“This is not about gypsies and not about Kashpirovsky” – Style – Kommersant

Kommersant Style understands the popularity of esoteric practices and belief in miracles, as well as a new interpretation of hypnotherapy.

Charge a stone on a full moon, make a personal astrological forecast for the year or order a tarot layout – esotericism is becoming more and more in our lives. According to VTsIOM data for this year, 59% of Russians believe in fortune telling, 30% believe in the ability to communicate with the souls of the dead, and 36% trust astrological forecasts. Interestingly, the most involved group is between the ages of 18 and 24. Russian statistics coincide with Western ones: millennials and genzers are passionate about esotericism, that is, a fairly large audience aged 18 to 40 years.

The Shutterstock Creative Trends 2020 report clearly shows the interest in this topic: user searches for “magic” and “spirituality” increased by 525% and 289%, respectively. Brands play on this – from the most massive to luxury: Givenchy released a collection of jewelry with zodiac signs, Cartier – a line of amulets, Dior and MAC Cosmetics reflected on the tarot theme in 2020, and these are just a few high-profile examples. In almost every Urban Outfitters store popular with Gen Z, you can find several decks of tarot cards.

Even for more skeptical youth, but who want to “be in the know”, you can find many accounts on social networks where the authors ironically talk about lunar eclipses and Mercury retrograde, and send a personal forecast for a paid subscription.

pivot point

Studies show that in difficult situations, people turn to predictions and look for ready-made advice. Interestingly, the first astrological column was published in the Sunday Express during the Great Depression in August 1930. Any esoteric gives a quick and clear answer to a person’s request. “Since 2020, everything has become so unstable that people have lost their bearings. Now the turbulence is only increasing. People have nothing to rely on, so they began to turn to tarot and astrology in an attempt to somehow predict their lives, to understand the strategy of action,” says Nina Yudova, a tarot reader and astropsychologist.

Unlike psychology, esoteric methods help to solve the problem, as a rule, here and now. “People are lazy by nature, so they want someone to do something for them, take responsibility for their lives: show them the way, give them a magic pill, open the gates of opportunity, remove the crown of celibacy. People also love mysticism and esotericism. Mythological thinking is characteristic of Russian culture. People believe in it, so it works,” explains Kira Feklisova, hypnologist, coach and PhD in Philology.

It is known that people prefer to believe in the good and, in general, are more willing to note information that suits them – this phenomenon in psychology is called the “Pollyanna principle”, or the positive bias. “Usually people come with pain: no money, no love. Therefore, the most popular requests are the selection of locations for a favorable move, birthday celebrations for programming for a year (for example, to improve financial situation or find love) and the creation of a talisman stone. All this gives support, understanding of oneself and one’s potential. For example, after meeting a birthday in the right place for a whole year, a person lives consciously, noticing the smallest details around, meeting interesting people – there are a lot of such stories among my clients, ”says Svetlana Kataeva-Sipin, an astrologer with 30 years of experience, a master of traditional Western astrology and Chinese metaphysics, specialist in astrology of spaces.

Positive attitudes

You might think that esotericism is a miracle, but there is a lot of psychology in it. For example, tarot is work with the unconscious. “The arcana in the tarot correspond to the key archetypes in psychology, which Carl Jung wrote about. He proved that there is a kind of collective unconscious with which every person is connected. And at the level of intuition, we can all connect there. Our unconscious perceives information through images and symbols, so we read cards not literally, but associatively. The unconscious does not perceive information from the outside world with words, thoughts or sounds familiar to us, it does not understand what analysis and common sense are. It is a set of feelings, emotions and sensations. That’s what we’re working with. The tarot reader pulls out the card that resonates with the client the most at the moment. With the role that he is now living, ”explains Nina Yudova.

The expert adds that social attitudes, blocks, superstitions prevent people from solving personal issues. Tarot proves or refutes our doubts, reveals a complete picture of what is happening and gives recommendations for action to improve the situation. By the same principle, metaphorical associative maps in psychology have become so popular now.

Hypnosis works on a similar principle, namely hypnotherapy. In addition, its effectiveness as a method of psychotherapy has been proven. “People are no longer afraid of hypnosis. They understand that this is not about gypsies and Kashpirovsky, but about working with thinking through working with the subconscious. People began to pay more attention to their psycho-emotional state and try different methods on themselves. People turn to me to get rid of codependency in relationships or to clear memories of past relationships, to allow themselves to live and not depend on anyone, to stop criticizing and limiting themselves, ”says Kira Feklisova.

Finally, astrology fundamentally reduces the degree of uncertainty. Svetlana Kataeva-Sipin says that an astrologer, like any consultant, must know the basics of psychology. Astrology should motivate a person to make favorable changes in life. Many people today live in fear, not knowing the future. Recently, everything is happening and changing too rapidly, and the prospects for many look daunting. Having received answers to their questions, a person calms down. An astrologer helps to see trends, that is, gives recommendations on which side of life to strengthen, weaken or correct. The expert notes that many of her clients gain confidence through the ability to manage their lives.

Experts believe that not knowing what might happen causes people even more stress than knowing that something bad is bound to happen. The current example is the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused chaos around the world and brought many uncertainties to our plans for the future. It was during these years that interest in esotericism sharply increased – on average, according to various sources, twice. In the end, everyone believes in what helps him.

Daria Bogomolova