As an astrology lover who’s been studying the subject for eight years, I attempt to understand people through their natal charts. Fictional people are no exception.
Whenever I grow emotionally invested in a book character, I immediately begin to imagine what their natal chart might look like. I love rationalizing why I think certain characters would have specific placements.
I made natal charts for my own main characters to reference in order to really flesh out their personalities and internal conflict, and as Astrology is one of the main magic systems within my fantasy series, it only seemed natural. And as an absolute die-hard lover of the Zodiac Academy series by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, you can bet that I was curious about the main characters’ charts.
While I might’ve had my own ideas about twins Tory and Darcy’s natal placements, their exact times and date of birth is given within one of the early books which enables me and my astrology addiction to generate an actual natal chart for them! While I doubt that the authors chose the date and time specifically in order to produce a desired natal chart (other than to show the twins are Gemini suns), I’m here to do an astrology deep dive and point out the consistencies within their charts that accurately reflect their characters and stories. Professor Zenith could never! (Professor Cosimo def could, though. And will. Because I am he.)
Now, here is your warning that this blog post will contain major series spoilers for books 1-7 and some speculation for the final book. PLEASE HEED THIS SPOILER WARNING. MAKE LIKE A SLIPPERY SALAMANDER AND FLEE THE MULBERRY BUSH OF THIS BLOG POST IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ALL THE BOOKS.
Let’s begin with Tory (aka Roxanya). Born on June 11, 2001 at 12:03 AM, I set the location to Chicago since they were said to live there and I unfortunately know not where the Fae realm is. Since Darcy was born several minutes later, they share practically the same chart.
I once read that one twin might embody the moon sign more whereas the other embodies the sun sign. I’m not sure how much truth that holds, but for Tory and Darcy, it’s definitely accurate. I believe Tory completely embodies Aquarius moon energy. She is the “edgier” of the two and has a rebellious, give-no-hoots attitude. But she secretly does give a hoot sometimes. Aquarius moons can be cold and defensive in order to protect themselves from hurt, pretending not to care when they in fact do. This perfectly represents Tory, especially with regard to her feelings for a certain dragon shifter. Aquarius moons can be quite stubborn as a fixed sign, and I feel Tory is the more stubborn of the twins, though Darcy manages to use the Gemini talent for persuasion on her often enough.
Tory admits to feeling as though no one truly likes her. Aquarius energy can sometimes feel lonely, as it can be hard for Aquarians to relate to others. Aquarians sometimes feel like no one understands them. It would make sense for Tory to feel this more than Darcy as the twin who embodies their moon sign more deeply.
The moon represents the mother as well, and their mother was a harpy. Fun tidbit–harpies fly, and Aquarius being an air sign representing the mother feels right. Their mother was also a seer, and Aquarius is known to have a certain proclivity towards clairvoyance. This is because Aquarius rules airwaves/collective unconscious/the Higher Mind/the future, truly making it the sign of the seer. Aquarius is also known for being aloof, and as their mother is, er, dead, they certainly have distance in their relationship to their mother and this placement could certainly be translated in that manner. Aquarian moons are very independent, and in the twins’ case, they had to be considering they grew up as orphans.
For comparison’s sake, let’s discuss why Darcy is the perfect embodiment of the “sun” twin, or the twin who embodies their sun sign energy more. Gemini is a social butterfly, and it is said on a few different occasions that Darcy is the friendlier twin that gets along easily with everyone and who people gravitate towards. She’s a passionate student upon her arrival to Zodiac Academy, and while both twins share a dedication to their studies, Darcy’s curiosity and love for learning is highlighted more so, as Lance cites those traits as reasons why he’s attracted to her. Lance also describes Darcy as tasting like sunshine and compares her to sunshine multiple times throughout the series, including in The Awakening: As Told By the Boys.
I like to think that while Tory embraces her Aquarius moon through her rebellious attitude, Darcy’s Aquarius moon is channeled through her sense of individuation. Aquarius energy is unique and they value their individuality and originality. The twins share an Aquarius ascendant as well, and this placement makes one want to stand out with their appearance–and this can mean dyeing their hair. And of course, Darcy dyes her hair blue! Tory’s fashion sense can sometimes take on a biker chick edge with heavy liner and leather jackets, and which also checks out with a rebllious Aquarius rising.
Before I delve into other facets of their personalities, I’m dying to talk about love and how their placements interact with the people around them. Tory’s Aquarius moon is opposite Darius’ Leo sun. These are opposite signs, and when your moon opposes someone else’s sun, it can definitely create attraction and intensity. Oppositions are a harsh aspect and they create a lot of energy. This aspect creates extreme highs and lows in relationships (um, big fat check mark for these two. Yet another example of the effing stars getting in their way). But ultimately, this aspect serves both people’s growth: the sun person (Darius) is taught by the moon person (Roxy) how to understand their emotions better, control them, and take responsibility for them, while the moon person (Roxy) learns from the sun person (Darius) more about their own needs and come into their self-expression.
