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Three in 10 Americans say they consult astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards, or fortune tellers at least once a year, according to a recently released Pew Research Center survey.
The survey, conducted in fall 2024, discovered that most Americans who do consult or participate in New Age practices like astrology only do so for fun, but some say they use the results of the practices to make major life decisions.
Twenty-seven percent of U.S. adults said they believe in astrology — the belief that the position of stars and planets can affect people’s lives — but young adults, and especially young women, are more likely to express the belief. Forty-three percent of young women aged 18 to 49 years old believe in astrology, compared with 20% of young men in the same age group. Women and men aged 50 or older were less likely to consult astrology (27% and 16%, respectively).
The survey also found that LGBT-identifying Americans are twice as likely as the average American to use horoscopes at least once a year (54% vs. 28%), and three times as likely to consult tarot cards (33% vs 11%). In addition, 21% of LGBT Americans said that they rely a little or more than a little on the readings from astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards, or fortune tellers to make major life decisions. Once again, LGBT women are more likely than LGBT men to consult readings.
“While there is limited academic research on the topic, media publications focused on LGBTQ+ issues have described the prevalence of New Age practices in the LGBTQ+ community,” Pew noted.
The survey discovered liberals are more likely than conservatives to consult horoscopes, tarot cards, or fortune tellers. It also found that religious and non-religious Americans are equally likely to believe in astrology. In 2024, 29% of Catholics said they believed in astrology, down slightly from a previous survey conducted in 2017, when 33% of Catholics said the same thing. Hispanic Catholics are among the groups most likely to believe in astrology.
Similar results were found regarding religious Americans’ approach to consulting astrology or horoscopes, tarot cards, and fortune tellers. Thirty-two percent of Catholics said they consulted astrology or a horoscope at least once or twice a year; 11% said the same of tarot cards; and 8% said the same about fortune tellers. Once again, Hispanic Catholics are among the most likely to say they consult astrology.
Catholic doctrine explicitly rejects all forms of divination, including horoscopes, tarot cards, and fortune tellers. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, such practices “contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.”
