Challenge Corner
Zip Dobyns
We only received one response to the Pisces challenge; unfortunately with the wrong answer. I guess readers are getting discouraged at the difficulty of guessing. Still, some good points were made by the one correspondent. She noted that the ruler of the 3rd house for both twins was the Moon which was in a wide square to Mercury, the natural ruler of the 3rd, with Mercury also conjunct Mars for verbal arguments. It is also conjunct Vesta which suggests the potential of a critical attitude in relationships. (The proper attitude for work is displaced if we do it to ourselves or our associates). Saturn also participates in the pattern, giving us a fixed T-square which can indicate power struggles.
Another point noted in the letter was the dwad of the MC changing from Leo to Libra. The writer suggested that the Leo dwad along with Taurus rising might indicate a pleasure and ego-oriented person. However, a Leo-Capricorn mixture is also quite capable of becoming a steam roller achiever, especially since the Ascendant is in the Capricorn dwad of Taurus. The air dwad with an air sign and dwad rising can become a spectator, watching the world go by and expecting someone else to do the work.
The letter writer also noted that Twin 2 had the progressed Ascendant sextile Mercury at age 16 but did not note that it was also conjunct the progressed south node of the Moon, the lesson in using the mind effectively. Twin l at age 16 had the progressed Ascendant sextile the Sun. This could have meant wanting to play king and order someone else to do the work (both certainly have enough Leo to be tempted into that role) but the Capricorn dwad rising, especially in an earth sign which is basically compatible, is more likely to feel they better do it themselves. Also, Twin l had no strong progressed MC aspects at age 16 while Twin 2 had the progressed MC octile and tri-octile the nodes of the Moon, repeating the lesson of the Ascendant.
Other factors that might be noted include Venus and Jupiter moving into the 4th house for Twin 2. Water can be either dependent or nurturant. Where there is a lot of air and fire and little earth, it is more apt to be dependent and feel someone else should do the work.
Another interesting item is the Part of Saturn (Ascendant plus Saturn minus Sun which I interpret as similar to another position for Saturn in the chart) conjunct the Mars-Vesta conjunction for Twin l. The Arabic Part moves to 28 Leo for Twin 2, too wide to count since I limit Arabic Parts to one degree aspects. A Saturn Vesta contact is usually a strong need to accomplish something.
I also looked at the nodes of the planets to note aspects to the Ascendants. Twin 1 had north Venus, Vesta, Mars, and the south node of the Moon in good aspect to the Ascendant. Twin 2 had north Mercury and south Venus in good aspect to the Ascendant and south Ceres was opposite it. Again, the Vesta contact favored Twin 1 as the worker while Twin 2 felt that someone else (Ceres node in the 7th house) should do it. Of course it is a lot of work to look up nodes if you don’t have a handy computer to do them for you. In my experience, they just repeat again the same message as the basic chart, but may help to confirm it or clarify it.
Even though few people send in guesses, a number do mention that they like this feature in The Mutable Dilemma and feel they learn from it. If nothing else, it keeps us humble about how little we know, and about the very real options in a chart. It is quite true that at any time, the astrological principles can be used constructively or destructively. The same person, after insight, can change the handling of any of these principles. Of course, due to the usual human need to be individual, it is also very common for siblings to accentuate different areas of their natures. Even when similar potentials are present, when there are several members in a family, one will tend to emphasize scholarship while another goes out for sports, another is the social butterfly, etc. But twins remain one of our most valuable keys to testing the tools of astrology, and we expect to go on presenting them for your stimulation.
Our twins for this issue were born a whole hour apart on December 22, 1923, at 35 N 3 and 97 W 58. One was born at 8:30 A.M. and the other at 9:30 A.M. CST. There are both similarities and differences in the life patterns. Both are intelligent, college graduates, good at sports, and presently working for oil companies in the southwest. Both have made good money and both have been married more than once and have had problems with alcohol. But the differences are also many. One was only married for 9 months the first time and then made a stable marriage which has lasted 24 years. He is persevering, always responsible, very successful, and has his drinking well under control. He handles money carefully and is very competitive in tennis. The other twin has never been able to handle money. He has made a lot and spent it or gambled it. He reads about sports more than participating in them. After years of making money, he had nothing to show for it. Drinking is still a problem. He has been married five times, at present to a 21 year old woman. One former wife was mentally retarded and another was not very smart. He had kidney problems while the other twin had back problems. Come on readers! Someone ought to get this one.