The AstroTwins: Use Astrology to Design Your Life and Home

On the Being Home With Hunker podcast we have Ophira Edut, one half of The AstroTwins.

The AstroTwins are professional astrologers and twin sisters, Ophira and Tali Edut. As authors, the official astrologers for ELLE magazine, ‌and‌ the matchmakers on Amazon Prime Video's show "Cosmic Love," their work reaches millions. They have a very approachable and fun way in which they offer information on our horoscopes.

As they say, their mission is to keep "bringing the stars down to earth," interpreting ancient wisdom with a practical twist.

Ophi and Tali recently released their latest book: The AstroTwins' 2023 Horoscope: The Complete Yearly Astrology Guide for Every Zodiac Sign. We talk about their book at the top of this episode and why they are dubbing 2023 as the year of "what if?"

Ophi explains about how it's helpful to know our chart (your sun, moon, and rising signs) — which is a map of the planets at the time of our birth. It's like a rough instruction manual to knowing ourselves.

"I like to remind people that astrology is not a belief system any more than math is or chemistry —it's a methodology and it's a tool and if you want to try it out, try it out like a system."

Ophi says that every year has opportunities and challenges, and when we know when those periods and cycles might be, we can be ready for them — for us personally and as a collective.

In this conversation we talk about how this new year is a year of restructuring, and she explains the two big astrological events that are happening in the first quarter of the year.

She shares how the Law of Attraction is making a comeback this year — where the thoughts that we have will show up quickly and will materialize in the physical universe. So, do your vision boards everyone!

We discuss the Day of the Miracles: which day in 2023 has the overall energy of hope. Probably a good day to mark your calendar if you're thinking of launching something new.

Also, on the home front, you're thinking about moving, or want to sell your home, Ophi divulges the months when ‌not‌ to do it this year. She also talks about the best months for organizing your finances and getting any home repairs done.

And we talk Feng Shui Astrology: How we can work with the element that's specific to our birth year to help support us in our homes, and how each element has its own style.

Click here to listen to our conversation on Being Home With Hunker or read the full transcript below.

• The AstroTwins' 2023 Horoscope Guide: Buy the Book
• Website: AstroStyle.com
• Instagram: @astrotwins
• TikTok: @astrotwins_
• YouTube: @AstroTwins-TV
• Home Reset Feng Shui & Astrology Course: Click Here
• Free Birth Chart Calculator: Click Here

‌*Note: this transcript has not been edited and is transcribed verbatim‌

Laurie:

Okay, Ophi, here's what I'm curious about. Your book. When do you start writing this? Do you start writing it in the middle of the year for the next year?

Ophi:

Probably around the spring. Yeah. Well, actually, one of my rituals is the first week of January, I like to go and grab all the planetary placements for the coming year and organize them. Some people organize their drawers in their homes, I organize the planets into a monthly kind of cheat sheet, and we have a whole process. Actually, I have an amazing person who's been working with us for probably nine of those years, and now she even knows how to do it herself. Yeah, and just kind of take a look at what's going to be happening then we start.

Laurie:

Oh my God, I love it. So some people are organizing their closets, but you're organizing the planets. It's very cool.

Ophi:

We all have our thing.

Laurie:

I love your thing. Here's what I want to know, was there a clue from your childhood that being in astrology was going to be your life's work?

Ophi:

Probably not, except that my sister and I went to space camp when we were in sixth grade. Someone asked us the other day, did you guys just play with crystals and tarot cards? I was like, I didn't even have access to that. I don't even know what that was. Almost like dug up some quarts in my sandbox in Detroit or something by accident. But we were interested in planets, we were interested in enigmas and the paranormal. When we were in middle school, we read all these books by this young adult author, Lois Duncan. I don't know if you know her work. They were all about these teenage girls who had parapsychological powers, like the girl with silver eyes who could move things with her thoughts. So I guess we were always attracted to that. But I think being a twin, you're born in a relationship and always tuning into other people. So that was probably what prepped us for our astrology career the most. Because it's about tuning in and reading people.

