Gift this article
Ayaan Deshpande has a plan. Within the next three years, before he turns 30, he wants to buy a three-bedroom apartment in Mumbai, find a partner and make enough money to travel the world. To ensure he’ll achieve it all, he regularly seeks help from a set of “guides"—a tarot-card reader, a numerologist and an astrologer, spending about ₹15,000-20,000 a month on their services.
Ayaan Deshpande has a plan. Within the next three years, before he turns 30, he wants to buy a three-bedroom apartment in Mumbai, find a partner and make enough money to travel the world. To ensure he’ll achieve it all, he regularly seeks help from a set of “guides"—a tarot-card reader, a numerologist and an astrologer, spending about ₹15,000-20,000 a month on their services.
Last week, Deshpande decided to meet a Hinge date only after a tarot-card reading suggested the possibility of it becoming a long-term relationship. A year ago, he added an extra “a" to his first name after a numerologist said it would help his health and business, a family-owned fabric shop, flourish. His astrologer is on speed dial if he needs to know whether the stars are aligned for him to invest in a particular company’s stock.
Last week, Deshpande decided to meet a Hinge date only after a tarot-card reading suggested the possibility of it becoming a long-term relationship. A year ago, he added an extra “a" to his first name after a numerologist said it would help his health and business, a family-owned fabric shop, flourish. His astrologer is on speed dial if he needs to know whether the stars are aligned for him to invest in a particular company’s stock.
“Had you met me three years ago, I would have said, ‘This is all some weird voodoo stuff’," laughs Deshpande, an electrical engineer by education, sitting in his shop in Mumbai’s Dadar. “I’m an Aquarius, so naturally I’m supposed to be sceptical of astrology and such mystical things, but here I am," he says, pointing to the gold-like pyrite bracelet stacked on his wrist with a black Tissot watch, and his yellow shirt. Pyrite, a crystal, apparently “attracts wealth", and wearing yellow on Thursdays “brings luck, prosperity and peace of mind". “You should wear that on Saturdays," he says, pointing to my black shirt. “That colour is associated with Saturn."
Deshpande’s interest in “stars and planetary positions" started in late 2021 after a friend encouraged him to consult an astrologer online. It had been a “dark" year—Deshpande had met with a near-fatal accident, lost two family members to covid, and split up with his childhood sweetheart. “I would have done anything at the time to feel like there was some hope," recalls Deshpande. That one-hour astrology session assured his “open-minded side of the brain that maybe there is healing and meaning to be found in the wisdom of the universe".
Also read: The death of the best friend
He now follows a strict routine: wake up, meditate, read his personalised astrology prediction from various astro websites in his inbox, then start the day. Before sleeping, he chants mantras to keep his “chakras aligned" and writes the manifestation journal entry of the day. “I have become a caricature of someone I swore I’d never be," says Deshpande, whose parents also strongly believe in faith-based practices. “But all this gives me something nothing else can: certainty of a happy future."
The search for a similar certainty using practices that fall outside the scope of established science and organised religion is growing across the country, especially among stressed-out youngsters. These practices, or modalities, include astrology, tarot card reading, manifestation, crystals and sound therapy—all part of a big universe called the occult sciences. If astrology uses math and intuition to demystify the influence of the planets and stars on earthly affairs, tarot cards, printed with pictures depicting characters and virtues, can give instant answers to questions about your future. Crystals and sound therapy, on the other hand, work on the concept of how different stones and sounds have healing powers to ward off negative energies. Manifestation, a now-viral social media phenomenon, is supposed to help turn desires into reality through visualisation and chanting.
There are no numbers to reflect the rise in interest among Gen Y (millennials) and Gen Z (post-millennials), since the industry of occult sciences is not regulated. Data by market research firm IMARC Group states the size of India’s religious and spiritual market was $60 billion last year, and is likely to expand at a CAGR, or compounded annual growth rate, of 8.82% during 2024-32. It does not offer specific numbers for occult-related services.
