“ I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs,
A Palace and a Prison on each hand.”
By Lord Byron

Continuing on with our Astromythology and Astrobiochemistry you are probably wondering why I called this sign the Bridge of Sighs. Well it is an important bridge between Virgo and Scorpio. We are now traveling from the loner to the desirer. In Libra we have the balance or FULCRUM between the two. Libra’s Astrological symbol is the scales of justice. In the Tarot it is called Adjustment. Remember we are dealing with esoteric astrology

The sign of Libra is the adjudicator, adjustor, balancer and pacifier of warring opposites. Ruled by Venus we quickly recognize the beauty, loving action, art and civility of this sign. During the last six signs from Aries to Virgo we have been dealing with personal processes of evolution and now we cross the important Fall equinox and begin spiritual involution. On the other hand we begin to recognize that there are other humans around us and we want to reach out for interaction and communion. We want to be more about others, rather than self, but the spiritual demands are still there. It is now a case of - RENDER UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESARS’ AND RENDER UNTO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GODS.

Our ability to reach or interact with another depends on our manners, appearance and verbal skills. This is the sign of public appearance. By now the Venusian verbal skills and manners are quite developed. How else are we to attract a mate, partner or even some attention from anyone, unless we understand this power? The biggest test of balance here is of moral equilibrium. How can one show beauty, manners and love outwardly without losing sight of the spiritual purity we gained in Virgo. The next natural step for the earthly romantic soul is to marry and go on that Honeymoon I mentioned last month.

Beauty, music, arts, color and diplomacy are the rewards of knowing how to use our Venusian energy. Attractiveness is now quite important. Words, poetry, music and song have been used to convey our appreciation for another human and if attention is unwanted, we had to learn how to verbally distance ourselves without causing harm or offending. A tricky and delicate flirtatious lesson is to be learned. How can we attract without being robbed and how do we judge the worthiness of the object of our desire? We are weighing and balancing all the time: Balance and harmony. Spirit and matter must be equal. Spirit is the finest of matter; matter is the coarsest Spirit. The stars in the constellation of Libra were named JUGUM, the yoke. It means to bind together or connect and we find in this sign marriage contracts, legal partnerships and agreements.

We learned in Taurus, the other Venusian ruled sign, that Venus had a son Cupid, sometimes called Eros. Actually Eros is more positive that Cupid as Cupid leads us into trouble. The desire nature of Cupid leads us into jealously, covertness and carnality. Cupidity comes from the same root and means greed. Libra is not the sign of love, that is Leo’s realm, the heart. It is an expression of hormonal attractiveness to bring to us what is desired! This can be cosmic idealistic love. When we include the opposite sign of Aries and its Mars ruler, we then add passion to the mix.

If you are wondering why the interpretation is negative sometimes, it is because the Sun (love) is in its fall in Libra. Venus was also termed “Lucifer” by the ancients and means literally Light Bringer! The morning Venus star heralds the beginning of the light of day. Love may develop from attraction and appreciation of another, but it is not generally Love itself, until the heart is involved. The temptation is to fall in love with love or the facade. It is nature’s trick so that we perpetuate the human race. However it still feels good!!!! Librans have been accused of looking at the world through rose colored glasses. It is true that Librans can be swept up in what glitters and appeals. Among my peers we used to say - “If Librans aren’t on something, they should be!” They also have this funny habit of being accident prone too! Just remember if someone is handing you a lot of sugar, just check to see if there is something substantial behind it, and not just a lot of words with no intent to action.

My dear old Mother used to say “Perfume is to be smelt and not swallowed!” when I started dating. She meant the compliments and flattery that were to come my way, were to be evaluated in a balanced way.

Physiologically Libra rules the kidneys, and the 75 miles of tubes along with the adrenal glands and co-rules the bladder with Scorpio. The kidneys are the last vital organs and the first half of the physical body. The old name for kidneys is “reins” and is derived from the Latin retinere and means to hold back. The Greek word for kidneys was Nephros - to shake or spread as rain. (To distill into the bladder) It also means bridle with which we rein in a horse. The passions have to be held in check as you weigh and balance the circumstances of your contracts. Libra is an air sign and so it is basically mental. It is also allocated to the 16th and 17th discs in the middle of the 33 spinal bones. The balance between upper and lower.

The cell salt allocated to Libra is Natrium phos or sodium phosphate. It is a balancing salt as it neutralizes acid. Its function is to change acid to alkali! So Librans must learn to balance acid/alkali in their systems. The root of Natrium is ‘natron’ (Egyptian) then ‘niteo’ which means bright shining glittering and splendid. It can easily be seen why it was applied to Libra.

Alkaline (cool and soothing) is GOD and Acid (burning heat) is SATAN

Maybe now you will rethink that morning cup of acid - called coffee!

The Natrium releases the water from the tissues to be collected and filtered through the kidneys for elimination. It is excellent as an antacid. The ideal body vessel is always alkaline.

