The Scales

Humanistic Astrology - Dane Rudhyar

Abstract meaning	Concrete and Traditional Meaning	Part of Body Ruled
The realization of the Not-Self Meeting "the others." Objectivation of consciousness through association and partnership.	Social consciousness. Affableness, love of beauty. The longing for comradeship. Sympathy, equipoise, justice. Spiritual devotion, operative wholeness.	The kidneys and perhaps the liver.

New Age Astrology - Alan Oken

I Seek My Self Through What I Unite
positive natural tendency	misuse or exaggeration of trait
completely impartial and balanced mind refined, artistic nature perfect in marriage and partnerships sociable and gregarious graceful and charming inspires talent of others	incapable of decision pleasure seeker and hedonist manipulates and dominates others completely dependent on others superficial and deceitful seeks relationships for personal gain

Traditional - Llewellyn George

Physical Characteristics	Mental Tendencies
Well-formed body, tall slender in youth, tendency to stoutness in middle age hair smooth, brown to black blue or brown eyes, Grecian nose round or oval face, good complexion features regular, often have dimples good looking youthful appearance	good mental abilities keen sense of perception with foresight imaginative or artistic good-natured, hopeful, cheeful genial, humane, just, orderly usually amorous, loving but changeful fond of society and amustements like to "go places and do things", be in style or up-to-date fond of find clothes and jewelry.

Traditional - Manly P. Hall

Emotional Key Words	Mental Key Words
Suave, aesthetic, romantic, enthusiastic, changeable, artistic, easily thrown off emotional balance, secretive in matters of the heart, amorous but fickle.	Persuasive, imitative, judicial, tactful, undecided, inclined to be a dilettante, fond of show and approbation, intriguing, meterialistic, liable to pout, and enjoy feeling abused.