Conversations with industry players certainly point towards an upward movement. Whether it’s astro-tech platforms like Astrotalk, AstroSage and Astroyogi, independent individuals offering faith-based services, or brands offering gemstone- and crystal-enhanced jewellery, accessories, candles and elixirs, each claim to be adding more people in their 20s and 30s to their customer base. Such is the rise that practitioners and platforms are now trying to make their services more attractive for the modern client, both online and offline.
There’s an AI-generated tarot card reader, for example, which you can consult to know whether your crush has a soft spot for you. Or a crystal-charged necklace that might help your sister ace her first job interview. An Instagram Reel can help you understand why changing your name by a letter can increase social media followers.
Or you can watch a YouTube video by a spirit medium—one that connects with the dead—to learn that the reason your fourth marriage failed is probably because you were cursed by a jilted lover in a past life.
On the basis of your stars, planets and energies, you can find answers to all kinds of questions. Just invest some time, and a lot of money, and there’s something for any wish, need or desire.
There’s no established science here. Whether these things work depends on your level of faith.
“Young people were curious about their future earlier as well. Money, love, marriage—the same issues concerned the parents and the grandparents of today’s generation," says Meena Kapoor, founder-chief executive of Astroyogi, which used to offer astrology services to websites like Yahoo! and MSN in the 2000s. Today, in its app avatar, Astroyogi caters to over 10 million customers in 170 countries. About 65% of their clients are over the age of 25; the rest, 18-25.
“The only difference now is that the young generations want to know answers to the smallest of things," says Kapoor. “It’s like occult sciences have become their crutch whenever things get a little tough."
Some seem to be using it as a decision-making tool or an aid for positive reinforcement, rather than a rough guide, going by the questions Kapoor says young people seek answers to: “What does my partner think of me?", “Why is my boss not approving my ideas?", “Should I change my job?"
MEME OR MAGIC?
The trend of more youngsters moving towards occult sciences began during the pandemic, says Manoj Kumar Sharma, professor of clinical psychology at Bengaluru’s National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Nimhans). Two years ago, he co-authored an article, published in the International Journal Of Social Psychiatry, on how excessive engagement with astrological services or “fortune-telling addiction", triggered by covid, is indicating a risk of adverse mental health consequences “such as the compulsion to seek consultations, increasing distress, excessive spending, and continuation of these activities despite such dysfunctions".
The world has become more fixated with the future, says Sharma.
“Covid brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives, and that uncertainty hasn’t gone away. Global warming, wars, job layoffs—there’s too much mess all around even though we are living in a meticulously organised world," he says. “So, turning to unreality becomes a sweet escape, a way to find some control, validation and hope that eventually life will get better."
Besides the virus, a big reason for the rise of mystical services is accessibility. A couple no longer needs to go to a palmist sitting outside a temple under a tree to know if they are meant for each other.
Just download an app, enter details, and within minutes, you’ll see the answer. Want a personalised prediction of the day? It’s a swipe away.
“Occultism is showing young Indians the way forward," believes Indrrajeet Kashyap, publicly known as Gurudev Shrie Kashyap. He’s the founder and chair of Delhi-based All India Institute of Occult Science, which offers online courses on astrology, vastu, tarot, numerology and the Japanese form of therapy, reiki. The two-decade-old institute currently has 1,000 students worldwide, mostly in the 20-30 age group. Five years ago, the majority were in the 30-plus age bracket. “Today’s generation has more wants and less patience; they are the ‘worried generation’," Kashyap says. “And whenever someone doesn’t find peace in the tangible aspects of life, they start looking outside; it’s human nature."
OLD POTIONS, NEW BOTTLES
Mystical practices have enamoured India for generations. Since 1500 BCE, astrology has been offering a connection between the cosmos and human nature. Tarot card reading, mediumship, numerology and manifestation have become trendy now, but they too have been around for centuries.
