When we think of twins we automatically think of words like; identical or similar, so, why is it that twins act so differently from one another? Astrologically speaking, one would think that a shared birth chart would yield two identical souls and personalities. Think again!
Today I'm diving deep into the subject of twins. A fitting topic to write about during the season of Gemini (the twins). So, if you are curious, read on to find out what's going on in my mind about these astrological questions and findings.
My Girls
“The babies agree with my plan, huh? The babies agree."
I have three children. I have a Scorpio son and a set of twin, Gemini daughters. I have to confess, that before having my twins, I never dove deeply into the astrological teachings of twin charts. I read about some theories, one being; that a twin chart could be interpreted as two bodies with one soul. Additionally, since twins are rare, the chance of putting this theory to the test never came up in my case studies. After having my twins, this changed and led me to a window of fascinating discoveries. For privacy purposes, let's refer to my girls as Alice and Rose. Alice and Rose, my fraternal twins, were born during the Gemini season under a waning, Aries Moon. It was a planned c-section, but my water broke just a couple of hours before the surgery while in the waiting room. Upon learning my water
had broken, My OBGYN walked towards me, with a reassuring smile on her face while nodding slowly and saying in a deeply soothing Indian accent; "The babies agree with my plan, huh? The babies agree."
Alice came out first, then Rose followed only one minute later. As anyone else with children knows, I barely had time to take care of my basic needs for the first five years, let alone examine their birth chart. So, all I knew for years were the fundamentals, Gemini Sun (which I planned and crossed my fingers for), Aries Moon and Sagittarius Rising. As time went on, I started noticing how extraordinarily different they were. At around age 3 to 4 is when they started to exhibit their traits and unique quirks.
The Moon
Alice's personality came through first. First; is a keyword when describing Alice. She has a loud and authoritative voice when she speaks, and as time went on, the louder and stronger it became. Her laugh is very hearty and robust. Once she began to run, she wanted to race against everyone. If she was alone with me, she insisted to show me how fast she could go.
Around age 4 and 5, she started to show how direct, and innocently honest she is. When someone does something to her or anyone else, she calls them out on it right away. She doesn't let them get away with it, no matter who it is, what they did or who they did it too. Not on Alice's watch. It doesn't take a lot to upset her. When she's upset, she stomps, shouts and sometimes turns red to the point of tears.
She likes to motivate and encourage people to be the best they can be. This is why I think she prefers playing with boys as they're more likely to play as impulsively as her. She likes to compete with people....even herself at times. She can become pushy and she likes to direct people, even older kids and adults. This can come across as someone bossy or even a bully at times. Although, it does not come from a place of being mean but from a place of caring. She cares enough to push people and lead them to the greatness she sees in them. She believes they can do better and be better.
She loves animals, especially dogs and cheetahs. She said she loves cheetahs, because of how fast they are. Now, Gemini does like to go fast and does like to be active but in a more playful and fun way rather than with a mission in mind. If I met someone pushy, bossy, competitive, honest and a champion at everything they do, I would conclude that this child, my child has Aries written all over her.
At first, with the intense volume of her voice and hearty laugh, I wondered if she was only acting out her rising sign (Sagittarius). Which still checks those boxes, since they are both fire signs. Fire qualities are always louder, more honest and larger than life and just do what they want to do without apologies. Fire signs are the doers, the ones who just need to move and express who they are. The: "This is me, and if you don't like it, too bad" attitude. It wasn't until I noticed her quick temper, her competitiveness, her admiration for animals, her love of sports and her impulsive nature that drew me to the conclusion that she was acting out the role of the moon in their chart.
In their chart, the moon is in Aries, which also happens to be out of bounds. If your moon placement is out of bounds, the drawback is that your emotions will be expressed in a way that can become too much for you and others around you to handle. The positive attribute of this placement can be that you feel and express your emotions in a way that most people don't. The moon here is saying; Talk to the hand! I'm not emoting the way society wants me to and in the name of Aries, I will do and say everything without ANY hesitation! The reason why I am really upset is that I care! Now, LET'S GO!
Also, the moon is in the 4th house. The house that relates to cancer. Cancer is a sign that is caring, cuddly, sentimental and very emotional. There isn't anything they won't do for their loved ones.
