The stars may not hold their fate, but they may hold their next date. A 2024 study from The Harris Poll Thought Leadership Practice finds most Americans believe at least somewhat in astrology—and strong majorities, especially among Millennials, say astrology literally makes or breaks their romances.

The findings are based on a January 2024 survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,069 U.S. adults across all demographic groups: Gen Z (ages 18-26), Millennials (ages 27-42), Gen X (ages 43-58) and Boomers (ages 59 and older).

Among the key findings: A strong majority of Americans (85 percent) feel either positive or neutral about astrology, and about six in 10 agree that “astrology provides comfort in uncertain times by serving as a reassuring friend for those seeking guidance.”

“As people seek to try to navigate today’s implausible uncertainty and misinformation, astrology for many has become one source of trusted or at least considered advice,” said Libby Rodney, Chief Strategy Officer and Futurist at The Harris Poll. “We especially found it interesting in the realm of dating, where over half of Millennials consult the signs before going out on a date, and four in 10 have actually canceled a date due to an undesired sign.”

Imagine receiving a text message that says, “Sorry, my horoscope advised me not to come,” or “The stars got in the way,” while you are waiting for a date who never shows up! Yet Millennials believe their faith in astrology pays off: Well over half of them say astrology has improved their dating life and almost two-thirds say it has improved their relationships.

In addition, majorities say they have consulted or would consult the stars for self-care, health or relationship advice, and nearly half would do so for help on life choices or career.

Accessing horoscopes has evolved significantly from the days of daily newspapers. Today, people can find them through astrology websites, phone apps, email subscriptions, podcasts and social media.

For instance, the astrological social networking service Co-Star features an “astrology machine” that provides customized horoscopes. The machine “features a large circular screen with a moon on it, and little dials that indicate where the planets were at the time of your birth and where they are now,” a Bustle article stated. “But the real magic takes place on a smaller screen that includes a list of pre-written questions for you to have answered based on your birth chart.

“To receive your personalized answers, you’ll need to input your birth date, month, and year, as well as the time and city in which you were born…In the end, your answer is printed on a piece of receipt paper, almost like a little souvenir.”

While fun and entertainment were the biggest reasons people in the study said they engaged with astrology, nearly a third said astrology helps them understand themselves better or is a tool for self-reflection.

For Millennials, astrology can even be an alternative to “traditional” religion—about a third say astrology “gives me something bigger than myself to believe in,” and most say more of their peers believe in astrology than they do in religion.

What fuels the fascination with astrology? The Bible reveals what is behind its appeal and whether the Creator of the stars ever intended them to guide your life decisions.

Believers and Skeptics

Believers in astrology seek their predictions or horoscopes, which, according to Astronomy.com, “are based on the signs of the zodiac, a loose collection of constellations that the Sun passes through each year. This itself is a form of astrology, which claims that heavenly objects, especially the positions of the Moon, Sun, and planets with respect to the constellations, can determine and even predict our lives.”

In the Harris Poll, half of Americans say they “believe somewhat” in astrology, finding it fun and interesting to learn about, but not all true. But nearly one in five are “total believers,” saying they identify with astrological meanings and predictions.

Gen Z was, in one way, the generation most skeptical of astrology: More than half say they “judge people who take astrology too seriously,” compared to 38 percent of all respondents.

The Harris Poll corrects a common misconception that astrology is a “girl thing”: Men are as likely as women to be “total believers,” more likely to consult astrology for guidance, more likely to pay for astrology, and pay more for it on average.

A Time article titled “Where Do Zodiac Signs Come From? Here’s the True History Behind Your Horoscope” explains, “While some horoscope sites may promise predictions based on the ‘movement’ of the stars, it’s important to remember that it’s the Earth that’s moving, not the stars. The reason why stars look like they’re moving, both throughout the night and over the course of the year, is because the Earth rotates on its axis and orbits around the Sun. But, before most humans knew that, they spent a lot of time thinking about what was happening up there in the sky.”

Consider the incredibly slim chances that an object light-years away could impact a person on Earth. It is equivalent to believing that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the Amazon could trigger a typhoon in Japan!

Yet the belief that the positions and movements of celestial bodies, like stars and planets, can influence human events and personalities dates all the way back to ancient Babylon.

William Langer’s An Encyclopedia of World History states: “When Babylon became a great metropolis and the capital of an empire, its god Marduk acquired a new importance and…became the supreme god of the pantheon and was later called Bel [the ‘Baal’ referenced in the Bible]…The most characteristic and influential features of Babylonian religion, aside from its mythology, were the elaborate systems of magical practices (incantations) and the interpretation of omens (divination), particularly the movements and position of the heavenly bodies (astrology), the actions of animals, and the characteristics of the liver of sacrificial victims.”

From Babylon, astrology spread to Egypt, Greece, India, China, Rome, Byzantium and even Iran and the Islamic world.

Astronomy.com explains, “For millennia, astronomy and astrology were synonymous.” It later adds, “By the 1800s, however, astrology began to separate from astronomy. By that time astronomers had discovered two new planets in the solar system, and began to realize that a) there were a lot more stars than we had previously thought and b) those stars were impossibly far away. Armed with a newfound understanding of the gravitational force, they realized that the planets and stars could have no influence whatsoever on our Earthly lives, and the profession of astronomy began to focus more on the physics of the cosmos rather than astrological predictions.”

