In Egypt, Gemini was symbolized not by twins, but by a woman and a man holding hands. In Sanskrit, they were called Mithuna or Maithunia.
In Roman mythology, they were Apollo and his sister Diana. In Babylonia, twins of indefinite gender were known as Mastabagalgal. Patriarchal revisions told of male twins, the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux. Previously, old myths told of androgynous twins and twin parings of Gods and Goddesses, spouses, and mother-child. An androgynous view of the heavily Twins is more accurate as an interpretation of the union of the opposites, much like the yang and yin symbol.
The Mother of Time, also known as the Two Ladies, symbolizes the transitional gate of midwinter, looking both backward and forward. She rules the Celestial Hinge at the back of the North Wind around which the universe revolves.
The cycles of nature were renewed by the Egyptian Vulture Goddess, Nekhbet, and the Serpent Mother, Uatchet, archaic Goddesses known as the Two Mistresses. All pharaohs ruled by their authority.
Egyptian Revival Nekhbet Brooch- Silver & plique a jour enamel. Circa 1925. Image from www.veniceclayartists.com
Near Delagoa Bay, in southeast Africa, the Baronga tribe believes twins influence weather. The name Tilo is given to a woman who bears twins and her infants are called children of the sky. These women are responsible for performing a series of rituals to bring down the rain in times of drought.
The number two, embodied in myths as twins or the aspects of twin-like gods or goddesses indicates universal beliefs regarding the power of two and “two” symbolism related to duality, transition and new beginnings, cycles, and the ability to influence nature as numbers are thought to be an integral part of the harmony of the universe.