In Libra the Sun gives love of justice, peace and harmony. Librans are courteous and pleasant, agreeable, and as a rule even tempered. They are very affectionate and sympathetic people who are sensitive to their surroundings and the conditions of their friends. Librans are natural peacemakers as they are just and kind as well as amiable and generous. Very modest people, you will always find them neat, as they are very particular. They love art, refined pleasure and amusements, and they may be artistic themselves. As a rule they are very intuitive, exhibiting objective foresight. They usually marry young and generally more than once. Those with Libra rising at birth are fond of beauty in all forms, whether in nature, art, music or literature. They enter into refined and cultured pleasures and amusements with great zest, always enjoying the company and society of brave, happy, sunny and mirthful people. Librans seek justice, peace and harmony, and they are usually very courteous, pleasant and agreeable persons. They can be quick to anger but they are easily appeased. They are idealistic, although highly adaptable, even impressionable, and they can be very inspirational with their kind, generous and compassionate nature. Librans most admire modesty and refinement and can be ambitious, although they dislike "unclean" work. The best outlet for their talents is in the professions, particularly those requiring goood taste, artistic touch and fine finish. Mental-vital temperament. The communicativeness of air with the activity of cardinality and the charm of Venus conspire to give the Libra native an engaging, sociable, outgoing personality. With the balance as their symbol, natives of this sign truly feel incomplete without a partner. Some would call them "other-directed", unselfish, for it is both their blessing and their curse to see both sides of every question. As a result, they are valuable as peacemakers, but also often painfully slow in coming to personal decisions. Librans crave peace and harmony above all else, often stifling their own feelings and opinions (if indeed, they know what they are) in order to avoid an unpleasant scene. They so hate ugliness and disorder they can become physically ill if their surrounding don't meet their high standard of aesthetic refinement. They can also be obsessively concerned with what other people think of them and go to great lengths to make a good, even a false, impression. The element of air combined with the influence of Venus often gives the Libra native a somewhat androgynous appeal, and that can be devastating. Although they need and attract partners, they are not particularly sexual people, nor are they given to grand passions. As the sign of justice, Libra has a natural affinity for the law, but their ability to anticipate others' reactions makes them excel in the military as well. Their feeling for balance and beauty is the gift of Venus, while their understanding of form and structure is the legacy of Saturn (who is exalted in Libra). Together these forces give them a natural bent for literature and the visual arts, and Librans are also associated with architecture, sculpture, drawing, design and interior decoration, indeed all fields concerned with the beautification of people and their surroundings. One of the characteristics of Virgo's discriminating mind was that it had to deal with dissimilarities, being a sign that seriously studies life's contrasting features. What Virgo is just beginning, Libra explores even more intently. Can any two things (or people) that are unalike still join forces and work together cooperatively? Or are they forever incompatible? Librans seek out others with whom they can mutually share life experience, and more than just wanting compnay to avoid being alone (although this may be partly the motive). Shared experience usually results in at least two different viewpoints to contend with, and ideally, Librans would love to reach an amiable agreement after hearing both sides and hammering out a solution - perhaps a compromise - that all parties involved can live with. Librans are skilled in the art of negotiation, because airing out of contrasting ideas is important to the Libran growth process. The symbol for Libra is the Scales, the zodiac's only inanimate object, symbolizing the impersonal concept of justice, an ideal that reflects the nature of cause and effect on moral and legal levels. And the scales of justice don't allow for special treatment in this regard. Libra wasn't been dubbed "the iron fist in the velvet glove" for nothing as they can be surprisingly unyielding, even under strained conditions. Feeling that no one is above the law, Libra, when oppressively backed up against the wall, would sooner die for its principles than compromise under tyrannical pressure and lose its integrity. Librans are very sensitive to the current atmosphere they find themselves in, especially wherever peopole congregate, because observing society in action is stimulating for this sign. Libran types must have harmonious social contact on a daily basis, becoming quite unnerved when something enters the picture to spoil an otherwise pleasant exchange beetween people. They are true believers in the cultural importance of courteous interactions. Librans need to be careful not to express too much sweetness and light, though, because it becomes very hard to sincerely sustain such an aura of peace, forever playing the "smiley-face" game and pretending everything is beautiful... as long as nobody makes any waves or touches a raw nerve! But the ability to handle the downside of being human is also important to the Libran's inner growth. Libra is more than just the sign of one-on-one relationship (which can also imply those of an adversarial nature). It is a symbol of committed unions, governing the traditional state of matrimony - and we mean the conventional, legal set-up. No polygamy or "group" marriage, like that noncomformist Aquarius sometimes talks about for this type, for regardless of sexual orientation, Libran types want an intimate partnership that society will endorse. Librans are not afraid to admit that they do care what others think of them. Libra is an air sign, and therefore one that believes in freedom of expression for all, often adopting a "live-and-let-live" policy... for others, that is. But for itself, Libra would rather that its blessed union be bound by law if possible... so where's the ring? The ideal arrangement in Libra's mind would be for two people in love, who have much respect for each other, to join forces as self-determined individuals, because Libra wants a marriage of equals. Libra doesn't believe that partners own each other just because of a marrage contract and will balk at the thought of being unfairly controlled or dominated. The ruler of Libra, the second Air sign, is Aphrodite (Venus), Goddess of Love, aesthetics and civilized good taste. The Greeks saw Mars (Ares), the ruler of Aries, the sign which is the polar opposite of Libra, and Aphrodite as particularly potent deities becasue they were among the few divinities who could actually possess mortals. Mars could possess a man with rage, and Aphrodite with her spell of longing, yearning, and love, often against the better judgment of the man in question. The birth myth of Aprhodite is complex and subtle. Her father, Uranus, had been cast into the ocean, the unconscious, or feeling element, prior to her birth. She was born not from her father's head, as was Athena, but from the genitals, his most sensual organs. Thus is she connected with feeling, with the magic and power of the ocean of the unconscious, and with pleasure. Upon her birth, however, she rose from the ocean into the air, depicted by the Renaissance artist Botticelli as emerging from her seashell. This connection between the ocean, the feeling function, and air, the objective thinking function is part of what causes Libra people to continue throughout their lifetimes to weigh the pros and cons, and to attempt to make balanced decisions upon their mental scales at the same