The Sun
Rose followed her sister out of the womb, as did her personality. I eventually concluded that she took on the role of the sun in their chart. The sun in their chart is in Gemini. Air signs are focused more on the other people in their lives, rather than expressing who they are to the world (like fire signs do). They're searching for who they can interact with, relate to, who they can learn from, and who can connect with, share with, play with, laugh with, listen to and have a conversation with. And for Gemini, that's just about everyone. They are bubbly, curious, social and can make friends with anyone.
Rose was the first to crawl and the first to walk. Where did she crawl? Where did she walk? Was it to race with someone? No. Her direction lead her right over to her older brother who was asking her to come and play with him. They were crawling under the table together, playing hide and seek together (which she is amazing at), they were giggling together and she was watching and learning so much from him.
At daycare, she got along very well with all of the kids, and sort of became a best friend to each of them. When she was playing alone with a toy and someone would come along to steal whatever she was playing with she would let them have it, walk away and find something else to play with. Being a part of the group or the community is more important to her, she would rather release her needs than destroy the camaraderie that she worked so hard to develop. Looking back to when she was a baby, she always wanted to be in my arms or on my hip. At times, I felt like I had a baby koala glued and gripped onto my hip. I felt like I was in a Mr. Bean sketch when trying to peel her off of me, she was stuck on me like velcro.
Rose is so playful that she always wants to make a fun game out of everything. "Close your eyes, mummy....", is a sentence I'm told to do daily. "Hold out your hand, mummy....", and "Guess what it is, mummy..." are phrases always followed by snickering. She has no desire to be the best in a sport or activity like her siblings do. Her nature is to learn, explore, have fun and PLAY with everyone. Playing pretend and imitation is her favourite activity.
When it comes to bedtime, she is, however, the most difficult to put to bed. She just wants to stay up, chat, play or interact with everyone. It's nearly impossible to say goodnight or to say goodbye to her only once. It's an activity in itself. Wait, one last book, one last song, one last comment about what she did that day, one last kiss, one last hug and one last kiss and hug to each stuffed animal she has. She has approximately 576 of them. That's the little community that she created. Gemini is too curious to rest, too curious to sleep, there's still so much to learn. Still, too many drawers to explore, books to look at, or conversations to listen in on. It's a vibration of ongoing mental stimulation and interaction.
She has so many questions. Rose, asks her questions and then usually laughs and giggles at the answer while shyly saying "oh, hehehe". However, getting a definitive answer from her or a solid decision is a challenge. As a Sun in an air sign, I feel like I can very much relate to her in this regard. I too, find it a challenge to give solid answers or make decisions. It can be overwhelming to an air sign. We find that every answer and every path is valid, so how can we choose? Everything is so enticing and interesting. How can we choose? A Libra, like myself, will just decide not to decide or ask the other person to make the decision instead, it's just too hard to pick.
Gemini will just want to do a little bit of it all, this is why they change so frequently, especially their mind, they want to experience a little bit of it all. Gemini rules the hands, she needs to touch everything, to explore every option. Did you know that pink is my favourite, mummy? I thought you said, yesterday that green was your favourite. Oh, right, I did.
She loves to help, and she loves to clean and organize too. This is where her sun placement comes in. The sun is in the 6th house, which is congruent with the Virgo vibration. The routine, serving, helping, cleaning, organizing, purifying, likes to critique themselves and other people, likes to have pets, and they are very picky. It is evident, that she thrives on routine. She is very picky about food and has a specific way of what she likes to eat and how she eats it. Things need to be done a certain way. If that system gets thrown off, she just can't relax. When I discovered these attributes in her, that's when I knew for certain that she was taking on the role of the sun in their chart.
Sun, Moon and Talia
In the early days of the girls' infancy, I came across a story called; Sun, Moon, and Talia. This story is an Italian literary fairy tale written in the 1600s Later retold as The Sleeping Beauty, and then again as Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm.
"Sun, Moon and Talia" is about a young woman named Talia which translates to Star. Talia ends up being impregnated while asleep by a King. With that pregnancy, she birthed twins, a boy and a girl and named them Sun and Moon. The story has some horrifying moments in it, as do most of those ancient fairy tales, and so, therefore I wouldn't recommend reading it to young children. However, this came into my hands subsequently after contemplating their chart. Initially, I didn't connect the dots, but when I started seeing it in other places and hearing about it from other people in unrelated circumstances, I couldn't help but wonder; "ok, the universe, you have my attention, what is it that you are trying to tell me?" That's when I mentally noted all of their traits.
