Libra

September 23^rd to October 22^nd

Libra – Balance

Libra the 7th house of the Zodiac

Ruled by: Venus

The sign of Libra was once called Chelae, and was part of Scorpio, and represented the claws of illumination, as this was meant to portray the claws holding a light. Libra indicates that man has left the underworld and darkness and is now in the position to reason and decide to make choices.

The sign of Libra is relatively new, but the scales and judgment can be traced back to Egyptian myths.

The God Anubis bought the dead over from the land of the underworld to the hall of Justice.
The god Osiris god of life and death then judges the soul of man, here their heart was weighed on the scales against the feather of Truth.
The Egyptian Goddess Maat, Her Emblem is the feather of Truth and Justice who stands in the halls of the under-world ready to place her Feather of Truth on the scales if the heart balanced with the feather they would have eternal life. If she/he didn’t then the waiting monster Amemait would eat their heart

The Greek Goddess Athena stands for personal justice balance and fairness.

Myth
Paris was the son of the King and Queen of Troy, a dream had prophesied that Paris would grow up and cause the down fall of his county, so they disposed of the infant on mount Ida, where a she bear reared him. Paris’s true birth did not remain hidden because of his intelligence and his heightened ability in judgment, he had a flare with words, and was fare and just, was charming and had a way with women. Because of this Zeus chose him to decide upon three quarreling Goddess.
These were The Goddess Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris was out with his herd of cattle one day when Hermes appeared to him with a golden apple sent from Zeus asking him to which Goddess the apple should be given. Paris wanted to share the apple fairly between the three Goddess and so not favoring any of them, but Zeus would have none of this. Paris very aware that should he choose a Goddess above the other two that he would have real problems. However they all three promised that they would all except his judgment. The Goddesses were all asked to disrobe.

The Goddess Aphrodite was asked to remove her famous girdle that made every one fall in love with her.
The Goddess Athena was asked to remove her helmet, which gave her an unfair advantage.
The Goddess Hera simply unrobed with the dignity fitting a Queen of the gods.
Then Hera offered Paris ruler-ship over all of Asia should he choose her, but Paris was not interested in the responsibility that this would incur.

Athena then promised him that she would see that he would emerge victorious in all battles that he might undertake. again this did not spur Paris on in any measure. Aphrodite knowing full well what motivated Paris, promised him the most beautiful woman in the world Helen of Troy to marry, but Paris said she’s already married, she said leave it to me. So he handed over the golden apple without a second thought. This judgment angered the other two Goddess’s and off they went looking for a way for the destruction of Troy. When Paris eventually meet Helen they fell in love instantly and eloped, this was the downfall of Troy. Troy was burnt to the ground. Paris and his three sons were slaughtered and Helen was reunited with her husband, as none of this was her fault but had been invoked by the gods themselves.

 

Ruling Planet Venus

The Greek goddess Aphrodite was a ruler of both physical and sensual love as well as ideal, romanticized love, and intellectual, humanitarian, and spiritual love as well.

Aphrodite married Hephaestus, the lame blacksmith. Hephaestus was an expert craftsman who made jewelry for Aphrodite, armor for Achilles, and Zeus’s crown. Although married, Aphrodite had love affairs: Ares, the god of war, Anchises, a Trojan prince, and Adonis, a handsome, young hunter were lovers of Aphrodite.

The myth of Aphrodite does exemplify many of the characteristics of Venus’s astrological influence: there are many flavors and styles of Venus’s love, depending on the signs, houses, and aspects to Venus.
Beauty has an attractive power over people, as shown in Aphrodite’s physical beauty, and the fact that she married a man, who although not beautiful, could serve her and adorn her with beautiful ornaments.
Attractive power and romantic attraction, unless balanced with other factors, will not result in a faithful, monogamous relationship, as evidenced by Aphrodite’s love relationships with handsome men.

Adonis was killed by a wild bear and Aphrodite pleaded with Zeus to bring him back to life. Zeus decided to allow Adonis to live 6 months of each year on earth and 6 months in the lower world, creating the summer and winter seasons. Thus, love can help overcome even death, and the bonds of love can survive the greatest tragedies.