time mking a value judgement from the feeling perspective. While Libra may be an air sign, it is important to understand that Aphrodite is primarily a feeling goddess, making Librans very subjective. They always think in terms of personalities because people matter more to Libra than facts and data or information. Aphrodite is subjective, and her power is based upon her subjectivity, and in astrology she is the principle of attraction as well as the principle of harmony. But to get that Aphrodite magnetism working, this thinking sign needs to develop the feeling function and become aware of its contents, i.e., their own individual feelings. This doesn't meean becoming sentimental or frivolous, but to develop one's magnetism through discovering one's own personal value nature, one's own ability to evaluate others subjectively, rather than attempting a mental approach to others as if the thinking type were entering variables about the romantic partner into a computer. Aphrodite can consciously change her energy, becoming cool, aloof, and distant as easily as she can be warm and sensual, making her an enigmatic goddess - the lovely, mysterious female that men find so alluring. Aphrodite's charms are legendary but always remember, she is a powerful goddess who is always in control - a Cardinal goddess who can turn off her charm as readily as she can apply it. Aphrodite had many titles, just as she had many types of worshippers. Courtesans and others worshipped her for her physical beauty, her promise of fertility in marriage, and her knowledge of the arts of love and seduction, calling her "Aphrodite Pandermos", or "Aphrodite of the common people." At her temples young maidens studied the arts of love and learned about perfumes, oils, literature and artistic refinement. Hera and Aphrodite presided jointly over marriage, but it was Aphrodite who gave the bridal veil, or secrets of love, as a gift at the ceremony. Her role was to instruct the bride to keep the groom happy as a companion and giver of pleasure. In contrast, Plato and his philosopher friends called her "chaste and pure Aphrodite," or "heavenly Aphrodite clothed in stars", worshipping her under the title, Aphrodite Urania. She was the Platonic friend, a spiritual role in which she is a subtle ideal of spiritual beauty - beauty that is more than skin deep. This Aphrodite is a caring if dispassionate goddess, with a genuine concern for hunaity, and a spiritual nature that is not vain or subject to flattery like the Aphrodite of the common people. Libra constitutes something of an enigma, inasmuch as it appears to have been inserted into the zodiac at a rather late date. Early Babylonian zodiacs, for instance, contain only eleven signs, with the constellation we call Libra known as the Claws of the Scorpion. The Greeks saw this star group as the scales held by Astraea, goddess of justice, linking it with Virgo, although beginning to assume the symbolism familiar to us today. Libra was known to the Egyptians, however, who saw Libra as the sign of spring, when it rose in the evening sky (the Eqytpians were concerned with the night-time rising of signs). Libra was Chonsu, the Divine child, symbolizing the birth of the New Year. The scales in Libra had a deep significance for the Egyptians, for it was said that at the time of death the goddess Maat placed the human soul on one scale and a feather on the other. If the scale tipped even slightly, the soul must reincarnate with the goal of releasing the extra weight. Since Libra comes just before Scorpio, the sign associated with death, which the Egyptians honored in their eloquent preparations for the afterlife, the prime goal in life was to make the scales balance, or to prepare the soul for its afterlife. The glyph for Libra, signifying the equinox, have been imagined by some as representing the beam of a scales. Cyril Fagan believes it originates in an Egyptian ideogram called akhet, depicting the rising of the sun, and its meaning was the horizon or ascendant, because most ancient cultures timed the equinoxes and solstices by the observation of the sunrise. As the sign of the autumnal equinox, Libra respresents a transitional moment in the cycle of the seasons when the days and nights are of equal length and the energies of the self (day) and the consciousness of "other" or collective humanity (night) stand balanced. This same situation exists during the vernal equinox at the beginning of Aries, but there is a vital difference. In Aries, it is the Dayforce which is growing stronger, representing an emergent individuality detaching itself from collective humanity. In Libra it is the Nightforce that is increasing, symbolizing the individual beginning to recognize the needs of others, of the collective, tipping Libra's scales away from the self and toward others. In Libra we become conscious of the need for partnership. We begin with Aries, and the consciousness of our unique individuality, but in Aries' polar opposite, Libra, the wheel is furthest from the self, where one becomes totally immersed in the "other". This consciousness of the other has a much wider application than initimate, one-on-one relationships, for anytime we, as individuals, must recognize the needs of others or enter into any kind of a relationship with others, we become conscious of the need to create harmony for humanity at large. Although the average Libran type may be concerned primarily with intimate or romantic relationships, there is always a sense of higher purpose lingering in the background, part of what makes Librans such "idealists". Since Libra represents the part of the wheel where we are concerned with the primary mating relationship and the balancing of this relationship with the self, it poses a difficult chllenge. Libra has been known for its inability to make a decision because it can see both sides of any issue and strives always to be fair. The most difficult task for the Libra is to see things from a self-centered position, and thus it is often too self-sacrificing when concerned with relationships. After all, Libra individuals strive for balance, fairness, cooperation, harmony, and beauty in life, and especially in relationships. The point in Libra is not to eloquently speak of beauty, harmony, and balance as an ideal vision while in the midst of a relationship whose emotional core is a shambles, but to involve oneself in the one-on-one process, accepting (rather than projecting) the ugly and imperfect parts and taking responsiblity for one's own actions in the interplay of opposites that exists in the relationship arena. One of the most challenging times for the institution of marriage in recent history was the late 1960's and early 1970's when Uranus and Pluto were both in Libra for a short time. The divorce rate was statistically the highest on record, and if the deities that rule Libra were making a statement about the inequality of the institution of marriage at that time, they were very effective. Many reforms have been initiated since then, and especially from 1972 to 1984, when Pluto was in Libra. Neptune entered Libra in 1942 and stayed there until 1956, creating a generation of baby-boomers with unique challenges to relationships. Most of these Neptune in Libra individuals also have Pluto in Leo, and are striving to uphold the sacred institution of marriage and be devoted to their partners (Libra), while fiercely making a statement of self-assertion and individuality (Leo). This is a generation which idealizes relationships, feels empty without them, yet struggles intensely for individual freedom and self-assertion even while involved in them - certainly a curious phenomenon. The Age of Libra (14,773 to 12,787 BCE or 10,412 - 12,504 AD) in accordance with its symbolism would be the Age of Justice. Perhaps this is an appropriate time, the time of the Balance, to pause in our review of the astrological ages and consider the meaning of such an astronomical scale of time as has existed displayed in the heavens over the aeons of earth's existence. Even as Libra is the balancing point