Other symptoms of lack of this salt are; headache, poor vision and eye secretion; intense heat, acidic stomach, hot and burning sensations, morning nausea, biliousness and diarrhea, itching and flea like bites, sour stomach, canker sores, tonsils and throat inflammations, insufficient urination, seminal weakness or emissions, any burning secretions and sometimes palpitations and irregular heart action, Rheumatic disorders (acid) gout, worms, kidney and bladder problems, eczema, gallstones, sour breath, hives, and restless sleep.

Lack in the digestive juices causes ferments to rise causing gastric ulcerations, dyspepsia and sour mouth. Natrium Phos prevents crystallization of bile. It keeps the blood minerals soluble to prevent stones. Acids can mentally make one feel insane. It can cause a swollen brain, burning ears and heart palpitations. The excess acid causes a prickly, cutting, sensation - Cupid’s darts. If this continues into the next sign of Scorpio, we get the Scorpionic sting! None of this sounds like the beautiful Venus. It seems that the ancients were telling us Lucifer comes dressed in a beautiful disguise so beware of your excesses!

THE AMAZING COPPER CONNECTION: Copper is the metal for Venus and I thought it important enough to include it here in this posting. The symbol for Copper and Venus is the same.

In the old days there was a healing technique that used the Poudre de Sympathie (powder of sympathy) it was the use of copper vitriol and had a cooling and soothing effect. It is actually copper sulphate and is made by heating copper or copper oxide together with sulphur. It is now used as a preservative commercially.

The premise of the practitioners was that every part of the living body, even if it has been removed, remains linked by an ethereal field of vibration. Anything that registers in the body also registers in the removed part and vice versa. The physicians would take a piece of nail paring, hair, sweat, saliva or blood, place it in a bowl of water to which a handful of copper vitriol was dissolved. This immediately had a cooling effect on the body, even at a great distance. It is said that the ill person immediately felt relieved as the body healed itself. Homeopathically it is called Cuprum D12.

Copper- Venus’s esoteric metal - calms agitated spirits, smoothes over disagreements, reconciles warring parties and makes peace, sometimes at the cost of TRUTH. It makes one benevolent and peaceful. It is a conductor of heat, so we have copper bottomed pans. We wear copper bracelets for its effect on rheumatism and it is highly disinfectant. Some practitioners feel that Schizophrenia, M.S. and T.B. occur in copper deficient individuals. Copper is in abundance in female sexual organs. It appears to have power over any areas where we make contact - our eyes, our communication and touch. Venus ruled people have very beautiful eyes.w

The Goddess Venus was depicted with her copper-red hair. The tabby cat originated from the island of Cyprus where copper was mined. The bird kingdom uses this mineral to color their feathers with the blue green and coppery colors. Turquoise, Malachite and verdigris are results of copper in their make up. The contact that copper assists us in making, is with the Great Spirit of THE ALL THAT IS and transmits hidden forces of loving contact and effects linking all over the world for peace and harmony.

The color assigned to Libra is Orange principally. However the sign has an array of colors as in the Opal stone, the feathers of birds and flowers. The energy of Orange makes for expressive talk. Orange people are gullible, frivolous and flirty, uncertain of their own opinions. They hate arguments and have a strong desire nature. As the energy moves to Scorpio the color becomes orange/red

Lack of orange shows many unloved people or those untouched. They get swollen stomachs as the lymph glands are not activated for expression. Orange can cause drunks to stop drinking and throw up! Orange on liver reduces insulin intake of diabetics. Orange also relieves gas and is good for hiccups. It relieves a spastic and sluggish colon. It gets all systems going.

Orange people are fine listeners and make good diplomats. They love a good time, but want an outcome, like money, job or new relationship or contract. Orange activates the thyroid for the Venus expression. It activates the mammilla glands to produce milk. It aids in the natural discharges of the body.

Affectionate and cheerful, good natured, likeable and social, they make friends easily as they are good at small talk. They profoundly care for people but are not grandly passionate. They prefer wholesome friendliness and companionship. As a politician they mix well with people. They don’t like to be serious or overly disciplined. They are expansive and successful and have many interests and activities.

Orange is sexual and abundant and rules the fruits of Venus - lusciousness!

Edgar Cayce stated that it is through the ovaries and testes that the soul expresses itself - the libido - in a creative nature. The hormones start the attraction and the sex communion climaxes in Scorpio

Love warms but doesn’t engender passion till the next sign!

In closing I want you to go back and read Taurus to understand the Spirit energy that runs through the center of the scales of Venus. The pans on the scales come from the God Pan - an earth spirit, indicating that both pans represent two sides of our animal natures: One heavenly and one earthly. It is the FULCRUM in the center that is important as we blend both sides of our natures together creating a heavenly invisible ethereal field of vibration It is not about you or me but the thing that is between us that is magical and promises an evolution and JUSTICE!

The center way was about Justice for all and I have to finish with some examples of the Golden Rule.

Persian.............................. “Do as you would be done by”
Grecian............................. “Do not that to a neighbor which you would take ill from him”
Chinese............................. “What you would not wish done to yourself, do not unto others.”
Roman............................... “The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves"
Christian.......................... “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.

Next month we unravel Fire and Ice and the intensity and riches to be gained.