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Keeping Beauty in Mind - Libra
When the Celtic Imagination searched for the structures of shelter and meaning,
it raised its eyes to the mountains and the heavens, and put its trust in
the faithful patterns of the Sun, the stars, the Moon, and the seasons.
Long before then the Greek imagination had raised its eye to the heavens also,
and seen in the Cosmos a beautiful order, which was to become the heart of their
notion of Beauty. The Cosmos, in its order and pattern and rhythm was beautiful.
So all the uncertainty and the confusion of life could somehow be endured, because
they were happening within a pattern of Order and Beauty. This Beauty presided over
the journey between Awakening and Surrender, awakening each day to view first the
Source and then the Horizon, the Invisible and the Visible.
~John O’Donohue
Striving for equilibrium, but not always quite hitting the mark, the Libra vibe is showing up in temperature extremes these days – nights dipping into the 40s, and days in the 90s and 100s!, testing our patience, after a long four months of unusual heat. While not a smooth entrance into Autumn—with the Equinox now behind us—we can nevertheless feel the winds of change at hand, invoked astrologically by Air sign Libra, where the Sun resides until October 22.
Ushering in the season change, Libra marks a significant moment in the zodiacal round, as one of the four Cardinal signs that initiates a new quarter or phase. The other Cardinal signs include Aries, signalling the Spring Equinox; Cancer, ushering in the Summer Solstice; and finally, Capricorn, with the Winter Solstice. On the wheel of the zodiac, connecting each of these four signs’ ingress, or entrance points traces an archetypal cross through the circle, giving them particular significance among the archetypes. These points operate like the pivotal moments of the day: dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight. Polar opposites Aries and Libra signify the horizontal axis of the cross, of Self vs. Other, while Cancer-Capricorn holds the vertical axis of Hearth vs. Society (or Mother vs. Father).
This is an important aspect of intersection between the zodiacal and seasonal cycles that reveals to us what an amazing system of Order we live within, the magical dance and interconnection of Heaven and Earth, as John O’Donohue alludes to above. And this interpenetration includes not just a mirroring of cycles, but the very makeup of stars, minerals, and animate earthly life, all of which share the same chemical building blocks.
As the seventh sign in the wheel, Libra has the important role of initiating the transition from the self-focused, personal development of the first six signs to the broader focus of connecting to and serving Humanity as a greater whole. For relational Libra, ruled by the ‘love’ planet Venus, feedback from others provides a valuable mirror to self. It follows, of course that Libra is known for its charm and sweetness, as it hopes to achieve a pleasing reflection!
Sweetness is the fragrance of the livingness of Life, go the lyrics of part of Hildegard von Bingen’s song about the virtue of Hope (Spes in the Latin). With world events as they are, to keep hope aloft it’s up to each of us in our individual lives to keep the sweetness alive, and to keep on sharing it! Libra is commonly associated with one-on-one relating, and is also interested in collaborative group and social situations, particularly ones connected to an ideal, such as creating a more liveable Earth for all involved. To do so, this second of the Air signs (whose domain is thought) often engages its ease of expression through language and ideas.
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Signified by the scales, Libra has the capacity to raise its sights above that of personal needs and desires, resting upon objective matters of ethics, and morality. Libra’s Venus rulership elevates the value of Beauty into the mix, hence the faithful ‘pattern of Order and Beauty’ of which John O’Donohue speaks above. Libra is not only gifted with words and ideas, but with delivering them gracefully, or artfully. Sometimes even flirtatiously! (Former President Bill Clinton had his Mars—desires and actions—in Libra.) But, while liking to play in the realm of romance, Libra does typically keep the abstract patterns of life in mind as well—as O’Donohue states, “first the Source [aka the Heavenly Ideal] and then the Horizon “– the plane of human dealings.
Stuck in the mud
The thing to remember is that while it may be concerned with grounding lofty ideals, in human dealings, Libra is very much on a learning curve. In truth, Libra often struggles to find its equilibrium, and gets stuck in extremes along the way (like this week’s temperatures!). Its process involves evaluating impulses and actions, whether its own or others, in the name of fairness. But it can get triggered when its sense of justice feels betrayed, devolving into feelings of indignation and even rage, borrowing from the hot-headed Aries vibe—its polarity partner. At its most off-centered, Libra’s righteous tantrums turn into the waging of wars in the name of the values to which they are attached.