in the seasonal path of the sun, when the period of day and night are equal and the night force begins to increase, it also appears to be in the middle in relation to the present time, to the past, and the future, for the last Age of Libra was some 14 millennia before the present era, and the next is some 11 millennia into the future. With the Age of Libra, we come to the latter part of the Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) period, the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. Modern humans (i.e. Homo sapiens sapiens), emerged around 100,000 years ago and began migrating out of Africa during the Middle Paleolithic period. Until around 40,000 years ago, the lifestyle of the humans changed little from that of their predecessors. But then, relatively suddenly, they began to produce regionally distinctive cultures, using new technologies, more efficient hunting techniques and having a more refined aesthetic sensibility. This shift from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is called the Upper Paleolithic Revolution. Technological advances included significant developments in flint tool manufacturing with industries based on fine blades rather than simpler and shorter flakes. Burins and racloirs attest to the working of bone, antler and hides. Advanced darts and harpoons also appear in this period. Artistic work also blossomed with Venus figurines, cave painting, petroglyphs, and exotic raw materials found far from their sources suggest the emergence of trading links. Among the most famous of the cave paintings are the Lascaux cave paintings, a complex of caves in southwestern France containing some of the earliest known art, dating back to somewhere between 13,000 and 15,000 BCE. More complex social groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and specialised tool types, probably contributing to increasing group identification or ethnicity. These group identities produced distinctive symbols and rituals which are an important part of modern human behaviour. The reasons for these changes in human behaviour have been attributed to the changes in climate during the period which encompasses a number of global temperature drops, meaning a worsening of the already bitter climate of the last ice age. These may have reduced the supply of usable timber and forced people to look at other materials whilst flint becomes brittle at low temperatures and may not have functioned as a tool. It is also argued that the appearance of language made these behavioural changes possible. The complexity of the new human capabilities hints that humans were less capable of planning or foresight before 40,000 years and that speech changed that. Images of women, mostly figurines of the same type as the "Venus" of Willendorf, all dating to the Paleolithic (Stone Age) period, far outnumber images of men and indeed are the most common cult figure remaining from this little understood long period of prehistory. Some have argued that this would mean that in the hunting culture of Paleolithic society; a matriarchy existed and women ruled. Others suggest that the role of the male in reproduction was not yet understood and did not occur till the Neolithic times of agrarian and nomadic peoples. Most likely the people lived close to nature meaning they honored the Earth Mother or the Mother Goddess as well as the male energy of the sun as they attempted to live in harmony with the rhythms of the universe. Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), the Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the world of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy. Just as all humans share a common physical heritage and predisposition towards specific physical forms (like having two legs, a heart, etc.) so do all humans have a common psychological predisposition. Our physical predispostions are determined by our DNA, while our psychological predispositions are stored in the collective unconscious. Jung was the first scientist to use the Age of Aquarius to help us understand the new paradigms available when we bring the unconscious to consciousness. Astrology and the prehistory use of the zodiac has a relationship to the zeitgeist today, for as Jung noted in Flying Saucers, Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies, published in 1959, shortly before his death: "As we know from ancient Egyptian history, there are symptoms of psychic changes that always appear at the end of one Platonic month and at the beginning of another. They are, it seems, changes in the constellation of the psychic dominants, of the archetypes or "Gods" as they used to be called, which bring about, or accompany, long-lasting transformations of the collective psyche. This transformation started within the historical tradition and left traces behind within it, first in the transition of the Age of Taurus to that of Aries, and then from Aries to Pisces, whose beginning coincides with the rise of Christianity. We are now nearing that great change which may be expected when the spring-point enters Aquarius. It would be frivolous of me to conceal from the reader that reflections such as these are not only exceedingly unpopular but come perilously close to those turbid fantasies which becloud the minds of world-improvers and other interpreters of "signs and portents". But, I must take this risk, even if it means putting my hard-won reputation for truthfulness, trustworthiness and scientific judgment in jeopardy. I can assure my readers that I do not do this with a light heart. I am, to be quite frank, concerned for all those that are unprepared by the events in question and disconcerted by their incomprehensible nature. Since, so far as I know, no one else has yet felt moved to examine and set forth the possible psychic consequences of this foreseeable change, I deem it my duty to do what I can in this respect. I undertake this thankless task in the expectation that my chisel will make no impression on the hard stone it meets." The Age of Leo was chosen by the Ancient Egyptians as the First Age, erecting one of the greatest mysteries of humankind with the body of a male lion and the head of a human. The traditional and probably still majority view is that the Great Sphinx was built at the same time as the nearby Pyramid of Khafre (Khaf-Ra, Chephren) in about 2540 B.C.E. However there has been lively debate in recent years arguing that it may be anywhere from two to four times that old. John Anthony West first noticed weathering patterns on the Sphinx that were consistent with water erosion rather than erosion produced by wind and sand. It is possible the Egyptian Sphinx had its beginning in a much earlier period and portrays great astrological significance, with its human head on an animal's body (definitely a Lion). It could represent man on earth during 11,010 B.C. the Age of Leo, or may have been a monument built to symbolize the evolution of man from the animal or most likely the triumph of the human spirit over the beast. Some believe that the Sphinx is a combined form of woman and lion to recall and reveal the original construction of the zodiac as we know it now, under the sign of Virgo, 15,000 years ago when Virgo occupied the position of the First Sign for an ancient civilization. This could have been a period where men first mapped the stars. The Sphinx may be a monument that foretold something that began with the Virgin and ended with the Lion. It may also represent the two races of mankind, the heavenly man (created) and the counter part earthly man (animal man). In the Temple of Esneh in Egypt, there is a great sky-painting in the portico on the ceiling which shows the whole picture of the zodiac with all its constellations, called the Zodiac of Denderah. Between the figures of Virgo, The Virgin, and Leo, The Lion, there is carved the figure of the sphinx with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. The woman’s face is looking at Leo and the lion’s tail is pointing at Virgo, leading to the assumption that we begin with the Virgin and end with Leo.

