Fixing the fault in our stars
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The moment he realised he’d called it wrong and Donald Trump was going to be the next US President, the “Nostradamus of US elections" Allan Lichtman held his head in his hands and declared that “democracy is gone". He’d got nine elections right in the past based on a model of reading historical patterns, but it’s certainly telling that so many people placed so much stock in his placid belief (despite the misogyny of the average American) that Kamala Harris would win.
We all love predictions. They give us hope. They give us a sense of control over outcomes far in the future.
They make us think we could actually adult. Looking into the future, or claiming that one can, is a big business, especially in India and especially when catering to 30-somethings who have lived through a global recession, unimaginable terror attacks, a pandemic, massive climate change events, and a few wars since their teenage years. With everything seeming to be in flux, they are turning to all sorts of mystical practices—from astrology and tarot card reading to divination and manifestation—to calm their anxieties and quiet any forebodings.
None of these are new—after all, most Indians have an astrological chart or an aunt twice removed who can “read signs and colours"—but today’s practitioners are blending wellness with mysticism for an audience that wants to believe they understand why they’re wearing a particular amulet. In a reported piece, Pooja Singh explains why millennials and post-millennials are putting their faith in healers of all kinds, and the ways in which these occult practitioners are adapting their old methods and vocabulary to Gen Y and Z speak, Reels and AI avatars. It’s a story that captures
. Read more on livemint.com
