I'm frequently asked the question:
"I'm a Cancer. So if astrology is for real, then why don't the typical descriptions of Cancer fit me?"
I'm also asked about twins:
"Are twins alike? or not alike? Twins usually have almost exactly the same birth chart, don't they? So if astrology is for real, then why aren't they more alike?"
I'm about to try and kill two birds with one stone....
Please Note: The following answers are merely the "tip of the iceberg" and are not meant to be full explanations.And, perhaps, the best way to answer both of these questions is by momentarily taking a trip back in time....
Imagine....
Imagine you're a top secret government agent.
And as a top secret government agent, you've just received an undercover assignment to travel back in time (and space) via a top secret time machine....
And upon entering this top secret time machine, you're whisked back in time (and space) to ancient Athens, Greece....
Zap!
Upon
your arrival in ancient Athens, you find yourself dressed in a toga and
sandals – and you realize you must have landed at one of those wild Dionysian
toga parties.
As a top secret undercover agent, you manage to engage yourself in conversation with a group of the locals discussing politics, while trying your very best not to blow your cover.
After getting more than an earful of the latest Parthenon gossip, you notice a handsome guy (or gorgeous gal) who appears to be nonchalantly strolling over to the darkened corner of the room where you're standing.
The handsome Greek guy (or gorgeous gal) walks up to you and asks the age old "Greek Toga Party Pick Up" line:
"Hey baby! What's your sign?"Careful now! Watch out!
Chances are -- you're about blow your secret agent cover by giving him/her the wrong answer!
What's Your Sign?
These days, when someone asks the question: "What's your sign?…." that person is asking you (whether they know it or not) for the Zodiac sign the Sun was passing through on the day you were born.
But you see…
It's only been during the last couple of hundred years (or so) that folks started identifying their Zodiac sign with the birth position of the Sun.
Sign on the Ascendant
So -- more than likely, that handsome Greek guy (or gorgeous gal) at the wild Dionysian toga party was asking you for the Zodiac sign which is located on your "Ascendant."
He/she was asking for the Zodiac sign which was rising on the horizon at the exact moment of your birth.
In A Nutshell
In a nutshell, the Zodiac sign on the Ascendant represents the "outer package" or "image" that you regularly display to the people around you.
The Zodiac sign on the Ascendant has always been considered to be a much more personal point than the Zodiac sign the Sun is located in.
The Ascendant (the speediest major point on the birth chart) changes its Zodiac positioning every two hours (or so) -- whereas, the Sun changes Zodiacal signs only once a month.
Top Three Points
The top three most powerful points on the birth chart are:
The Sun (Fast): travels through all 12 Zodiac signs during the course of a year (approximately).Yep!The Moon (Faster): travels through all 12 Zodiac signs during the course of a month (approximately).
and The Ascendant (Fastest): travels through all 12 Zodiac signs during the course of a 24 hour day.
Your birth Sun may be located in the Zodiac sign of Cancer, but your birth Moon might well be in Leo.
And to complicate things further, your birth Ascendant might be in yet another sign, such as Gemini.
So far, we've barely skimmed the surface of a typical birth chart – and we've already got major energy emphases going on in three different Zodiac signs.
Take me for instance
Not too long ago, I ran an experimental poll at The Zodiac Master, asking folks to vote for the Zodiac sign they thought my Sun Sign is located in.
The majority of folks voting (a whopping 25.5%) thought my Sun was in the Zodiac sign of Gemini.
And close behind that, 21.8% of the voters thought my Sun Sign was in Sagittarius.
Close, But No Cigar
It seems that many of the voters in my experimental poll accurately saw my "outer package," the Ascendant, shining through loud and clear....
My Ascendant is in Gemini with Jupiter conjuncting.
Note of explanation: When the Ascendant has a planet closely conjuncting it -- the Ascendant acts as a funnel through which the conjuncting planet (in this case, Jupiter) flows into the chart and strongly colors the Ascendant with its own particular (in this case, Sagittarian) energies.So I'd guess you could say my "outer package," the Ascendant, is never quite sure whether it's located in Gemini or Sagittarius (the sign that Jupiter rules).
Energy Ownership
And the deal is that some folks seem to end up choosing to primarily identify with and take ownership of their Sun's energies.
Other folks end up primarily identifying with and taking ownership of their Moon's energies....
And then, finally, other folks end up identifying with their Ascendant's energies.
So now, knowing just this much....
How in the world could anyone expect a simple Sun Sign description of Cancer to totally fit them?
Give 'em All A Say In The Matter
See The Crash Course on the Astrology Menu for information about what these three important points represent in the birth chart.
As For Twins
(and the ownership of energies)
There often seems to be an extraordinary psychic/emotional bond shared between many twin siblings that the rest of us non-twin folks will never be able to experience and/or be fully initiated into the mysteries of "twinship."
I'm not a twin, and I won't claim to know what goes on in the head of a twin.
Yet, in my experience, many twins appear to split up the energy potentials contained within their birth charts.
They "live out" and identify with differing Zodiacal energies contained within their birth charts. And each twin ends up living out the other twin's shadow.
Gemini, The Twins
Gemini, the Zodiac sign of twins, helps demonstrate this (arche)typical scenario of twin-ship and the splitting up of energies:
Pollux – CastorIn the basic core need to establish a sense of separateness and individuality, each twin ends up living out the other twin's shadow.One twin is immortal – the other twin is mortal
Pollux and Castor were twins, sons of the woman Leda – but they had different fathers. Only Pollux was a son of the god Zeus, and thus was immortal. Castor was the son of a mortal and could die.
The two brothers took part in many adventures (i.e. they were involved in the Jason and Argonauts Golden Fleece thing), but never separated from one another.
At the point of Castor's impending death, Pollux asked his father, Zeus, to let him die with Castor, so that they might remain united even in death.
Zeus allowed the brothers to remain together.
However, Pollux and Castor would have to alternate between the light and the dark. The brothers would forever spend one day on Olympus and then the next day in Hades.
Often, you'll find in the dynamics of the family that one twin is unconsciously identified as being the "good" twin; while the other twin is identified as being the "bad" twin.
So with twins:
One twin might unconsciously choose to own the energies contained in their Sun's placement and disown the energies in their Moon's placement.The other twin might choose to own the energies contained in their Moon's placement and disown the energies contained in their Sun's placement. etc. etc. etc.
The truly fascinating thing is there have been several psychological case studies focused on identical twins who were separated at birth.
Parallels and similarities in the separated twins:
were often found to border on the verge of "Ripley's Believe It or Not."
- life events
- choices
- and external behaviors
One especially interesting case is that of male identical twins, separated at birth, who are both now living in Ohio.
Both men had married twice. Their first wife was named LInda and their second wife was named Betty.They'd both named their sons -- James Allen.
They'd both enrolled as Police Officers at the same time.
They'd both named their dogs "Toy."
They both vacationed each year on the same stretch of beach in Florida.
They both drink the same brand of beer and smoke the same brand of cigarettes.
They both have the same hobby, which is woodworking.
Case studies have also been done on "astrological twins."
Astrological twins are folks (although not related) who have almost identical birth charts.
Many interesting parallels and similarities have been found with them, as well.
Check out: "The Case for Astrology" by John Anthony West and Jans Gerhard Toonder.