Skeptics say twins are proof that astrology doesn’t work. Astrology students want to understand how natal astrology works when two people have nearly identical birth charts. Twins have always been a thorny issue for astrologers.
Patricia’s Story
When I first started doing astrology sessions, I was asked to do some for a friend who was a twin and had twin daughters. At that time, I was also conducting a small introductory astrology class near my home; two of the students were twins.
At the same time, I started reading a novel by Wally Lamb titled I Know This Much Is True. I didn’t know, but this book was about the lives of twin boys. Although it’s fiction, I was surprised to find the twins’ birth dates and the exact time each was born on page 15.
Twins, twins all over the place. What was the universe trying to tell me? As you can imagine, I wondered and became fascinated with twins and their astrology.
I then found a book at Barnes & Noble titled Entwined Lives—Twins and What Tell Us About Human Behavior, written by Nancy Segal, Ph.D. This book helped me understand a lot about twins. Reading it with an astrological mindset helped me understand how experiences and an individual’s interaction with their environment affect how a person lives their birth chart and how important knowing something about a person’s history is to understand how the various placements in their birth chart manifest.
The Astrology of Twins
For counseling astrologers, twins are living models that give clues to differences in human behavior.
Twins Individuate
Scientific studies of twins reveal that twins who are raised apart are more alike than those who are raised together. Why? When twins are raised together, they need to individuate. Related to astrology, this results in dominant aspect configurations, representing psychological issues and conflicts in each being split between the two twins.
In a paragraph for the Child’s Horoscope available at Astrodienst, Liz Green writes:
“This child is one of a pair of twins. They share with the other twin an almost identical birth horoscope. But any parent of twins will recognize that each has their own distinctive personality. Twins, sharing many personality characteristics, often try especially hard to define their own psychological territory, and often they do this by a kind of “division” of the birth chart. One twin will appropriate certain features of the horoscope while the other twin will appropriate the rest. … As they grow older and develop separate lives twins usually find it easier to own and express those qualities, they “gave away” to the other twin in early life. And the unique spark of individuality within will always ensure that, even if they look alike, they will remain distinct individuals with a unique journey through life.”
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
This splitting can be seen in the lives of celebrity twins Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, who were born two minutes apart. Ashley and Mary-Kate were born on June 13, 1986, in Los Angeles, Calif. Ashley was born first at 9:43 AM. Mary Kate followed at 9:45 AM.
These two charts are identical. Both have the Sun in Gemini opposite Uranus in Sagittarius and the Moon in Virgo square Saturn in Sagittarius. These aspects combine to suggest a child who is emotionally shy, had to grow up prematurely, assume adult-like responsibilities, handle an unusual amount of freedom, and behave in unconventional ways.
Mary-Kate and Ashley’s Full House Experience
Mary-Kate and Ashley shared the role of Michelle in the TV sitcom Full House. The sitcom first aired in September 1987, and the final episode aired in May 1995. Mary Kate and Ashley acted on the Full House set from before age one until age seven.
In Mary Kate and Ashley’s twinship, two significant aspects of their personalities were split. Mary-Kate assumed the role of the more outgoing, rebellious, funny, and quirky (Sun/Uranus) twin, while Ashley assumed the role of the emotionally shyer and more serious (Moon/Saturn) twin. The producers noticed the split, and Mary-Kate was given Michelle’s funnier scenes, while Ashley was given Michelle’s more serious moments.
In child development, the most critical milestones occur by the age of seven. Mary-Kate and Ashley’s experience on the set of Full House was a formative experience that reinforced their split.
The Structure of the Birth Chart
Unlike Mary-Kate and Ashley, twins are not likely to have absolutely identical birth charts. Each birth chart depends on the time between the first and second births. The sky does not stop moving when the first twin is born, and some astrological placements move quickly. The rising sign moves about one degree every four minutes, and there’s a new sign on the Ascendant every two hours. A difference of just a few minutes in birth time can change the entire structure of a birth chart.
This means twins will likely have different degrees of the sign on their Ascendant. This shift of only a few degrees can make planets more or less angular, which would increase or decrease a planet’s importance. There’s also the possibility each could have a different rising sign and different signs on the IC, MC, and house cusps, which would change the ruler of each. The planets could also occupy different astrological houses.
Example: One twin could have their Sun in the second house on the cusp of the third house, and the other could have their Sun in the third just past the cusp. This is a minimal distance, but it can completely change the focus of each twin’s life. The second house twin could be very focused on making money (a second house matter), and the third house twin could be all about communicating and connecting with others (a third house matter.)
Each Twin will Carve Ot their Own Nitch
The twins may unconsciously choose a different expression of a planetary sign placement. Each of the 12 signs has a range of expressions, so the same sign placements can manifest differently. Twins are prone to use their shared planets in sign placements in their own unique way.
Example: Twins with fifth house Pisces Suns are both creative individuals. Still, one might dedicate their life to writing poetry, while the other dedicates theirs to figure skating.
Applying Aspects
An applying aspect would be a little tighter in the second-born twin’s chart.
Example: If twins had the Moon in an applying Quincunx aspect to Uranus in their charts, implying an erratic emotional life, the second-born twin would be more excitable and experience things more intensely than the first-born.
Same Transits but Different Experiences
Astrological transits can also manifest differently.
Example: Suppose twins have the Lunar South Node at 9° Aquarius and transiting Mercury stationed retrograde directly on that degree. One twin might attend a meditation retreat during the retrograde and have a significant mental breakthrough, while the other might have a mental breakdown and wind up in the psych ward. They would be having the same transit but different experiences.
Genetics Confirms Astrology
Mainstream genetics research has confirmed that identical twins differ in how their genes “express themselves.” Geneticists have discovered that identical twins, despite having very similar DNA, inevitably respond differently to the same environmental stimuli. All of this seems to confirm what astrologers have always known: no one, not even those with identical birth charts, lives out their charts in precisely the same way.