Introduction
As I have stated in other twin papers, twin births are especially useful to this astrology. Why? Parents of twins usually know before birth they are having twins, so they pay especial attention to birth time. They do so because later those time differences are a conversation piece as well as forming part of the identity of the twins. So, birth time for twins is likely correct to the minute and the charts cast from them are also close to exact. Comparisons made between them are then based on correct astrology. That means twin births are especially good for testing a major principle of this astrological method, that planets on (≤2° orb) Angles are of primary importance in describing all our lives.

When one twin has a different sign on an Angle, their births are also useful for demonstrating the principle that astrological sets (aspects) ruling an Angle are of far more importance than those which do not.

Examples of this are shown in the samples below and in all of the twin papers on this site.

Here, using astrology, we are going identify the astrology which sponsors large personality differences between identical twin males. Born seven minutes apart, their internal charts are fairly close to identical, but their Angles are significantly different. At least they are different enough to have produced radically different behaviors. Seven minutes is equal to about 1-3/4° difference between their Angles.

Astrodatabank information on these twins was from Modern Horoscopes, 1985, when the boys had grown up and were then 34 years old.

Twin No. 1, also known as Twin No. 11900, was the easy-going, open one. Here is what Astrodatabank had on him:
American first-born and identical twin, a fresh, frank, talkative and open person with smiling eyes and quick movements. A plumber, he is handy with his hands, but had tendonitis in his right elbow.

Twin No. 2, also known as Twin No.11901, the second-born, was the more uptight, type A, go-getter twin. Astrodatabank had the following information:
American second-born and identical twin, he may look exactly the same as his brother, but is diametrically opposed to him in character. A business executive who makes $100,000 a year, he never smiles and is hard driving. He is also devious, tight and tense as he is always on the ball for business.

I have written other papers on twins with the goal of identifying the differences in their astrology which accounted for the differences in their experienecs. Below are links to each of them :

Two charts were most influential in identifying the differences between these identical twins—their shell chart, and their 10th chart.

Below I have given a short summary of the area of life covered by those charts :

The shell chart is comprised of birth and conception planets, Angles, and houses before the harmonics are added. A shell chart, then is the same in all twelve charts for the individual. Differences in shell charts between twins show a difference that occurs in every aspect of their lives.

The 7th chart, which contains planets from the 9th harmonic, is the main chart of this method. It yields a great deal of information about our lives. Theoretically, it is concerned only with matters pertaining to the 7th house, such as our relations with significant others, including marriage and business partners and close friends. However, it contains information about just every aspect of our life, including health, finances, career, talents, and so on. It just doesn't contain all the information on these subjects

Astrological Method
Before looking at their charts, I have to explain how this astrological method, which is not traditional, works:

This astrology uses the sidereal positions of the planets based on the Fagan-Bradley’s SVP.

Harmonics are taken from the sidereal position of the planets. The Egyptian harmonic, discussed in the paper “About This Method” (link below), is used.

”Lights” include suns, moons, and moons nodes.

This method uses only conjunctions, applying and separating squares, and oppositions. Orbs for planets with lights is 5°; without lights, about 2.5°. Orb for MC/planet or Asc/planet is 2°. Planets so related to each other are referred to as in the same “set.” A set, then, is two or more planets (or an Angle) connected to each other through conjunction, square, and opposition within the defined orbs. The set is more active if it contains a light, and less active without one. Learning to look in terms of “crosses” can be helpful in rapidly finding planets that are in the same set.

Because this approach uses both a birth and conception chart and they share the same axis, birth houses usually overlap different houses of the conception chart. These are called “house overlaps.” House overlaps play an important part in this astrology as investigation of the charts below (and in other papers) will show. Throughout this paper I use the convention when writing about house overlaps of putting the birth house first, then the conception house. So, for instance, a “5th/1st” overlap refers to an overlap of birth 5th house with conception 1st house in that order.

Birth planets (including their harmonics) rule only birth houses. Conception planets (including their harmonics) rule only conception houses.

For a more thorough explanation of this astrological approach, refer to the following papers

About This Method

Chart Reading Rules

In the partial charts shown below, birth planets and their harmonics are inside the circle. Conception planets and their harmonics are outside the circle. Conception sidereal planets are red; conception harmonic ones, black. Birth sidereal planets are blue; birth harmonic ones, green. Occasionally, because of space limitations, I have had to violate this inside/outside arrangement, but the color coding remain constant.

