The keyword for the disciple in Libra is I choose the way which leads between the two great lines of force. With these words we immediately see that choice is the central issue in Libra, whose symbol is that of the scales, representing balance and equilibrium. The way that leads between the two great lines of force is the narrow, razor-edged Path or the Middle Way of the Buddha, the Light Bearer, Who taught that the solution to human misery lay in His Four Noble Truths. These are: 1) cease to identify with material things or with one�s desires; 2) gain a proper sense of values; 3) cease regarding possessions and earthly existence as of major importance; and 4) follow the Noble Eightfold Path.

All of these steps require an understanding of what is involved in treading the way between the opposites, in right balance, drawing from both but identifying with neither. This necessitates finding our point of equilibrium, which is at the fulcrum of the scales, the point at the center. But this is not a static equilibrium since in that case there could be no forward movement, but only crystallization. The statement is made in Esoteric Astrology that �the Light in Libra moves to rest.� Yet since the Light never stops moving, it never rests; the equilibrium achieved is only temporary. Torkom Saraydarian in The Symphony of the Zodiac says, �Equilibrium is not a goal but a means to perpetuate the motion toward the goal�. True equilibrium is an ever progressing, ever changing state of the vehicles seeking to harmonize with the ever progressing, ever changing speed and altitude of the [divine] Spark.� (p. 208)

The Libra native is constantly weighing and measuring against a set of standards, values, and eventually a vision of the possible. It is in Libra that the first hint of the vision of the Path � the narrow, razor-edged Path � is glimpsed, and a value system is slowly developed in relation to that glimpsed vision and of one�s place in it. It is in this glimpsed, lighted vision that choices are made. Libran energy can be used consciously by seeing one of the pans of the scale as holding the measures of weights and the other as holding those values, thoughts and actions that are to be standardized or measured.

In the early stages of Libra there is a wild swinging between the pairs of opposites. But through experience and experiment the Libra native gains a sense of proportion, discrimination and judgment, that judgment that is required in connection with justice, which is ruled by this sign. The sum total of the aspirant�s past experiences produces a synthesis, and the aspirant now experiences the seesaw effect between the Higher Self and the sensed vision on the one side and the old ways of the personality on the other.

The solution to these challenges must be found on a higher plane than that on which they originated. As per Roberto Assagioli in Astrological Keys: �The fundamental polarity between the human personality as a whole and the Transpersonal Self can � be resolved into a unity. This is the aim of a long process of transmutation involving a protracted series of conflicts, approaches, and contacts, each producing a partial fusion�. Conscious living can be thought of as a constant polarization and tension between two functions and continuous efforts to establish equilibrium.� In time the wild fluctuations become a gentle oscillation and �no strident note is heard, no violent coloring of the life affects and no upsetting of the chariot of the Soul,� as it is stated in The Old Commentary. (Esoteric Astrology, p. 250)

Libra is often mentioned as representing an interlude analogous to the stage of meditation called contemplation, in which the life of the Soul and of the form is balanced and neither is dominant. In Libra there is no point of crisis, but rather an interlude of balance as a �prelude to a more effective and sensitive progress upon the Path.� (Ibid., p. 248) �In this transition period through which the world is now passing, and in this interlude between two activities � that of the Piscean Age that is passing and of Aquarius that is coming in � Libra will eventually rule, and the end of [the Twentieth] Century will see the influence of Libra steadily coming into pronounced control and in a position of power.� (Ibid., p. 238) In Aries, which is the polar opposite to Libra, there is also an interlude, rather than a point of crisis. �Before creation, silence and the stillness of a focused point.� (Ibid., p. 248)

There are a number of energies that are uniquely available during any full moon period, and in Libra we have some of the most useful and powerful. The Fifth Ray, which is channeled through Venus, the orthodox ruler of Libra, is the Ray of the Concrete Mind, which can help us to find our way through the sometimes confusing poles of opposites. The Seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order, which is growing in power, is channeled through Uranus, the esoteric ruler. This ray brings spirit and matter into relationship and is related to the building forces, to rhythmic orderliness, so that we have the opportunity to make progress in right balance. The Hierarchical ruler of Libra, Saturn, channels the Third Ray of Active Intelligence, which demonstrates discrimination in mental activity and is the ray of the human family and of our planetary Logos. It is concerned with form, with the physical body and with evolution. It also synthesizes Rays Four through Seven. In Esoteric Astrology, p. 19, DK states that Saturn �is the planet which conditions primarily the point in evolution where choice definitely becomes possible [and where] the shouldering of personal responsibility becomes a recognized fact in a planned and ordered life.�

Libra and Gemini are the two strictly human signs. They stress human achievement of balance before the other attainments become possible. �Gemini upon the Mutable Cross stands for man�s humanity, while Libra on the Cardinal Cross rules man�s subjective and spiritual life.� The remaining signs carry humanity beyond the stage of ordinary evolution.

Libra is also closely connected with the third aspect of the Godhead and is a �major conditioning factor where Law, Sex and Money are concerned.� (Esoteric Astrology, p. 243) The third aspect of divinity is the creator aspect and the entity that produces the outer tangible form. Master DK says, �Uranus is the esoteric ruler and is of supreme importance in this sign, for the Seventh Ray works through this planet and it is the embodiment of the principle of concretion and of the materialization of that which is in need of manifestation through the bringing together of spirit and matter.� (Ibid., p. 246)

This need for the materialization of the Plan calls to mind the necessity of both spirit and matter and of the equal importance of the two. We too often put down the material world. The 1990 Quadrant magazine addressed this point in an issue entitled �Physis Unveiled.� In it is recounted the myth of Nous and Physis, apparently a favorite of Carl Jung. In this story, Nous, the creative spirit of the cosmos, becomes infatuated with Physis, matter, and is �enticed into her sweet embrace and chained by the bonds of love.� For Jung and others the work of redeeming the spiritual and of reversing the trend toward the glorification of scientific understanding and of matter was groundbreaking. Heroic measures were needed to liberate the psyche or spirit from its secondary status. But according to Quadrant, �the gradual redemption of Nous has led to a new level of consciousness that demands the redemption of Physis as well. Physis must be freed from the negative projections of spirit, which defines her as dangerous, seductive, entrapping and devouring. The world around us is not a prison, but an essential and equal companion in the journey toward individuation.� Jung himself occasionally recognized this, according to Quadrant. �His focus shifted from the negativity and constriction of matter to the complementarity [that exists] between physis and spirit, so that each reflects the other.�

In The Labours of Hercules by Alice A. Bailey we read, �peculiar beauty emerges when considering the keynotes of Libra and Aries [polar opposites] as given by Dane Rudhyar in Gifts of the Spirit. The note for Libra is �ease,� but it is far from the ease of luxurious comfort; it is an expression of totally accepted relatedness, to an object, a situation, or a person.� The little word �ease� is rich with great depths of meaning. It is not only freedom from agitation, constraint, tension, or fear. It is not even merely a form of tranquility or comfort, or facility in performing this or that action. It is all these things, but far more important still it is a sense of being lived by a greater life which embraces and contains all the components or a relationship of which one is a part.

�Just as in the case of the individual experience in Libra of the balanced life wherein experiment is made and the consequent tipping of the Scales in one direction or another until either desire or spiritual aspiration weighs the balances down sufficiently so as to indicate the way that the [person] must go at the time, there is the experience of humanity in Libra in which the same adjustments and experiments are being made, but this time the entire race of men is involved and not just the individual. This group experience, carried out upon the mental plane, will only happen when all men are polarized mentally.