September 24-October 23
- Cardinal Air, symbolized by strong winds, charm, justice, digestion and décor.
- Music gifts for Libra: Indigo Girls • The White Stripes • Simon & Garfunkel • Tegan & Sara • The Wilshires • Eurythmics
- Movie gifts for Libra: The Princess Bride • Brigadoon • Inherit the Wind • The African Queen • West Side Story • My Fair Lady • Titanic • Romeo and Juliet
Once Virgo has rooted out the imperfections of the self, Libra can take the self out to engage one-to-one with another. Like Virgo, Libra places high expectations on both the self and the other, but in addition to quality, Libra also expects equality: balance, proportion, fairness.
Libra’s opposite sign, Aries, is associated with the physical birth of a child: the initial expression of the self in the world. Libra, then, may be associated with a second kind of initiation: the greater clarity of self one can gain by engaging in committed relationship. In Libra, relationship not merely a social or romantic pursuit (though such situations may be manifestations of Libra energy). It is, rather, the quest for an equal but opposite reaction from the other.
This is why Libra can be not only a lover but also a fighter, not only diplomatic but also argumentative. What’s important is the back-and-forth because only through interaction can Libra palpably feel its vibrant existence and see its very self. On the other hand, Libra people tend to have trouble in the role of judge: Holy indecision is this sign’s testament to the inherent value of both sides of an argument. And for as much as Libra values harmony, love and agreement, she’d rather have a conflicted relationship than none at all.
At the core of the need for relationship is Libra as a metaphor for projection. Projection is the psychological phenomenon of denying and disowning a trait of your own, only to see it (and either despise it or envy it) in other people. For example, a person with a lot of Libra energy might be very beautiful but believe herself to be ugly. Her envy, self-pity or even hatred is evoked when she sees someone else who is beautiful, believing beauty resides only in that far-off other. She cannot, when projecting, believe beauty is in herself. Libran energy gives itself easily to this type of dynamic because it looks to the other for confirmation of the self: How do I look to him or her? Did I laugh too loud? Did I tell the joke well? And so forth.
This is not to say that Libra can never think for itself, or see itself clearly. Relationship is important precisely because it is a medium for the act of projection by which Libra ultimately comes to know herself. In the ancient myth of Venus – goddess of love and beauty, ruler of Libra and Taurus – Venus had an ongoing extramarital affair with the warrior-god Mars, who was handsome, strong and virile. On the other hand, Vulcan, whom Jupiter chose to be Venus’s husband, was ugly, lame and reclusive. Thrown off a cliff by his mother at birth, he lived in bitterness in his underground forge, creating beautiful works of art on which to project his own alienated beauty.
Repulsed by Vulcan’s outward ugliness, Venus preferred the warrior-god Mars. Though Mars is often cast as Venus’s opposite, they were actually very alike in their self-possession, sensuality and extraversion. In a way, it is Venus and Vulcan that are the original Beauty and the Beast. Venus can’t own or abide ugliness in herself or the world, yet she is compelled to marry it. Her own revulsion at ugliness means not that she should flee from it but rather that she needs it in her life, so she can accept it not only in the world but in herself as well.
Venus and Vulcan both resent and despise the other for the things they cannot accept in themselves. Yet each must rub up against the other to produce that equal but opposite reaction so they may know the true balance and proportion that exists in the world: That there is no shadow without light — and vice versa.
Underneath the quest for beauty, love and relationship, it is balance and proportion that Libra truly seeks. The interest in law, fairness and justice often associated with this sign comes from this impulse for balance between oneself and another, the desire to find the “perfect match” – a match that may not be the same as you but, in fact, your very opposite: the shadow you must contend with in yourself. Wise Jupiter knew this well about his beautiful daughter and his ugly stepson.
The connection between justice and fairness, on one hand, and love and beauty on the other, is the idea/ideal of right proportion. Each thing, to exist, must be counterbalanced by its reverse. Whereas brash Aries is like a bottle rocket exploding up vertically into the night sky, Libra is more like its symbol, the horizontal scales, taking the measure of equal parts, shaping and refining, coloring and shading, until justice is served, the relationship feels fair or the room is decorated just right.
The trick is that when the Libra person herself, or himself, is one of the components seeking balance, projected traits must be reclaimed so the balance can exist within. This is the great challenge of the Libran life.
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Libra energy is best balanced by its opposite sign, Aries. Read the description of that sign to understand what “shadow” traits you might need to integrate. Contact us at (310) 592-0435 or kathy@depthastrology.net for a detailed chart reading that reveals the entire scope of your personality, gifts and challenges.
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