Guest Article
Libra ~ The Scales, begins at the moment of Autumn Equinox, Element of Air, Temple of Venus
By Elizabeth Ferrara BCPP, RPE
There’s something remarkable about the feeling of Autumn, and this year the feeling seems to have come in with a bang! Abrupt cold weather, major storms, and a rude awakening for many of us to the coming winter.
The sign of Libra is often called The Scales and associations related to that imagery are abundant. Libra is an Air sign, connecting it to mentality, intelligence, and the mental body in general. Let’s use that concept in its absolutely broadest possible ways! It isn’t simply communication, as might be the delineation given to Air in, for instance, many Little White Books accompanying Tarot decks. It isn’t simply ‘the mind’ and intellect in a narrow, brainy imagery. Consider the realm of Air the entire realm of consciousness, connection, association, ideation, imagination, and articulation. It includes all the ways we receive information and then how we digest it, massage it, and bring it out into the world through our perceptions, constructs, and potentials.
Nor can we simplify The Scales as merely the marking of an Equinox – one of two moments each year that the Sun sits directly at the waist of the Earth, the Equator. From the Northern Hemisphere point of view, the Autumn Equinox tells us that our days have become shorter than our nights and the darkness is continuing to descend upon us.
This brings cooler weather, and this is because of the lower angle of the Sun in the sky as it moves below the Equator down toward the Earth’s thighs – away from us and lowers in our vision. The lowness of the Sun in the sky in a deepening descent through Autumn causes the cooler weather – more than the fact that the Sun is generally further away, moving away from the Earth’s waist down toward the Southern Hemisphere, culminating at the Tropic of Capricorn.
I noted just this morning how acute the sun was shining in my eyes and how notable the Sun is at this time of year, hitting me in a much more pronounced, notable way than when it is riding high in the sky. I encourage you to tune into this angular reality at this time of year and how it colors the tone of our lives. Here lies some very real natural wisdom in our relationship with our light.
Thought of as the beginning of the Western Door, Libra marks the setting time of the year and the middle of the descent of the light that began just after the moment of Summer Solstice – the longest day, the brightest light. It is the time of harvest. The giveaway. Our expansive efforts begin to slow, and our release begins. What have we created? What has ripened or reached maturity? What can be harvested? What can be given away?
Another important association between the sign of Libra and The Scales is its ruling planet of Venus. Venus is known for its association with beauty and harmony and with how one delineates what one loves and values. This sign is one of relationship and is notable in its accentuating the balancing of what one loves or doesn’t. What one values or doesn’t. What one desires or doesn’t.
For those in relationship to the Zodiacal Man, like Dr. Stone, Libra is often associated with, among other things, the kidneys. This brings The Scales home for me as a Polarity Practitioner. One might feel a bit confused by this outlier of a sign in relation to the orderly movement of the Signs down the body, head to toe. I consider the kidneys a unique set of organs in the body. Among other things, they regulate Water in the body – and we are mostly Water. It is easy to make an association with The Scales. The kidneys are in the back body, around the level of the diaphragm, and in a separate sack from the digestive organs. They stand outside and behind, regulating our body’s homeostasis via the cleansing, balance, and distribution of Water. They stand a bit isolated and manage a very particular set of functions. When I consider the alignment here of Air (Libra) and Water (kidneys), it immediately gets me thinking about how Air and Water are the two elements that share connections with movement and flow: one in the realm of consciousness and ideation, the other in our resultant embodiment.
I invite you to take a moment at this time of year to consider the Sun’s angle in the sky and the tone it creates. Consider what you have grown in the gardens of your life at this time of harvest. What are you offering at this time, and what can be released or surrendered? It is time to move into the darker seasons: slow down, ease up, and re-balance. Rejoice in your harvest and prepare to dream through the seasonal night!