As I write, Israeli President Netanyahu and his cabinet are escalating a new branch of war, on Lebanon. Most if not all of my readers will find themselves, as I am, outraged at yet more perpetration against innocent peoples. One can’t help wonder, how can this man persist in this vein of heartless killing? Without knowing his chart, I thought to see if he has Libra energy, as the Libra archetype carries the intense drive after an ideal of justice, and this on the level of the conceptual abstract, so without feeling, such that the loss of human lives can be taken simply as a ‘necessary consequence’ of a ‘just’ war. Air signs are known for their detachment.
I then recalled that Vladimir Putin himself has a Libra Sun sign, and he as we know is also perpetuating a war, driven by the ideal of reinstating the supremacy of Mother Russia, (contending that the collapse of the USSR was a “major geopolitical disaster”), with support from the Russian Orthodox Church. He also wants to ‘purify’ Russia from the harmful Western influences of consumerism and gender/sexual freedoms, among other things.
First I checked Putin’s chart to see what else he might have in Libra, and I found he also has Mercury, Neptune and Saturn all in Libra! Neptune is the other great energy signifying the ideal, but on the level of faith, as opposed to Libran reason. So having Neptune tied to his Sun surely indicates Putin’s unflagging devotion to his cause and his beliefs. Several of these Libra planets are trine (in helpful relationship with) Pluto, known in one of its guises as the Destroyer, an energy that doesn’t shy from applying the means of violence and killing to achieve its goal of deep transformation. So destructive Pluto is a helpful ‘tool’ for Putin’s ends.
Then I checked Netanyahu’s chart, where I struck astrological pay dirt (for present purposes of my argument, that is)! He TOO has Sun, Mercury, and Neptune in Libra, along with his Moon and South Node (where he’s coming from in the past). And several of HIS Libra planets are trine Pluto as well, which shows how, like Putin, he does not balk at using the most violent means to achieve his calculated ‘rational’ ends. Of course Netanyahu’s ideal/idealogy differs from Putin’s, but it too stems from a sense of injustice, a sense of his people having been wronged or robbed of their rightful place on the planet. The conjunction to Neptune for both of them calls in an identification with the ‘glorious ones’, who have suffered through being downtrodden or deprived of their exaltation.
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Wondering at the ‘things’ of life
At a lovely Equinox Ritual I attended in our local Ragle Ranch Park, we were invited to spend some time listening to a chosen part of our surroundings (I chose an impressively sprawling, moss-adorned oak), as to what energy is beckoning to us this Fall. Some of the qualities called out by the group members when we returned to the full circle were Acceptance, Gratitude, and Letting Go. I received the word Crystallizing.
Fall is a time of consolidation, of gathering and drawing ourselves into the sphere of focused relationship, and of the interior life. It is a time of sorting and sifting through the remains of the harvest, of the trees releasing their spent leaves, and of our own letting go of that which has withered and is no longer needed—be this habits, stuff, unhealthy patterns, or ways of thinking about ourselves—particularly in relation to others, and to the Whole.
Virgo, this sign’s predecessor, is in its own way called to the work of purifying and integrating various aspects of the self. Now, with Libra, we take that integrated self and reach out, whether through social connection, or through the arts, to extend our sense of beauty, and of our refined values, to others. While yes, in its darkest manifestation Libra can be a cold and calculating war-monger, in its highest, given its association with the Goddess Aphrodite (the Greek name for Venus), Beauty and Justice are potentially woven of a piece, with aesthetic intensity bringing us a sense of our essential values, helping us to a deeper knowing of the import of the ‘things’ of this life, be they relational, or material.
I think here of the much acclaimed book, The Matter With Things, by Iain McGilchrist, brilliant British psychiatrist, literary scholar, philosopher and neuroscientist (and author of the previous The Master and His Emissary, about the distinctions between the left and right hemispheres of the brain). McGilchrist points to the increasingly imbalanced focus in the Western world on the conceptual, thinking mind and its products (whose purview is the left brain, and which we could say is an over-favoring of the Air signs’ detached, rational approach to life).
He stresses that our ‘enslavement’ to the left hemisphere’s view of things is responsible for the downfall at hand in multiple realms, and exhorts us to turn more wholeheartedly towards the right hemisphere’s gifts of intuition, imagination, and awe, which afford us a lens on life that “is both profound and beautiful—and happens to be in line with the deepest traditions of human wisdom.” Here is where the Libran propensity for weighing and measuring needs to transcend its mental impulses and tap into its innate connection to the Causal, or Imaginal realm—where archetypes reside— through surrendering to its passion for the Beautiful.
