Sanctuary Ventures Inc.是一家專門(mén)為年輕人提供占星術(shù)等神秘服務(wù)的數(shù)字媒體公司,。如果你對(duì)星座不了解,，它的APP給你進(jìn)行一番很好的科普。今年3月20日是占星術(shù)中的新年,，在這一天,，Sanctuary公司推出了這款最新的占星APP。它可以提供每日星座運(yùn)勢(shì),，還可以由專業(yè)占星師在線提供按需占星服務(wù),，甚至計(jì)劃進(jìn)軍電子商務(wù)市場(chǎng)（比如賣塔羅牌、水晶,、熏香之類的周邊產(chǎn)品）,。

對(duì)于一定年齡段的讀者，如果有人問(wèn)“你是什么星座的,？”,，不免令人想起早些年那些在夜店里尬舞的社會(huì)閑散青年——都2019年了，誰(shuí)還靠扯星座來(lái)撩妹呢,？然而風(fēng)水輪流轉(zhuǎn),，時(shí)下的Z世代年輕人又開(kāi)始相信偽科學(xué)了。星座這一歷史的塵埃又煥發(fā)了生機(jī)，成為聊天時(shí)的熱門(mén)話題,。根據(jù)Ibis World公司2018年的一項(xiàng)市場(chǎng)調(diào)查,，在美國(guó)，神秘主義和心靈服務(wù)等偽科學(xué)市場(chǎng)的市值已經(jīng)超過(guò)了20億美元,。

在此之前,，該公司在Facebook的Messenger應(yīng)用上發(fā)布的占星機(jī)器人已經(jīng)取得了一定的成功。現(xiàn)在該公司已經(jīng)不再滿足于提供免費(fèi)的每日占星服務(wù),。用戶可以按月（月費(fèi)19.99美元）或按年（年費(fèi)199.99美元）繳納會(huì)費(fèi),，享受專屬的真人專家解讀服務(wù)。為此,，該公司還專門(mén)聘請(qǐng)了一支專業(yè)占星師團(tuán)隊(duì)開(kāi)展工作,，為首的是該公司的常駐占星師阿莉扎·凱莉。另外,，訂閱用戶還可以每周以在線聊天的形式獲得星座運(yùn)勢(shì)的解讀,，每次需額外繳納19.99美元。

Sanctuary公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官羅斯·克拉克表示：“占星術(shù)真的是一項(xiàng)已經(jīng)存在了幾百年的古老術(shù)法,?！彼硎荆郧按蠹抑饕ㄟ^(guò)報(bào)紙,、雜志,、打電話或者當(dāng)面詢問(wèn)的方式了解自己的星座運(yùn)勢(shì)，Sanctuary公司希望將它改造成一種基于文字的,、一對(duì)一的實(shí)時(shí)聊天模式,，將更短、更易于消化的運(yùn)勢(shì)解讀（一般為15至20分鐘）呈現(xiàn)給用戶,。

克拉克表示：“文字信息是‘千禧一代’和年輕人的語(yǔ)言,，我們也非常想利用這一點(diǎn)。文字信息不僅是他們最熟悉的語(yǔ)言,，同時(shí)這種媒介也使我們能夠隨時(shí)隨地提供服務(wù),。這種基于文字信息的機(jī)制還提供了一種緩沖功能。如果你剛剛接觸到星座,，或者你不想通過(guò)電話或面對(duì)面詢問(wèn)自己的星座運(yùn)勢(shì),，這種基于文字的對(duì)話也可以使你放下顧慮?！?/p>

克拉克稱,，Sanctuary應(yīng)用的上線，也是“近幾年健康領(lǐng)域的一件大事”,。近幾年火起來(lái)的不僅有占星術(shù),，還有塔羅牌,、靈氣療法，以及“冥想應(yīng)用的興起所帶來(lái)的所有東西”,。

根據(jù)全球健康研究所（Global Wellness Institute）的數(shù)據(jù),，近年來(lái)，自我治療與保健行業(yè)發(fā)展迅速,，已經(jīng)成長(zhǎng)為一個(gè)4.2萬(wàn)億美元的龐大市場(chǎng),。Goop等品牌、正念等心理療法以及Headspace,、Calm等冥想應(yīng)用都經(jīng)歷了巨大的增長(zhǎng),。根據(jù)來(lái)自于Sensor Tower的數(shù)據(jù)，Calm是2018年全球最賺錢(qián)的健康與健身類應(yīng)用,，預(yù)計(jì)總收入超過(guò)6360萬(wàn)美元，較上一年增長(zhǎng)277%,。其下載量由2017年的815萬(wàn)次增加到2018年的1795萬(wàn)次,，增長(zhǎng)了120%。