Family pandits continue to make astrological charts for newborn children. Sun sign predictions still enjoy prime real estate in newspapers and magazines, both online and print. News channels bring a pandit to live TV on actor Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday to tell viewers what the year will bring for him. Even celebrities go through the pain of changing their names, hoping for more fame. Model Kendall Jenner has openly talked about how sound therapy helps calm her anxiety and how she manifests for a better life.
Social media has helped glamourise all things occult, while also making it easy to snack on. Memes like “Oh, you are such a Libra" or “I’m in blah mood... it must be full moon today" are shared as pebbles, tokens of affection in internet slang, via DMs among friends and co-workers.
Occult-related information checks many boxes for viral-happy content: eye-catching mixed-media collages, crisp videos to understand why mercury is adamantly stuck in retrograde, or visuals of cute rose quartz Mandarin ducks that can convince the viewer that placing a pair of them in the bedroom can lead to love. It’s the repackaging of old notions in new forms by traditional practitioners trying to vibe with a modern clientele.
Neera Sareen, 60, is currently preparing a set of professionally shot Reels for her Instagram. Just before we meet at her south Delhi centre, Aum Karma: International School for Holistic Studies, she was recording a video, beside a ring light, on the “importance of a spiritual gym".
“Everybody is going to the gym to build their physical health, what about their mental and spiritual health? Nobody talks about that," says Sareen, a spiritual coach, a teacher and an international master of intuitive predictive sciences, aka occult sciences. Her gel nails match her white-collared dress with sleeves transparent enough to show the five “Om" tattoos on her arms. “I have 108 Om tattoos," she says. “It’s the sound I most vibe with; it can bring peace almost instantly. I was a healer in my past five lives. In this life too, I am a healer, and will continue to be in real and reel life."
The “Om" is everywhere in the office—behind her, next to the pictures of tarot card angels; on the wall covered with Sanskrit chants; on the table next to four crystal balls, decks of tarot cards, books, crystals and an aventurine tortoise; and in the “angels altar", the adjacent room, full of statues of well, angels, where Sareen “communicates with the idols" as part of a therapy that belongs in the expansive universe of occult sciences. By paying ₹5,100 (for 60 minutes), you can call upon an angel, via Sareen, to protect you during a difficult time.
When Sareen started reading tarot cards close to 30 years ago, clients wanted to know if they would find success in career and marriage. Today, teenagers and young adults come from across India and countries like Canada and the UK for tarot readings with specific questions.
Recently, a young woman asked Sareen to do a crystal-gazing session to help her find her pet shih tzu. “We are not here to give answers," says Sareen. “We are here to guide you to lead a better life."
That’s advice Priya Kaul, an author, healer and spiritual life coach, gives each time a client asks her for a “switch word". It’s a term that’s supposed to help you in manifestation. Want to stop being a chronic worrier? Try chanting “purge negative". Wish to boost your business prospects? “Prosopiere". Keen to increase your Instagram followers? “Precious Proud Queen Sheband Shine Hole". Can’t get rid of the extra inches? “Create Perfect Curve Praise Be Polish". Practitioners like Kaul channelise words with energy through meditation, based on the client’s needs. Of course, these “switch words" won’t give instant results. They just help you get into the mood. “The chanting is like self-talk and reminding your subconscious mind again and again to keep yourself motivated," says Kaul, who is based in the National Capital Region and also practises mediumship. “Remember that Shah Rukh Khan song, "Chand Taare Todd Laun? He’s basically manifesting."
Often when Kaul conducts career coaching sessions at Delhi government schools and colleges, children approach her, fascinated about her craft. “The perception (towards occult sciences) has changed. We aren’t seen as some witches wearing black clothes and doing black magic," says Kaul. “If you keep your communication casual and less dense on technical terms, you can reach more people. More so now when there’s a genuine desire to learn and understand age-old occult sciences."
