LIBRA: THE SCALES.
SEPTEMBER 23d to OCTOBER 23d. CUSP: RUNS SEPTEMBER 23d to 29th.
The constellation Libra—the seventh sign of the zodiac, and the middle one of the Air Triplicity—is a cardinal, sanguine, diurnal, airy, masculine sign, governing the loins. The higher attributes are inspiration and perception.
A person born during the cusp, when the sun is on the edge of the sign, does not receive the full benefits of the individuality of either Virgo or Libra, but partakes of the characteristics of both.
There is a greater variety of disposition among the Libra people than among those of any other sign. They are energetic, ambitious, and inspired. The inner nature is receptive, intuitional, sensitive, and poetical. They always finish things in a careful, competent, and conclusive manner. They keenly feel and can closely imitate the acts and sentiments of others, and can thus readily learn from example.
Their strong emotions and great imitative ability make them well adapted for the dramatic profession. When angry, they leave nothing unsaid. Their nature responds to all forms of ideality. As students, they are fond of philosophical and ethical and especially of mystical literature, Many good linguists are found in this sign.
The Libra people have remarkable foresight, and in the decision of most matters they are correctly guided by their intuitive faculty. This is especially so in the buying or selling of commodities, in which they can rarely be defrauded.
When overtaken by disaster they recover quickly and go to work again with redoubled vigor. The Libra women are kind, constant, and merciful.
The other type of Libra people is to be found more among the men, who are cunning in their business dealings and inconstant in their affections.
In physical appearance Libra subjects are usually tall, slender, and well-formed, with oval face, or languid expression of countenance, and beautiful eyes. The physical temperament will be sanguine-bilious in Southern latitudes, and nervous-bilious in Northern climates.
Their most congenial friends will be found among the Fire people (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius); next, with those born under their own sign, and, third, with those born under Aquarius.
Libra people take things from a material and literal standpoint; and though their intuitive nature will often show them the true side of the question, they prefer to accept the conclusions of human logic.
Impatience is one of their chief faults. They are prodigal of their strength and talents, and scatter their forces in all directions. They suffer through anger and jealousy.
When a Libra and a Sagittarius person are united, the children will be very talented. Children of Libra and Aquarius will be stronger physically, and will possess a keen intellect. These children are quick to perceive the truth in anything, and will make determined efforts to improve. They have a natural genius for invention, having a marked mechanical ability over all the other signs. They should be permitted to have their own way when not entirely wrong. To circumscribe a Libra child is to destroy its genius.
The governing planet is Venus, and the gems are the diamond and the opal. The astral colors are black, crimson, and light blue. The flower is the violet.
August and December are the most favorable months, and Wednesday is the lucky day in this sign.
October, the eighth month of the old Roman year, originally began in spring. By the Julian arrangement it became the tenth month, and had thirty-one days assigned to it. By the Slavs this is called “yellow month” from the fading of the leaf; to the Anglo-Saxons it was known as the Wyn-Monat (wine month), because it was the month in which they pressed grapes, also as Winter-fylleth, because at this full moon (fylleth) winter was supposed to begin. It corresponds partly with the Vendémiaire and partly to the Brumaire of the first French Republic.
In some of the very old Saxon calendars October is characterized by the figure of a husbandman carrying a sack on his shoulders and sowing of corn. In others, less ancient, hawking is the emblem of the month; and yet in more modern times it has been represented as a man clothed in a garment of the color of decaying leaves, with a coronal of oak-branches and acorns on his head, holding in his left hand a basket of chestnuts, medlars, etc., and in his right, Scorpio—i.e., the sign of the zodiac which the sun enters on the twenty-third of October.
The principal ecclesiastical feasts are those of St. Luke, on the 18th; and St. Simon and St. Jude, on the 28th.
The late Senator Mark A. Hanna and Mrs. Annie Besant were born under this sign. Bernhardt, Modjeska, and Peg Woffington are excellent illustrations of the dramatic genius of the Libra people.