Libra is considered a masculine, outgoing energy; it is a cardinal air sign, meaning Libra wants to see its ideas take form and make a difference. Venus is Libra's ruler, and as the Greek Aphrodite, this seemingly feminine energy combines feminine and masculine in a wholeness that is greater than the sum of her parts. Aphrodite, goddess of Love and Sexuality and Beauty, is intrinsically Whole, for she is born from her father Uranus' phallus and her mother, the Ocean. It is the intrinsically feminine belief that we are all one, that we need to care for our communities, which activates Libra's insistence on fairness and justice. It is the wisdom of Love which lets us see the Truth. Love belongs to all of us, and is the one Truth that makes us whole.
So the archetypal energy of Libra is balanced, and we are called upon to balance the masculine and feminine energies within ourselves when we offer our intrinsic worth to the world. In partnerships, if we are not whole in ourselves, we tend to look to the Other for completion. And that's where things begin to go wrong. A partnership of equals means that each person is whole. When we haven't completed the Virgo mission of knowing ourselves, we project our missing parts and needs onto our partners. And as we all know, no one can save us except ourselves. Those of you born during the years Pluto was in Libra (1971 to 1984) are here to learn this lesson about relationships. And with Saturn going through Libra in the next few years, you'll get to see how well you've learned it.
That's where this full Moon can help us. The Moon in Aries encourages us to have the courage to be ourselves, to trust our own intuitions and be bold enough to try something new, to figure out what we need in a situation. Aries' inherent self-interest or selfishness is offset by the Sun in Libra, which teaches us how to balance Self and Other. The peace and harmony that Libra loves isn't achieved by denying your real needs, but by negotiating a real balance of needs between partners. Aries can show us new ways of getting what we want, while Libra keeps us on track with diplomacy and fairness.
For this Full Moon, Saturn, Mercury and Venus (Libra's ruler) are all in Virgo. We are still trying to figure out who we really are and how we can be of service to the world. Mercury turns to direct motion on September 29, a few days before the full Moon. The messenger god now has to integrate what he's learned during the past three weeks, and we won't have the message clear until Mercury returns to where it began its journey on October 14.