The millennial generation is showing interest in astrology and witchcraft, in some cases as alternatives to organized religion, reports the web site Market Watch (October 23). Writer Kari Paul cites the surveys showing a growing detachment from institutional religion and notes that "more than half of young adults in the U.S. believe sociology is a science, compared to less than eight percent of the Chinese public. The psychic services industry--which includes astrology, aura reading, mediumship, tarot-card reading and palmistry, among other metaphysical services--grew 2 percent between 2011 and 2016. It is now worth $2 billion annually, according to industry analysis firm IBIS World."

One bookstore owner in New York says she has seen a major uptick in interest in the occult in the past five years. Banu Guler, the founder of the astrology app Co-Star says that when it was launched in early October, the high demand crashed the site three times in its first week. Guler cites the non-rational nature of astrology in a hyper-rationalized and mediated society as appealing to young people. Astrology is not the only area of the occult seeing high demand; the spiritual subscription service Mystic Lipstick has shown exponential growth, according to Paul. The service sells such occult items as crystals, reiki-infused bath salts, and incense customized to the unique energy of the current moon cycle. Proprietor Danielle Ayoka said that the business has seen a 75 percent increase in her audience in the past year.