Challenge Corner Answer

Zip Dobyns

The first born twin was the charming, dependent, irresponsible one and the second born was the serious, responsible one.

My initial guess on this pair was right and then I started putting in a variety of extra techniques and ended very uncertain. In the original information I was not told that both twins had problems with their feet, only that one was born with serious deformities and had many surgeries. So, of course I was looking for Neptune aspects or other emphasis to differentiate them. When I told the mother that they both had Neptune issues, she added that both had difficulties with the feet but the first twin’s problems were far more serious. Both twins have Neptune on the Pluto/Saturn midpoint with a long-term octile to Jupiter and squares to Sun and Mercury in the sixth house of efficient functioning (work and health). The P lunar nodes also moved into long-term octile-trioctiles to Neptune and squares to Jupiter but these aspects apply to both individuals.

My initial guess was based on Twin One having an exact trine from his Ascendant to Venus and an exact quincunx to the Moon. For Twin Two, Venus had edged back into the fourth house though it was still on the cusp, but that could show a bit more attachment to family while the quincunx to the Aquarian Moon was a clear indication of possible separations from females, whether love-mates or children in the fifth house. The Ascendant for Twin Two had moved into an exact trine to Pallas so both twins would want a partner. Pallas might indicate the tendency to be a bit more choosy, but with both Venus and Pallas in Capricorn, both could have been critical and married late. But Twin Two also had a quincunx from his Antivertex to Pallas so he might have been the one with more than one marriage though the Aquarian Moon is more inclined to go in and out of relationships than the practical, responsible Capricorn.

I also noted that Twin One had his Antivertex in Cancer which would normally mean more dependence than a Leo Antivertex but it might have meant more introversion and commitment to his family. Twin Two had his East Point enough higher to hold a long-term conjunction from P Uranus which could mean more independence but that might manifest as reluctance to be dependent or as feeling free enough to go in and out of relationships and jobs with Uranus in the sign of Leo and ruling the sixth house.

The Ascendant/MC midpoint also proved interesting. For Twin One, it was opposite Mars. For Twin Two, it was opposite Saturn. Again, astrology faces the fact that it describes the psychological issues, not the details of how the individual chooses to manifest those issues. A Mars aspect could be expressed as a rejection of dependency which would imply that one has to work, or as insistence on the right to freedom to change relationships and not be tied down to a job we don’t like. A Saturn aspect could be an acceptance of responsibility or a rejection of it, depending on the person. The chart just shows the issue, the need to deal with practicality and limits.

The dwads were the most misleading factors of the many that I checked. Twin one had the Ascendant in the Virgo dwad while it shifted to the Libra dwad for Twin Two. That certainly looked more as if the first twin was the introverted worker and the second one the charming marrier. Since that was not the case, we have to remember that Virgo in the first house is a Virgo-Aries mixture which often marks a person who feels that he has the right to work when and how he chooses. He may feel very uncomfortable if he is not accomplishing something, but he still wants it on his own terms. Identification with the Virgo-Libra mixture can mean an individual who takes partnership seriously and works at it.

The East Points also changed dwads from the Aquarius dwad to the Pisces dwad, and again my initial reaction was to associate the Pisces with the twin with the serious problems with the feet which was not the case. The Aquarius dwad goes with the sociable twin who had lots of friends and the Pisces dwad with the sensitive introvert.

The dwad changes on the MC were from the Capricorn to the Aquarius dwad, and again I felt that they pointed in what I later found to be the wrong direction. To justify the actual situation, we have to remember that the MC is the same principle as Saturn and that it initially points to a lesson in living within the rules and taking a responsible role in society. We may do this voluntarily early in our lives or we may resist it and be forced to accept the “rules of the game.” Twin One had his MC exactly trine Ceres, a key to one’s mother, which in his case was manifested as feeling that his parents could be the responsible workers and provide for him. Twin Two with the Aquarius dwad expressed it by rejecting dependency.

As has been mentioned, there was a change of sign with the Antivertex. Twin One had the Gemini dwad in Cancer which does fit his tendency to look to other people for his needs. Twin Two with a Leo sign and dwad was the stronger of the two.

There were also some interesting asteroids on the ICs of the two boys. Twin Two had Dembowska, a very Saturnian asteroid which I have found associated with power and being dignified, reserved, etc. Twin One had four asteroids within one degree of his IC: Nefertiti, a queen of Egypt; Geisha, the Japanese women whose job is to please male customers; Hebe, the cup-bearer of the Gods; and Merlin, the Celtic magician. I think the asteroids clearly pointed in the right direction. I should have weighted them more heavily than the dwads which at best gave a very ambivalent message. But that is the reason for having these challenge corners—to let us test our techniques. If there is one major lesson to be drawn from this set of twins, it is that the aspects are more important than the dwads. As I have written in the past, in order of importance I put our four major tools as planets, aspects, houses, and zodiacal signs last.

Copyright © 1992 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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