Moon Twins

Luck, good fortune or perhaps just plain planning would have it, I have two wonderful daughters, born sixteen years apart. That by itself is not nearly so interesting as the fact that they both have Capricorn moons with one degree of separation. For many years I have wondered just how this unique marker would reveal itself. The eldest daughter has a Pisces rising and Gemini Sun, the youngest a Libra rising and an Aquarian Sun. Already the picture is emerging. The eldest has a tenth house moon, well demonstrated for her love and success in government not to mention her deft hand at catering. The youngest has a third house moon. As a younger child she aspired to be a teacher, now she leans towards the law. As a parent, I have found that the best way to understand a child's needs is to analyze not only their Sun and Ascendant sign and placement but to truly understand their emotional nature it is important to carefully study the moon, it's sign and placement. In addition, it is important to know how the parent's planetary placements complement or contrast to the children's. This comparison is achieved by comparing the complete charts of the parents and children noting the sun, moon and ascendant as well as the moon and mercury aspects. Early on, for both of these children with Capricorn moons, I noticed that they thrived on ritual and regularity. Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, and the Moon as representative of the mother in their life, indicates that a mother figure could be controlling, definitely an earlier trait of mine. A Saturn moon can also indicate a mother who provides a needed structure. As the mother of two children with Capricorn moons, I have also experienced their need for structure and they would remind me when the structure was broken or neglected. Capricorn moon children also teach the parent about parenting, so clear can they be about their needs. For instance, my older daughter and I enjoyed a Saturday morning schedule that rarely varied except when she requested a change. We would shop, go to the same special stores and restaurant. Evenings were similar with endless stories and a snack. The familiarity and regularity was essential for her sense of stability, and in retrospect, mine also. The Aquarian nature in my younger child has allowed for the needed eclectic variation within the stabilizing pattern but she, too, thrives on regularity and ritual. Her ritual is much more important in the evening. For years a fresh fruit snack for the essential evening ritual was accompanied by a card game or shared listening to a tape. Breaking the ritual was tantamount to heresy. Even as a teenager, she still needs the comfort of an adaptable Saturn structure. Children understand communication on an emotional level first. It is only later as they grow older and the emotional component of relations is socially devalued that older children develop the adult form of cognitive communication. It may, at first, be difficult to distinguish between the true lunar nature of an individual seen early in childhood and their adapted and often modified nature in adolescence and adulthood. Emotional and physical interactions with others will be full of clues to this true inner lunar nature. Now, as older children, they have developed their own relationships with one another. One of the unique aspects of their relationship is the fact that the older daughter, in so many ways, has served in a surrogate mother role, in that way the younger daughter has experienced two mothers. Ach!. Understandably, this tends to confound their feelings for one another. As they struggle with this oftimes dual relationship, this mutual struggle has taken on one very interesting dimension. I refer to this bit of astrological trivia as "everyday" astrology. This "everyday" astrology is how these Capricorn Moon Twins physically connect to one another. This bit of trivia gave me the idea for this article. One can well imagine that the Capricorn moon's strong competition for ascendancy is evident between one another. When they are feeling competitive, they can not really hug one another, that would not be consistent with their Saturnian natures. Instead, they give one another what they refer to as the "armless hug", a sort of perfunctory gesture of sorority. From an observers vantage point, it looks like two mountain goats, the symbol of Capricorn, butting up against one another!!! And of course, the competition is for the affection and attention of the mother. They both report that this behavior, markedly different from their usual relationship of confidants and friends, only occurs in mother's presence. One can only hope that with time, this competitive tendency will find cooperative, sororal, avenues for expression. Both daughters report that their rapport is best when alone together. It is then that they can be free of their lunar agenda and have wonderful times. My younger daughter often visits her older sister's home after school. Her home away from home. How symbolic this is for them both. My sense is that when the younger daughter is older and independent she and her sister will have a very different relationship with one another, more like supportive sisters and sympathetic moon twins instead of Capricorn competitors. This pattern has developed over several years. I know that neither one of them knows how significant this bit of astro trivia may be, but I was quite excited to see astrology at work in such a visible manner. We have since discussed their "armless hug" and its astrological as well as personal significance. It is such an interesting and visible way to introduce simple astrological ideas to the children who can then begin to appreciate themselves and their relationship tensions in a very different way. The girls express these Capricorn traits: the younger daughter likes to visit cemeteries, loves the basement, old churches, has occasional eczema, and can be hypochondriacal (this is due to the fact that the Saturn quality of the Moon makes it difficult to express emotions). The older daughter is a born politician (she has worked in state and national political positions), government service, loves gardens, and is now in an executive sales position with an international company. They both have ambition, determination and a strong work ethic. They share these lunar traits: the same mother, both have worn glasses since early childhood, are gourmands and excellent bakers, tend to an easy depression, neither digest milk or milk products well, have sensitive digestive tracts, painful menstrual cycles, honors (they have received many awards and recognition's since childhood), are very good athletes with similar knee difficulties, love to shop, take LONG showers, often feel isolated from peers (usually because of their strong leadership qualities), deep sleepers, and are practical mystics.