Astrology has experienced numerous resurgences throughout history. The concept of daily newspaper horoscopes became widely accepted after London’s Sunday Express published an astrological profile in a 1930 feature about Princess Margaret’s birth. This trend saw a significant boost in the late 1960s when the counterculture movement, fueled by a fascination with Eastern mysticism, alternative spiritual practices and the use of psychoactive drugs, embraced astrology.

Astrology and the Bible

We saw that some people believe in astrology more than religion. Is there a conflict between the Bible and this practice? Are these belief systems compatible? Many Christians, for example, do not see a problem with reading their horoscope from time to time.

The Bible says, “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them” (Jer. 10:2).

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines the Hebrew word for “heaven” in this verse as “the sky (…aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve)…air…astrologer…”

Verse 3 gives the reason we should not “learn” it: “For the customs of the people are vain.” The word translated “vain” here means: “emptiness or vanity; figuratively something transitory and unsatisfactory…” (Strong’s).

Astrology would have been popular back in ancient times, yet the Bible shows God does not want us to get involved with it, because it is vanity, or emptiness.

Centuries before Jeremiah’s writing, God warned ancient Israel as they were getting ready to enter the land He had promised them: “Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves…Lest you corrupt yourselves…And lest you lift up your eyes unto heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord your God has divided unto all nations under the whole heaven” (Deut. 4:15-16, 19).

Worshipping heavenly bodies does not require people to physically prostrate themselves before them. By simply regarding them as having supernatural power to influence life decisions, personality, moods, etc., a person is granting some control over their life to those physical things. God considers this worship.

Another verse states, “And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God…and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal” (II Kgs. 17:16). Here the Bible underscores the connection between astrology and Baal.

This sampling of verses clearly shows that God does not approve of astrology. He condemns it in the strongest terms.

Spirit of Divination

Acts 16 contains a fascinating account of God’s servants being met by “a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination…which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying” (vs. 16). This verse exposes the real driving force behind any form of divination, “soothsaying,” or foretelling, such as astrology. A spirit influences those who do it.

It is interesting that the English word “divination” can be traced back to a Latin word that means “to be inspired by a god” (etymonline.com). Since He condemns divination, this cannot be speaking of the true God of the Bible.

II Corinthians 4:4 speaks of “the god of this world” who has “blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” The context shows this is speaking of Satan the devil. Did you realize that the Bible refers to this being, who can blind people from the truth, as a “god”? That should sober you. Satan, the counterfeit “god of this world,” is the spirit behind astrology.

Acts 16:16 also shows there is “much gain” for those in the business. Even today, the Harris Poll shows that Americans’ overall belief in astrology is strong enough that people will pay—often a lot—for astrology content and services. Nearly three in 10 Americans pay monthly for astrological content, with median spending between $20 and $49 per month—and one in six pays $100 a month or more. That trend is even stronger for Millennials, where more than half said they pay for astrology content.

The rest of the story in Acts shows that when the apostle Paul cast out the evil spirit from the damsel, “her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone” (vs. 19), which led to God’s true servants being beaten and thrown in prison.

Why then are so many people—even Bible readers—still drawn to astrology?

Spiritual Void

Psalm 84:2 begins to answer: “My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God.” Read also Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

These verses illustrate that human beings have a spiritual void.

Romans 15 adds how this void should be filled: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit” (vs. 13). This scripture shows that this spiritual void is only meant to be filled by God’s Holy Spirit. Without it, we remain hopeless, looking for answers from above.

Think: If people did not have this void, they would not be compelled to look to the stars for answers, because they would already have all the answers themselves!

In his book The Awesome Potential of Man, Real Truth Editor-in-Chief David C. Pack expands on this missing spiritual component: “Without the Spirit of God, people are simply incomplete. Their existence remains limited to what they can acquire on their own without God’s help. Thus, vast amounts of spiritual knowledge remain beyond reach.”

This is the little-understood reason that drives people to tap into various forms of divination, such as astrology. Astrology capitalizes on the basic human need to fill that spiritual void. Yet having access to the Holy Spirit is not a magic pill that one can pop whenever needed. It involves nurturing a genuine relationship with the living God of the Bible.

Jesus said in John 14:21, “He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”

In this context, He adds in verse 26 that “the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, he shall teach you all things…”

“Ten Times Better”

Astrology offers a quick and superficial alternative to a proper relationship with God—a mere spiritual “empty calorie snack” rather than the deep connection found through obedience to God’s Law.

While astrology may provide a temporary, cheap fix for spiritual emptiness, why settle for worshipping the stars when you can worship the Creator who made them? Why rely on a horoscope when you have access to God’s Word? Why choose a fleeting solution when you can have your spiritual void filled by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Stars can be useful for navigation if you are out at sea without a GPS or admiring God’s vast universe. However, relying on them to guide life’s decisions is both unscientific and unbiblical.

The book of Daniel, written while he was in captivity in Babylon, where astrology is historically traced back to, illustrates the stark contrast between four of God’s servants versus astrologers. The passage records that “among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm” (1:19-20).

Astrology pales in comparison to the wisdom and guidance available through the Holy Spirit. You will also find God’s wisdom “ten times better” than anything astrology can offer. You can have access to God now if you are willing to seek Him. And we are here to assist you in that journey.

To learn more, read or order The Awesome Potential of Man.

This article contains information from The Associated Press.