Focus On | The Astro Twins
We’ve tapped into the Astro Twins’ cosmic understanding.
Meet The Astro Twins! Identical twins Tali and Ophira are here to decipher your destiny — they’re the brains behind astrostyle.com and are equipped to give insight into what the stars hold for each of our futures. We were absolutely blown away by the power of their predictions and decided to dig a little deeper to learn not only what they do but how they do it.
JC: How does one become involved in the field of astrology? How did you discover that you had an inherent knack for it?
AT: Astrology was an accidental career for us (although that 6th grade trip to Space Camp and childhood obsession with books about kids with ESP might have given us some clues). While we were studying art and journalism at The University of Michigan, a friend gifted us a natal chart for our birthday. It’s basically a snapshot of where all the planets are at your exact moment of birth (you can do a free on on our website astrostyle.com, in fact). We knew we were Sagittarians, but we also found out that we had four planets in Scorpio and some Capricorn in our charts. It was eerie how accurate the little booklet, explaining our cosmic profile was. From there we were obsessed, reading every astrology book we could get our hands on and running all our friends’ charts with software we purchased. Okay, and also looking up the signs of the guys we were into, trying to figure out what was REALLY going on. Fatefully, a friend who was an editor at Teen People magazine hired us to write our first astrology column in 2001. We haven’t stopped since!
Being twins, we’ve always been interested in people too, and that’s the basis for an interest in astrology. If you are someone who wonders about why people act the way they do, you’ll probably enjoy this hobby-turned-obsession like us. We always loved helping people work through their problems. Even as little girls, we would help friends rearrange their rooms or tutor them on homework. Astrology seems to be an extension of that…helping people live lives they love, with the stars as our guide.
JC: We love how you say you help your clients “de-sign” amazing lives. Can you explain to our Couturists that process?
AT: We don’t believe that you are stuck with one fate based on your star sign. Sure, there are very specific pitfalls that each sign can fall into. For example, Virgos can get swept up in gossip and lose sight of their missions and Sagittarians can overshoot the mark with their optimism. But understanding those pitfalls is the key to becoming aware of patterns and breaking them. Once you get your Achilles heel, it no longer trips you up. Then you can focus on the good stuff: manifesting what’s in your unique power to build. We believe that everyone is here to create a bit of magic. We are all pieces in a puzzle, if you will. Astrology can help you uncover hidden gifts and talents. And of course, it can determine your style. As the Couturists know, fashion is self-expression and when we are wearing out most brilliant, authentic selves on our sleeves, the world responds to us favorably. People can see truth with their eyes. So part of our “de-sign” process is to help people uncover and feel confident in their truest selves.
JC: Tell us about your new book, Shoestrology. Why did you choose to assign a shoe for each birthday? What’s that based on?
AT: Shoestrology is a super fun way of looking at astrology, a book that lets you discover what your birthday shoe is. We selected a shoe for every day of the year and explained why it fits the personality of the person born on that day. You might be a Carrie Bradshaw’s coveted Mahnolo from the Vogue fashion closet, or a kicky vintage platform clog. The book is gorgeously illustrated by artist Samantha Hahn, definitely a coffee table jewel. It’s a fun conversation starter too, as friends will want to look up their shoes, their friends’ shoes, and so on.
JC: Every one knows their Western sign, but not many people understand their entire birth chart. Can you touch on what the celestial charts are based on and what benefits there are to studying this?
AT: Yes, absolutely. The chart is a snapshot of where all the planets are in their orbit at your exact moment of birth. Only someone born within minutes of you will have the same chart. We are identical twins and our charts are the same…but there are some twins with slightly different charts. The sun sign, which is the sign everyone knows about and reads about in general horoscopes, represents the essence of who you are. But all the other planets are also syncing up with other zodiac signs. The moon represents the inner you and your hidden desires. Our moon is in Scorpio, so we are more intense than most happy-go-lucky Sagittarians. The rising sign (the sign on the horizon at your hour of birth) will tell a lot about your outer style, your fashion choices, the people you gravitate towards. Venus and Mars clue you in to love. Jupiter shows where you’re lucky and Saturn can illuminate the challenges you grow from. You can run a free chart on our site, we highly recommend
it: https://www.astrostyle.com/Charts/freechart.htm. We also offer one-on-one readings for people where we deep-dive into the chart and help people map out a plan for their lives according to the stars. It’s SO helpful to know this. You can understand WHY you are drawn to certain things and direct your life more purposefully based on the deeper understanding of yourself.
Another way of look at the chart is this. Let’s say you’re a Gemini, and that makes you the color blue. The position of the other planets can tint that, making you navy, powder blue, periwinkle, or cobalt.
JC: It’s so cool that you guys offer an Online Teleclass that teaches people how to interpret their own birth charts. How does this work? What kind of information can a person find out about themselves with these classes?
AT: Our class is called Become Your Own Astrologer. It’s a five-week class that teaches you how to actually read and interpret your chart—and of course, everyone else’s around you, since we know you’ll be obsessed. The first week focuses on the basics, the second week we teach you how to find the prosperity and career info in your chart. Weeks 3 and 4 are all about love: you’ll learn how to run a relationship chart and find compatibility. The fifth week focuses on timing events where we teach you how to predict what’s ahead and prepare in advance.
JC: What are your current fashion and non-fashion obsessions?
AT: We both recently moved into new spaces, so most of our fashion obsessions are being channeled into home décor fixations. Ophira is on the hunt for the perfect chandelier. We love mixing vintage with modern both in our homes and the way we dress. The eclectic, high-low combo brings the original twist we love. Finding a treasure at a salvage or thrift shop (hello ever-growing cowboy boot collection) and pairing it with something spankin’ new: that’s what we love. We are happy that the hot pink trend doesn’t seem to be dying out. It’s been a favorite color of ours for a while…bring on the neon, we’re all about it.
Non-fashion obsessions continue to be our miniature dachshunds (love the biannual NYC dachshund parade), green tea lattes, karaoke (we can sing for 3 hours nonstop), Bikram yoga, Café Mogador in NYC and of course, Ophi’s 2-year old daughter Cybele (a Libra who seems to be fitting her sign to a tee as she refuses to leave the house without nail polish).
Couturists, check back in at the beginning of every month on Tumblr where The Astro Twins will provide us with a special introduction to your reading. We’ve searched the internet for the right horoscope and this is it! Thank us later when you have a better understanding of your personality, relationships and the world around you. This kind of advice can’t be beat.
