Many times, during the course of my career, I have given a reading to an individual who was a Biological Twin. The frequent comment is that the reading was correct for them but their twin was entirely different. I often joked that I never seemed to get the “other twin.” Actually, the reading would have been correct for the “other twin” but each used the energy in the chart differently.
A student with a Mutable T-Square involving the Sun-Saturn-Uranus stressed that she was very different from her twin. I am sure that both experienced great resentment towards authority figures but one twin emphasized Uranus while my student emphasized Saturn. The Uranian Twin ran away from home early feeling that the home life was oppressive while the Saturn Twin stayed home to take care of the oppressive parents. The Saturn twin was obedient and compliant yet she experienced the Uranian influence as restless irritation and feelings of entrapment with the role that she way playing.
In my research with biological twins, the interpretation of Saturn can be the differentiating factor in the personality development – one complies to the demands of Saturn (which may not necessarily be oppressive) while the other is less involved with Saturn’s restrictions and responsibilities. Since biological twins have basically the same horoscope, they express their individuality through emphasizing different planets.
In establishing different identities, I have observed another planetary pairing for differentiating with Mercury versus Jupiter. This is a less frequent pairing used for personality polarity but almost always involving females. In such cases, one twin would develop strong intellectual skills. The other twin would cultivate strong social and role-playing skills. This twin would be popular, highly social and usually regarded as being more attractive. The “smart” twin seemed to have less social skills but was regarded as highly intelligent, an A student in school and having a professional orientation. This twin was often regarded as less attractive by the parents. This does not mean that this twin was actually unattractive but, in comparison with the other, more attractive twin, this individual was deemed “less attractive,” whereby she did not cultivate personal appearance.
Astrological Twins are individuals who were born on the same day, the same time and in a similar locality. In the early 1970s, I collected horoscopes and data on schizophrenia. I collaborated with a fellow researcher, Dr. Harry F. Darling, astrologer and primary psychiatrist at the State Hospital for Criminals in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. In sharing data on this subject, I sent him the birth data and complete biographical data for a woman born on December 16, 1940, at 5:55am, in New York City. At the same time, astrologer Barbara Watters sent him the data for a schizophrenia born on December 16, 1940, at 5:55am, in Washington, D.C.!
Both individuals had been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, both had similar family circumstances. Dr. Darling, now deceased, presented the material from our mutual research at the 1972 American Federation of Astrologers convention in Dallas.
There is another phenomena which I call an Astro-Similarity. You do not have to have the exact birth data to be an Astro-Twin. Several years ago, a woman came for a reading and I commented that, except for 20 years difference in age, her chart looked identical to that of a friend. Both had Taurus rising, a 10th House Sun-Mercury in Aquarius, the Moon in Cancer in the 3rd House and 2 planets in Pisces in the 11th House. To my amazement, their life stories were identical! Both had come from impoverished black neighborhoods, both felt that the only way out of their circumstance was to get an education and both chose Education for their under-graduate degrees, both attained an advanced degree in mathematics. In both cases, they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps with little or no help from anyone. There were many other similarities but these are the most prominent.
Another case of an Astro-Similarity involved my own chart. In 1979, I met a small group of astrologers. A woman in the group, who was 3 years older than myself, had a chart that was strikingly similar to my own. We both had 2 degrees Virgo rising with the Sun in Virgo near the Ascendant; we both had 3 Gemini planets, including the Moon, intercepted in the 10th House; we both had 2 planets in Cancer in the 11th House, we both had similar Leo planets in the 12th and we both had a Bundle pattern with all of our planets falling between the Moon in Gemini in the 10th House and Neptune in Libra in the 2nd House. The similarities: We are both named Lynn, we both had a pony when young but we had overly protective mothers who discouraged us from riding alone, we both hiked on the C&O canal and, of course, we are both astrologers!
Since 1972, I have conducted research involving the medical influence of Transpluto. In conducting my medical research involving Lupus, an auto-immune disease, I spotted another Astro-Similarity. In both cases, Mars in Aquarius and Chiron were in the 2nd House opposing planets in the 8th House (in both cases, Jupiter was involved) and these planets were squared by Saturn in Scorpio in the 11th House. Typical of this disease, each had the Sun in an Air sign afflicted by Saturn, a hard Mercury-Saturn aspect, afflictions involving the sign of Aquarius, the 2-8 House opposition and a strong influence from Sagittarius. Both women are about the same height, weight and with similar hair color, both are highly creative, both are astrologers and both belong to the same astrological organization (even though they live 60 miles apart)!
ADDENDUM: Astro-Twins
In the 1990s, when my progressed Venus crossed Chiron (to the day), I met a Capricorn scientist at a UFO abductee meeting. I always say that Chiron represents all of us “aliens” on this planet. When I met her, she reminded me so much of a friend, an astrologer and acupuncturist. I knew that her Mercury was in the same sign and degree as my friend. This position, 22 Sagittarius, always inspires me mentally in a way that I never experience with anyone else. I kept saying, “You remind me so much of “My Friend! I can’t believe it!” Then, one day we were in Borders Bookstore looking at books and there was My Friend! As they talked, personal habits, interests and even people they knew were all the same – and, when she asked for her birth date, this was exactly the same! Sometimes, when I could not understand the Capricorn, I would ask My Friend and she would explain how she is and why she is this way…then I could understand my Capricorn friend’s behavior.
RESEARCH ON TWINS BY FELLOW ASTROLOGER –
From 4 sets of twins the following are the results:
Set I – 2 boys, Age 4, Sun Sign – Aries, April 19
Set II – 2 boys, Age 8 , Sun sign – Aquarius, February 15
Set III – 1 boy, 1 girl, Age 8, Sun Sign -Taurus, April 25
Set IV- 2 girls, Age 8 , Sun Sign – Sagittarius, Nov. 27
All of the above sets are fraternal twins. I don’t have any data on identical twins.
Patterns – The First Born The Second Born
1. More aggressive More passive
2. Learned to crawl, walk and speak first Learned to crawl, walk and speak later
3. Shorter of the two Taller of the two and slightly heavier
4. Active, needs others Can be content to play by him(her)self
5. Must be in control Allows other twin to be in control
6. Can be aggressive with others Doesn’t really fight back
7.Strongly exhibit characteristis of their Sun Sign Manifest the chararteristics of the polar opposite
8. In an educational setting, appear to grasp concepts sooner Catch up a litter later
All of the twins seem to be very independent and unique with differing interests.