According to an astrology article by TeaandRosemary.com, “The Moon person might have emotional issues from childhood that get in the way of pursuing this relationship. On the other hand, the Sun person may be too quick to act or have too large of an ego to truly see what the Moon person needs from them.” As the moon person, Tory definitely struggles with feeling unwanted from childhood, and it’s a huge factor in why she turns down Darius during their divine moment in book 4. Darius, as the sun person, allows his ego (sun=ego) to get in the way of expressing his feelings for Tory time and again.
I simply can’t get over how accurate this synastry is; it neatly summarizes their dynamic and flawlessly explains the lessons they had to learn from one another. Darius inadvertently helps Tory become the powerful princess she was born to be, and Tory inadvertently helps Darius become a better man than his father by inspiring him to work towards controlling his emotional reactions and communicating his feelings. Ugh, I love astrology and I love them so much. After all, to roughly quote Shakespeare, the fault isn’t really in their stars; it’s in them. The stars (and their astrological synastry) are really helping them to overcome themselves so that they can share in the deepest love possible and present as the highest expression of themselves in order to better serve their world–which, by the way, goes for all of us out here. So even though it’s tempting to curse out the stars, maybe throw a thank you somewhere in there, too.
I’d also like to add that I think you can see this aspect between Darius and Darcy in a non-romantic way: Darius as the sun person has a stabilizing effect on Darcy’s emotions after Lance’s imprisonment/Tory’s capture in books 5 and 6. Darcy in turn supports Darius emotionally and helps guide him in his efforts to reconcile with Tory (never underestimate the power of bringing a girl her favorite chocolate wafer biscuits at breakfast).
Moving onto Darcy and Lance. Lance is a Libra sun, which is an air sign. And seeing as Darcy is triple air (Gemini sun, Aquarius moon and rising), it only makes sense that they share a playful connection and bond over a love of learning new things. They constantly joke with one another and have great communication early on. Gemini is the sign of the student, and nothing gets a Gemini going like intelligence and mental stimulation (hence falling for your teacher?). I quite like the fact that Darius and Tory’s relationship obstacles are mostly because of themselves/internal conflict (their sun/moon opposition), whereas Lance and Darcy get along easily (enough) pretty early on thanks to their compatibility, and their relationship drama comes from outside circumstances they can’t control.
And because I love Seth, I’ll throw in the fact that he’s an Aquarius sun, which means he conjuncts Darcy’s moon. This aspect creates initial attraction and effortless understanding, and we see in books 5 and 6 especially how he intuitively knows when Darcy needs extra comforting. As the moon person, Darcy lends emotional support to Seth while he navigates his crush on Caleb. Seth in turn is supportive of Darcy and “helps” (bless him) her and Lance come back together.
The twins have mercury in Gemini, and as their chapters are written in their perspectives, their Gemini wit and humor comes through spectacularly. Since their sun and Mercury are in the same sign, this means their ego and their thoughts are in alignment. It gives them strong mental energy, and in in the sign of Gemini (Mercury’s home), it produces wonders like “shit on a cornflake” (classic Tory).
Circling back to their Gemini sun, it’s in the 4th house of home and family. This gives them a strong need to identify with this area of life, which is quite sad considering their unpredictable/unstable childhood (Aquarius being ruled by Uranus/being their moon sign can also reflect this). This placement can show why once the girls feel at home in Zodiac Academy, they want to fight for their place there. The 4th house is ruled by Cancer, and they’ll do anything to protect their home and loved ones. The 4th house also rules our roots/sense of patriotic pride, which I believe is why the girls embrace the way of fae and eventually decide they want to pursue their claim to their birthright. Fourth house sun people would naturally feel a strong tie to such things. Jupiter and Mercury are here as well, giving the girls a 4h house stellium which means themes around ancestors/home/homeland/childhood is a heavy focus for them in this lifetime.
Exploring the theme of home more deeply, it seems as though the stars really want them to fight for this area of life (Mars in the 10th opposite sun in the 4th). This aspect makes them natural fae who have to fight to overcome adversity from early on. Their childhood is characterized by bouncing from foster home to foster home, creating a wound around this area of life. They come to find out that they’re to inherit the Palace of Souls, and Jupiter in the 4th can represent living in a large home since Jupiter is the planet of abundance and expansion. But in order to receive all of their inheritance, they must stick out their four years at Zodiac Academy. And in order to do so, they have to overcome a lot of challenges that can be directly linked to sun opposite Mars (and opposite Pluto/Chiron).