Laurie:

That's very cool. So then it wasn't until, I feel like I heard this, it wasn't until you were in college that the world of astrology opened up to you.

Ophi:

Yeah, I mean, well, we did have a paper route and we would have to open up the newspapers to put the little coupons inside and it was always open to the comics and astrology page. So we'd read our horoscopes there, but we didn't make much of it. It wasn't until, I think one of our friends in college was like, I am a Libra with an Aries rising and a Taurus moon I remember. And I was like, what does that mean? What rising moon? What? How do I know? So I started digging around. This was in the early '90s, so I had to go and look in books. And then my boyfriend in college gave me a chart as a gift for my 21st birthday and it was the whole chart. I found out that I was a Sagittarius, but also had four planets and Scorpio. And then I was like, this explains all these puzzle making parts of myself. It just made so much sense. I was like, okay, what is this, and how can I learn more?

Laurie:

So for people who are listening who might not know when it comes to our astrology, is that what we call it, our own astrology? So your moon, your son. Yeah.

Ophi:

Your chart. Yeah.

Laurie:

Your charts. Yeah. Do you feel like it's important for everybody to know their moon sign, their sun sign, and their rising sign?

Ophi:

Not everyone will be able to know their rising sign because you have to know your time of birth. And some people say, well, I can't do my chart then, but you absolutely can. You won't know the houses that all the planets are in, which are kind of the areas of life that those planets are activating, but there's so much you can discover about yourself. I think of the birth chart, it's basically a map of where all the planets were in relation to where you were on earth at your moment of birth. And so you entered, you incarnated, and that's the snapshot or the screenshot of the sky if you know were looking up overhead where everything was in relation to the earth. So it gives you a map.

Each planet represents a different area of life or your personality or your nature. So it's having a little rough instruction manual to yourself. Mercury in your chart shows how you communicate. That could be helpful to know. The moon is how you respond to things emotionally or what your intuition guides you to do. So that's also helpful to know. The more about yourself since human beings are our own biggest blind spot, I like to say the more facility and actual free will you gain. It's kind of the paradox of astrology.

Laurie:

It's so fascinating. It's really cool.

Ophi:

Do you know your big three, as they call it these days?

Laurie:

I do know my big three. I am a Virgo sun, I am a Capricorn moon, and a Gemini rising.

Ophi:

Oh, how perfect for what you do. So Gemini rules communications, so the rising sign often orients you to what you're interested in. And here you are with the podcast, Virgo loves homes and organizing and curating and journalism and talking to people. So it is useful because you're like, oh, it's very validating. I do do what my chart says.

Laurie:

It's very cool and it's interesting to think about it as just another way to know ourselves.

Ophi:

Yeah.

Laurie:

Let's talk about your book.

Ophi:

Okay.

Laurie:

Okay, so this book, it's the Astro Twins 2023 Horoscope Guide. So basically it's a big book of predictions for 2023 in different areas within our own signs. So in different areas of love, career, money, relationships. And what I found really interesting is that you are dubbing this the year of what if, 2023 the year of, how did this theme come up for you?

Ophi:

As we were writing the book, we found ourselves saying that phrase a lot and in two different ways. One was like, oh no, what if the economy crashes? What if the economy doesn't crash? What if this? And also in an intrigued way says a lot of technology in an innovation coming up. So it's like, what if actually it did go like this? Or what if we could... So we thought that the theme kind of presents itself as we go and we wanted to encourage people to get out of a worrying and fearful mindset because the news feed is doing its own job stoking that and to be more innovative and curious, even if there is a big economic shakeup. Then it also makes space for innovation and creativity.

We've had them before on this planet, we've survived. So that's also the whole idea of writing the book. So` every year has crappy times and good times, opportunities and challenges. And when you actually know when those periods might be, I mean you should greet every day as an opportunity, but there are cycles that are more favorable and why not know them and be ready for them.

Laurie:

So cycles that are more favorable or even more challenging for each person, depending on our sign. But then also as a collective.

Ophi:

Yes, exactly.

