Libra Traits

Libra, the Scales, is the seventh sign of the Zo­di­ac. The sun enters it on or around September 23, when the autumn arrives. It's the day of the autum­nal equinox. Libra belongs to the ele­ment air, its quality is cardinal and its charge is positive. Its Ruler is Ve­nus, and Mercury exalts in it. Its motto is: "I balance."

     In the horo­scope chart, Libra brings an ethical and logical charac­ter to planets or Houses therein.

Your Libra Star Sign Traits

Those who have Libra as their star sign are born when the sun was in Libra, normally Septem­ber 23 - Octo­ber 22 (it differs slightly from year to year, be­cause of the leap years). Therefore, it is also - more correctly - called the sun sign.

     The sun in your horoscope is your natural self - what you are when you relax, when other planets in your horoscope are not active. It's your basic drive, a character you have as an ingredient - more or less evident in all you do and all you are.

     The sun is the most important point in your horoscope chart, but of course it's not the only thing that describes your personality. You need to look at all the components of your birth chart, to get a correct astrological description of your­self.

Striving for Balance

If your sun sign is Libra, you're a person of principles, striving for balance and order. You prefer agreements to commands, but you do insist on what you're convinced is the right way. You're even prepared to fight for it.

     Sometimes you find it hard to make up your mind and decide between opposite alternatives. In other cases you move surely and swiftly from A to B to C. Others wonder why you can be so inconsistent, but it all has to do with how important things are to your ethical principles.

     You believe strongly in reason, and in solutions reached by discussions, sort of like the Plato idea of dialectics. You don't believe that anything defies logic, which is something you understand well and use constantly. For the same reason you enjoy mathematics: the results are absolute, not questionable. That's how you want life and the whole world to be.

     Libra is the sign of matrimony and other partnerships, so you tend not to feel complete if you don't have a significant other with whom you share life and strife. You can compromise a lot to keep the relation, but never with your fundamental prin­ciples.

Three Different Libra

A Zodiac sign doesn't give exactly the same influ­ence all through its 30°. Its first third has something of a cardinal quality, whatever the quality of the sign as a whole is, its second third is slightly more fixed in quality, and the last third is more mutable.

     If you were born at the end of September, the sun is in the beginning of Libra. That means you're quite quick in judgement, and trust your conclusions comple­tely. You insist on your way being the best one for all, with little patience for arguments to the contrary. Since this is the cardinal part of the sign and Libra has the cardinal quality, people with their sun here are the most typical Libra, showing its traits clearly and firmly.

     If you were born in the beginning of October, the sun is in the middle of Libra. Then you're stubborn with your views and difficult to persuade into anything at all. You have a set of values and morals that you treasure and stay loyal to.

     If you were born in the middle of October, the sun is at the end of Libra. In that case you're constantly searching for principles that you can trust, and moral values to live your life by - but it's difficult, since you easily see the flaws of arguments and the limits of ethics you examine. And you frequently swing between opposing standpoints.

Traits of Your Father

The sun in the horoscope also represents your father (the mother is represented by the moon). That means your Zodiac sign traits reveal something about the characteristics of your relationship with your father.

     If you have the sun in Libra, your relation to your father is balanced and ordered, sometimes almost in a formal or ritual way. You deal with each other as if you were diplomats from different countries. You have high expectations on each other, particularly in being con­sistent and true to one's words. When you feel that your father has treated you unjustly, you insist that he should realize it - even if you have to sharpen your tone of voice and persist for long. Your father, too, can be quite persistent, so disagreements may last for long.

Traits of the Planets in Libra

When another planet or other point of the horo­scope is in Libra, it's also affected by the Zodiac sign, get­ting some of its traits. Here are those astrological points, what they stand for in the horoscope, and how they are affected by Libra:


Sun   basic drive - Libra brings a logical mind sticking to principles.

Moon   longing - Libra brings a need to do the right thing, and frustration in the face of injustice.

Mercury   curiosity - Libra brings precise and logical thinking, as well as a clear language.

Venus   affection - Libra brings loyalty in any part­nership, and a talent for joining with others.

Mars   aggression - Libra brings decisiveness and the strength to fight for one's conviciton.

Jupiter   luck - Libra brings balance to life and the ability to move forward, step by step.

Saturn   duty - Libra brings a very firm and usually conservative moral, and unwillingness to tolerate any deviation from it.

Uranus   contemplation - Libra brings a profound capacity for logical thinking, and readiness to revise one's ethics.

Neptune   fantasy - Libra brings a fantasy that deals with the abstract, and dreams that focus on good and bad.

Pluto   catharsis - Libra brings radical changes on theoretical levels, and renewed ethics.

Ascendant, AC   attitude - Libra brings a diplomatic appearance, keen on not being misunderstood.

Medium Coeli, MC   self-image - Libra brings a sense of having high moral standards, and a sharp intellect.

Traits of the Houses in Libra

In the astrological Houses, the Zodiac signs also bring their character traits, influencing the environments de­scribed by the Houses. Here are the twelve Houses of the horoscope, what they stand for, and how Libra affects them:

1. Identity - Libra makes you seem trustworthy and reasonable.
2. Resources - Libra makes your material situation well balanced.
3. Communication - Libra makes you loyal to your friends, and exemplary in school.
4. Home - Libra makes your home in good order and your family in agreement.
5. Pastime - Libra makes you prefer intellectual pastimes in calm surroundings.
6. Work - Libra makes you work with decision-making and organizing.
7. Partners - Libra makes you very loyal to your partners, and they trust you completely.
8. Unknown - Libra makes you contemplate the beyond and other life mysteries, and you try to come to terms with them.
9. Travel - Libra makes you plan any change in life, unwilling to take any steps without weighing pro and contra.
10. Career - Libra makes you respectet in your social settings, where you usually have signifi­cant influence.
11. Ideals - Libra makes you committed to your ideals, which give room for discussion but not for compromise.
12. Shortcomings - Libra makes it hard for you to find a lasting balance and order in life, and it's not always possible for you to choose according to your conscience.

Generalizations

Of course, all of the above is very general, mainly to give you an idea of how the Zodiac sign traits affect the horoscope. You need to study your horoscope chart carefully, to make a deeper and more nuanced inter­pretation.

Libra, illustration from a 1482 edition of a book by Hyginus.
© Stefan Stenudd