I have a very clear indication from both, the universe and myself that my girls have decided to each take on a separate role from each other. One acting as the Moon (Alice) and the other acting as the Sun (Rose).
The Yin and the Yang
“They act as differently as night and day!"
The Yin-Yang symbol, much like the infinity symbol demonstrates a continuous motion. A motion that constantly repeats a sequence of engaging and disengaging. In and out, up and down, to and fro, etc. Ultimately, they come together and then pull apart. Even more intriguing, this eternal dance relies upon each party being interdependent. While they are both different, one still cannot exist without the other. Two independent entities that cannot thrive without co-operating. Night needs the day to exist, and the day needs the night to exist. "I'll rule the nighttime", said the moon. "And, I'll rule the daytime", said the sun. They are responsible for the ebbing and flowing process of our natural world. It's healthy, It's balanced, it's peaceful, and It's beautiful. We depend on it.
Just like the sun and moon complement each other in yin yang, I feel my girls complement each other too. They unconsciously give each other what the other is lacking. Recently, my girls participated in a competitive sporting event. As I was watching them between races, I overheard Rose say to Alice as she was fumbling to catch up to her sister, "Wait for me, Alice! Alice?! Why aren't you waiting for me?" Alice responded in anger, shouting at Rose that she had to hurry and that Rose should also get a move on too. Later in the pre-competition practice, I overheard Alice yell at Rose: "You let him pass you?! Why did you let him pass you, Rose?!" Rose was going at her own pace and enjoying the scenery because she likes doing that activity, not because she wanted to win or surpass people. This meandering attitude confuses her sister; Alice, the Aries who is always just trying to win and surpass everyone. Rose's leisurely fun was completely soured by Alice's serious, cutthroat attitude. Is there a better way for them to co-exist?
Can Alice and Rose learn from each other and complement each other rather than be annoyed by their differences? Absolutely. I don't want Alice to change Rose, nor do I want Rose to change Alice. What I do want is for them to accept who they are and who their sister is without any judgement. I pulled each of them aside separately that night. I explained to Alice that some people don't care about winning or beating other people. For them, life is not a race. It's just not who they are and we should not expect them to be anyone other than themselves. Alice responded by complaining that Rose was always asking Alice to wait for her and not go too far ahead. I spoke to Rose too. I told Rose to not hold Alice back and not demand that she always play in tandem with her. I explained that Alice needs to go full force, that it's just in her nature and that unfortunately, this would mean that Rose would have to accept her for who she is. I reminded Rose that she's amazing at making friends. I told her that she will eventually find others who prefer being a part of a team like she does.
I believe that being born from the same womb 60 seconds apart naturally encourages a duo to diverge and take on different roles. Almost like a natural urge for two people to identify as individuals and not a pair. It's only instinctual that someone would want to just be one person, therefore let us each pick a luminary** to cultivate and take responsibility for. Now we can stand out so that nobody can mistake us for the other; a sociological reflex to be recognized by our parents.
Most parents of twins that I know have discovered that their twins are very different as well. Even all four of the sets of twins that I know personally have told me how different they are from their twins. So, it would seem almost unanimous. I say almost because I would find it interesting to find a set who was born under a new moon. A new moon means, that the moon was dark and not seen at that time. It's hidden. Under the new moon phase, the sun and the moon are in the same sign, displaying the same traits. Perhaps, these twins are the rare exception, like the case I saw on the local news years ago. These twins had grown up so closely in bond to one another that they married brothers, and got pregnant within months of each. It didn't stop there; both couples were so comfortable with each other that they decided to live together as one big happy family. Perhaps new moon twins are destined to be the true twins by nature, living all experiences simultaneously.
As for my twins, they're just like most twins; original, showing off their style and standing apart. A friend of my Mother's recently saw a picture of Alice and Rose. She commented; "Oh, they DO look a little bit different than each other, don't they?" To which my mother replied; "Yes, and they act as differently as night and day!" And before you ask, no, my mother doesn't study nor practice astrology. Furthermore, she didn't even know I was researching this particular sub-category of astrology. So for her to come to this observation as well, is only helping my point. Thank you, Mum!
Written by: Rachel Ames
**The luminaries, for those of you not versed in Astro language, refers to the sun and moon.
I Really enjoyed this read.