LETTER FROM BUENOS AIRES
By declining his sign and his ascendant, we already thought we had shown a white paw. But here it is, the other question, put to the tune of someone trying to unravel the secrets of your soul: “OK, but what’s your moon sign?” “ In Argentina, at dinners with friends, during a first meeting or a fortuitous exchange, as soon as personal stories reveal the singular springs of each one, it is common that astrology emerges, carrying a well deciphered subtext. beyond the initiated. An anecdote can be punctuated by a sorry “And yes, I know, I am Pisces!” “ or enriched with an informative aside – “He’s Aquarius. But his Moon is in Gemini » -, while a benevolent guest will have warned, by way of introduction: “You will have to be patient with yourself, the Moon is entering Scorpio! “
The offer of books, seminars, online courses, Instagram pages that study the supposed influence of the stars on human life is abundant. At the end of the year, with the prevailing uncertainty for 2022, in a context still marked by the pandemic due to the coronavirus, the general media are also publishing articles devoted to the subject. “What are the planetary movements that will mark the astrological climate? “, Thus headlines the daily Clarin (“The quadrature of Saturn with Uranus will continue to act (…), with significant events in June and October 2022 ”).
According to the latest survey by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet, 2019), in ten years, belief in astrology has increased by seven points, to concern a third of Argentines. Three quarters of the population believe in “Energy”, a concept present in astrology, a breakthrough of twelve points in about ten years.
Sign of the significance of this culture: during a televised interview in August 2020, President Alberto Fernandez (center left) reports that he has made his birth chart. Conclusion: it is “Intended to build on the ashes”. The new contaminations linked to the coronavirus will then crescendo, in a country with a dying economy.
“Countries also have their astral chart”
A year later, in the month of September, in the middle of the campaign, before the legislative elections of November 14, the presidential party candidate Victoria Tolosa Paz (she was elected deputy) told, during a televised interview, that her father “Interprets the astral chart of many people”. And to complete: “It is quite incredible, because (…) countries also have their astral charts. Argentina is Cancer. “ Her date of birth is based on the country’s independence, July 9, 1816, she argues. Statements immediately mocked by the opposition : “Stop staring at the stars and watch the damage you do”, tweeted MP Mario Negri (right). It is the same right-wing opposition which, within the government of Buenos Aires, had appealed to an astrologer in 2018, according to the Argentinian media.
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