If you are puzzled about how long the crisis will last, one man claims to have the answer: until 2011, when opposition ends between Saturn and Uranus.

That's the prediction of Mikhail Levin, head of the Moscow Academy of Astrology, who with other astrologers is hoping for a jump in demand from people seeking concrete answers about the crisis instead of the vague forecasts being offered by government officials and economists.

"This is a real sphere of knowledge that people need," said Pavel Globa, a prominent astrologer, speaking on the sidelines of a news conference in March where he, Levin and other astrologers launched the Public Commission on Cosmorythmology to promote astrology amid the crisis.

The economic crisis and an accompanying drop in world oil prices might have left government officials blaming the United States for Russia's woes. But astrologers say the problem is more linked to the alignment of the planets than U.S. subprime loans.

"Uranus, a lover of drastic changes, will be trying to the break the established stability that is connected to Saturn" for the next 18 months, Levin said in comments posted on his web site.

MT Levin

Amid this cosmic struggle, Russia will probably see sharp fluctuations of the ruble's exchange rate and the bankruptcy of many aviation, development, real estate, energy, IT and insurance companies, Levin said.

Globa predicted a grim year already last October, when the global crisis swept across Rusia. He said Russia's banking system would collapse, most officials dealing with economic and financial issues would be dismissed and Russia would teeter "on the verge" of a civil war.

Additional crises will emerge after the current one subsides, and Russia will only become a democratic, market-oriented country in 2025, said Pavel Sviridov, who heads the Fund for Temporal Research, Analysis and Forecasting and also attended the news conference.

Other people specializing in the paranormal are also seeking to tap into the current crisis. Galina Yanko, a self-proclaimed prophet, is offering advice on how to earn money on the crisis, she says on her web site. A spokeswoman said Yanko would not talk to reporters.

But not everyone, it seems, can afford to hire a star reader, who charge anywhere from $10 for online answers to $100 and more for an hourlong session. A spokesman for "Prophet Lyudmila," who advertises her services on Vnl-ludmila.ru, said she has seen a drop in clients recently. "It's probably because of the crisis," he said.