TY - M-10365
AU - HekmatAfshar, Mohammad
TI - Charting the Cosmos Online: Astrology as Lived Contemporary Esotericism in Digital Communities
T2 - Scientific Research Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Science

PY - 2025
VL - 3
IS - 2
SN - 2584-0622

AB - Symbolic RitualThis essay examines how esoteric information is being disseminated and reproduced in virtual spaces through examining the media practice of modern astrologers. It centers on a tutorial video by Kapiel Raaj, a popular Vedic astrologer on YouTube, and challenging it to practice by Chani Nicholas, who combines astrology with feminist and therapeutic terminology on Instagram and her smartphone app; the work explains how new cosmologies are made readable. Both of them depict astrology as a practice of lived esotericism, expressed through metaphorical systems, interactive formats, and personal empowerment. Building on Kennet Granholm's book, re-enchantment thesis of late modernity and adopting user engagement witnessed on Reddit forums like r/AskAstrologers, this article positions astrology as a digitally mediated experience based practice. This study adds to the study on esotericism through a comparative, media sensitive examination of how online astrologers make spiritual meaning and authority within emerging digital subcultures.

KW - Networked Religion
KW - Symbolic Ritual
KW - Astrology and Media
KW - Digital Esotericism
KW - Virtual Ethnography
KW - Therapeutic Astrology
KW - Online Cosmology
KW - Participatory Spirituality
DO -