Abbreviations used are b = birth, c = conception, and t = transiting. Even though the harmonic used for each chart is always two more than the chart’s number, in these papers I write the harmonic number the same as the chart number. For example, the 5th chart uses the 7th harmonic, but I have established the convention of writing harmonic planets for the 5th chart as, e.g., c5 mars, which reads, “the harmonic for the 5th chart for conception mars.

Now we can look at the charts for Twins No. 11900 and 11901. First we want to examine the astrology which does not differentiate them, but shows shared characteristics. Once we have eliminated their gross similarities, we will look at the astrology which sponsors their gross differences.

Even so, the first-born still had c moon (and its harmonic) co-ruling the rest of his c 3rd house, so they shared the influence of sets including c moon. In the 7th chart, c moon and its harmonic are in the same set, and configured with venus, jupiter, and B Asc. Here it is (from the chart of Twin No. 11901, but both are nearly equal):

Set (1) is an optimistic, easy-going, lucky set influencing both an Angle and each of their 3rd houses. Some of the benevolence is lost to the fact that venus and jupiter are opposed by sign, but this is still a sunny, open, set.

From Set (1) we would come to the conclusion that both twins were open and easy-going.

But they are not, so we need to keep looking at their charts until we get to their differences.

There was nothing that really separated Twin No. 1 (easy-going) from Twin No. 2 (hard-driving) in sets containing c mercury, which influenced Twin No. 1’s c 3rd house but not Twin No. 2’s c 3rd house. Therefore, I will not show sets involving c mercury.

Before we go any further, we should take a look at where the information on these twins comes from. The biographical material states that Twin No. 1 was a plumber while his brother was a high-powered executive who made $100,000 per year. Apparently that statement was made by Twin No. 1 to an astrologer (who submitted it to Modern Horoscopes). It was somewhat dissembling in the sense that it leaves one with the impression we should see the executive as professionally superior. Twin No. 1 was apparently playing on social values which rate executives above plumbers. But, was his tongue in his cheek?

In fact, both he and his brother have a golden benefic in their 10th chart. A golden benefic/10th, which contains light/venus/jupiter influencing an Angle in the 10th chart, supports success no matter what the profession. His brother may have been an executive, but so was the plumber. He ran his own company, so he was an executive, too.

Below is the set, from their 10th chart which both have (with only a few minutes variation) which shows their success:

Set (2) shows a golden benefic—the summum bonum of astrological sets—with influence to two Angles and a 2nd house, indicating a high likelihood of social and career success (two Angles) with fitting financial reward (2nd house). They are also fortunate in their interactions with others (7th house). Whether one is a plumber or an executive, it is always helpful to have good sets with regard to others.

Plumbers may (or may not, depending on your point of view) have less status socially than (some) business executives, but they can make a very good living. At least this one could. Both twins have golden benefics in their 2nd chart:

Set (3) is not only a golden benefic, it is a golden benefic which contains a conjunction of venus and jupiter in Pisces, where venus is exalted and jupiter well-placed. With such a beneficent, forefront set indicating income, both twins can aim very high financially and succeed.

Our plumber informant does not state how much he made annually. Whatever it was, he was just as capable as his brother in making a six figure income. A "lowly plumber” he was not.

So far, we have seen that neither brother was superior in terms of potential income or career success. Both were capable of demonstrating considerable charisma and gathering considerable appreciation.

So where is the astrology that shows that one became easy-going, while the other became uptight and driven?

We are now ready to take a look at their shell charts. A shell chart is comprised of planets from both birth and conception, their Angles and houses before any harmonics are added. So the shell chart is the "fundamental"--it is the same in all twelve charts of this method.

Below I present both (partial) shell charts. "Partial" just means that I have put in only information relevant to our topic. Angles are included in the charts. House cusps are shown below each chart.

