Chicago prepares for high-profile visitors and protesters ahead of DNC
The area around the United Center is being cleaned while inside the stage is set and chairs are lined up on the floor.
CHICAGO ― As a child, Rebecca Rivera would sneak away to the bathroom in her grandma’s house with that week’s copy of TVNotas – a Mexican magazine – in hand. Never mind the latest telenovela gossip. Desperate, she flipped to the back for her horoscope.
Rivera dove deeper into learning astrology – hoping to better understand who she was as a person as she entered adulthood.
It wasn’t until May of this year that the 24-year-old even thought about how the stars and the planets could affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. But one day scrolling through TikTok, sometime after former President Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts in his New York criminal hush money trial, she stumbled across an astrologer reading presidential candidates’ charts.
“Looking into astrology is kind of giving me hope on the way that the elections might go,” said Rivera, a Leo Sun, the sign that aligns with the month and date a person is born.
Rivera is among a growing number of millennials and Gen Z voters who have found faith in astrology. Following the divisive 2016 presidential election, an isolating COVID-19 pandemic and now another tense presidential cycle, more young voters are looking to the practice to find “hope” as November’s general election nears.
A Pew Research study published last year found that a majority (70%) of adults in the United States consider themselves “spiritual” in some way – following a trend where American adults are less likely to identify as religious. Roughly a quarter (26%) of U.S. adults also believe that spirits or spiritual energy can be in items such as crystals, jewels or stones.
While voters are not using astrology to decide whether they are going to vote, many leading astrologers and some voters said they hope it will allow them to better understand the outcome.
Renée Watt, a 36-year-old astrologer based in Portland, Oregon, said people who believe in astrology “are looking for something other than graphs or polls or news media outlets to sort of prepare themselves or find hope for what’s to come” during a tense presidential election.
The election this year has been steeped with unprecedented challenges. Trump survived an assassination attempt after a bullet grazed his ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential campaign last month following a shaky performance at a presidential debate in late June against Trump, who has a Gemini sun, a Leo rising and a Sagittarius moon. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has a Libra sun, a Gemini rising and an Aries moon, catapulted to the top of the ticket. And on top of that, divisions across the country have deepened.
“It’s this sort of meeting of spirituality and wanting to feel safe in your country,” Watt said.
This isn’t the first time astrology and politics have been linked together.
“Astrology and predicting election outcomes has always been, has always been part of society,” Watt said, adding that other political leaders would “refer to their astrologists for information on how they can avoid famine or strategize in war.”
“Astrologers have always had their hat in the political arena at some level,” Watt said.
Astrology, which has been around since the first dynasty of Mesopotamia and became a practice around the 18th century, has gone through waves of popularity in the U.S. mainstream. Horoscopes were first being published in newspapers around the 1930s. But birth charts – or just knowing your “Big Three” – have filtered in as a key part of the American lexicon. It’s become a common question when meeting new people: what’s your name, where do you live, and what’s your sign? (This reporter is a Taurus sun, Gemini rising, and Virgo moon, for those wondering.)
During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan had his own astrologer, Joan Quigley – or at least his wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan, began consulting with Quigley following the assassination attempt of the Republican president.
Lisa Stardust, a leading astrologer based in New York City, said the Reagans used Quigley to help map out his events like when Ronald Reagan discussed the Iran-Contra affair.
“He did that during the void moon on purpose so that he wouldn’t get a lot of fallback,” Stardust said.
Quigley, in her own book entitled “What Does Joan Say?,” outlined her relationship with the Reagans during their time in the White House, from the timing of Reagan’s speeches and public appearances to overhauling Nancy Reagan’s image.
“Not since the days of the Roman emperors, and never in the history of the United States presidency, has an astrologer played such a significant role in the nation’s affairs of State,” Quigley wrote in her book.
But now, the role that astrology is mostly playing in politics is helping voters understand and cope with what is happening.
A majority of Americans find comfort and relief in astrology, according to the Harris Poll Thought Leadership Practice released in February. And nearly all (95%) of Americans at the very least know their astrological sign, the poll found.
And while more than half (58%) seek astrology for mainly entertainment, when broken down by age, 31% of millennials said they lean towards astrology to seek meaning and 28% said to seek direction, according to the Harris poll, a company that has surveyed behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963.
“This election is a very powerful moment,” said Sarah Potter, an astrologer based in New York. “People are curious and they’re thirsty for knowledge, and so we’re going to look for it wherever we can.”
But voters aren’t just looking for comfort and guidance on what could happen in the election. Some are hoping that astrology can predict the outcome.
“People generally are feeling more anxious about the outcome of this election, because we’re seeing two very different pathways before us,” said Catherine Urban, a professional astrologer based in Cleveland, Ohio. “And if astrology is worth its salt, then we should be able to see you know what’s coming next.”
Urban was among several astrologers who said they began forecasting Harris’ rise in politics over the past several years. After sealing the vice presidency, Urban said she began looking at Harris’ chart because of the significance of the moment: First female vice president and first woman of color to hold the seat.
“I could say with confidence years ago that her political career would continue to grow in prominence,” Urban said. “But you know, once you become vice president, where do you go from there?”
And while Harris has some lucky energy surrounding her this year, Stardust, the astrologer, said so does her political opponent, Trump. Both Harris and Trump have Gemini in their charts, which means “both have lucky energy happening” this year.
Another key thing happening this year: the United States is experiencing a Pluto return right now. Humans never experience it, as it takes more than 200 years to occur. But it’s another element that astrologers say will affect the presidential election, saying that it indicates a period of death and rebirth.
Urban said the Pluto return also means a “complete breakdown of the system.” Trump, whose win in 2016 shocked many in Washington D.C., has been “a huge emblem” of ushering in this period that the United States is experiencing.
“I’m still kind of into formulating my prediction for what happens after this election, looks a little messy,” Urban said. She added that Harris’ sun and moon in her natal chart share the same degrees as the United States’ Pluto, meaning Harris could “play a part in” ushering this new period.
But for some voters, it’s not about what the stars or planets are saying. It’s just coming down to the candidate.
Rivera, who lives in Washington D.C., wasn’t going to even vote this year. Neither Biden nor Trump deserved her vote, she said. But now, with Harris at the top of the ticket, she can’t wait to cast her ballot.
“She seems ready to lead and she’s willing to have uncomfortable conversations,” she said, adding that she wants to see that the United States is capable of having a female president.
That may not be written in the stars. But for Rivera, it’s enough.
