Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” the very famous line from Shakespeare's Macbeth; the song of the witches poem seems fitting to lead into this TWINS article. The Spooky Sisterhood recorded a “The Magic of Twins” episode with myself and my identical mirror image twin Roni Dawson (now available to stream).

Tamantha Bowman & Roni Dawson;
*Photo from: Frolicking Chronicles*
*by John Gilhooley*

The fascination with twins has long existed. In the native cultures “The birth of twins is considered a notable event in many Native American cultures. In most cultures, twins are considered good luck, while in some, twins are considered spiritually powerful and were trained as medicine people.” - Native - languages. Org article

Twins are essentially the same sheet of music in a different tune. I got that from a book I read over 20 years ago called Entwined Lives by Nancy Segal Twins and Human Behavior. It was a fascinating read, especially the part where identical twins' identical DNA gets shared with their children. So much so that DNA wise they are half siblings by blood. In fact, this is so on point that when my identical twin and I did an Ancestry DNA test they listed my own children as hers. It literally said VERONICA DAWSON 100% chance mother to Trent and Sophia Bowman. Even though I mailed our test out together, hers was processed first. I had to spend 2 hours on the phone with a company rep to explain Trent and Sophia Bowman were my biological children and not hers. WILD right?

Roni & Tamantha Briseno at 5
*Photo from: family collection*

Council member Andronike with their twin, Alex
*Photos from: family collection*

One very strange thing we noticed as we became moms is that our kids naturally gravitated to each other. We did have them close in age but it was always uncanny how they almost acted as brothers and sisters would. It's half the same DNA connection. There’s a gravitational pull that we could never explain. They have more cousins but it was almost as if they acted like siblings when we were together.

We’re so much alike that once we met the same person about 6 months apart and he could not believe our likeness. The same voice and mannerisms. He tripped out big time. Some of you may know that we were stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii on sister ships. Both of our ships were in port; then on the day the USCGC Rush was getting underway my Captain started yelling “Seaman Briseno-Manders what are you doing on the pier?” as our ship was pulling out to sea. Me: “Uh Captain, UH CAPTAIN I’m right here.” I was on the bridge with my sound powered phones on at my operation station. My twin was on the pier waving us off. It’s a funny twin story.

Are there psychic connections between us? Well science says there’s no real evidence.

“Young identical twins often seem to have a telepathic bond, but there's no evidence that it's real. Their similarities reveal something about the likeness of twins' minds, not a link between them. This is one of many findings from research into twins separated at birth and raised apart. When such pairs independently read the same books, follow the same household routines, or enjoy the same hobbies, Segal writes, "they cannot be communicating because they are often unaware that the other twin exists—instead, they are reflecting their matched abilities, tastes, and temperaments." - Psychology Today The Truth About Twins 2017.

Tamantha & Roni Briseno at 4
*Photo from: family collection*

That’s an interesting point. We do share many of the same interests and certainly like a lot of the same things. Fashion, Halloween, Spooky and the Paranormal to name a few. We also like pretty things such as home decor and fancy historic homes. Sure it could mean there’s a psychic connection, but I think it has to do more with us being Libras and growing up with a spooky mom.

Nurture vs Nature is a real thing. As we’ve grown into adulthood our interests and likes remain similar. However, our daily habits differ significantly. For instance, her magic hours are 2pm - 6pm and mine are 10am - 2pm. Meaning that’s when we like to do most of our high energy work. Our days used to be very similar as kids and even in the U. S. Coast Guard. Now as married moms our daily habits differ considerably. She does still have children at home, where mine are out of the house for now. I attribute some of this to our husbands' differences as well. My husband is an early riser and likes to get going as soon as he’s up. Hers does get up early but where he’s making coffee or starting breakfast mine is starting on house or work projects. I may not rise as early as my husband but I’m definitely up and about by 8am on weekends. Roni, well I think it depends on how much she had going on the day before. Where I have a typical office 9-5 part-time job, she’s an event wedding coordinator. So I'll let her speak to that.

Twins have always captured us in the spooky world. Capturing our curiosity most recently in movie theaters, is the movie Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan. Written and Directed by Ryan Coogler. I’ve seen this film 3 times in the movie theaters. Including 70mm IMAX and at Quentin Tarantino's refurbished Vista theater in Los Angeles. As I’m writing this, I’m streaming the film.

Sinners is still a TOP 10 movie, in fact as I’m writing this, it is in 1st place on HBO MAX. If you’ve seen the snake scene that is the epitome of being a TWIN. You always have each other's backs and anticipate each other's needs. It is a great insight into the differences twin skills may include. My sis is more STACK and I’m more SMOKE but it’s up to the situation. As producers of Summer Spook Nights the SMOKESTACK twins' entrepreneurial skills really resonate. It’s the newest twin film and it’s our favorite.

“Writer-director Coogler, 38, tells PEOPLE he hired his filmmaker friends Noah and Logan Miller as twin consultants to get insight on what makes that particular sibling bond unique.

"They gave us a lot of perspective on what it's like to be an identical twin and that bond that they have," he says. "Since I've known these guys, they've shared one cell phone. So you'd call and you don't know which one was going to answer the phone but you knew the other one was always going to be right there." - People Magazine Article April 17th, 2025

The Shining twins are probably most notably famous amongst Horror films. However, in the book The Shining by Stephen King the Grady sisters are 8 and 10 years old. They are not twins at all. If you’ve never read the book, you should add it to your TBR list if you’re a fan.

Most people are familiar with the Olsen twins made famous from the tv show Full House. They branched out to movies straight to VHS and made their millions early in life with films. Producing hits like the movie Double Double Toil and Trouble. It’s still a nostalgic favorite for many.

Being a twin is all I’ve ever known and it will always feel magical and enchanting no matter in my real life or if I’m watching twins on screen. Do you have a favorite set of twins?

Keep it spooky sibs.

Written by: Tamantha Bowman

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Sources

Shakespeare Macbeth Poem https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43189/song-of-the-witches-double-double-toil-and-trouble

Spooky Sisterhood Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/3NFiC2GToYom5iw0eOa3JK?si=d7ed4f5f96444d87

Entwined Lives by Dr. Nancy L. Segal https://drnancysegaltwins.org/index.php/entwined-lives

Frolicking Chronicles https://frolickingchronicles.com/about

Native-languares.org https://www.native-languages.org/legends-twins.htm

Psychology Today Article 2017 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201711/the-truth-about-twins

SINNERS https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sinners_2025

People Magazine Sinners Director Hired Twin Consultants Michael B Jordan Twin Consultants https://people.com/sinners-director-hired-twin-consultants-michael-b-jordan-exclusive-11716613