Health, employment, finances… The unsuspected dangers of astrology – L’Express

Mathilde spent her entire youth under the sign of astrology. Her two parents, fervent believers, educated her in this belief that has an answer to everything. If she is too talkative and cerebral, they explain to her that it is because she is a Gemini. Too stubborn? She is a Taurus ascendant. Her strong character? She was born with the Sun conjunct Mars, the planet of war! One day in 2023, Mathilde consults a doctor who gives her a completely different diagnosis. She actually suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotional dysregulation and anxiety, the usual comorbidities of ADHD.

“I grew up with these esoteric beliefs that left no room for scientific culture, which compromised my access to reliable information in psychology and medicine and delayed my diagnosis as well as medical-psychological care,” she laments. For her, there is no doubt that astrology can have “dramatic consequences.” Serge Bret-Morel, who was a convinced astrologer before becoming one one of the fiercest criticsabounds. “I believed in it so much that I devoted the first ten years of my adult life to it, instead of developing my professional and personal life. I am still paying for it today,” he testifies.

Many French people consider astrology to be serious.

It will probably be argued that these are isolated cases, exceptions. Everyone knows that astrology is neither scientific nor serious. And if we consult horoscopes, it is simply for fun, or to see signs in which we do not really believe.

However, we would be wrong. For over forty years, surveys have been remarkably consistent: nearly 40% of French adults believe that the astrological sign exerts an influence on character. An OpinionWay survey published by L’Express last March indicates that 33% of respondents believe that astrology is a science, 20% that it “depends on the case”. The astrological services sector is doing well. A market analysis published in 2023 by a specialist firm estimated it at more than 11 billion euros worldwide in 2021, and it could reach 21 billion by 2031.

Moreover, astrology regularly appears in the media, particularly in the women’s press, and even in the world of work, where it influences decision-making. David Guetta was one of the victims.In 2011, he was awarded a Grammy for the remix of the song. Revolver Madonna. Impressed, the American star offers to produce her next album. They meet in Hollywood at lunch. Everything goes perfectly until the end, when Madonna finally asks her his astrological sign. He is a Scorpio. She is a Leo. Incompatible, she assures. The project is instantly buried.

Raymond Domenech, former coach of the French football team, used astrology when he no longer knew how to decide between two players. And he is far from being the only one. “In the 1980s and 1990s, there were a big fashion of recruitment by astrology in companies, says Serge Bret-Morel. Firms openly proposed it as an innovative technique to separate candidates.” In 2007, a study conducted by the Oasys firm showed that 5% of recruiters recognized that the candidate’s astrological sign weighed in the balance. Today, the practice seems less fashionable, but remains in use, according to testimonies in the press and social networksAnd for good reason, the legal texts do not formally prohibit it.

Stopping drug treatment

The consequences of astrology can, however, be serious. The magazine of the Gemppi association [NDLR : qui aide les victimes de dérives sectaires] published the testimony of a former astrologer revealing the many excesses of this practice, whose followers can for example be convinced to stop their drug treatments. The author also states that astrology is not only “a servitude”, but also “a drug”.

“Addiction makes it difficult to give up the practice; giving up creates a feeling of lack, relapses, it is a process of withdrawal,” he writes. “With astrology, the problem of addiction is very significant,” confirms Damien Karbovnik, doctor of sociology, teacher-researcher in the history of religions and specialist in contemporary esotericism at the University of Strasbourg. When you consult an astrologer, you very often come away with a positive, flattering, pleasant and reassuring portrait of yourself. This encourages the desire to consult at the slightest opportunity, especially if the person is in a period of doubt or fragility, after a romantic breakup or a dismissal. “The relationship between the astrologer and his client can then drift towards a phenomenon of dependence which allows them to escape existential anxieties,” adds the sociologist.

With a consultation costing between 50 and 80 euros on average, the outlet can quickly turn into a financial abyss. “This is all the more worrying because there is no ethical approach among astrologers, no ethical questioning: they claim to help their clients get better, but no conference has ever been organized to set limits,” insists Serge Bret-Morel.

“Symptom of a society in search of meaning”

Experts are also concerned about a more insidious danger. Astrology can not only immerse its followers in a system of false beliefs, but also make them more susceptible to other excesses. “Believing in astrology, even from afar, means entering into a symbolic relationship with the world, which can make one more receptive to other symbolic values, such as the power of nature, the cosmos, and energies,” explains Damien Karbovnik. Pascal Wagner-Egger, a lecturer and researcher in social psychology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), confirms: “All these beliefs are linked, because they involve accepting the existence of phenomena without sufficient proof. Each can therefore be a gateway to others.”

The rise of pseudosciences in society would also be the symptom of deeper ills, according to sociologists. “There are now initiations to sophrology or mediation in schools, diplomas and university training devoted to these same practices, so many beliefs that thus integrate our cognitive landscape and which reflect a questioning of modernity, of scientific progress, thus points out Damien Karbovnik, who sees it as “the sign of a society in full doubt, in search of meaning”. And if it is still difficult to measure the impact of this phenomenon, it is at least appropriate to question it… And to alert on its excesses.