Laurie:

And how do we balance those two? Do we look more at our own personal sign? So like say I'm a Virgo. Do I look more at that in the book and then am I also just taking in what the greater planets are telling us for the greater whole?

Ophi:

I think it's both. Okay. Because the planets are divided into what are called the inner and the outer planets. The inner planets are the ones, the Sun, moon, mercury, Venus, and Mars. They move quickly and they stay in one zodiac sign for up to two months, but the moon every two and a half days. So they move faster throughout the zodiac and each time they move into a new sign, a different part of your life gets activated. So they more affect the day-to-day aspects of your life and recover some of that in the individual chapters of the book. But the outer plan, it's Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. They move slowly, they can take 20 years, Pluto to go through a sign. So they cause more generational trends.

We write about those in the books you get, just reading the news and then reading your text messages. The news and the things that are happening in the world affect your life. If there's a war, you may not be in the middle of it, but it might affect what you pay for food or gas. So you want to know about that. But then on a personal level, the chapter about Virgo is going to tell you about making those decisions that are more about your family, your love life, your career and that kind of thing.

Laurie:

Yes. Well, I went through and underlined a whole bunch of things under Virgo.

Ophi:

How Virgo of you.

Laurie:

One day that I'm going to put in my calendar is April 11th, the day of the miracles. You wrote it here?

Ophi:

Yes.

Laurie:

Why is that the day of the miracles? It sounds so good.

Ophi:

So once a year the sun meets up at the same degree in the sky as Jupiter, the planet of luck and opportunity and the sun energizes and so it's said to be this very fortunate day because the sun creates confidence, boldness, and opportunity. And Jupiter gives us this courage and optimism and vision so that the combining of them does that.

Laurie:

Yes. So if anyone's planning on launching something or trying something new, is that the day to do it

Ophi:

For most people, it's a great one. Yeah. Yeah, definitely a great one. And you can see in your individual chapter which part of your life that is going to specifically do. But yeah, the energy overall should be one of hope.

Laurie:

Yeah. Well that's a good thing to have in the new year.

Ophi:

It's in short supply. Yeah.

Laurie:

I saw that you had mentioned in the book that January 21st is a new moon and that it is recommended that we write our intentions then treat like that as the new year, because that's the Lunar New Year?

Ophi:

It's the lunar New Year. Yes. So it's the first new moon of the year and new moons are great for beginnings. We have Mercury, which is the ruling planet of Virgo. Mercury is going retrograde. Anyone who's into astrology even a little bit or even isn't, has probably heard about Mercury retrograde, whether they know what it is or not. So mercury rules technology and communication and travel and it passes the earth in its orbit three or four times a year. And if you've ever been in a car where you've passed another car and it creates the appearance that you're going backwards, that's kind of what a retrograde is. So it's like one plan that's moving faster than the other. So the speed difference creates this optical illusion. And so when that happens, all things governed by Mercury go a little haywire or can. And that's going on until January 18th in the sign Capricorn, which rules planning. So even if you do set New Year's resolutions, you may end up recrafting them. So we figure draft some up, but wait until that new moon is a really ideal do over date.

Laurie:

Very cool. So that's a date to perhaps sit and really get clear about the year ahead.

Ophi:

Get yourself a book and read up what you're supposed to be working on so you can manifest around that.

Laurie:

Yeah. Do you have your own rituals around doing this in addition to organizing the planets?

Ophi:

I'd like to pretend that I do. I get a little ritual lazy. My twin is more... We're very different. We joke that she's more of that person. I'm kind of the alien. So my rituals are usually moving data around and stuff like that, what's happening here. But she gets me to do those kinds of things more often.

Laurie:

Yeah. Yeah. It's a balance. She has a balance going on.

Ophi:

Yeah. But I feel like by the time it's the new year, I'm already thinking about 2024. I'm like I have to remind myself, hey, you haven't even gotten through this year.

Laurie:

Yeah. Okay. Let's talk a little bit more about 2023. Because you had mentioned that it's a year of restructuring. That was something in the book and-

Ophi:

It is restructuring.