For if we take Beauty, defined in its broadest sense, as our measure, we surpass the reductive denials of life’s true meaning, and land at the feet of Wisdom. As John Keats says in his classic poem, Ode on a Grecian Urn, “Beauty is Truth; Truth, Beauty.“ The sentiments he expresses are of how the artistic rendering on the urn, resonating with notes of the Beautiful, transports him to a timeless Truth, beyond the sorrows and travails of the literal. In Beauty reside the natural laws that humans through the ages have recognized and honored, and by which they once upon a time lived.
This endeavor of uniting truth with beauty, or the left and right brain hemispheres could also be seen as the great work of uniting the masculine and feminine in equal and just proportions, which we might consider to be a Libran intent as well.
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Aiming true
Music of course is the art form par excellence for winging us up and out of the realm of human strife. Its melodies and harmonies can elevate our frequency in the blink of an eye, taking us to a world entirely other. Twice this summer I had the good fortune to see live performances by a group of 3 Graces, The Real Sarahs, who combined divine harmonies and instrumentals with strong messaging, all while having fun! This video features two of their songs, with lyrics calling out injustice, or invoking us to consider the seeds we’re sowing in our lives.
Libra does best when it keeps its aim ‘True’, which means ever looking to John O’Donohue’s ‘faithful patterns of the universe’ in our navigations through life, and not getting bogged down with the hard and fast analyses of the death tolls, melting ice, and political polls. Here’s where a little Libran detachment can be of good use! (Astrology counseling is an excellent way to check your alignment with these prevailing universal patterns!)
Keeping our aim true requires that we return to finding balance. In this difficult pursuit we do need to invoke our reasoning powers when considering options—whether those be in life choices, or in responding to challenging relational dynamics. However we do best if we approach balance with nuanced consideration. When stating boundaries and limits, for instance, sometimes it’s best to err on the side of tolerance when we feel wronged, or that a line has been crossed; at others, we may need to draw the line out of self-respect, stating why a certain dynamic simply isn’t acceptable. This might require some Aries ‘hutzpah’, as Libra is far more comfortable playing nice!
Because of its preference for ‘nice’, Libra can be prone to rethinking any stated boundaries, and even go back on them (I surely did this in my parenting journey, with both my Mars and Mercury in Libra!). Children as a general rule do need strong boundaries to feel safe, so having ‘soft boundaries’ ongoingly can invite more acting out. Getting the balance ‘right’ between control and surrender, or structure and flow, is surely advanced work. We might on occasion benefit from considering a ‘wild order’ in our relations, as in the melifluous twistings of the California oak limbs, to engender a sense of freedom and creativity.
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Another aspect that Libra deals with is the weighing of pros and cons in making decisions—not per se its forte! In the highest sense, Libra calls us to make choices that will respect the natural laws and rhythms of the Earth, and to honor our notion of divine order, whether materially or morally. We can be called to this difficult task of choosing in situations such as whether to stay at or leave a job, or a relationship, for instance.
Choosing is not easy, for it necessitates disrupting the abstract framework of ‘either/or,’ rejecting one option over the other, and excluding psychic content that may be wrapped around the rejected option—content that can lurk beneath, only to rise later and cause disruption if it turns out the choice made wasn’t sufficient to the individual soul’s intent.
The classic ‘waffling’ that Libra falls into stems in part from the fear of consequences that choice requires, such as the commitment. What will be lost or left behind? one wonders, even if unconsciously. What will we face in the ‘new’ of that which is chosen? Of course we can’t know. Jungian astrologer Liz Greene points out that Libra energy is called go the fore in situations where we may be forced to divide ourselves. These press us to determine where our values lie, deepening our self-knowledge, and encourage us to overcome instincts that may not be ethically founded, or the most ‘beautiful’.
As I often say, we don’t need to have planets in a given sign to feel its influence in our lives. We all have each archetype, and its planetary ruler (in this case Venus) in our charts somewhere. And at the time of year when the Sun is travelling through a certain sign, along with other nearby planets, or the planetary Nodes (such as is now the case with South Node in Libra), we are certainly subject to its influence, particularly if we are aware and open to perceiving it.
To give or not to give
In addition to Aphrodite, Libra is associated with the Greek goddess Athena (mentioned last month in connection with Virgo), in her preoccupation with law, social order, and care for the community. In the Athena aspect we see Libra’s movement toward a primary focus on society, as opposed to self or family. We also see the outrage over broken rules and injustice!