很多美國(guó)年輕人選擇遠(yuǎn)離有組織的宗教,。據(jù)皮尤研究中心2015年的一項(xiàng)民調(diào)顯示,，美國(guó)35%的“千禧一代”人不具有任何宗教信仰。不過(guò)克拉克認(rèn)為,，美國(guó)年輕人仍然渴望某種“能幫助他們了解自身,，并且能過(guò)濾和化解掉世上所有喧囂”的體系。他表示,，占星術(shù)恰恰提供了這種功能,，同時(shí)它還多了一個(gè)有趣的層面，因?yàn)樗亲晕艺J(rèn)知為主的,，而且它還能通過(guò)Instagram等社交媒體平臺(tái)進(jìn)行表達(dá),。

愛(ài)麗絲·貝爾便是因?yàn)樽晕艺J(rèn)知而入了占星術(shù)這個(gè)坑。今年26歲的貝爾曾經(jīng)在《Vogue》雜志做時(shí)尚助理,。大約一年前,，她開(kāi)始癡迷地解讀星盤(pán)，并且相信占星術(shù)能解釋一直以來(lái)讓她困擾的情緒和性格問(wèn)題,。

她表示：“我總是拿自己和別人做比較,，總是想知道為什么我不能做得跟別人一樣。而占星術(shù)告訴了我,，我之所以這樣做是有原因的,，從而使我平靜了下來(lái)。其他人也發(fā)現(xiàn)了占星術(shù)的魅力,，它也同樣能幫助他們理解他們的情緒,。”

貝爾居住在紐約。從去年3月起,，她開(kāi)始在Instagram上發(fā)表關(guān)于占星術(shù)的帖子,。由于反響很好，她便開(kāi)始通過(guò)站內(nèi)短信解讀別人的星盤(pán),。到去年夏末,，她已經(jīng)開(kāi)始收費(fèi)服務(wù)了。去年11月,，她開(kāi)辦了一家名叫Stalk的生活方式和占星術(shù)網(wǎng)站,。由于市場(chǎng)對(duì)她的服務(wù)需求很大，今年年初,，她干脆辭去了在《Vogue》雜志的工作,，一門(mén)心思投身于自己的占星業(yè)務(wù)。目前她解讀一次星盤(pán)的費(fèi)用在40到65美元之間,。此外她還經(jīng)營(yíng)星座馬克杯,、手機(jī)殼、手提袋等周邊產(chǎn)品,。

“在我宣布辭職后,，我的訂單堆積得越來(lái)越多了?！彼f(shuō),。由于各種活動(dòng)、約稿和面談?wù)埱笤絹?lái)越多,，想請(qǐng)貝爾占星的客戶甚至得排三四個(gè)星期的隊(duì),。“一下子好像全宇宙都注意到了我,，突然之間我收到了很多關(guān)于占星術(shù)的工作邀請(qǐng),。”

Sanctuary跟其他創(chuàng)業(yè)公司一樣也離不開(kāi)風(fēng)投的支持,。目前它已經(jīng)拿到Advancit Capital,、Broadway Video Ventures、Greycroft Partners,、KEC Ventures和Blue seed Collective等公司的150萬(wàn)美元種子投資,。在占星領(lǐng)域里比較知名的APP還有TimePassages和據(jù)說(shuō)嵌入了人工智能技術(shù)的Co-Star。此外市場(chǎng)上各種各樣的神秘學(xué)用具也有很多,，比如Urban Outfitters公司推出的售價(jià)15美元的水晶和熏香套裝,，Goop公司推出的售價(jià)27美元的吸血鬼退散劑等等。

克拉克表示,，對(duì)于這款A(yù)PP來(lái)說(shuō),，最核心的生錢(qián)產(chǎn)品仍然是付費(fèi)解讀,，電商功能有待下一步推出。目前,，該應(yīng)用的占星師們每天從早9點(diǎn)到晚9點(diǎn)（美國(guó)東部時(shí)間）在線提供服務(wù),，計(jì)劃到今年晚些時(shí)候擴(kuò)展到24小時(shí)全天服務(wù)。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

In case you’re not attuned to the stars, Sanctuary Ventures Inc., the digital media company focusing on mystical services for a millennial audience, wants to change that. Wednesday, March 20 is the start of the astrological new year and the launch of Sanctuary’s new astrological reading app. It offers daily horoscopes, first-in-kind live and on-demand readings with professional astrologers, and plans to expand into the e-commerce marketplace (think tarot cards, crystals, sage bundles, and incense).

