The Mythology of Twins

Pretty girls! Re-blogged from http://betweenpeaceandhappiness.blogspot.com/

People have had a fascination with twins since ancient times. Twins were seen as a blessing and sometimes a curse, depending on the culture. Twin mythologies and folklore can be found in nearly every society. Perhaps this is the reason twins still capture people’s attention today.

I’m a twin so I’ve experienced this curiosity firsthand. I have a fraternal twin brother. When I meet someone, the conversation usually evolves into questions about family and siblings. When the person finds out I’m a twin the questions immediately begin:

“So you have, like, an identical sister?” (Usually asked by a pervy guy who’s staring at my boobs)

“So you’re 24 and you have a twin brother? How old is he?”

“You have a twin brother? Are you identical?” (Well no… because of my lack of… you know… a penis.)

“Are you psychic? Can you feel each other’s pain?”

“So your birthday is March 10th and you have a twin brother? When is his birthday?”

Seriously. People are soooooo weird. I usually just tell them I tried to kill my brother in utero but failed miserably… that shuts ‘em up.

Twin Science

Fraternal twins occur when two eggs are fertilized and carried to full term. Identical twins occur when one egg is fertilized but then splits in two, creating separate but identical fetuses. Conjoined twins occur when an egg begins to split but doesn’t fully separate, meaning that only identical twins can be conjoined.

Twin Goddesses and Gods

Apollo and Artemis are twin deities in the Greek pantheon. Apollo is a sun god who represents prophesy, music and intellect. He is a patron of writers and musicians. Artemis is a moon goddess and a virgin huntress. She represents wild animals, women and childbirth. In Greek mythology, Artemis is born first. She becomes her mother’s midwife and helps her to birth Apollo.

In Voodoo (Vodou), twins are considered sacred. Twins are said to have two halves of the same soul. When one twin dies, the other carries a small doll with them for the rest of their life. The doll is believed to house the deceased sibling’s spirit. In Haitian Voodoo, twins are believed to have powers that can be used for evil. A ceremony to the loa Dossou must be performed to stop the twins from being destructive. In Benin Voodoo, twins are a sign of fertility and male virility. Here is a short article on the Marassa, male and female twin deities in Voodoo.

The Yoruba people of Nigeria used to kill twins at birth and sometimes their mother as well. Twins were considered evil and their birth was seen as a bad omen. This is no longer practiced. The laws protecting twins developed out of a legend about a farmer who killed too many monkeys. As punishment, the monkeys enchanted his wife’s womb so that she only gave birth to sickly babies who soon died. At death, these babies would turn into new monkeys and re-populate the dwindling monkey community. The farmer went to see an Oracle and she told him that his wife was pregnant with twins who were very special and powerful. If he did not kill them, he would become prosperous and wealthy. If he killed them Orissa-ibeji, a deity who protects twins, would curse him for life. He did not kill the twins and soon became prosperous and wealthy. Fun fact: because of this legend, Yuroba twins are forbidden to eat monkey meat. Here‘s an article on ibeji in Yoruba culture.

Twins are also present in Mayan, Sumerian, Egyptian, Navajo and Roman mythologies. Here is an excellent article.

So basically, what this all boils down to is that I’m ridiculously special and should be worshiped on a regular basis. Send me e-mails and cupcakes or I’ll curse your livestock!

Tags: fraternal, gods, identical, mythology, twins