How To Recognize... Libra

LIBRA

Librans hate to be rude, yet they'll straighten the crooked picture on your wall and snap off your blaring TV set. Librans love people, but they hate large crowds. They go around mediating and patching tip quarrels between others; still they enjoy a good argument themselves. They're good-natured and pleasant, but they can also be sulky, and they cringe away from taking orders. Librans are extremely intelligent but at the same time, they're incredibly naive and gullible. Librans are restless people. But they seldom rush or hurry. There's a frustrating inconsistency to this Sun sign that puzzles the Librans themselves as much as it does others.

Libra can be annoying, quarrelsome, stubborn, restless, depressed and confused. Libra is first up, then down. He swings one way, then another. Suddenly, like the scales-perfect balance! It's heavenly.

There's no such thing as a typical Libra feature, unless if it’s the Venus dimple. Libran features are almost always even and well-balanced. They're pleasing, but not very noticeable, so it's easier to start with the dimples. There will usually be a couple in the cheeks or one in the chin. If they're not in the face, you might check to see if the knees are dimpled. Many Libran knees are.

The entire effect of the face will always wear a markedly pleasant expression. Even when the Libran is angry, somehow he or she will manage to look mild, or at the very least, neutral. Venus voices are typically sweet and clear as a bell, and these people seldom raise them to a shrill or bellowing pitch. The mouth is usually bow-shaped, and the lips would have been described in Gibson girl days as "lips like cherry wine." In fact, the typical Libra face reminds you of nothing so much as a box of bonbons. Some of them look like human lollipops, or a caramel sundae topped with rich, whipped cream. They like to eat those things, too, and if any Librans are reading this, they're probably weak with hunger by now.

The women are almost invariably pretty, and the men are usually handsome. Still, not all of the beautiful people in the world are Librans; Venus beauty is in a class by itself, and it's not always easy to separate it from the good looks of other Sun signs. You'll never meet a Libran who doesn't have a smile like a soft, white cloud. That Venus smile could melt a chocolate bar at twenty paces. When it hits you full force, it has enough candle power to transfigure even plain or downright homely features-literally, not figuratively.

Most Librans are full of curves, rather than angles. Their hair is often curly. They're not necessarily fat. Still, they can fool you, go on a diet and cut quite a trim figure. But even so, the curves will be there in spots, rather like a slim hourglass shape.

They seek harmony. Yet, lots of Librans indulge in excessive eating, drinking or love-making, completely upsetting the cookie cart, not to mention throwing harmony out of place. The Sun sign itself is known as Lazy Libra, and that's another inconsistency. Librans know instinctively that to restore harmony to the body, they must alternate their active spells with complete rest.

There's a deep richness to Libra's emotions, no matter which emotion is high or low at a given moment, and a philosophic approach to both sorrows and joys that seldom fails to smooth things out eventually.

An instinct for sanity keeps most Librans mentally healthy and physically fit. Usually, they avoid serious breakdowns of body and mind. The biggest threat to their health is over indulgence of some kind. The breast area is a sensitive part of the body, and sometimes there are foot problems and intestinal disorders though these aren't as common. Ulcers beset many a Libran, not from worry as much as from abuse of the digestive system and the topsy-turvy emotional make-up. Generally, Librans are healthier than most people, unless they push themselves too bard, and forget to take those necessary rest periods. The effect of peace and harmony on Venus health is miraculous.

The Libra character is made up of just about equal parts of kindness, gentleness, fairness, plain cussed argumentativeness, stubborn refusal to capitulate, philosophical logic and indecision. Throughout all his constant, logical deduction, the Libran will try to remain fair. Libra dreads the appearance of prejudice, unjust accusation and blind faith equally. What he seeks is the real truth, the exact balance that gives the correct answer, after weighing all possibilities.

Impatience is one quality most Librans can't stand. Flighty, rash, impulsive people who don't stop to consider the consequences give them the jitters.

Very few Librans are markedly eccentric or show-offs. Most of them are as wholesome and as well-balanced as a neat field of wheat, swaying back and forth gracefully in the wind. They're normally scrupulously honest and there's very little carelessness about them. They hate exaggeration, and they're repelled by embarrassing displays of anger and passion. Most Librans have a fantastic ability to concentrate and to ponder deep subjects. They are born with a deep affection for books, and such a respect for the printed word that many of them scorn paperbacks.

A Libran is a gentle, tender lover of all that's good and clean and lovely underneath whatever image he may project. He's an artistic soul at heart; his mind has both the brilliance of the diamond and the smoothness of the opal. He moves in the changing element of air and reflects the usefulness of copper, his harmonizing metal. There's a touch of the cool, Libran mind in his alert reasoning and his sharp sense of honor, and six dimensions of peace shine down on him from Venus.

To truly understand Libra, you must understand the riddle of the scales; one side heaped high with October's vivid, golden leaves, suggesting brisk, autumn weather- the other side holding sky blue bunches of shy violets, drenched in the fresh scent of April rain. When the scales dip, bright optimism turns into silent panic, weighed down with lonely depression. When they balance, they produce a perfect harmony between his rich, crackling intellect and his affectionate, sympathetic heart. The seasons hold Libra's secret. Winter is too cold for him. Summer is too hot. He must blend them both into a perfect fall and spring.