Knowing Beauty: Tarot and Tea for Libra Season
Welcome to Libra Season and my latest post on tarot practices and herbal allies for the twelve seasons of the zodiac (you can learn more here).
The beginning of Libra season marks the Equinox (Autumn Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Spring Equinox in the southern). The winds have changed and the air sign of Libra finds us at a point of balance between seasons. Balance is a central theme of Libra season and with the scales as its symbol, Libra helps us to assess (in a gentle, earnest, beauty-seeking way) what needs more balancing in our life. What was prepared and worked for in Virgo season can be better appreciated during the season of the scales. While Virgo's energy can be spread wide, looking at the big picture of all that needs to get done, Libra's energy is more loose, more dispersed, more adept at wandering and wondering.
Libra is a cardinal air sign which means that it carries the energy of impetus, new beginnings, a bit of bravery, and a lot of hope (Aries, Cancer, and Capricorn are also cardinal signs but in other elements). The sign carries the skill of seeking out and in the case of Libra, it is often seeking out beauty. While Virgo may have focused on the practicalities of filling a pantry so that a community feast can be laid out, it is Libra that finds the beauty of a pantry well stocked, adding fairy lights to the space, and maybe making hand drawn labels for the jars. In considering Libra I think of the song Bread and Roses - if Virgo is the bread, then Libra is the Roses. Libra teaches us that beauty and the knowing of beauty in one's world is as essential as any other nutrient. And to be clear, I'm not talking about a beauty that is only skin-deep and narrowly defined by an overculture that fears untethered beauty. The grand magick of Libra is the way in which learning of the expansive nature of beauty creates a culture of radical inclusivity and kindness.
We learn with Libra how to seek out beauty in our worlds, both inner and outer, and to face the fears and insecurities that may arise from such an endeavor with the airy breeziness that Libra embodies. That fear of yours is paper thin, darling, Libra tells us, you can look right through it to the beauty and power just beyond. Libra energy can sometimes be dismissed as inconsequential and frivolous - but that's only when we seek out beauty that is as thin as our fear. To be beautiful and know one's beauty and the beauty of one's community under an overculture which denies so much beauty in this world is an act of courage. Sometimes Libran energy, in its balance seeking, can avoid or overcompensate for conflict, creating patterns of worry instead of wonder. But, if we find a bit of bravery and beauty, Libra season helps us to explore how courageous we are in our lives and in our love.
Knowing Beauty
Libra Season Tarot Spread
Seeking out beauty in the world, especially in the places and spaces where we least expect to find it, is exhilarating and exhausting and wondrous. Libra brings the breath of hope and a commitment to reconciliation. Sometimes the energy of Libra season shows us what needs balancing in our life by pointing out where there is the most conflict and unrest because Libran energy automatically seeks to soothe and repair.
Libra asks us, "How well do you know beauty in your life?"
Understanding what we find and know as beautiful in our lives is one of tools of repair that Libra uses most often. Conflict can reveal hard truths, but extended and unnecessary conflict can weaken our ability to know our beauty and the beauty all around us. Seeking out beauty is to seek to expand the narrative of what is possible in our life and the following tarot spread helps us to find beauty and the paths of expansiveness we might journey along.
Card 1. That Which Is Beautiful About Me
A joyous card or an uncomfortable card or a bit of both depending on your level of knowing about your own beauty. You might choose to work with the symbolism of this card, creating altars and/or affirmations, throughout the season of Libra as a spell of awakening beauty in your life.
Card 2. That Which is Beautiful About My World
This card helps us to see the beauty that exists in our world. It is another card that may initially cause us to retract as it holds up a mirror of what expansive beauty lives around us that we might not have been able to see or acknowledge just yet.
Card 3. That Which Hides Beauty in My Life
A card that reveals to us the obstacles (including people), habits, and/or beliefs we carry that hinder our ability to know beauty. This card speaks to our fears and the ways that they have dulled our courage.
Card 4. That Which Expands Beauty in My Life
A card of hope which helps us understand the habits, beliefs, people, and more that support our growing bravery in knowing the beauty of the world and seeing ourselves within it.
Card 5. A Message for Libra Season
A general message, signs to pay attention to, and perhaps next steps to take as we move into Libra season. This card can highlight energy which you might bring more into your life during Libra season so that you are better able to connect with the energetic flow of the next month.
Bonus Card: That Which Guards the Kidneys and Your Hormones
If you feel connected with the philosophy of astroherbology you can pull an additional card to help you understand the current energies of your kidneys and bodies filtration systems and more broadly your hormonal system, including physical experiences and energetic ones, what tension or wisdom you might be keeping there. I encourage you to take a somatic approach with this card - when you pull it and see the energy, follow the feelings and sensations that it evokes from your body to understand its meaning.
image via @tspoonphoto
A Tea for Libra Season
How do we nourish the energy of Libra? Traditionally, Libra is the sign which guards the filtration function (i.e. the kidneys and urinary tract) as well as the hormonal balance of the body (click here for a full list of traditional correspondences for Libra). Libra seeks out balance and so being mindful of hormonal balance, as well as experiences of extremes (i.e. making sure to stay hydrated during a heatwave), and the sacredness of boundary setting to support a healthy nervous system are all Libran concerns. I love using Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) as the base for many of my Libra-inspired blends as the gentle herb is balancing, antioxidant rich, and creates a beautiful hue of pinkish red when brewed. Nettles (Urtica dioica) support the body's filtration functions while also bringing in much needed nutrients to help us feel steady and balanced while Damiana (Turnera diffusa) helps to open the heart by reducing stress.
4 parts Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis)
1 part Nettles (Urtica dioica)
½ part Damiana (Turnera diffusa)
These proportions are only suggested guidelines, so feel free to play around with them to your liking. As you make your tea, slow down, breathe deep, and infuse the blend with your intentions for the season (or whenever you’re drinking this tea to connect with the energy of Libra). If you’re looking for more breathwork practices to help you connect with the energy of the season, come this way.
image via @anniespratt
Seasonal Reflections
What does the land feel like, look like, smell like this season?
What is coming to the surface from within me?
What is receding within me?
What am I feeling grateful for?
What am I grieving for or feeling challenged by?
What am I feeling inspired and where is it calling me to this season?
What am I calling to me?
What am I called to give?
♎️
Want to learn more about the magick and astroherbalism of Libra? I’ve written a full profile on the sign for you to enjoy. You can also check out the rest of my seasons of astrology series.
Another Libra plant that I didn't feature in my tea but is a wonderful ally to the energies of the season is Angelica (Angelica archangelica) and Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is another wonderful Venusian ally. If you need help relaxing into the energy of Libra season and tend to tension and worry, Vervain (Verbena officinalis) might be a good ally for you to connect with.
May Libra season be a time of beauty for you, of loving your aesthetic, and of learning about new ways of finding loveliness in the world.
This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎
