Literary treasure and cultural soothsayer Toni Morrison wrote, “A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double.”
National Sisters Day, celebrated on the first Sunday in August recognizes that special bond between siblings with sisters both born and found.
From the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her sister Mary Queen of Scots to the modern warmth and warfare among the Kardashian-Jenner clan, sister dynamics offer a wealth of intrigue.
A source of strength, joy, envy and ire since we as humans first consciously shared a cave floor, the bond of sisters extends not just to blood relatives but to female friendships that feel like family.
How we love is informed by myriad circumstances and astrology can help us understand both our love languages and our relationship failings. With this in mind I bring you a list of the star signs as sisters alongside celebrity siblings that serve as examples for how sister love manifests across the zodiac wheel.
Read on to learn more.
You can always count on an Aries to tell you how it is and how you could be better.
Allergic to subtlety and incapable of keeping their opinions to themselves, Aries sisters come correct with the reality gut checks. Interesting albeit abrasive, at their war lord worst they treat their siblings like lemmings.
While they may casually and habitually pick petty fights with their family members they are more willing to go to war for, rather than against their nearest and dearest.
All qualities embodied by the patron saint of eldest siblings and searing side eye, ladies and gentlemen Kourtney Kardashian.
Taurus sisters are unflinchingly loyal and absolutely punishing. Taurus folk can be the tough love and hard truth type, a point Lily Allen proved in her 2006 dis track “Alfie.”
Lovingly leveled at her baby brother and future “Game of Thrones” star Alfie Allen, the song bluntly calls him out for being a lazy stoner twat who can’t get laid. Ouch. Say what you will, in spite or more likely because of the song, the kid got off the couch and got himself an Emmy nomination.
Charlotte Brontë also put the bull in bully when it came to her younger sister Anne, talking smack, barring her book from publication and only admitting the depth of her for her when Anne succumbed to tuberculosis. Don’t know what you got til they’re dead.
Gemini is ruled by Mercury, planet of communication and exchange. In kind, the people of the twin trade in insights, suspicions, theories and advice that ranges from the practical to the questionable.
Gemini is unafraid to make mistakes and at their best they view their own failures as the unpaved path to wisdom and live to share the potholes and the breakthroughs with their willing disciples.
We see this trajectory in Gemini twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen who used their own fraught experience of fame to guide their younger sister Ashley Olsen as she made her way to movie stardom.
As Ashely explained to Harper’s Bazaar, “I felt very clear about how I was going to navigate lots of things because of watching them. I also felt very protected.”
Cancer sisters are the most nurturing of the bunch. Rulers of the fourth house of home, tangled roots and ancestry they have a vested interest in keeping the familial unit intact and their siblings protected.
Often, this interest sees them being the sympathetic ear to all parties, a role Cancer queen Khloe Kardashian oft plays in her family. Little sister Kenall Jenner admitted, “If we’re fighting, we call Khloé. She’s our peacemaker.”
Another expression of the fierce love and loyalty of the Cancer sisterhood is Solange Knowles who famously defended the honor of her big sister Beyoncé by beating the s–t out of Jay-Z in an elevator.
Peacemaker? Sucker puncher? Same same but different and all under the same crab claw.
Leo is a fixed fire sign that rules the heart and the spine. As sisters, the lion pride loves big, stans hard and isn’t afraid to get blood on their proverbial paws to protect their own.
The sister as hype man and foot soldier modality is expressed in lion queen Kylie Jenner whose kind words and reassurance built up sister Kendall’s confidence and got her through the gauntlet of high school.
Jenner proves her ride or die status again and again, most notably when she excommunicated her one time bestie Jordyn Woods for hooking up with Tristan Thompson while he was dating her big sister Khloe Kardashian. Roar, indeed.
The guiding manta of Virgo is “how can I be of service” and these are the sort of sisters that cast spells to banish bad boyfriends (thanks Elise!), help you when you over pluck your eyebrows or need money and generally smooth the edges of the rough road of existence.
They hold their sisters high and in the case of Virgo Pippa Middleton, hold up their obnoxiously long wedding trains for hours on end, smiling all the while.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
Libra is cardinal air and rules over the seventh house of partnership. In terms of self-concept, Libras define themselves in relationship to others.