Their Venus is in Taurus in the second house, and I think it comes out strongly in Tory’s online shopping addiction. While I think you could argue that because humans view money/objects as security, perhaps Tory’s shopping habits are from a need to feel more secure due to their humble upbringing in the fae realm; I think it doesn’t have to be deeper than the simple fact of Taurus Venus’ liking stuff. Venus in Taurus loves beautiful things, shopping, and their five senses being engaged in pleasurable experiences. Also, the 8th house deals with inheritances, and theirs is in Libra which is ruled by lesser-benefic Venus in their 2nd house of money–which reflects their hefty inheritance and blessed finances. Perhaps since Tory’s Venus conjuncts Caleb’s sun in Taurus, that could explain why they had a fun, pleasant connection. Venus in Taurus has a taste for the finer things in life, so it’s lucky that Darius is a wealthy af dragon (Venus also represents love, of course, and the sign/house it is in could represent the kind of person you fall for. And with Venus in Taurus in the 2nd, it could mean you attract financially well-off, stable partners). As a Venus-ruled Libra sun, Lance intuitively satisfies Venus in Taurus (also its natural ruler) Darcy’s romantic needs in love (thinking specifically of that picnic with warm blankets and delicious foods/beautiful decor).
The twins have Mars in Sagittarius–a fire sign. Mars is our willpower, our drive, and our call to action. I love that Tory is in house Ignis (and they have fire Mars) and Darcy chose Air (they have an air sun), because I believe the sun and mars are the most basic, primal energies of the chart and that one’s house in Zodiac Academy describes their basic fae instinct/element. There’s no hiding the energy of your Mars, it’s felt on a basic level. I believe both twins’ Sag Mars are channeled through their competitiveness. They can’t resist the challenge of beating the Heirs and coming out on top, which is a basic Sagittarius need as a fire sign. As a Pitball keeper, Darcy channels this competitive urge expertly, as does Tory through her cheer squad The Vixens. Mars also describes the sexual nature, and I think we can all recall some pretty fiery, passionate chapters easily enough. Mars in on their Midheaven, which is the angle that speaks to public image and career. The twins are eventually seen as powerful warriors by many thanks to their fights against the nymphs, and this is fitting because Mars is the planet of the warrior. Pluto is also on their MC, and this speaks to powerful transformations. Pluto is intense and often burns things down before it builds it back up better. This is true in regards to their public perceptions, thanks to the Heirs’ actions early on in the books to make Darcy and Tory look bad. It’s funny that Pluto rules extremes and taboos, and the twins are slandered to look like Darcy is mentally unstable/paranoid and Tory is a sex addict as both can be seen as manifestations of Pluto energy. I believe that with Pluto on their MC, the twins will eventually be seen as rulers who transformed Solaria for the better from the dark place it was under Lionel’s rule. The twins are literal phoenixes, and Pluto is compared to a phoenix because the planet deals with death and rebirth. Can this get any more scarily accurate and fitting?
Yes it can. Chiron is also in their 10th house. Chiron is known as the Wounded Healer. It shows up as an area of life where we experience pain and hardship but can help heal others. The twins have certainly dealt with hardship in terms of the press/being in the public eye and accepting their position as princesses of Solaria. But through them embracing this role, they have a healing effect not only on their homeland, but on the Heirs’ hearts (who are in their own right authority figures/colleagues of theirs associated with their 10th house).
The twins have their moon and Neptune in their 12th house. This is a deeply spiritual and intuitive house that deals with loss. The twins face loss early in life with the death of their parents (moon=mother in house of loss). This house deals with other dimensions of reality, and the twins quite literally are princesses within the fae realm– a realm they didn’t know existed until they were eighteen and a certain hunky vampire found them. Their lives are characterized by the mystical, between attending a school called Zodiac Academy; having magical abilities, and being surrounded by tarot cards, seers, and prophecies, their 12th house moons are inescapable and prominent.
I’ll finish by talking about their Cancer North Node in the 5th house. The NN is the point of destiny, it’s where a soul is meant to move towards in this lifetime. Cancer is the sign of emotional nourishment and is a natural caretaker, and the 5th house is the house of Leo which relates to children, creativity, royalty, and self-expression. The twins are meant to shine and lead (5th house) through their role as caretakers of the people of Solaria. They’re meant to find their families, both chosen and blood, inherit their birthright (Cancer) to the throne (5th house) and rule with caring, compassionate hearts. I also suspect in Tory’s case in particular, she and Darius will learn further lessons of the heart and family through having children in the next book (Cancer is the mother, and the 5th house rules children).
I hope you enjoyed this, it was so much fun to make and think about. If this fascinated you and you’d like to read a fantasy series about a main character whose natal chart is given to see how his chart plays out throughout the story, I think you’d like my own book.