Libra and the Curse of Normal

Hello! You're probably here because you have a Libra replacement. Maybe you're a Libra rising. Maybe you're dating a Libra moon. Maybe your Ascendant ruler is a planet placed in Libra. Maybe you were raised by two Liba Sun parents. I don't know! But what we're talking about today is the absolute chokehold that the idea of normal has on people with prominent Libra replacements.

Libra is the sign of the scale. It's a social sign and very concerned with what is fair what is balanced. They tend to want to advocate for what is logically and socially just. Within that frame of thinking and acting, Libras tend to do a lot of comparing. What is one person giving in a relationship versus the other? Does it make sense for one organization to have particular rights or powers in a larger social context? What are the standards for determining what is right and wrong? 

We can only come to these conclusions in part by holding up two or more things side-by-side. And so what I find with Libra placements is that when this gets taken down to the personal sphere, Libras tend to compare themselves against some other person or group of people who they deem as appropriate for considering these kinds of questions. For example, a 23-year-old young man raised in the American Midwest may not compare himself to a 57-year-old woman who works in academia and lives in a major city in Europe. But he for sure is going to be looking around at other young men raised in rural areas across the United States and wondering - is my work as fulfilling as theirs? Should I be in the same type of romantic relationships as these people are pursuing? Am I making choices based on the same motivating principles as they are? Does it mean I'm not good if the answer to those questions is no?

Maybe he's not consciously asking all of these questions all the time, but it's a running script below the surface of his thoughts, and it can create the kind of superficial "indecisiveness" Libras are stereotyped as having. 

The truth is that we never have the full picture of these other people that we deem normal, so even when we obsessed over these questions it's really a rumination on an illusion rather than a worthy pursuit. 

Libra is also a sign ruled by Venus, which means it is concerned with beauty. It's trite to even say that cultural concepts and personal concepts of beauty are plagued by the tyranny of the normal. The aesthetic presentation- of a person, a corporation, a government, a home - does not reflect all that it encompasses. Having lip filler, having a six pack, having a full grown beard, going gray, having hair in your armpits - can make you seem more or less normal than you might be comfortable with. If you've got Libra placements, you might hyperfixate on these things because you're afraid that straying too far from normal makes you unsafe. It makes you a target. It means you're taking up space in a way that is perhaps inconsiderate to others. You're not willing to stand out by not being exactly what others expect you to be, because it would seem selfish to receive that much attention. 

The Sun, the planet of visibility, self-expression, literally being seen and occupying space as an individual, is in fall in the sign of Libra. This means it is under resourced here. It's uncomfortable. That makes sense when you think about how being seen as authentic - rather than as the embodiment of an abstract ideal - can be so challenging for people with Libra placements. 

Maybe you're thinking to yourself - well, I'm a Libra and I have blue hair! I'm a Libra and I'm gender non-conforming! First of all - amazing! Secondly: you may have placements in your chart that interact with the Libra placements, or speak louder than them, in such a way that you're able to take up space with slightly less apprehension than what I've just described. But I'm sure "normal" is still a big part of your vocabulary. I imagine you're aware that you challenge people's conceptions of normal, that you can feel others or yourself weighing their expectations against reality in real time. 

There's no real balm for this except for self-knowledge and self-awareness. Every once in a while, ask yourself what you want. Not how to get it without ruffling feathers. Not how to go about your life without revealing what it is , and nurturing it in secret like a small flame. No - what do you want? What would it mean to get it?