By Len Wallick
Venus enters Libra overnight Wednesday, about 11:40 pm EDT. The ingress takes place two weeks before the brightest planet returns to visibility and marks two months since it disappeared behind the solar glare. The number two is resonant with both Libra and Venus. That is true of our lives as well. Whether duality and polarity are intrinsic to earthly existence or just a framework we make and believe in, the archetype of Venus in the costume of Libra will literally and figuratively illuminate the other side of our recent experience by corresponding the second week of July to the last two weeks of September.
Libra is symbolized by a set of balance-beam scales. In antiquity, the scales were an everyday tool used to measure two equal portions of mass. Symbolically, the common tool has long represented the uncommon ideals of equal justice. When the Sun enters Libra later this month, day and night will be of equal length at the equinox, a change of season. The place and time of that change is what defines Libra as a cardinal sign. It is also one of two signs (along with Taurus) ruled by Venus.
In the words of Robert Hand, “Venus is a Yin planet.” As such it represents the receptive side of a polarity, attracting the other, active side known as Yang. If there is a continuous and equal exchange between the Yin and Yang there will be balance. A place of balance between active and receptive polarities initiates a new cycle of its own. Libra is just such a place.