In my guidelines for reading charts (Chart Reading Rules, likn above), I have given an orb of 2° for Angle/planet. However, getting up toward 2° is actually rather weak. In this case, with these twins born seven minutes (about 1-3/4° difference in Angles), we are interested in planets that fall within 1° orb to each of their Angles. Then we are sure they will express strongly. And we will be more likely not to count a planet which one twin has exactly conjunct an Angle (strong) against the same planet which the other twin has almost 2° away from the same Angle (weak). Moreover, separated thus, planet and Angle will come up together when involved with another progression, especially a light or return light, ensuring even more expression. Whereas a planet nearly two degrees from an Angle will be tend to fall out of relationship with its Angle when another Angle, planet, or light progresses to it since progressed orb for Angle/planet is 1°, not 2°. The differences between these twins is not the difference of one being more strong than the other in exhibiting certain qualities. Their differences are differences in kinds of manifestations.

About Twin No. 1's Shell Chart:
The easy-going twin, No. 1 (easy-going), has a set [Set (4)], involving B MC with mercury/mars. Set (4) influences B MC (in the set) as well as B Asc (ruled by b mars). Angle/mercury/mars is very verbal. It would be hard to hold one’s tongue with such a set, especially since it influences two Angles. It’s openness is supported by the golden benefic of Set (5), already discussed above as promoting charisma and good fortune.

Angle/mercury/mars is strong in the charts of litigating lawyers, demonstrating the connection between it and volubility or verbal self-confidence. It was also prominent in the chart of the woman who was a compulsive talker (link to paper on Home Page).

In his 10th chart, Twin No. 1 has c10 pluto at 26 Aquarius 27, joining Set (4), above. Angle/mars/pluto supports his career in plumbing (good with his hands). I have also seen Angle/mars/pluto in the chart of a car mechanic who specialized in working on foreign imports (who also made an excellent living)

About Twin No. 2's Shell Chart:
Moving on to Twin No. 2 (hard-driven), we see with Set (6) that his C MC is in the same set with birth and conception plutos. I do understand that some astrologers see Angle/pluto as charismatic. I do not. Pluto on an Angle has the effect of curtailing personal expression of the individual. It makes him defensive in his approach to life.

Continuing with Twin No. 2 (hard-driven), Set (8) shows B MC conjunct c saturn. Not only does he have a close Angle/saturn, but that saturn rules his C MC, so Angle/saturn influences two Angles. With saturn progressing toward B MC, Twin No. 2 is sure to have experienced some really dark times in childhood. (Twin No. 1 had that same saturn already past his B MC at birth and it was progressing even further away from it--more on this in the Discussion below.)

Saturn/Angle is the set most correlated with shyness, lack of self-confidence, hesitancy, depression, and “the loser.”

Twin No. 2 (hard-driven), however, is not culturally recognized as a “loser” because his astrology allows him to somewhat circumvent the darkness of his Angle/saturn with influence to two Angles. He has that “success” set shown above as Set (8), which both twins have. He also has golden benefics in his 2nd and 10th charts, which both twins also have. Career and finances are two ways in which he can shine, so it is no wonder that he pursues success in those areas with extra diligence. Success he can have, easy-going openness he cannot.

Summarizing the basic differences between charts of the twins:

• Twin No. 1, the easy-going, fresh, frank, talkative one, has mercury/mars closely associated with two of his four Angles. And, he has an Angle/moon/venus/jupiter--a set showing optimism, success, charisma, luck--not contradicted by any other set in his chart.

• Twin No. 2, the one who is hard-driving, never smiles, is devious, tight and tense, has two Angles closely influenced by lighted saturn (B MC acts like a light). As a matter of fact, C MC can be "summed" to show that it is influenced both by lighted saturn and by pluto. Saturn/pluto is the set most representing withdrawal from society and difficulty making emotional connections. It is prominent in the 1st and 3rd charts of autistic children. It is also prominent in the 7th chart of the one individual I have known to have Asperger’s syndrome. It was prominent in many charts of the "disappearing priest" at the time he closed up shop and disappeared into the boonies.

• Here are links to those papers:
  
• Autism
  
• Asperger's
  
• Disappearing Priest
  
  
• Twin No. 2 is able to do as well as he does because he has three golden benefics (2nd, 7th, and 10th charts) which allow him some degrees of freedom from fear, uptightness, and withdrawal. Even so, note that his 7th chart golden benefic [shown as Set (1) above, but also part of the shell chart] has a larger orb from jupiter to the moon/Asc than that of his brother, so even his charisma is less than his brother's.

