– When are you due?, the housing association’s painter asked me when I became pregnant a few years ago. He closed the door of the small elevator in my building in Buenos Aires and pressed the button for the 6th floor. – June 7, I answered, before he exclaimed: – The twins! His face was far from glowing. – It is the same star sign as my mother, and she is difficult, the man in his 50s began, sharing details about his relationship with his mother. The elevator stopped. – It’s the worst zodiac sign you can have, yes, maybe apart from Taurus then, he said and went out the door. Astrology is in a renaissance, media around the world report. In Argentina, astrology appears to be particularly popular among young people between the ages of 18 and 29, popularly known as Generation Z. Photo: Pixabay Was warned often The painter’s warning did not come alone. There were several foreign Argentines who could tell me that the future baby, born in the zodiac sign of the twins, was going to be the wrong type. Even my obstetrician, who it turns out had studied astrology, could tell about the somewhat unfortunate zodiac sign, which is described as unstable, spontaneous and with a double – if not triple – personality. Once the baby was out, Argentines stopped warning against certain zodiac signs. Photo: Hilda Lishaugen Nyfløt / news Infected by “astrologitis” The Argentine fascination with astrology is perhaps best characterized as pregnant. Then you are easy prey for well-intentioned advice. Argentinians are infected by the infectious disease called “astrologitis”, jokes the Argentine comedian Federico Cyrulnik. He coined the word “astrologitis” while touring the country with his show “Horoscope” last year. The comedian, a rigid Virgo who is working on becoming more flexible, has 1.5 million followers on Instagram and has had great success imitating how the various zodiac signs behave. Comedian Federico Cyrulnik has become known for his horoscope sketches in Argentina. Here he plays Aquarius in a video on Instagram. Photo: Federico Cyrulnik/Instragram For him, the millennial generation, people born from the beginning of the 80s to the mid-90s, have thrown the Catholic Church at the door after countless stories of power and abuse that they don’t want to put up with. The Catholic Church in the country keeps losing members. The number of Catholics fell from 76 per cent to 63 per cent in the ten years to 2019, according to the research institute Conicet. At the same time, the proportion who believe in “energies” increased. Moon signs and sun signs have become a popular topic of conversation in Argentina. Photo: Hilda Lishaugen Nyfløt / news Use as a toolbox People have a need to believe in something, explains the horoscope comedian. They are looking for a mentor to improve their relationships, get better finances, have career success and become better people. “Am I on the right path in life?” they ask themselves. He himself does not believe in astrology per se, for him it is rather an excuse to open up, have conversations and be entertained. It’s like a fun personality test. A toolbox that opens to reflect. Zodiac signs, crystal balls and horoscopes have had a new spring in recent years at the same time that the world has been characterized by pandemics, political instability, wars and other crises. Photo: andriano_cz / Getty Images/iStockphoto Argentines also benefit from hearing about corrupt astrologers who abuse others, he says. Until now, these are “well-intentioned and kind” tutors who come straight home to the living room through social media. In addition, they are generously allocated slot space and TV time. Fight for liberation in the sign of Cancer “We want to know how the new year will be,” began the presenter on the popular TV channel C5N just before the New Year. In front of him in the chair sat an astrologer in a white dress and a pink, glittering sequined hat. But she wasn’t talking about the presenter’s year, it was about the state. 207-year-old Argentina fought for liberation from the Spanish under the sign of Cancer. With Liberation Day as the date of birth, the astrologer reported that the country will have to work hard and be patient in the first quarter. With one of the world’s highest inflation figures of 20.6 per cent in the first month of the year, it can come in handy. Astrologers are often interviewed on Argentine television and in national newspapers. Around the turn of the year is a holiday for astrology and forecasts, and both the state’s and the president’s prospects for 2024 were discussed in this interview on the channel C5N. Photo: Skjermdump/C5N Astrologers interviewed in other national newspapers seemed to agree. Far-right President Javier Milei will become “more extreme and radicalized due to Pluto’s movements” this year, an astrologer reported in financial newspaper El Cronista. Periodically, travel articles based on zodiac signs also appear. In the newspaper La Nacion, Argentines born under the sign of Aries, those who are active, adventurous and energetic, were recommended to spend their holiday in Tromsø to see the northern lights. One of Argentina’s largest newspapers, La Nacion, recommended its readers born under the sign of Aries to spend their holiday in Tromsø to see the northern lights. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / NTB Ten percent actively use astrology Because “you have to believe in something”, as they say in Argentina, a country of 45.8 million people. Half of Argentines have a positive view of astrology, according to a poll conducted by the consulting agency Sentimientos Públicos from last December. Nine percent use astrology to navigate their love life or to understand their own feelings, the same agency reported. Just as many resent astrology’s influence on people. Political ideology, on the other hand, has nothing to say about the interest in the starry sky. Nine percent of Argentines use astrology to orient themselves in their love life or to understand their own feelings, according to a poll by the consulting agency Sentimientos Públicos. Here the full moon is rising over the mountains of Patagonia, in the south of Argentina. Photo: Hilda Lishaugen Nyfløt / news Although the phenomenon has hardly been researched, it is agreed that urban, young people between the ages of 18 and 29, popularly called generation Z, are most concerned with the positions of the planets. In contrast to organized religion, where one looks up to God, astrology is inward-looking, and one looks at oneself. It fits into societies that are increasingly individual-oriented. Warnings about fictitious horoscopes, pseudoscience and repetitive advice seem to be bouncing off. While Norwegians ask early questions about occupation when chatting at a party, the zodiac sign is far more important to get mapped in Argentina. An astrological renaissance But the fact that Argentines find guidance in the stars is not unique. In recent years, the entire West has had a so-called astrological renaissance. Social media has ensured that. The astrology app “Co-Star” from the US provides personal advice using artificial intelligence, and has as many as 30 million users. Astrologer Mia Astral from Venezuela tells her 2.8 million followers on Instagram about the astrological weather for the next week. Photo: Mia Astral/Instagram In the Spanish-speaking world, the Venezuelan astrologer Mia Astral has a whopping 2.8 million followers on Instagram and several thousand more on TikTok. She can offer everything from “self-care tips for people with the moon sign in Aquarius” to weekly readings of the “astrological weather” in front of digital maps of the stars. Venezuelan influencer Mia Astral, or Maria Pineda as her real name is, reads the astrological forecast on social media. Photo: Screenshot/Mia Astral/Instagram Chaos increases the popularity of horoscopes The horoscope boom is also explained by an increasingly chaotic world. There are more wars, climate crisis, political instability and plenty of leaders paralyzed. There are “deepfakes” and fake news on the internet. – The greatest interest in astrology arises when social instability is greatest, religious anthropologist Susannah Crockford from Belgium explained to Spanish Vouge. If that’s true, it’s no wonder that astrology is especially popular in Argentina. There are always big and small crises here, and people are used to living in financial chaos. If the planets can give you better advice than the politicians, that is welcome. If they make some kind of cosmetic sense in difficult times, it can be a consolation. Disagree with twin warnings I myself can report that I have not yet thrown myself on the spiritual star wave. Like the Argentine Horoscope Comedian, I am after all a rigid Virgo who is working on becoming more flexible. What I can say, however, is that children born under the sign of the twins are the nicest people there are.
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Astrology boom among young people in Argentina – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
