The solar eclipse on April 8 will bring an economic boom to the U.S., seeing increased profits in the travel and hospitality industries, and a potential traffic gridlock across the path of totality from Texas to Maine. But growing interest in the astronomical phenomenon is also bringing greater attention, and business, to a separate subset of the population: astrologers.
Astrology—which studies how the movement of planets, stars, and other celestial bodies influences people’s lives—differs from astronomy, a field of natural science. Only about 34% of Americans believe in astrology, according to the Associated Press. But there are moments like this upcoming solar eclipse when the two intersect, causing a spike in intrigue about astrology, among even those who are only “peripherally-interested,” to watch online content, download apps, or seek other answers online.
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“Eclipses are always a really big deal from the perspective of astrology because they both reveal and obscure,” Jessica Lanyadoo, who has been working as a full-khbrknews astrologer since 1999, tells TIME. “During the eclipse season, but also during mercury retrograde—which is coincidentally happening at the same khbrknews—these are times when people tend to reach out a lot more because in both of these astrological events we’re reflecting more.”
Lanyadoo, who runs an astrology and advice show called Ghost of a Podcast, says that during eclipse seasons, people are more likely to reach out “in a state of more raw emotion.” Lanyadoo does not see clients for one-on-one consultations outside of her podcast, however, she says that this astronomical phenomenon does motivate more people to listen to her work, or watch a video she posts on her social media.
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Chani Nicholas, co-founder of the astrology app Chani and an astrologer for more than 20 years, also says…