Since c saturn ruled C MC, it could have been the case that both twins experienced a strong lighted saturn influence. It was not the case, however, because the only “light” to c saturn was its conjunction with B MC in the chart of Twin No. 2. Twin No.1 had no such conjunction, so his c saturn was not lighted. Speaking only of the 7th chart, neither did their harmonic c saturns receive a light.

Conclusion
The astrology that basically separated this one twin from his brother was that of planets on Angles. Angle/mercury/mars (for the easy-going twin) is outgoing, showing a need for verbal expression. Angle/saturn (belonging to the never smiling twin) is just the opposite.

Discussion
The Angle/saturn (influencing two Angles) of Twin No. 2 (hard-driving, never smiles) suggests he had a far more difficult relationship with his mother (if not her, the main caretaker) than did his brother (easy-going, confident), who did not have any Angle/saturn.

Progressed c saturn was at 28 Leo 37 when both twins were four years old. It had moved to 28 Leo 44 by the time they were five years old. During that time it had crossed over the B MC of Twin No. 2, but not that of Twin No. 1.

Let's give an orb of 1/2° before and 1/4° (=45') after exact conjunction of progressed c saturn to B MC (and progressed B MC to c saturn) as the time that set was most active. Since progressing Midheavens move about 5' per month (1°/year), then Twin No. 1 (easy-going) experienced his B MC/saturn for about 9 months starting when he was about 9 months old.

However, his brother, Twin No. 2 (never smiles) had progressing c saturn moving much more slowly over his B MC, keeping the set active for a much longer period of time. In fact, in one year (between ages four and five) it had moved only 7 minutes. I did not look it up to find the exact figures. Using the same orb as for Twin No. 1, by doing a little math we can see that Twin No. 2 had an active B MC/saturn for 45'/7 = ca. 6 years 5 months. Progressing c saturn reached 1/2° before his B MC around November 19 1951, when he was five months old. So, it would have been active from the age of five months to the age of six years, ten months. For him, this constituted a "condition of his existence," while for his brother his progressed B MC to c saturn constituted a "passing phase of his existence." At least, relative to each other, that would very much be the case.

This progression of c saturn to an exact conjunction of the B MC of Twin No. 2 squarely puts his long dark night as his early childhood. That is when he “lost out” to his brother, during his formative years. At least I assume that was the source of his darkness since his brother had the chart and behavior of the “winner.”

The timing of Twin No. 2's progressed c saturn to B MC also speaks well for the powerful dominance of saturn on an Angle in later years. It does its damage early in life when the child has no intellectual capacity to understand what he is going through or to defend himself. He is left with intense, dark, painful feelings he will go to great lengths to avoid re-experiencing. Using the imagery of psychology, in an experiment using bell, light, and buzzer as warnings before the shock, he will be out of there experientially by the time the bell rings. He will never get to the light and buzzer. So, he will stay closed, that is, defended.

It would have been interesting to find out how their mother saw these boys. Did she experience that Twin No. 2 was defended, different, less sunny, from the beginning? Or, did she herself see his experience of closing off, but not have any idea what to do about it? Or, perhaps she could not (guiltily) help herself, she just like Twin No. 1 more than Twin No. 2, and always responded to him more positively. These kinds of questions can only be answered when a similar astrological situation repeats itself, when the mother is either an astrologer or working with one, and when all involved are interested, open, and capable of some objectivity.

Twinflower, a member of the honeysuckle family
From Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide, by Stan Tekiela

Data Acknowledgments
Letters following each name show the Rodden rating for data reliability.

Twin No. 1 (Male, Easy-Going, #11900) (A)
Birth: 6/19/1951, 6:10 p.m. EST, Pontiac, MI. From Astrodatabank by Lois Rodden and Mark McDonough. Dorothy Hughes quotes him in MH, Ext. 4/1985.
Conception:9/10/1950, 10:28:55 p.m. EST, Pontiac, MI.

Twin No. 2 (Male, Hard-Driving, #11901) (A)
Birth: 6/19/1951, 6:17 p.m. EST, Pontiac, MI. From Astrodatabank by Lois Rodden and Mark McDonough. Dorothy B. Hughes quotes case in MH Ext. 4/1985.
Conception:9/10/1950, 10:35:54 p.m. EST, Pontiac, MI.





About This Method
Return to Home Page
Empirically-Derived Rules for Reading Charts
About The Author

Contact the author at sleeweidner@yahoo.com