|
The
Sign Libra: Scales, Swords and Justice in Mythology
 On
September 22, the Sun began its month-long trek through Libra (the scales
of justice), which is assigned to the justice card of the tarot.
Libra also refers to the Greek word for yoke, of the type used to harness
oxen and horses. The astrological glyph for Libra resembles both a balance
and a yoke. Criminals are yoked by the balanced application of the law,
and spouses are bound or yoked together by matrimony. Mythological images
of scales, yokes and swords (another symbol of justice and a suit of the
tarot) have early roots in Western myth and culture.
Greek
Goddesses of Justice: Themis and Dike
The ancient
Greeks spoke of two goddesses of justice, Themis and her daughter Dike
(Astraea). Themis, the goddess of divine justice, was one of the Titans,
a nature deity born of the union of the sky god Uranus and his mother/wife,
the earth goddess Ge. Themis was an advisor to
Zeus (Jupiter) after he purged the old pantheon. Classical images from
Greece portray Themis holding the scales of justice in one hand and a
sword in the other. Her eyes are covered, suggesting reliance on an abstract
concept of fairness in making her decisions.
The goddess
Themis mated with Zeus (Jupiter) to produce a daughter named Dike, who
became the goddess of justice for the political and social affairs of
the mundane world. Like Themis, Dike was depicted with a sword, but she
did not carry the scales of divine justice. According to tradition, Dike
was also called Astraea (the starry maiden) and was depicted as a virgin
crowned with ears of grain and carrying a balance to weigh her grain.
Dike
as the Virgin in Virgo
The poet
Hessiod describes Dike as the virgin Justice, daughter of Zeus who sits
beside her father and tells him what wickedness lies in the hearts of
men. The virgin of the zodiacal sign Virgo, which precedes Libra, is none
other than the pure and innocent Dike, goddess of mortal justice. Dike’s
constellation Virgo in ancient times came just before Scorpio in the heavens.
Demeter, the goddess of fertility and corn, whose daughter was abducted
by Hades (Pluto), was the protector of Dike/Astraea, the virgin goddess
of justice and grain.
The
Horae: Dike and Her Sisters
Dike was
one of the Horae, the plural of the Greek word for “hour” and origin of
the word horoscope, which means “the marker of the hour.” The Greeks worshipped
the Horae goddesses as the hours of the seasons of the year. The Horae
were wardens of the skies and guardians of the gates of heaven. They also
cared for, yoked and unyoked the horses that drew the chariots of the
gods. It was the Horae who welcomed, tended to and adorned Venus/Aphrodite
at her birth.
The
Venus/Libra Connection
 Venus
is the planet that astrologers have assigned to rule Libra, the sign of
the balance or the scales of justice. The empress, symbolizing female
fecundity and fertility, is the tarot card associated with the planet
Venus.
Libra was
a late addition to the zodiac, carved out of the space between Virgo and
modern Scorpio in the heavens. Originally, the region occupied by Libra
was viewed as the claws of the scorpion. In the first century B.C., the
portion of the zodiac earlier ascribed to the scorpion’s claws was given
to the yoke of Libra or the scales of justice.
The sign
Libra belongs to the element air, one of the four elements described by
the Greek philosopher Empedocles. The tarot’s airy suit of swords depicts
scenes having to do with balanced decision-making and dealing with the
strife and conflict of everyday life.
Questions
Posed by the Justice Card
When the
Justice card appears in a tarot reading, we ask whether we have been acting
in a fair and just manner. Have we been blinded by our emotions and petty
jealousies in making decisions that will affect the moral balance of our
lives? Are we honoring our commitments? Do we need to make amends for
past injustices?
Tarot
Meditations while the Sun is in Libra
This is an
excellent time to meditate on the tarot’s justice and empress cards, as
well as the suit of swords of the minor arcana. Study their images, look
for their interconnections, and reflect on how they relate to your inner
and outer life at the end of the summer.
Further
Reading
If you are
interested in the connections between tarot and astrology, here are some
books you may find useful.
The
Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot by Rachel Pollack, Element
Books.
Llewellyn’s
2000 and 2001 Tarot Calendars by Llewellyn Publications.
Seventy-Eight
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anthony Louis is the author of Horary Astrology Plain and Simple and of Tarot Plain and Simple (Llewellyn Publications) and has also authored computer reports on secondary progressions and vocational astrology for Halloran Software. He has lectured internationally and has been published widely in astrological literature. He is a member of the Astrological Society of Connecticut and maintains the website of that organization at http://www.geocities.com/asc_astrology/.
Visit the author's website.
Send an email to the author.
For more information about Anthony Louis, click here.
Other StarIQ articles by Anthony Louis:
|
|
