charged with aesthetic sensitivity. Cultivate it, and you’ll feel as
though you’ve come into yourself.
You were born with an instinctive tolerance for paradox. Everything has
two sides, and you’ll almost always consider both. This gives great clari-
ty of mind, but also presents a problem. Be careful you don’t get caught
between two equally attractive or (unattractive!) possibilities and just
freeze there. Life will crystallize around you again and again in that
form: you’ll be faced with a parade of morally or practically ambiguous
situations. You’ll understand them far better than your more dogmatic
friends. The question is whether you’ll be able to make a choice and get
on with your life, burning bridges behind you. (From “The Sky Within,”
by Steven Forrest. Courtesy of Matrix Software [http://thenewage.com]
and Steven Forrest [http://www.stevenforrest.com].)
Among its several natal programs, Matrix Astrological Software created a
unique report based on the published works of the early-twentieth-century astrologer
Grant Lewi (1901–1952). Lewi’s highly original delineations were recognized as cre-
ative and insightful by his contemporaries. One measure of the appeal of his work is
that his books Astrology for the Millionsand Heaven Knows Whatare still in print. The
following is excerpted from the report program “Heaven Knows What”:
He prayeth best who loveth best / All things both great and small.
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born in Libra, October 21, 1772.)
Libra’s aim is to identify himself with as much of the rest of the world as
suits the demands of his very eclectic and elegant taste. Despite a gentle
and firm sort of independence, he does not put much stock in “being
himself,” for he values other people a great deal and, if no principle is
involved, will please others before thinking of what he wants. In a deep
sense, what he wants is what makes others happy. In some this makes
weakness. The girl who “made love only to her friends and didn’t have
an enemy in the world” was very likely a Libran. But so also is the girl
whose charm is so great and whose interest so eager that she holds a
man’s attention without yielding to his carnal passions. And many who
have tried to force the apparently yielding Libran along a path counter
to his principles have felt the iron hand in the velvet glove.
Libra’s willingness to lose his identity in others—in society, in mar-
riage—makes Librans ideal companions, or mates, for those who
understand the curious need they have for independence that accom-
panies their selflessness. They merge with others, but they retain their
identity, and will withdraw completely if their identity is attacked or
endangered. They are democratic in spirit, but since they identify
themselves with elegance, will not allow themselves to be forced into
contact with things or people that offend their very strong sense of
good taste. Thus they are often thought aristocrats or snobs, when in
reality they have the deepest kind of inspect, sympathy and under-
standing for all sorts and conditions of men.THEASTROLOGYBOOK [409]
Libra