Your Spiritual Connection Centers: The Balance of Air

• Libra (cardinal masculine Air)
• Rulership: Spleen, pancreas (7th House)
• Calendar date: 23 September – 23 August
• Planets in rise: Saturn
• Planets in rest: Venus
• Planets in detriment: N/A
• Planets in fall: Sun, Mars
• Aquarius (fixed masculine Air)
• Rulership: Lower legs; shins; calves; nervous system; sacral vertebrae (11th House)
• Calendar date: 20 January – 18 August
• Planets in rise: N/A
• Planets in rest: Uranus
• Planets in detriment: Sun
• Planets in fall: Neptune; Pluto
• Gemini (mutable masculine Air)
• Rulership: Fingers; hands; arms; shoulders; lungs; ears (3rd House)
• Calendar date: 21 May – 21 June
• Planets in rise: N/A
• Planets in rest: Mercury
• Planets in detriment: Jupiter
• Planets in fall: N/A

Welcome to Libra and the 7th House of the Zodiac! Residing in the 7th House, Libra – like Virgo – sits in the middle. Appropriate as the segue from one half of the Zodiac into the other, the glyph of Libra shows a balanced scale: a horizontal plane balancing a measure of weight. Some believe that those born under the sign of Libra make the best attorneys and public defenders because of the association with the scales of justice, but that’s just not true: as a cardinal sign, he's interested in progress, not on prosecution or legalities. Libra wants to put things in motion and maintain equilibrium even if it means overlooking (or forgiving) a few indiscretions.

Libra may not be a good attorney or prosecutor (that’s Gemini!), but Libra makes a terrific police officer or agent for harmony and balance: Libra counts among those born under his sign the celebrated and revered Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. When Libra is living his truth and acting in accordance with his essential self, he can create great change without causing great harm. Contrast Libra to his complementary opposite, Aries, and you’ll see the difference: Aries would change by blowing up the establishment and seeing how the pieces fell, but Libra would change the establishment step by step as a whole. Diplomacy, tact, and the careful selection of words or outward expressions to achieve a result are embodied in Libra: he could have been the author of I’m Okay, You’re Okay.© Libra knows that it’s not what he does that creates change, but how he does it

Indeed, people born under the sign of Libra have an even, balanced appearance and symmetry which somehow escape the rest of us. The next time you meet a Libra, take a look at his physical appearance – what does his body look like? How does he dress or manage himself? How does he keep his desk at work or his room at home? I’d bet money that even if he isn’t particularly neat, he’ll be orderly and fair in all he does.

Libra also has a strong need for order and to keep things in their place. This is why some people think Libra would make an excellent attorney or prosecutor, but no – Libra sees the good and bad as parts of the whole and if the bad is punished that would mean that Libra has taken one side over the other and upset the balance. This is part of Libra’s bad side – on a bad day, he can be totally ambiguous or unwilling to make a decision. He may hem and haw one way or the other but never say yes or no either way. Have you ever heard a politician try to not answer a sensitive question? He’s speaking, but not really saying anything! It’s the same problem with Libra on a bad day: he avoids taking sides or making substantial pronouncements.

He can be a total jellyfish and in an effort to maintain balance and harmony will avoid creating upset or hard feelings. This distaste for creating upset is not just for creating upset in other people’s lives, but also in his own life. I’ve met more than one Libra who has used his cardinal Spirit to move forward and do something else rather than engage in an activity or conversation which would directly or indirectly lead him to confront an unpleasant reality or shortcoming about himself.

Libra and his ruling planet Venus are at home in the 7th House of marriage and partnerships. Although this house is about relationships which bring people together, such as marriage or romance, it is also about inter-personal connections and those people who are tightly bound to us in either friendship or enmity. What’s the difference between love and hate? Both love and hate are strong emotional fixations held by one person toward another person. For better or worse, good or bad, friendship or enmity, love or hate, the 7 th House is about the people who are tightly bound to us and we to them.

Libra, the sign of cardinal Air, rules the spleen and the pancreas. The pancreas is generally thought of as an endocrine gland, but it’s also an exocrine gland. It its role as an endocrine gland, it’s responsible for the secretion of insulin and glucagon which govern retention or release of sugar in the bloodstream between fat cells. As an exocrine gland – one which secretes into a duct – it is responsible for the production of pancreatic juice which it secretes directly into the duodenum. The duodenum is the portion of the small intestine ruled by Virgo which directly receives partially digested food from the stomach. Pancreatic juice aids the digestive processes carried out in the small intestine and promotes absorption of nutritive content not absorbed in the stomach. The pancreas can also secrete pancreatic juice into the stomach to reduce the acidity of stomach acid and aid in the chemical digestion of complex sugars and lipids.

