The Place of Judgment:
Libra, we’re told in the writings of Alice Bailey, is a sign of balancing, of careful weighing of values, and of achieving the right equilibrium between the pairs of opposites. The energies of Libra accomplish this through the balancing faculty of the mind, in which the pairs of opposites must be carefully weighed and measured. Libra is thus called “the place of judgment”, for it invokes the need to choose, to determine where one’s values lie.
Judgment, when rightly rendered, assures justice, which is an aspiration deeply seated in human consciousness. As far back as the book of Amos in the Old Testament, the appeal was to “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). The ability to have faith that the universe is an ordered place, governed by essential laws and principles that apply to all, is a fundamental psychological need, for it enables the human experience of darkness and light, of pain and pleasure, of loss and gain, to be bearable.
The hunger for justice is now powerfully coloring the atmosphere of today’s world, as if the present times are demanding a long overdue accountability. Many societies are demanding justice in the face of what seem to be deep and growing inequalities in financial systems, human rights, educational opportunities, and the distribution of resources, to name just a few examples. A true sharing on all levels of life is the only way that a world of balance and fairness can be achieved, yet it faces an almost overwhelming counterforce in human selfishness. For our hope, the energies of Libra are generating a “point of crisis” in which, as Alice Bailey put it, “the weight of mass desire is being tested.” Perhaps the supreme example of this testing can be seen demonstrating in the current climate crisis. The growing environmental imbalance is causing an urgent sense in many thoughtful, intelligent people that humanity is facing the proverbial “Judgment Day”, and the outcome of this crisis is still very much up in the air. Will human beings be wise enough to summon the necessary unselfishness to give up materialistic values and to cultivate more simplicity in living and the willingness to share, on which the resolution of the climate crisis depends? The scales of judgment are still being balanced but the factor of time is an increasingly urgent force.
Perhaps this helps us to understand why the psychological problem of anxiety seems to be becoming increasingly prevalent. If so, the writings of Alice Bailey offer some insightful guidance: “…with the commencement of a new era comes ever a period of much disruption until the forms that be have adapted themselves to the new vibration. In that adaptation, those who have cultivated pliability and adaptability progress with less disruption than those more crystallized and fixed”, she wrote. “Particularly now should pliability and responsiveness of form be aimed at….By loving all, work at the plasticity of the emotional body. In love of all that breathes comes capacity to vibrate universally”, we’re told.
This advice was echoed by the great naturalist, Charles Darwin, who found that it’s not the most intellectual or the strongest of the species that survives, but the one that is able to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself. Rigid adherence to traditions and customs may provide comfort and orientation for some people, but they are not the answer to the demands of the present world crisis. Detachment plays a crucial role in the attainment of adaptability, for it releases the grip of desire and fear; these are the two most powerful limitations in humanity’s capacity to chart a new and higher path.
To guide humanity’s choices on this Noble Middle Way, let us meditate of the keynote of Libra: I choose the way which leads between the two great lines of force.