Laurie:

Do you mean that all around, whether it's in our own homes, it's in our community, it's in the greater world?

Ophi:

Yeah. Well there are two big things that are happening in the first quarter of the year in March. So on March 7th, Saturn, which rules structure is going into Pisces, which is a sign that hates structure and it's going to be there for two and a half years. So we're going to have this... Hasn't been there since the mid '90s. So Saturn takes about almost 30 years to come back to each sign. So we're going to have this period where we're going to be balancing, being very organized and very kind of having to go with the flow with the best laid plans, and finding more creative ways to structure our lives. You could already see that. I mean, everything is becoming so decentralized from work, to school, to shopping, I'm running between all these different locations to do... You can really do what you need to do almost anywhere.

But what's happening is like, because we're so free, we've almost become more burdened. I'm free with my schedule, but I can't take that trip because I need to bring all this equipment with me now. You as a podcaster, might find that I'd love to go to Europe, but I have to take all my studio stuff or... So we're going to be finding, I think a good balance between the kind of staying in one place and moving around. I've been referring to 2023 as a year of clicks and mortar instead of bricks and mortar where we're going to find that midpoint between where technology is useful and where we also want that real time real life interaction with people.

Laurie:

Oh, okay. I like it.

Ophi:

Yeah.

Laurie:

Yeah. March 7th. Mark your calendars.

Ophi:

Even if you don't, it's coming.

Laurie:

Yes. Something else I love that you wrote, I saw it in the book, is that when it comes to mindset, the law of attraction is a focus here.

Ophi:

Yeah. It's making a comeback. Some of us watched The Secret, when did it come out? Like 2006 or 2007. Now law of attraction sounds like kind of dated in a way, but it's not, hey, I might even just blow the dust off a copy of the Secret and watch it or read it or whatever. So it is very much a year where the thoughts that you have will show up pretty quickly and materialize in the physical universe. So be very aware of that.

Laurie:

I'm into it. I'm here for that. When it comes to home, is there a best month in 2023 for people to move or to buy a home or to sell a home or does that all depend on your sign?

Ophi:

Yeah. Oh that's great. Absolutely. I'll tell you when not to do that and I'm going to get you the exact dates here. It's when Venus, which rules beauty and money and opportunity and wealth and magnetism. Venus is going to be retrograde, July through September. Let me get the actual date here. We have everything in the book by chapter. Okay. July 22nd to September 3rd, not so much. Taurus rules real estate and Jupiter and Taurus from May 16th on. So cutting out that time. July through September. It's really July and August. After September 3rd, October, November, December can be great for that for sure.

Laurie:

Okay. I love that.

Ophi:

Prior to the first half of the year I think is more about like I would say just organize in all your finances, get the home repairs done, everything financial get in order first.

Laurie:

Okay.

Ophi:

Not that you shouldn't do that at any time but astrologically.

Laurie:

Okay. It's a good time to do it. I want to stick on the topic of home because I was also wondering if there are ways for people to work with their astrological signs within their homes to help support them, to help create what they need. Can you give us some tips? I don't know if it's for each sign something-

Ophi:

Sure. I could do it by element. We actually did a whole feng shui and astrology course with Kate McKinnon, who I know has been on the show before. And we worked with the elements, the Lunar New Year elements for that. We have a whole curriculum about that with home. So I could talk about that too.

Laurie:

Let's talk about that. Yeah.

Ophi:

Let's talk about it because we have the Lunar New Year, the year of the water rabbits starting on January 21st, 22nd, the eve of the 21st. And so if you're born in a year that ends in zero or one, you're the metal element. So we actually, with our home reset course, have a whole design guide because each of these elements has its own style. So metal people like things structured, organized, they tend to whites and silvers and grays and that kind of thing and more modern fixtures. The water years are the ones that end in two or three. We're in one now, 22 and 23. If you're born in a water year, you like more flow. I mean this won't show, but this curvy lamp behind shapes that look like waves. I'm born in a water year. So black navy, kind of more of that boho chic, layered flow.