Libra rules the spleen, which is located on the left side of the abdomen above the colon and the left kidney, beneath the diaphragm, behind the stomach, and snuggled closely against the 7 th through 12th ribs. The spleen is about the size of one’s fist, but its size varies quite a bit from person to person and even fluctuates considerably within the same person. The spleen is a lymphoid organ meaning that it has many compartments and chambers which filter and clean the fluid which passes through it; however, unlike the thymus or the lymph nodes, the spleen doesn’t process lymph: like the lungs, it processes blood. The spleen removes impurities from the bloodstream and destroys imperfectly formed, damaged, and dead red blood cells. Iron from destroyed red blood cells is retained and reintroduced to the bloodstream where it will either be eliminated from the body or stored in the liver or bones. The spleen is also a reservoir for blood: it typically holds 350 ml. in reserve at any given time to use as an emergency transfusion in case of a sudden loss. 

Welcome to Aquarius and the 11th House of the Zodiac! Aquarius is the masculine sign of fixed Air and is ruled by the planet Uranus. All the signs of the Zodiac represent beasts and animals, except for the signs of Air who are all drawn as people. Although the glyph of Libra shows a scale of justice, it is often depicted in artwork as a scale being held by a woman. Although the glyph of Gemini shows the Roman numeral two, it is depicted in artwork as a pair of twins, and Aquarius is traditionally depicted in artwork as a man or woman pouring Water from a vessel. Aquarius is historically called the Water bearer, but this interpretation changed with the discovery of Uranus. Saturn, the former ruler of Aquarius, ceded him to Uranus, the planet of technology and radical change. The glyph of Aquarius is now also interpreted as bolts of lightning or currents of electricity. As a fixed sign, Aquarius doesn’t have the same disruptive potential as his ruling planet Uranus, but he does have Uranian perspective. Aquarius strives to find a new perspective, remain objective, and work to see something from angles you might never have imagined.

Consider a group of people with all three of the Air signs present in it. Libra, like the scales he carries, is interested in the common thread which unites people despite their differences; Gemini is flexible enough that he can see an issue from the perspective of anyone else in the group; and Aquarius would find a place outside of the group so he could sit and watch: he’d employ his objectivity to detach himself from the group dynamics and gain a totally new perspective which none of the others could see.

Aquarius shares in the intuition or uncanny logic of Uranus. Aquarius uses his unique perspective on all things to collect and assemble information and, much like Libra and Gemini, has breakthrough moments where all the pieces in his Mind come together and fit perfectly into place. This gives others the impression that he has secret abilities or unexplainable gifts, but in reality it’s simply that his perspective gave him distance (and time) to assemble what appeared to be separate pieces. Aquarius is also unique in contrast to Leo whose pride and vanity lead him to the center of attention. Leo is a natural leader and well suited to his role and Aquarius, also being a fixed sign, shares in the same stable, grounding character; however, unlike Leo, Aquarius doesn’t insist on being the Sun around which the rest of the group orbits. Aquarius has the same extroverted, masculine Spirit as Leo but under his Uranian governance is focused instead on contribution. Aquarius works well with groups to reach a goal or achieve an end but he can do it without being the center of attention. 

On a bad day, this task is more difficult for Aquarius. The order and sense of calm movement like the smooth passage of Water from a vessel become chaotic. Thought becomes difficult and rational objectivity becomes an exercise in futility – frustration is the mood of the day. Nothing is quite as it should be and everything feels out of place. To regain his perspective or simply get things back into a semblance of order, Aquarius attempts to reorganize everything, even if the pieces don’t fit the available slots. Aquarius feels surrounded by commotion and the din of arguments and dropped connections makes everything else too difficult to even be considered. As soon as he can correct the disorder and calm the commotion he sees all around him he’ll be right as rain, but until then his Uranian influence shows and he’s like a radio receiving only static when it should be getting stereo reception. 

Aquarius and his ruling planet are at home in the 11th House of the Zodiac, the house of friends, groups, mentors, teachers, and aspirations. This is the house of people who share your goals and are friendly to your ideals. These are friends, acquaintances, associates, teachers, and mentors but also clubs, associations, organizations, and the like which encourage or complement what you want to achieve in life.

Aquarius, the sign of fixed Air, rules the lower legs, shins, calves, and sacral vertebrae. Aquarius’ rulership traditionally extends also to the nervous system, but that rulership is only an extension of his ruler Uranus. Apart from the nervous system, Aquarius shares distinction as one of the four fixed signs which rule a segment of the spinal vertebrae. Aquarius rules the sacral vertebrae, and this is especially significant because of the relationship between Aquarius and Saturn. You’ll notice that many planets and their subordinate signs reside in the same organs: Leo and the sun both rule the heart, Cancer and the Moon both rule the stomach, Capricorn and Saturn both rule the knees, Jupiter and Sagittarius both rule the liver, and here Saturn and Aquarius both reside in the sacrum.

