Some might call planning one’s wedding according to the stars a “heavenly arrangement.” But in reality, the rise of astrology, which charts the “influence” of the stars on one’s life, is anything but that.
Using wedding charts rose in popularity on the social media platform TikTok over the past year. But “wedding charts,” according to New York Times reporter Laura Pitcher, are just one facet of astrology — and astrology is just one facet of New Age and Wiccan spiritual beliefs. (READ MORE: Continued Decline in Religion Spells Trouble for the Culture War)
Birth charts, according to Pitcher, can be useful in determining not just wedding plans but also one’s romantic compatibility with other people and the trajectory of one’s life.
“A birth chart is a snapshot of the sky at the time, date and place a person is born, taking into account how the position of the sun, moon and planets interact with one another to influence the person’s life path and personality,” Pitcher writes.
But Wiccan practices, including astrology, have ties to feminism, according to Antonio Pagliarulo, who has been “schooled since childhood in the ways of Italian folk magic”:
Wicca began to be practiced in America in the 1960s by feminists, environmentalists and those seeking a nonstructured spirituality, according to Berger. It was a largely underground movement, but commercial books about witchcraft published in the 1980s and 1990s productions like “Charmed” and “The Craft” created a surge of interest in youth. With the ability to find communities online and the decline in affiliation with traditional religions, witchcraft began its entry into the mainstream.
Falling rates of religious attendance demonstrate correlation, if not outright causation, to rises in pagan, New Age, and Wiccan beliefs. Almost 30 percent of individuals identify as “spiritual but not religious,” according to Pew Research, while 27 percent of individuals believe in astrology, according to a poll from YouGov.
Younger generations, in particular, seem susceptible to astrology and Wiccan beliefs, according to Tara Burton:
For an increasing number of left-leaning millennials—more and more of whom do not belong to any organized religion—occult spirituality isn’t just a form of personal practice, self-care with more sage. Rather, it’s a metaphysical canvas for the American culture wars in the post-Trump era: pitting the self-identified Davids of seemingly secular progressivism against the Goliath of nationalist evangelical Christianity.
Besides being a middle finger to the perceived Christian establishment, astrology is, as most practitioners admit, tied to a desire for control over the future, signaling the general anxiety that young generations feel.
In a piece for the Atlantic, writer Julie Beck comments on this phenomenon:
It does give one a pleasing orderly sort of feeling, not unlike alphabetizing a library, to take life’s random events and emotions and slot them into helpfully labeled shelves. This guy isn’t texting me back because Mercury retrograde probably kept him from getting the message. I take such a long time to make decisions because my Mars is in Taurus. My boss will finally recognize all my hard work when Jupiter enters my tenth house. A combination of stress and uncertainty about the future is an ailment for which astrology can seem like the perfect balm.
While wedding and birth charts might seem silly, they provide critical insights into how the younger generations feel about the world around them — for better or worse. Turning to witchcraft as a means of establishing control over one’s life, however, calls to mind not peace but Eve eating the apple in the garden.
Elizabeth Crawford is a rising senior at Hillsdale College studying politics. A member of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class, Elizabeth enjoys drinking good tea and plans to pursue a career in journalism.
READ MORE:
