense of free will, to feel like everything is ok before the two brain cells in our goldfish attention spans move our glassed over eyes onto the next mind-numbing headline that we will soon forget.

A horoscope isn’t going to live your life for you. Astrologers are not here to tell you what to do. They are not here to play God. This is not the purpose of any mortal living person. Anyone that wants to tell you what to do or how to live your life needs to take a good look at themself and shut up. And maybe we shouldn’t fully trust anyone who wants to have that type of authority over others.

At the end of the day, there is a difference between astrology and entertainment. If the horoscope that you are reading does not include any astrology, then it belongs to the latter category. There is nothing wrong with having fun, and sometimes astrology can be fun (depending on who you are, because at its core it is extremely nerdy), but the most popular astrology that the majority of people consume today is not astrology worthy of respect. It’s not astrology at all, but rather astrology-inspired charlatanism abused to distract and coddle people into remaining sedate.