And then wood as someone who's born in a year that ends in four or five, they sort of wood, traditional, upright, strong pieces, shelving, things in their place. More traditional and classic, pin stripes, all the way down to the textiles and patterns that you get. Fire people born in six and seven years, bright colors, triangular shapes, purples, reds, oranges, blues, primary colors, graphic arts, graffiti. Even if they have traditional furniture, they'll throw in some really modern kind of Basquiat type of art and that kind of thing. Lighting is really important. And then earth born in the years eight and nine that end in eight and nine and they're more like square and low. And the big sofa that you sink into, my friend who's born in 1969 has this gigantic L-shaped deep couch that gather around for movie night and handmade pottery terracotta kind of thing.

Now there's in this system that we call ___ astrology, each element supports the one after it. So if you have people in your home, the metal person zero in or one year will support the two and three year, but it'll chop the wood. So kind of skip a sign, every other sign challenges the one, two elements away. So you have these dynamics in your home that are really helpful to know because you can decorate or zone or separate people as needed depending on their elements.

Laurie:

Yeah. That is so cool. My husband and I have the same year, we have the same ending, and we're very much on the same wavelength of what we like. It's interesting to think about when we live with other people who have a different element and trying to match everybody's needs.

Ophi:

It's very hard. And even their social needs, because you just described earth, they love to nurture and plant roots and kind of really hunkering is an earth. It's hunkering down is so earth. Whereas water, we're like night people, I mean to flow and we weave stuff all over the place or some elements are more organized. So you have to create different zones and social spaces too.

Laurie:

Yes. And then each year, do you feel like there's a new thing that each element could work on in their home or-

Ophi:

Yeah, sure. We're in a water year again in a second water year. So if you are a metal person, a zero or one, I would say work on just bringing a little bit more energy, literally flowing through your space. Metal is the pipe that water flows through. So it could be a great year for a metal person to do a home-based business. Water represents money and abundance. So let the water flow through your pipes. And let feelings flow too. Metal people can be very suppressed, they're very critical, they cut, they're sharp. So soften it up a little bit, find a little more compassion for people. And then if you're a two or three water year person, then you get another year of kind being in your element and you get to just prowl around at night working in or in the wee hours.

Water people love when no one else is up and they can just get into the zone and lose track of time or create little tributaries that you can flow so very creative. For wood people, water nourishes wood. So if you're a four or five year water, what can you grow this year? What needs more support and water to grow from a little shoot into a tree? Which projects would you like to work on? And then fire is challenged by water as water puts out a fire. So it's one more year for fire people to just kind of calm down. You got to keep calm a little bit cause that water is telling you, hey, this isn't the year to blaze up everything just, simmer. It's fine. We don't have to be at full blaze every year. So the next two years, 24 and 25 will be wood years, wood feeds fire and then they can blaze it up. So if they can simmer down a little, they can get focused, sit still, and figure out what they're going to want to nurture in 24 and 25.

And the last but not least, the earth in the eight and nine years. Earth is the one that can suppress water because it absorbs water. So I think earth people are probably going to be working another year on healthy boundaries and relationships, earth people kind of feel like they have to take care of everyone and they get absorbed in everyone else's lives and business or projects and not enough in their own. So letting people learn their own lessons and you just get yourself grounded instead of try and organize everyone else.

Laurie:

Okay. You know what else I like that you have in your book is where people will be lucky in the upcoming year according to your sign, which I think is so cool.

Ophi:

We threw that in the last minute. We were like, you know what? I think more than ever now, every year we add something new to the book and there are some years where people don't want it light and fluffy, but it's like now more than ever, we're parsing through so much information and I feel like if you don't get that quick top note kind of thing, then you're not going to be able to read the whole thing. You're going to be digging around looking for the where. What do people really need to know and want to know? Tell me where my challenges are. Tell me where I'm going to be lucky. Tell me the good days and then I'll read the rest after that with a calm mind. Not like, oh no, what am I going to find in here?

Laurie:

Where are you going to be lucky this year, according to your sign, what is your sign?

Ophi:

Sagittarius.

Laurie:

Okay.