The Greek gods were prone to all sorts of tantrums and retaliations over things relational, similar to the Old Testament Yahweh, as depicted by Carl Jung in his book, Answer To Job. Having recently finished reading this, I was struck that when I explored Liz Greene’s archetypal analysis of Libra, her take on Libra themes echoed those outlined by Jung (Greene even overtly makes the connection between Libra and this book).
In short, Yahweh, or God/the Creator is not at all perfect. In fact, he, like the Greek gods, is partly unconscious, making him ‘two-faced’, and perhaps not as just as a ‘good’ human. Job, a shining example, had in fact surpassed God in this respect, Jung posits. Hence the gods, or the Creator, have turned to and in effect need humankind to be the place for seeding a truly moral consciousness. So, while Libra can, as we’ve established, encompass the lowest of human behaviors when it gives itself over to the purely abstract, calculating ideal of retribution, it can also lead the way to the noblest of roles, that of improving upon God!
But lest we get too carried away over the elevated potential of Libra, Greene points out that “the development of Libra encompasses a curious paradox: that the sign is in love with the orderly laws of life and places great faith in their fairness, yet is perpetually confronted by the disorderly and immoral aspects of life, which fragment and divide Libra’s cherished unity.”
Sometimes Libra gets bogged down with over-giving, for instance, and then later resents how another doesn’t reciprocate in kind. This is a tough one, as not everyone is graced with the Libran energy that makes us prioritize the consideration of others, and as equals. Fire sign energy, in particular (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), can get rather self-focused, burning its own bright light, with not much energy spent on the nuances of give and take. Eventually, with enough unrequited giving, kindness, and prioritizing of the needs of magnetic others, Libra gets fed up and blows a fuse.
To prevent this, the guidance for Libra is to borrow from its Aries partner’s self-focus, to take care of oneself by presencing one’s needs and not expecting others to take care of them. Libra goes astray when it thinks its needs are another’s responsibility.
With the North Node currently in Aries, and the South Node in Libra, most of us in some area of our life are working on this lesson, of learning to back off of codependent relating, to dare to act upon our own desires, and to take responsibility for our own needs. In this case, being a bit selfish might be the lesson that Libra-in-recovery needs.
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Revered psychological astrology forebear, Dane Rudhyar, points out that while ever striving towards equilibrium, and towards finding a desired social sphere or group where it feels it fits in and belongs, Libra is often subject to instability, feeling itself continually falling short of the mark. For it is neither a master of balance, nor of the social process; hence its work is to continually strive in both realms. Ultimately, Rudhyar asserts, Libra is more an artist than a politician, more a seer and a harmonizer than a builder. I find it helpful to consider this, that it is not Libra’s work to ‘achieve’, per se, but to imbue. Rudhyar compares Libra to a seed, a love-inspired seed, infused with wisdom, whose work is to disseminate into humanity its vision of peace, order, and beauty.
Considering the breath as another aspect of Libra’s Airy domain, we might then consider that with each conscious breath taken—conscious and aware of the divine order and harmony that is our human potential—Libra can infuse our planet, and its inhabitants with whom we share it, with love. Libra thus offers the possibility of the seed of Consciousness, of morality, of goodness, which in its highest end would be an Earth in balance.
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"The bubbling lightness of plenty"
Of course we have miles and likely many centuries to go before we rest in the work of restoring our Earth to the state of homeostasis from which it is precipitously straying. (Witness the unprecedented ravages of powerful Hurricane Helene in the U.S. South.) Currently we have many eyes focused on technology as the god that can save us from global warming’s rapidly escalating environmental stresses and catastrophes, caused by fossil fuel extraction and use.
In a persuasive article, Like Water and Wind: Resisting Massive Offshore Energy Projects in the Pacific Northwest, Erica Shugart points to the lesser known consequences of offshore wind energy, which include harm to sea life and marine ecosystems, and habitat and mineral loss from the use of resources to build the turbines. And she describes the mere 15-20 year lifespan of wind turbines, which cannot be recycled or broken down once they fail, and which can cause very significant damages to ecosystems when they do fail. In Libran fashion, she raises the question, is it a ‘lesser evil’ choice to kill whales with industrial wind energy than by fossil fuel-induced global warming? She writes:
A protean trickster, industry changes shape and name, but the blight it forges belongs to a legacy that arose long before industrial fossil fuel extraction. This [green energy] solution promises salvation, cloaked by a technical language that leaves one hoping that the experts will soon be arriving. Hidden beneath the false double bind are countless ways that communities could re-localize and become more aligned with Earth.
