Mysticism? There’s an App For That.
Over the past few years I’ve observed a rising interest in horoscopes among my group of friends, males and females in our mid-twenties who met during undergrad at an unaffiliated private university and now live in New York City. Some of us have only dipped our toes, taking personality tests rooted in star signs and using horoscopes as a means of structured introspection. Others among us have waited for weeks — if not months — on wait lists for calls with astrologers to the stars in hopes of guidance during our search for a purposeful career or meaningful relationship.
Recently, though, I’ve noticed this microtrend I observed among friends taking hold on a macrolevel, specifically in the digital space. Last week I had the opportunity to hear Ross Clark, the founder of Sanctuary, speak on campus at Columbia Business School. Sanctuary is an app that delivers free daily, personalized birth chart and horoscope readings in Chatbot format. Additionally, users can get a reading with an astrologer via live chat for $19.99. The founder cited impressive engagement metrics both among non-paying and paying users. When asked how he proved the viability of the concept from a business perspective, Clark cited horoscopes’ longstanding popularity on sites like Vogue.com, and peoples’ high willingness to pay as proven by the thousands of astrologers who can charge upwards of $100 per hour and are booked full-time. He saw an opportunity to take a historically fragmented industry and bring it into the digital age, just as many other uber-successful start-ups (pun intended) were started.
Sanctuary isn’t the only player making horoscopes more sophisticated, personalized, and accessible through technology. A plethora of options is available on the app store, including Co — Star, which offers “hyper-personalized astrology” powered by AI with additional features including a social aspect that allows you to see how compatible you are with your friends.
Clark’s business logic is entirely sound, but I don’t think it tells the whole story. My friends and fellow classmates who now check Sanctuary daily are not the same people who were already reading horoscopes on Vogue.com. Many would argue that this renewed interest is not unrelated to the declining importance of religion among millennials — recent surveys show 44% of 18 to 29-year-olds consider themselves “nones,” the umbrella term for agnostic, atheist, or nothing in particular. Horoscopes and religion offer similar value to believers, such as a source of optimism during times of stress, or reassurance that fate or a higher purpose rather than randomness plays some role in life. My horoscope-loving friends are religiously diverse — some grew up going to church most Sundays, some celebrated bat mitzvahs and went on birthright, while others have little religious tradition or identity. Unsurprisingly, though, none of us now consider ourselves particularly religious. So perhaps we are looking to the stars in search of meaning in life, or belief in something bigger than ourselves…
That being said, God help us if we start turning to Chatbots to feel that we are part of a community or find hope in an afterlife, both of which are defining (to say the least) pillars of religion. I believe it’s a leap to think that religion’s decreasing popularity and horoscopes’ rising star (pun intended, again) are strongly correlated; however, when you look at astrology’s digitization in the context of WeWork, Headspace, The Wing, Luminosity, even SoulCycle, you start to see how perhaps this is the latest in the define-your-life bundle that rapid innovation and the proliferation of start-ups is helping us curate. I would not be surprised if the next coworking space concept offers readings on-site in addition to lactation rooms and Pelotons. Whether astrology is a passing fad or has lasting power, for all its mysticism, its appeal is surprisingly easy to get behind. We’ve read about the power of mantras and meditation for years, and in my experience, Sanctuary and its peers are offering similar benefits without the same level of discipline or creativity. Efficient mindfulness… sounds right up our alley.
