THE HISTORY OF LIBRA
The sign of Libra does not coincide with the constellation of Libra. In the zodiac, this sign is located between Virgo and Scorpio, taking the seventh 30 degrees of the zodiacal circle. Libra is a cardinal sign, marking the beginning of autumn. This is also a sign where the Sun sets, where it has fallen and the summer has ended making room for autumn to come. It represents the cycle of nature where everything starts dying down, entering hibernation, so it is not strange that this is a place where the Sun as the force of life is in its lowest dignity.
In a way, the constellation of Libra doesn’t really exist, for it represents the claws of the Scorpion, making it a part of the constellation Scorpio. It was recognized as MUL Zibanu in Babylonian astrology, connecting it to both scorpion’s claws and the scales of a balance. In ancient Greece it was recognized in the same way. In truth, Libra represents a point of absolute balance, shown through the 15th degree of the sign of Libra. All of the other points related to this constellation presented through the stars in it, are actually a part of a different constellation.
THE MYTH OF LIBRA
There is a small mystery to the sign of Libra. On one hand, it is often connected to Astraea, the Greek goddess of innocence and purity, but this goddess is in general link to the sign of Virgo, Libra’s preceding sign. On the other hand, the stars of Scorpio make the constellation of Libra. It is almost as if Libra was a connection of Virgo and Scorpio, more than a sign by itself.
It is best correlated to Dike, the Greek goddess of justice, the daughter of Zeus. Even though she is often in correlation to Astraea, she still seems to be an individual independent of other signs of the zodiac. In service of her father Zeus, Dike was in charge of measuring the weight of human souls after they passed away. Her job was to punish souls mired in vice and reward souls that were honest and just. The link of Libra with Astraea is related to the role of Astraea after she gave up on the human race and decided to leave the humans to their corrupted nature.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LIBRA MYTH AND THE LIBRA ZODIAC SIGN
The sign of Libra represents justice in our typical, everyday sense, and the balance that needs to be found in order for all sides of any equation to be satisfied. It speaks of a relationship between two things that need to find middle ground, and this is exactly why the sign of Libra represents all interpersonal relationships, as two scales of the balance.
People connected to the sign of Libra have a tendency to look up to others and be quite uncertain of their own personality, just like the constellation and the sign are mostly connected to a goddess and an animal that belong to the signs on both sides of Libra. The interesting thing here lies in the fact that the most important balance needs to be found between the goddess of purity and innocence and the deadly animal that is linked to our deepest animalistic side. Because of the nature of Scorpio, stars from this constellation are usually in connection to some sort of karmic punishment. They speak of a person’s debt that was measured on the scales of justice, before this lifetime.
