by Maya del Mar
The Sun moves into Libra at the exact moment when the days and nights are equal. Balance, equilibrium, is the key to Libra. Balance requires judgment, knowledge, perspective and integrity, and Libra time gives us special opportunities to develop those qualities.
Libra also ushers in the autumn and spring seasons, when life's seasonal rebalancing occurs. We can invoke appropriate rebalancing for this next quarter, as we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox.
River and Gillespie, in The Knot of Time, illustrate the essence of Libra as they describe its background:
The name Libra comes from the Libyan Goddess of Holy Law who carried the scales of judgment, and her counterpart in Egypt was Maat, the spirit of equilibrium, of justice, truth and rightness. She lived within a person and also existed outside and so was known as the 'double Maat,' encompassing both individual and cosmic consciousness. After death the Egyptians believed that the heart was weighed against a feather in the scales of Maat. Maat was no dispenser of punishment, however; she was the personification of truth, the spirit that animates all living beings, both divine and human. If the heart were too heavy then, without blame or punishment, the soul would return to earth to reincarnate until light enough for final liberation. Maat had no temple because she could not be confined; she was the natural order itself. To be in accord with natural truth and justice creates harmony, and Maat symbolized this quality.
Libra's connection with the divine gives it special grace, and motivates its attraction to beauty, truth, and goodness. This connection also gives Libra an air of goodwill, for she is intimately acquainted with the benevolence of the universe.
The three air signs—Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius—are the humanists of the zodiac, and Libra is the most humanistic. Libra's connection with the divine is expressed especially through relationships with an other. The state of marriage, where two people commit themselves to working at a balanced partnership, is a natural life path for Libra.
Libra's ideals, humanism, and desire for justice are also motivations to work at building civilization, to help create a society in which people can live in beauty, peace and harmony.
Libra is the Master Builder, the one who builds the world of form in such a way as to unveil the presence of divinity, whether it be a building, a work of art, a partnership, a conversation, a political role, or doing one's best in a skilled endeavor. For this reason, Saturn is considered to be exalted in Libra.
Libra, as air sign, emphasizes the mind. It is a time when we can clarify our thinking and sharpen our judgment. Comparisons and contrasts become our raw material for drawing balanced conclusions.
In Libra we work on reconciling our lives with our ideals. Memory is stimulated as we rebalance the flow of our lives by relating past to present, present to future. As we increasingly accept responsibility for our past mistakes, we re-formulate blocks and structures which have been obstacles to our growth.
The cultivation of fair play is important now, and we can enhance our abilities at negotiation. Totalitarianism and bossiness are not well tolerated, and conflicts may be heightened between authoritarian groups and people whom they seek to control. This is not the time to pull rank.
Libra is a time to focus on the intelligent comprehension of life, and through this focus to find the divine peace within ourselves.
Many famous Librans are involved in politics and struggles for justice. Examples are Eleanor Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, and Jesse Jackson, all of whom have power-sharing marriages.
Pres. Clinton's Libra Ascendant is loaded with Libran planets. It is his dominant sign, and we can see in him his innate attractiveness, general goodwill, his struggles to live up to ideals, his skill at negotiation, and his desire for a strong partnership.
We can also see a major Libran problem: losing sight of being true to oneself in the desire to please everyone in the name of harmony. Integrity can thus become buried.
Rivers and Gillespie complete their description of Libra with:
"In her maturity Libra's vision expands from her early romanticism to encompass a love so balanced that the beloved is not placed higher than the lover, and selfish ego concerns do not motivate the relationship. Lover and beloved, friend and friend, are equal; their needs are not in conflict or bargained over but pooled and shared openly in Libran trust. Libra loves her friend as she loves herself, for she knows that the breath of Maat, the Cosmic Consciousness, flows equally through one as through the other."
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