Libra zodiac signs characteristics

Libra, The Balance, September 23nd - October 22nd

This is the Middle Sign of the Air Triune and corresponds to the hips of the Grand Man.

Its colors are crimson, black, and light blue. Its birth stones are opals and diamonds. Its profession is law, oratory, military commander, commercial organizer, and often a director of religious organizations.

Its chief characteristics are ambition, perception, pride, conservatism, inspiration and respect for the laws. Its tribe is Reuben, meaning, vision seer, perception and foresight. The ruling planets are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Neptune.

Libra people are almost invariably fine looking, unless given over to evil habits. They possess unusually good figures, tall and slender in youth with small hands and feet, and inclining toward stoutness as they grow older. Their foreheads are broad, their voices ringing, enunciation quick, and their eyes expressive.

They should guard against worry and impatience which tends toward nervous break-downs and a peculiar intestinal indigestion common to them. These are the people who go by their first impressions, which are nine times out of ten correct, owing to their wonderful powers of foresight. But they should bear in mind that the tenth time they are not, and this should keep them from stubborn prejudice and intolerance of others' opinions. It is this characteristic foresight which makes speculators of them, and often with great success, only there is always the chance of the tenth time ruining all the other nine successes.

Libra is a masculine sign and the men are hopeful, energetic, rashly impetuous and reckless of consequences, sometimes very inconstant, mercenary and passionate or just the opposite, generous, noble and deeply religious, but always, whether practiced or not, possessing a wonderful perception of justice, typified by the Balance or Scales of their sign. The women are quite different, being retiring, gentle and anxious, though still energetic and capable with a great distaste for money matters.

They have the clear seeing justice of the men, but both men and women, acting as they always do on first impressions, often form a stubborn prejudice which covers their sense of justice entirely.

The women are kind and merciful and hate cruelty or unnecessary bloodshed of any kind. Their powers of intuition are even stronger than those the men possess, causing them to feel the mental conditions of those around them so keenly as to be a positive discomfort in cases of inharmonious surroundings and companionship.

Libra people are more capable of real rulership than either of the other two Middle Signs, though they all have a great desire to lead, whereas a natural leader thinks very little or not at all of leading, but being a natural originator, which none of the conservative Middle Signs are, unconsciously lead where others are glad to follow.

The perception and judgment of an intelligent Libra person, lit him for leadership except in the case of a reckless speculator where he would unhesitatingly walk into ruin himself and with his usual energy walk out again, perhaps leaving some of his less elastic friends behind him.

Both the men and women are possessed of a peculiar stubborn setness of purpose, which the opinions of others have no power to move and which only changes by their own choice, and never yields to outside forces. In a highly endowed nature, this attribute is a tower of strength to the weaker natures surrounding it. For this reason they find it hard to obey those in authority over them, preferring to work for themselves, unhindered by any supervision.

It would be a hard thing to cheat a Libra person who was engaged in buying and selling horses and cattle. They seem to have an unerring intuition as to what is wrong with the animal. They have the same instinct in buying and selling merchandise, seeming to know what will sell and what will not. They are fine natural mechanics and mathematicians, and many good actors and public speakers are found among them. They are born mimics, all of them with a keen sense of humor which helps them over many rough places in life.

Being naturally religious, their keen insight causes them much anxiety over the conflicting points of different sects.

Like Leo they have an ideal world of their own, of love, harmony and honesty, and failing to find it in daily life they either suffer from the blues, or plunge into excitement, dissipation or even vice—not so much for the love of evil, as is the case with some natures, but in the pursuit of some new and untried excitement.

The great danger of these people is their excessive activity, which tends to wearing them out mentally and physically and when so exhausted leaving them a victim to fits of melancholy and anxiety.

When in this condition, they should have rest, wholesome food and above all harmonious, sympathetic and cheery surroundings.

These people make the most devoted friends and parents, and seem always to feel it their bounden duty to help everybody who asks.

They are usually strong, earnest workers, but too many of them are impatient and subject to fits of uncontrolled passion.

When Libra people learn to control themselves, there is nothing else in the world which is too hard for them to master.

But they hate criticism, which only seems to hurt their feelings and do no good, while the approbation of others is as the breath of life to them.

They are inclined to be more careless of their belongings and in dress than their neighbors, and habits of neatness and orderliness should be early inculcated in their childish minds.

Reserved, self-con trolled Libra persons are seldom angry, but when they are, their denunciation is most comprehensive and the result generally decisive.

They stand in positive need of a place where they can go for perfect quiet and peace, and where they can act on their own intuitions, and not be over-persuaded by some other mind, against their own better judgment.

When Libra people marry they should take great care to choose a person who will help them to rise always to greater heights.

A marriage with a Sagittarius is sympathetic.

One with Aquarius would be very harmonious.

Perhaps the happiest would be a union with Aries, if both would conquer their quick temper.

Gemini would make a good match with them, and sometimes Leo.

In fact Libra people have a large choice, compared with some signs, but in spite of it they are very prone to make themselves unhappy by marrying Pisces people—the worst sort of a combination, as Pisces always wants a reason for everything and has one itself to give—and Libra acts entirely by intuition and has no reasons for anything.

Another bad match is with an unregenerate Virgo person whose nature is to criticize everything so sharply that Libra's easily-hurt feelings would be in a constant state of laceration.

The two most fortunate weeks in the year for Libra people are those beginning April 13th and December 6th.

"Astrology", by M. M. Macgregor (1905)