Jupiter in Libra and the Scales of Fate.

"Big iron kitchen scales 

and a full set of weights

aren't carried lightly."

~Terry Pratchett, The Truth

Zeus has been traditionally associated with a series of symbols, such as the thunder bold and the eagle. However, “loudly thundered from mountain Ida” Zeus is portrayed two times in the Iliad holding and consulting his famous golden scales. In a few days beyond and higher than mountain Ida, “Zeus of the Skies”, planet Jupiter is going to hold up for almost a year another pair of scales, transiting through the sign of Libra. 

In the Iliad at the beginning of Book 8, Zeus lifts up his scales and he weights the fates of the Greeks and Trojans; later in the poem he consults once more his scales to weight the fates of Achilles and Hector. Scales should be of course impartial and objective, but we usually forget that Zeus has already made his decision who will be victorious in the end. He already knows what the future holds. The fact that Zeus consults the scales doesn’t indicate a submission to fate, rather points out the equilibrium before one the contestants proves superior in the battlefield. Zeus is just the beam of the balance. 

Issues of balance, fairness and equality in relationships and partnerships are among the many things that Jupiter in Libra places in his scales during this transit. Jupiter in Libra embodies the above qualities, but he doesn’t control the scales. Like any other planetary transit, this depends a lot on the way us as individuals approach our lives and assess this transit, when our endeavors fall out of balance. Jupiter in Libra may determine the weight of things, but he’s not the one weighting the fate. 

Scales can be a devious object, leading to anxiety over their accuracy. Every time we hop on a scale the possibility of perfect justice and equity is dubious, which makes the question of “how much we weight” a very provocative subject. So, what makes Jupiter in Libra a perfect motif for equality of balance between two contending parties, is that the scales both stand as a metaphor for ideal and impartial justice and leave room for the possibility of doubt and anxiety about the outcome. 

In the ancient world, there was a special class of administrators, the metronomoi, who were responsible for inspecting and testing the commercial scales, weights and measures. In the case of suspected tampering, the metronomoi could file for complaint or appeal. That said the transit of Jupiter in Libra calls us to become the metronomoi of our relationship-related issues, even the ones we literally have with our bathroom scale. Just as Zeus did not interfere with the verdict of the scales in the Iliad, we cannot expect the transit of Jupiter in Libra to lift one’s bad deeds out of the scale-pans, or to expect impartial scales to begin with. To be sure we may experience the “anxiety and fear of the scales” during this transit. But by including them in this transit, Jupiter in Libra offers us a chance to be more able to fully appreciate the strong fairness and justice resonance that the image of the scales provoke. 

Tie Your Sandals, Mercury Retrograde!

"So spake he [Zeus], and the messenger, Argeiphontes, 

failed not to hearken. Straightway he bound beneath 

his feet his beautiful sandals, immortal, golden, 

which were wont to bear him over 

the waters of the sea and over the boundless land 

swift as the blasts of the wind."

~Homer, The Iliad Book 24, 339-342

In Greek mythology, sandals with or without wings have been related to Hermes (Mercury), the only god in the Greek pantheon who freely crosses boundaries. In the astrological language, Hermes’ crossing of thresholds reminds a lot the customary turn of the planet Mercury from direct to retrograde and the opposite.

In the last book of the Iliad, we read that Achilles had been abusing Hector’s body to revenge the death of his best friend Patroclus. After twelve days, Zeus decided that this must come to an end and he sends Hermes, disguised as a soldier to guide the father of Hektor, king Priam through the Greek camp to receive Hektor’s body. It’s really interesting that this crossing takes place at night—which symbolically reminds the time when Mercury enters the shadow face, before turning retrograde. As soon as Hermes hears Zeus’ orders, he ties his “immortal sandals” to slip through the enemy’s camp, because he wants to offer consolation and closure to half-finished issues; it’s the sandals that they are going to secure his safe, soundless and hidden passage, alternating his role from the Messenger to the Conductor of souls…alternating from direct to retrograde movement. 

From this point, Hermes-Mercury takes upon an inward looking which is going to lead the mind to its own personal descent to the depths of the unconscious, so that to succeed in bringing to light what had remained hidden. Hermes in the story is dressing himself up the role that enables him to cross the boundaries between the Greek and the Trojan camps, the boundaries between the winners and the losers, the boundaries between the living king of Troy and his dead son. Complementary, planet Mercury ties his own sandals to carry our thoughts beyond our personal boundaries, during the retrograde time when by all appearances every action and communication has seized. Likewise, Hermes leads Priam through a river-boundary that separated the two camps, while the Greeks and the Trojans had agreed to an armistice. As we are called to cross our personal boundaries during the retrograde period and contemplate our past, Achilles is required to overcome his anger and grudge for his friend’s death, and let the dead body of Hektor to receive the customary rites. King Priam is also crossing his boundaries for, even a king he needs to find the courage and strength to meet the killer of his son and kiss his hand.

Hermes' sandals in this story and in general bear a special meaning which is related to the passage from one point/state to another. It was customary for the ancient Greeks to put in the graves of their beloved ones small clay boots, especially found in children’s tombs. It is not a coincidence that today in happy events we usually buy new shoes. In the ceremony of baptism, new shoes and clothes are presented to the one baptized to celebrate his/her admission to the Church. Even, when someone dies, he/she always has a pair of shoes on—maybe even a new one. So, probably there is a connection here with Hermes’ sandals and his crossing through boundaries. It is evident that shoes compliment symbolically a ceremonial act, but they also enable and provide crossing thresholds safely. Hey, even Hermes needed them!

So during this Mercury retrograde season, let’s tie our “mercurial sandals”, make our amendments and redefine our choices. This way, we can freely cross “over the waters of the sea and over the boundless land swift as the blasts of the wind”, just like Hermes did every time he put on his feet his beautiful immortal golden sandals.

Bibliography:

~Cursaru, G., "Les sandales d'Hermès, I. Les καλὰ πέδιλα homériques d'Hermès," Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione Classica 140. 1 (2012) 20-61
~Greene L. and Sasportas H., The Inner Planets: Building Blocks of Personal Reality (Seminars in Psychological Astrology) [Samual Weiser (1993)]
~Yalouris, Ν., "Πτερόεντα Πέδιλα," BCH 77 (1953) 293-321.