Now that the Sun is traveling through Libra, this bonus article will describe how this energy works and tells you how to use it.

Warm regards,
Ellen Zucker

Libra: Your Partner and the Sake Cup

By Ellen Zucker

I’m told of a Japanese custom that sums up the spirit of Libra.

When you dine with a partner in a Japanese restaurant, you are not to fill your sake cup when it is empty. Instead, your partner fills it for you and you, in turn, fill his.

You work with the cooperation of others to accomplish your goals. And likewise, you cooperate with others to help them accomplish their goals. Libra would tell us if we did that there would be no room for aggression and strife: Utopia!

We use Virgo’s energy to polish and refine our raw creativity. But then our skills must find an application. We need other people to work with and to work for.

The Sun enters Libra at the autumn equinox, a time when daylight and darkness are perfectly balanced. Balance is the purpose of The Scales, Libra’s symbol, and balance is the goal of Libran people. We keep adding and subtracting from both sides until both sides are equally balanced.

The lengthy process of weighing two sides until equally balanced is responsible for Libra's much publicized difficulty in decision making. Libra must remember that making no decision is itself a decision.

Nonetheless, balance is critical in our healthy functioning. We do not function well when our bodies are out of balance. We suffer when our lives are out of balance.

When energy is in balance, there is an easy flow. The Tarot is a big fan of balance. There are many cards that speak to the desirability of balance. Some examples: Temperance, The Lovers, and all of the cards with the numeral two.

Harmony is the byproduct of balance. And with harmony comes beauty. A fine sense of style, taste, and design is a gift for those in whom Libra’s energy is strong. And so you find many Libran designers of all types.

Beauty is nothing more than the harmonious placement of shapes, color, and texture. When we call a person’s face beautiful we mean that the face’s shape and its features are classical. They blend together. Features are even, neither too large nor too small. Balanced. Beautiful.

Likewise a beautifully decorated room has a pleasing mix of shape and color.

While balance, or more specifically, inner harmony is important for all of us, it is critical to the proper functioning of Libra. Librans use the refinement of outer harmony as a way to generate inner harmony, their ultimate goal.

Libra is a cardinal sign. It initiates action. Like the partner in the Japanese restaurant it does so working with and through others. And so it excels in areas that require excellent people skills such as counseling, teaching, mediation and diplomacy.

Libra often sees itself as one half of the scales, needing another half to give it completion. People with a great deal of Libran energy put a particular value on one-to-one partnerships. And so Libra is associated with marriage.

Too often, Libra is so concerned about keeping the peace that it doesn’t properly take care of its own needs. The charming Japanese custom doesn’t work unless your guest pours sake into your empty cup as well.

If a Libran has too much difficulty getting his own needs met, he may resort to less than pleasing, indirect means. The term passive-aggression was created to describe frustrated Librans.

Sometimes a beautiful façade masks a rotten interior. And, too often, Librans think appearances are everything. But there is a remedy for this. It is called Scorpio.

© 2006 Ellen M. Zucker