Ophi:

Supposedly, according to these two twin astrologers, I'm going to be lucky in creativity and health. And then yeah, I'll take it.

Laurie:

Great ones. I just have two more questions for you. So one is kind of just a roundup of everything. Is there one thing or some things that you would want people to know about astrology, about how to use it or to be open to it? What is something you would want to leave people who might be a little bit new to it that are listening?

Ophi:

Yeah. Well, if you're new and open and curious, don't feel like you have to learn it all at once. Just start reading about your own Zodiac sign and then you can come to our website, astrosstyle.com and do your whole chart if you want. You can get a quick explanation. You need your time, date, and place of birth to do an accurate one. If you don't know the time, do your best guess. But learn it one bite at a time. Don't feel so intimidated that you can never learn it, but just take it one planet at a time. Your moon sign next or your rising sign. And that's enough. Even if you just know those, even if you just know about your sun sign. For the people who are like, oh, this is a bunch of crap, it's just pseudoscience. I just say, fine.

You don't have to believe in it, don't believe it. I'd like to remind people that astrology is not a belief system anymore than math is or chemistry. It's a methodology. It's a tool. And if you want to try it out, try it out like a system. Just keep believing whatever you believe. Try it, do your chart, get a chart reading if you really want to know, if you're really out to test if it works, and see what resonates. And if it doesn't resonate then great. There's plenty of other takers, but don't just dismiss it without trying it.

Laurie:

Well, it's the year of what ifs. What if people just try it?

Ophi:

Exactly. What if you found something that was true about yourself?

Laurie:

I love that. Okay, so my final question for you, as you know, Hunker is all about home, home and design, Hunker and down, what does being home mean to you?

Ophi:

For me it is freedom. It's a place where I can just be. I don't have to think about putting on a performance for anyone or putting on a persona. It's a space that I can, I don't want to say control, but maybe it's kind of true. Just it's where I can just really move freely. I love working at home. I get creative here. It's just spread out, expand vision, no limits, no rules, nobody telling you what you can and can't do or be.

Laurie:

Ophi, I am so happy I got to talk with you. I've been wanting to have you on this podcast and I love what you and Tali are putting out there.

Ophi:

Thank you.

Laurie:

Yeah, and we'll send everyone to your site so they can, is it saying find your birth chart? Is that what you're saying?

Ophi:

Yeah, we can do a calculation of it. We'll give them the book with the webinar link and home reset if you want to check out feng shui and astrology more in the year ahead.

Laurie:

Yes.

Ophi:

Got lots and lots for you there or just come and read your daily or weekly or monthly horoscope or learn about your sign. We have so much content down there to dig into.

Laurie:

I love it. People can come visit you and just dig in.

Ophi:

Please do. Please do.

Laurie:

Dig into the what if. Thank you so much.

Ophi:

Hunker down.

Laurie:

Yes, yes. Thank you so much. This has been so fun.

Ophi:

Thank you so much. Have a great new year everyone.

Laurie:

Same to you. To learn more about Ophi, Tali, and the Astro Twins, visit their website, astrostyle.com to find out more about the courses they offer, including their home reset, feng shui, and astrology course and their free birth chart calculator. There you can also order a copy of the Astro Twins 2023 Horoscope Guide, especially if you want to see where you'll be luckiest in the new year. Our show notes have links to everything, including other episodes I think you might like, such as my chat with feng shui expert Kate McKinnon. Thank you for listening to Being Home With Hunker. For more information about this episode or others, visit hunker.com or /podcast. And if you don't already, please follow our show. If you like what you hear, be sure to give us a five star rating and review and share it with your friends. It really does help.

Being Home with Hunker is produced by me, Lori Gunning Grossman. Eve Epstein is our executive producer. The podcast is recorded and mixed at Night Shift Audio. Theme music by Jonathan Grossman. Special thanks to our team at Hunker, senior designer Mori Men, and director of audience development, Gina Goff. Hunker's mission is to inspire and empower you to create a space that expresses who you are, shows up your unique style, and makes your life happier and more productive.

Please don't [inaudible 00:32:39]

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