Back to Scorpio

Bibliography

Ahead to Virgo

Libra is the smallest of the constellations, measuring only 21 degrees in longitude. It is not a spectacular grouping, and is most easily found by its relative position to its more noteworthy neighbors, bright Scorpio on the east and the ethereal Virgin on the west.


Image courtesy of Astrology Weekly.com

Libra, The Scales, is a faint Springtime constellation with several binocular objects of interest. To find alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi) look south in the wee hours of early May. Spica (alpha Virginis) will be to the southwest and Antares (alpha Scorpii, bright red) to the southeast. Draw a line between these two stars. Midway along this line, and very slightly north, is Zubenelgenubi


Copyright © James B. Kaler, all rights reserved. These contents are the property of the author and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the author's consent except in fair use for educational purposes.

Libra, the Scales, is a lopsided box that lies toward the upper right. The upper part of Scorpius is seen in the lower left hand corner, dominated by bright Antares. The three near-vertical stars up and to the right of Antares make the Scorpion's head. Libra is best noted by the two modestly bright stars toward the upper right hand corner that represent the Scorpion's outstretched claws, Zubenelgenubi (the southern claw) near the right center edge, Zubeneschamali (the northern claw) at the top. Zubenhakrabi (a lesser-known "claw," which was at one time part of Scorpius and known as Gamma Scorpii) is near the lower right corner.


Copyright © James B. Kaler, all rights reserved.

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Libra, the Scales, from Bayer's Uranometria of 1603. Courtesy of the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology

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