For readers of a certain age, the question “What’s your sign?” evokes images of open-shirted, disco-dancing Lotharios. But as everything in life is cyclical (sorry, eggs), many millennials and members of Generation Z are gravitating toward the pseudoscience, making the question of what’s your sun sign (Aries, Libra, etc.) once again a generic point of conversation, as well as fueling the burgeoning mystical and psychic services market valued at more $2 billion, according to 2018 market research from Ibis World.

The Sanctuary app builds on the success the company has had with its Facebook Messenger astrology bot, but now expands its offerings beyond free daily horoscopes by allowing users to upgrade to a monthly ($19.99) or yearly ($199.99) subscription membership level granting access to live, chat-based readings from a team of professional astrologers led by Astrologer-in-Residence Aliza Kelly. Subscribers are able to access one astrology live-chat reading per week with the option of additional readings at $19.99 each. (At press time, a weekly $3.99 option was still listed in the App Store, although company reps say that is being removed.)

“Astrology is really ancient practice that has existed for centuries,” says Sanctuary co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ross Clark, who adds the traditional entry point into the space was daily newspapers and magazines, or in-person or phone-based readings. Sanctuary aims to upend the access model via reimagining the experience as a text-based, one-on-one live chat format in shorter, more digestible bites (15- to 20-minute readings).

“Texting is the language of millennials and younger people today, so we really wanted to harness that,” says Clark. “It’s not only the language they are most familiar with but that medium also enables us to provide this anytime, anywhere experience. The text-based mechanism also provides a filter if you are someone who is just dipping your toe in the water or you’re someone who maybe is reluctant to go and do these sorts of things in person or on the phone, so there is a layer that gives people reassurance.”

Clark sees the Sanctuary app launch as “part of the broader wellness story that has been happening for the last few years,” which includes tarot, Reiki energy healing, and “everything we have seen with the rise of the meditation app.”

The self-care and wellness industry is a booming $4.2 trillion market, according to the Global Wellness Institute, with brands such as Goop and mindfulness and meditation apps such as Headspace and Calm experiencing huge growth. Calm was the top-earning app worldwide in the Health & Fitness category during 2018, with an estimated gross revenue of more than $63.6 million, a 277 percent increase from a year earlier, according to Sensor Tower data. Calm’s downloads increased by 120 percent, from 8.15 million in 2017 to 17.95 million in 2018.

With younger Americans turning away from organized religion (a 2015 Pew Research Poll reported 35 percent of millennials eschew any religious affiliation), Clark believes they are hungry for a system that “helps them understand both themselves and a way of filtering and working through all the chaos in the world.” Astrology provides that, he says, as well as adding a playful layer that’s identity-driven and predominantly expressed via platforms such as Instagram.

Self-identification is what initially drew Alice Bell to astrology. A former fashion assistant at Vogue, the 26-year-old Bell began reading charts “obsessively a little over a year ago” and believes the practice helps explain emotions and personality traits she had struggled with.

“I was always comparing myself to others and wondering why I couldn’t act the same, so it helped calm me by telling me there is a reason why I was acting the way I did,” she says. “Other people find that appealing, too, it helps them understand their emotions.”

New York-based Bell began posting about astrology on Instagram in March of last year, and the response was so great she began reading people’s charts via direct messaging. By summer’s end she was charging for readings before launching Stalk, her lifestyle and astrology website, in late November. Demand for her services had increased so much that by early 2019 she quit her job at Vogue and now focuses solely on her astrological business, which offers astrology chart readings ($40 to $65) and merchandise ranging from sign-specific coffee mugs to phone cases and tote bags.

“After I announced I was quitting, the orders started piling up,” says Bell, whose readings now have a wait time of three to four weeks as she juggles in-person event appearances, requests for written astrological content, and face-to-face readings with clients. “It’s like the universe saw me give my notice and immediately I started getting astrology job offers.”

Sanctuary had a less mystical entrée into the marketplace thanks to $1.5 million in seed funding led by Advancit Capital, Broadway Video Ventures, Greycroft Partners, KEC Ventures, and Blue Seed Collective. Other apps in the astrology space include TimePassages and the AI-powered Co-Star, while the marketplace in general now accommodates items as diverse as a $15 crystal and incense kit from Urban Outfitters and $27 Psychic Vampire Repellent at Goop.

Clark says the paid readings are the central monetizable product on the app with e-commerce merchandise to follow. At launch, Sanctuary astrologers are available every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, with plans to expand to 24-hour-a-day coverage later in the year.