This definition is often made first and most notably, through their relationship to their siblings.
Since Libra is spurred into becoming by the action or being of another person, Libra sisters often follow in the footsteps of their elder siblings.
By and large, Libras reveal their affection and admiration by imitation.
Comparison and competition become hallmarks of their familial dynamics, as expressed by Libra Serena Williams who admitted of her elder sister, “I mean, her favorite color was my favorite color, her favorite animal was my favorite animal, she wanted to win Wimbledon, I wanted to win Wimbledon.”
We see this imitation as admiration paradigm in other Libra little sisters like Ashley Simpson, Nicky Hilton who dressed up as an early aughts version of big sister Paris for Halloween and Bella Hadid who admitted to “Vogue Magazine” that she always wanted to be like, and consequently felt less than, her big sis Gigi.
Scorpio loves and loathes with equal intensity. Gatekeepers of the eighth house of sex, death and secrets these are the kind of sisters that you can confess your deepest darkest to and be received with grace.
Scorpios struggle with possessiveness and often the depth of their devotion is reflected in an inability to separate the person they love from themselves, a quality seen in Scorpio sister Willow Smith who described the cosmic synergy she shares with brother Jaden Smith to Teen Vogue.
“We’re like binary stars, like two parts of one thing,” she explained. “I know what he’s thinking at all times. And he knows what I’m thinking. We’re not identical twins, but it feels like that in a lot of ways.”
Sagittarius sisters are the perennial roll dogs of the zodiac. What they lack in tact they more than make up for it in a willingness to put on a show, put down bail money, throw down and throw a party as exhibited in Miley Cyrus’s cannabis themed birthday celebration for little sister Noah.
Card carrying Sagittarius Taylor Swift reps her baby brother Austin Swift and his myriad film accomplishments on social media describing him as one of her “best pals.”
Proving herself to be both sister and stan, Swift once skipped the MTV Europe Music Awards to see her bro perform in a play at the University of Notre Dame.
Capricorn sisters are rock steady, a foundation that can both be both counted on and called upon.
Their modality is endure and they are built to weather all manner of storms and setbacks and serve to remind their siblings to stray strong and carry on. Miley Cyrus sung the merits of a sea goat sister in her touching Instragram birthday tribute to younger sis Noah who helped her through the loss of her beloved dog Mary Jane.:
“Happy birthday to an icon living. I love you baby sister turned big sister. The day you were born I never knew that one day the roles would be reversed and you would be the one taking care of me. You were such a rockstar thru the experience of losing Mary Jane. I couldn’t have gotten here without you. You lead me to making the hard but right decisions. You’ll have many more of those choices in your own life & I am here for you every step of the way.”
Pushing the hard way on the ones you go hard for, apex Cap.
Aquarius folks do not trust easily, preferring the close company of a few select souls they have spent years vetting.
As a result the siblings of water bearers fall in one of two categories; essentially estranged or absolutely essential. We see the latter extreme expressed in the close relationship between Paris and Nikki Hilton.
Of her younger sister Paris told “L’Officiel,” “We have always been united…And I think this is a wonderful way of being: because what you give, you receive. And I’m very lucky, my sister is also my best friend, I don’t know what I would do without her.”
Pisces is rules by Neptune, the planet of dreams, fantasy and psychic phenomena. Pisces sisters are ephemeral, powerfully empathetic and refreshingly untethered from the mundane.
These qualities make them excellent childhood play partners as they are easily able to suspend reality and wonderful adult accomplices as they are hard pressed to condemn anything or anyone. We see the power of Pisces in native Dakota Fanning who used to act out live birth sequences with her younger sister Elle.
More care bear than cutthroat it tracks that a Pisces like Dakota would detail their sibling bond so sweetly and without an ounce of edge, “My sister, Elle, and I are really close. We always have been. We’re very different, but we’re very connected. We don’t talk every day, but we don’t have to. We just have that special bond. There’s no one I want to succeed more in this business than my sister, and I know she wants the same for me.”
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Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.