The Challenge Corner

Zip Dobyns

The twins in our last issue were a real challenge, and I doubt whether I would have been able to guess which was which if I had not known the answer. With only two minutes difference in birth times, the angles of the charts only differed by a fraction of a degree. The only dwad change for any of the angles or house cusps was the shift of the Antivertex from the Scorpio dwad for the first-born twin to the Sagittarius dwad for the second-born. We could make a case for either twin having either sign, depending on whether the positive potential was manifested. Scorpio can be caught in over-indulgence of the appetites, or can develop self-mastery. Sagittarius can indicate ethics and the pursuit of higher education, or an attitude of “I should have what I want without effort.”

I used one of Mark’s newer computer programs on the twins; one which lists the aspects in order of closeness, and noted that Twin 1 had Pallas trine Neptune as her closest aspect while Twin 2 had East Point square Vesta as her closest aspect. Again, I could make a case either way. The trine might show an attitude of “God and other people should provide my needs” or the capacity to form a spiritually sound marriage. The square might indicate a serious concern with work and practicality or a personal rejection of those Puritan virtues.

The aspect program also weights the planets and angles, based on two different formulas, and lists them in order of emphasis. There are two formulas (and we have also tried a third in another version of the program) since we are not yet confident of the best weighting system. We are still exploring the possibilities, and a long way from certainty on the validity of any system yet tried. One of our weighting systems did not differentiate between the twins. The other listed Pallas first and Jupiter second in importance for Twin 1 with East Point and Vesta placed first and second for Twin 2. The message seemed the same as simply looking at the closest aspects.

Since one twin was reasonably happily married and the other unmarried, I paid extra attention to Juno, thinking that might be a useful clue. But Twin 1 had heliocentric Juno square her Ascendant (out of the one degree orb for Twin 2), while Twin 2 had the south node of Juno square her MC (again out of the one degree orb for Twin 1). You pays your money and you takes your choice! I did find a sextile of the south node of Jupiter to the MC for Twin 2, and wondered whether that might mean better judgment and more education for her? Twin 1 was out of the one degree orb.

I finally turned to the differing events. In the end, that seems to be our best way to differentiate charts. In 1974, one twin had a baby without marriage. Though there were many shared aspects, present in both charts, Twin 1 had her progressed MC quincunx Pluto (one of the natural keys to a mate), and square Neptune (in the seventh house), suggesting tension in personal relationships. Twin 2 had her progressed MC in a grand trine to Juno and progressed Saturn, suggesting more ability to handle relationships, though she also had her progressed Ascendant octile Venus, ruler of the fifth house. I still did not feel at all conclusive about the combination.

Looking at the month in 1977 when the other twin married, I saw that Twin 1 had her progressed MC trioctile Juno and her Moon quincunx Mercury, while Twin 2 had her progressed MC trine her natal Moon in the second house. The MC aspect continued into the next year when the married twin had twins of her own. If I were trying to guess, I think I would have tipped the scales toward Twin 2 being the educated and married one, and that is the case. But we really could argue either way. These exercises are probably mostly effective in showing us that astrology can’t answer all the questions in life.

We’re running out of space again, so, unfortunately, will have to skip the new challenge for this issue.

Copyright © 1984 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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