Spinal nerves from the sacral vertebrae direct both myotomes and dermatomes. Efferent nerves of the sacral vertebrae innervate muscles of the hips, thighs, and some muscles on the outside of the lower leg. Afferent nerves from the sacral vertebrae relay sensation to the central nervous system from the buttocks, posterior of thighs, skin behind the knees, calves, sides of the lower legs and ankles, the heels, and part of the soles of the feet.

Welcome to Gemini and the 3rd House of the Zodiac! Gemini is the masculine sign of mutable Air and is illustrated by the Roman numeral two. Gemini is the only sign of the Zodiac who has the potential to be whole or complete within himself because in Gemini you get two for the price of one. The myths of Gemini come from the story of Castor and Pollux who were born of the same mother, Leda, but from separate fathers – Pollux from Zeus, Castor from Tyndareus. The brothers shared all their adventures but Castor, being mortal, could not live forever like his immortal brother Pollux. When Castor died, Pollux asked to share his immortality with his brother. Zeus agreed and made the brothers into the constellation Gemini. 

Gemini is ruled by Mercury and shares in the many attributes of his ruler Hermes. Gemini is famously optimistic and eternally curious – he is a voracious consumer of information and loves nothing more than to be in the know (although he doesn’t always do anything with the knowledge once he gets it.) For a Gemini, knowledge and information are usually an ends, not a means. Gemini can usually be found living in the blogosphere, always knows the latest rumors and juiciest gossip, loves to talk, and he strives to keep his finger on the pulse of the world around him. Gemini is also famous for taking up foreign languages or becoming a disseminator of information, and all because of Mercury’s position as the messenger of the gods who relays information between the Heavens, Earth, and the Underworld. 

Because Gemini is essentially two people, he can always be relied upon to have at least two opinions on every issue. Gemini is blessed (or cursed?) with the ability to hold two or more mutually incompatible perspectives because in his Mind both make perfect sense and it’s only a matter of deciding which he prefers. If you’ve ever been with somebody who changes his Mind like other people change their socks and who you can’t pin down on any one subject, you were probably speaking with a Gemini. Gemini is a blessing in that he can bring a “can do” attitude, flexibility, adaptability, and an unending variety of perspectives to a project, but he can be a curse in that he is unable to confront his twin, sometimes also called his Shadow (after the Jungian description of the alien, frightening side of one’s personality or psyche.)

In this version of the story, Gemini is not two twins working in unison but two twins from opposite ends of the same spectrum. One is the good, light, heroic aspirant and the other is the frightening, dark, antithetical Shadow. In order to become whole, Gemini must reconcile these two parts of himself. The reconciliation is difficult and the light aspirant fears the dark Shadow. Gemini, fearful of this union, can be superficial and anxious. He flees from confrontation and does not dig deeply to the truth of a matter. He distracts himself with outward events because he doesn’t want to turn his sharp attention inward on himself. Only by confronting his Shadow and his mutable self is he able to be at peace and move forward hand-in-hand with his twin. 

Gemini and his ruler Mercury are at home in the 3rd House of the Zodiac, the house of communication, siblings, and learning, exchange, and local travel. Similar to Gemini’s plural personality, communication refers to both inter- and intra-personal communication: the things we say to ourselves, how we communicate within our own minds, the things we say, and how we communicate with others. Because communication accompanies the exchange of information and facts to deliver a message, this is also the house of experiential learning. Finally, Gemini – the sign of the Twins – brings siblings to the 3rd House of the Zodiac and illustrates how we relate to our brothers and sisters. Siblings aren’t always blood-related and may simply be those people in our lives who are very close to us. In this sense, the 3rd House illustrates how we we express our sense of brother- or sister-hood. 

Gemini, the sign of mutable Air, broadly rules the fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, lungs, ears, and eyes. Regarding the lungs, it's important to remember that the heart pumps blood directly into the pulmonary artery which feeds it to the lungs for oxygenation. This blood returns to the heart and feeds all- important oxygen to the rest of the body. Regarding the eyes and ears, they connect directly to the brain through the cranial nerves we met under Mercury and Uranus. The eyes connect by way of cranial nerves II, III, IV, and VI; and the ears by way of cranial nerve VIII. This means that erratic movement of the eyes, inability to visually track a moving object, loss of hearing, and distorted hearing are all indicators of a disruption to the Balance of Air and are definite indicators of a Spiritual disruption of the sign of mutable Air.

Regarding the hands and arms, it's important to pay attention to body language be it in person or in dreams: subjects who report dis-ease of the hands and arms in waking life or who report dreaming of dis-ease of the hands and arms are exhibiting a Gemini disruption