Also read: The lives of India’s baby influencers
Mussorie-based architect Manisha Walia has been consulting with astrologers and tarot card readers for the past two years, with questions revolving around one thing: Will she ever find love? “(Not finding a partner) is the biggest stress of my life right now," says Walia, 28. “I don’t want to end up alone." She’s currently learning how to become a tarot card reader by watching videos.
The desire to learn applies to newer practices such as theta healing as well. Born in the 1990s, theta healing is a meditation technique that offers physical, psychological, spiritual and emotional healing by accessing the subconscious mind. To illustrate, let’s say you are trying hard to become famous but nothing is working. So, you decide to seek a theta-healing session. “Chances are your subconscious is stopping you from being famous because in your past life, you’d come under fire for being famous," says Ruchira Puri Pujari, 58, a Bengaluru-based theta healer.
Eight years ago, when she started offering such services, she attracted just the curious. At present, she’s booked for two months. She charges ₹9,500 per session. “Now people come because they are invested in understanding how different practices work and how it can help them," says Puri Pujari, whose clients largely fall in the 25-50 age group.
If you listen to conversations among friends, family, colleagues and strangers, chances are you’ll find at least one person blaming their “rahu antardasha (sub-period of a celestial body in astrology)" for the roller-coaster ride that their life is currently, or that they’ve decided to wear a black obsidian crystal to get rid of emotional blockages.
Or as Mamta Gupta likes to put it: “The new cool is to have faith in a power outside one’s control." She’s the co-founder of Zariin Jewellery and is preparing for the late-November launch of her new crystals-focused brand, Urja (energy in Hindi) by Zariin. On offer in the first phase will be minimalistic bracelets, like those made of citrine (for happiness) and malachite (a success magnet) charged under moonlight, so they can cater to the demands of all genders. Each piece will come with a guide, informing the wearer to “connect" with it by “breathing into the crystals".
The brand plans to keep the prices within the ₹3,500-10,000 range, with a focus on the younger consumer. “Crystals have been around since the Harappa civilisation, but not many people have been trying to make it fun while highlighting its wellness properties," says Gupta, 43, explaining the reason behind the new outing after establishing Zariin in 2010. “We are not just selling jewellery, we are also selling energy. The market is quite ready; customers want to show they are wearing crystals for fashion and because they care for their mental, physical and spiritual well-being," she says.
It’s a change Puneet Gupta, co-founder and chief executive of Astrotalk, has observed closely in the past 12 months. The seven-year-old online marketplace for services related to astrology, tarot and numerology, which closed a $14 million funding led by Elev8 Venture Partners in June, has always worked on word-of-mouth marketing, since there has been a fair amount of secrecy or shame attached to consulting an astrologer. But now they are getting video testimonials, says Noida-based Gupta. “Honestly, even I am surprised."
A reason for the shift, he believes, is the wave of astro-influencers. “Everyone is consuming social media. At some point, you’ll get some kind of mysticism-related content that will assure you there’s light at the end of the tunnel and, even if you are a non-believer, it will intrigue you," says Gupta, 35. “In the end, everyone wants a happy ending, and almost everybody likes a happy shortcut." Over 1.2 million customers, mostly in the 25-34 age bracket, log in every day into Astrotalk, which offers services of 20,000-plus astrologers.
EVERYDAY QUESTIONS
Tanishka Vats, 26, a PR professional, is one of them. Thrice a week, she logs into Astrotalk at night after work, to speak with a tarot card reader to know her “vibes these days", or an astrologer if she wants to know “where life is headed". She follows enough Instagram and YouTube accounts to tell you that her “rahu and Venus are in the seventh house, making her a hopeless romantic and likely to be cheated on", and that her childhood was emotionally difficult because “moon ki dasha chal rahi thi" (in other words, the influence of the moon was the highest on the horoscope). She spends about ₹4,000-5,000 a week to make sense of her past, present and future.