My sense is that at some point or another we’ll be forced to return to a far less resource-intensive, simpler way of localized living, in balance with Earth’s resources and cycles, and that technology—and the continued mining of the earth for its components—is not a viable panacea. Living in respect for the Earth, and all beings with whom we share it, is a way that indigenous peoples have always employed, and that our own ancestors to varying degrees engaged in. Simple living is the only way to strike a balance within our now perilously threatened web of earth systems. Shugart beautifully states:
Some of us may have forgotten that intrinsic to sustainable cultures, obligation lies not with distant figures, mandates, or machines, but with place wisdom passed down by the ancestors who have returned to spaciousness. Part of the work as brief Earthlings might be to understand that honoring physical limitation is the door to the bubbling lightness of plenty known as gratitude.
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The Janes get out the vote!
Last night I found myself tuning in for some laughs (always good for balance in this time of war and misinformation) with the help of Steven Colbert, finding a recent interview he did with English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall (fiery Aries pioneer and wayshower still, at 90!). Known for her lifelong work on behalf of animal welfare and conservation, she came on Colbert to presence her global Vote for Nature campaign, strongly urging even those voters disaffected by the conventional political process to vote on behalf of the Earth, for the candidate whom we believe will do the most good (or at least the least harm!) to the planet. (Hint – Drill Baby Drill would not be the motto we want!)
Over in the online sidebar, another interview with another famous (fiery Sagittarius) activist Jane, Jane Fonda, caught my eye. (Sag is known for speaking out on causes they champion.) She’s such an important icon, I had to check her out as well. Now 87, and of course still youthfully spry, she had come on the Jimmy Kimmel show for the same reason, to make an impassioned plea for folks to vote for the candidate who will keep the Earth foremost in mind. Leave it to the elder women, our cultural grandmothers, to be speaking out on behalf of the urgent Truth that is the condition of the Earth at this time, as the politicians certainly aren’t doing it.
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Astrology of Now
The October 2 Solar Eclipse New Moon in 10° Libra, as one would expect, calls us to focus on our relationship, both with others, and with ourselves, and to aspire to Balance. An Eclipse tends to amplify the energies present to a significant degree, and to create a more lasting effect than the normal 2-4 weeks of a New Moon, so these themes could be particularly ‘up.’
In addition to the Sun and Moon, we have Mercury and the South Node all in Libra within range of conjunction, strengthening the emphasis on the need to drain out any dysfunctional Libran tendencies we may encounter, such as excessive rationalizing, strident righteousness, or giving our power away. Mars in Cancer is squaring the group of Libran planets and points, which can stir up intense, feeling-based reactions when triggered. So it’s a good idea to do what we need to stay centered—such as taking space from or with others—ideally in nature, pausing during our busy days, and remembering to breathe. We want to keep our focus on the higher ideals we stand for, not the dry idea of “50-50” or tit for tat. Being present with the Earth in some way, whether with a beloved pet, in a special place, in our garden, or with the wind and the scuttling leaves is always a good grounding practice.
At this Eclipse there is a harmonious ‘mystic triangle’ formed by the three outer planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—present on and off for quite a long time this year and next. It consists of Uranus trine Pluto, and each of these sextiling Neptune. With trines and sextiles being harmonious aspects, this will only deepen the Libran potential for accessing ‘divine order’, should we be engaged in an artistic practice, relational deepening, meditation practices, or mediation or diplomacy of some sort.
In addition, there is a grand trine in water signs between Venus in Scorpio, Saturn in Pisces, and Mars in Cancer, making feelings, desires, and deeper understanding more prominent, and offering a counterbalance to any tendency for excess Airy detachment. Empathy will be flowing, but so too some of the deeper emotions; so it’s a time to be watchful and gentle with ourselves and others.
Ultimately, it’s a good time to practice trusting in the eternal balance of earth and sky!
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Links For Further Meandering
Vox Article, Why Is Putin Attacking Ukraine?, Feb. 2023 – https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/2/23/22945781/russia-ukraine-putin-speech-transcript-february-22
Iain McGilchrist book, The Matter With Things: https://channelmcgilchrist.com/matter-with-things/
The Real Sarahs, performing in the California hills in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5UTXzLA30I
John Keats poem, Ode On a Grecian Urn: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/145240/john-keats-ode-on-a-grecian-urn
Jane Goodall’s Vote For Nature Campaign: https://www.votefornature.com/
Jane Fonda’s Vote for Nature Pitch on Jimmy Kimmel – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vO_t9JNUag