Pew study finds astrology, tarot, fortune-telling are popular: How should Catholics respond?
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CNA Staff, May 24, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
About 1 in 3 Americans are turning to New Age practices like tarot cards, astrology, and fortune tellers at least once a year, a recent study found — but most say it’s “just for fun.”
A study published by Pew Research on Wednesday found that 30% of Americans consult at least one of these New Age practices at least once a year. Astrology was the most popular (28%) followed by tarot cards (11% ) and fortune tellers (6%).
Most Americans who engage in these practices say they do them for fun, not for insight or guidance. But Catholic Answers apologist Tom Nash told CNA these activities are “spiritually dangerous.”
“Tarot cards, Ouija boards, seances, and other similar activities are all dangerous forms of divination,” Nash said.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly rejects “all forms of divination,” saying they “contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone” (No. 2116).
Engaging in divination means “we’re likely to get drawn deeper into a life of vice and related problems,” Nash added.
Both religious and nonreligious Americans are just as likely to believe in astrology, according to Pew.
American adults most likely to say they believe that consulting a fortune teller, tarot cards, or astrology provides insights are Hispanic Catholics, Black Protestants, and adults whose religion is “nothing in particular.” In contrast, atheists and white evangelicals are most likely to say they never engage in these practices.
When compared with Pew’s last survey in 2017, the percentage of people engaging in New Age practices remains steady. The percentage of adults who say they believe in astrology is similar to the percentage recorded in 2017 (going from about 29% in 2017 to 27% in 2024). Gallup polls from the 1990s to early 2000s ranged from between 23% to 28%.
Notably, younger adults — especially young women — are more likely to believe in astrology and consult horoscopes, the study found. Of women ages 18 to 49, 43% say they believe in astrology.
In addition, Americans who identify as LGBT are also more likely to engage in New Age practices. About half of LGBT Americans consult astrology at least yearly, and LGBT adults are three times as likely as non-LGBT adults to consult tarot cards.
Nash tied the tendency to turn to New Age practices with the rise of the “nones” in American culture, i.e., the increasing numbers of people who are explicitly turning away from organized religion.
Nash noted that in spite of their abandonment of organized religion, many people continue to “yearn for greater meaning and understanding.”
“And yet, human beings remain human — made in the image and likeness of God as body-soul composites,” he said, referencing Genesis 1:26-27.
Nash added that in “our very being, we realize that there’s more to life than just our temporal, material world.”
Without Christ to fill that spiritual “vacuum,” Nash reflected, “we’ll tend to seek out other outlets.”
“Thus, in the absence of true religion, the fullness of which is only found in Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church, we will tend to seek out alternatives,” Nash said.