“I have been into occult stuff since 2016 just out of curiosity," says Vats. “We, as a generation, are more anxious, lonelier and lazy, and then we want more things faster than ever. Where do you think we will find some sense of calm with so much going on inside our heads and outside in the world?"
So convinced is Vats about the power of occult sciences that she made her teenage brother learn about stars and planets. Now, he’s hooked to numerology videos on YouTube. “Imagine he used to make fun of me," laughs Vats. “Now, we have long discussions about which planet is affecting his day or mine."
Cryptic life guidance is one thing. Moving from human astrologers to AI chatbots is a whole new different territory. AstroSage, an AI-powered online astrology platform, will, in a few weeks, roll out AI avatars of Gen Z astrologers to “calm the new-age curiosity". Hoodie-wearing Ryder Eclipse, for example, will be “that one mate who knows your stars and zodiac better than you." Tarot reader Astrid Wave’s “tarot deck will wave off all the problems in your life!" Founder Punit Pandey is convinced the young avatars will be a hit. “In one or two years, people will start asking even about the day-to-day things, like ‘Where should I go today?’ If there was a human astrologer, you wouldn’t ask such mundane questions, but if there’s AI, then it’s going to be completely private," says Pandey. “It’s already happening abroad but here the awareness isn’t there yet. We will catch up soon."
IN THE COSMOS
It’s not all sun sign banter. A worrying trend has emerged in the relationship of practitioners of occult sciences and businesses that are trying to ride the mysticism wave: overdependence. It’s something the 2022 NIMHANS article pointed out too: “Individuals demonstrate salience and mood modification, in which astrology becomes the most important activity in their schedule, and they feel relieved afterwards," it states. “They develop an increased urge to contact fortune-tellers over time, demonstrating tolerance, and they continue to spend their money and time on it. If there is a gap between consultation or if the person tries to quit or stop, they may experience discomfort similar to withdrawal symptoms and will be more likely to relapse and resume their former habit of consultation."
While the NIMHANS article is restricted to astrology, it’s not a stretch to believe that such fixation can extend to other practices as well, especially when the offerings are being tailored to match demands of a consumer who’s stressed and vulnerable. Half of Gen Zs and millennials in India “feel anxious/stressed, with both groups above the global average. Burnout levels are up since last year", concluded Deloitte Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, based on responses of 22,856 individuals from 44 countries.
Udaipur’s Diksha Singh, 27, often feels like she’s a “therapist" to many of her clients. “People believe in higher power more than they believe in themselves," says Singh, an astrologer and a palmist who has a PhD in pharmaceuticals. It’s a feeling she gets whether she’s consulting on platforms like Astrotalk or doing private sessions. Most of her clients approach her after watching her Instagram Reels. Recently, a 14-year-old asked her “When will my friend talk to me?" “They are looking for a connection with someone with whom they have no connection. Plus, they think this person (referring to herself) can also help them with a magic trick that can solve their problems."
Perhaps the biggest takeaway while unravelling how the occult sciences are increasingly becoming a source of self-care for people is the rising levels of unhappiness. All the independent practitioners and founders of astrotech platforms quoted in this story said the majority of their clients are not happy with their lives.
To ward off the negative energy, Delhi’s tarot reader Sneha Jain, 31, does chakra balancing meditation at night before sleeping and washes her hands with salt after every session. “Ninety-nine per cent of people who come to me are sad," she says over a call. “The world seems to have become more touchy," she says, meaning everyone is emotionally fragile. “They are forgetting that 70% might be what your planet says, but 30% is the karma you do that shapes your life."
Like Tanishka Vats, Deshpande well understands that a polished crystal or tarot card might not end up bringing them the exact amount of love, money and wellness they desire. Worse, it might not bring them a thing. “But then none of us know anything about anything," says Deshpande. “Why not be open to the possibility of hope?"
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Get the latest financial, economic and market news, instantly.
{{^adFree}}
{{/adFree}}