Venus for Vengeance: A look at Libra and her Scales
As we enter our second Venus transit with a “bang,” I like to thank my lil sestra Kailyn Davillier for providing this insight on the other side of Venus (and Libra for that fact) that rarely, if ever, gets discussed.
Vengeance.
Though I never considered Venus as the archetype for vengeance, it makes sense.
The signs she (if we’re applying the Goddess persona) rules (Libra/Taurus) are the opposites to Mars (Aries/Scorpio). And while Venus and Mars represent the feminine and masculine expressions, along with love and war, respectively, the patriarchal and Western eyes will have you believing this Goddess of Love is all about sugar plum faes, unicorns, seraphim, and conch shells. Still, I’d like to offer a different perspective.
Do we not fight for love and the things and people we love?
Does love not incite war and lead us to avenge what we love in war?
Viewing life through the lens of spectrum will save us all.
Venus has many cultural iterations, and a familiar few are equivalent to the following:
Inanna/Ishtar - the originator (Mesopotamia)
Astarte - (Babylonia)
Isis - (Egypt)
Oshun (Yoruba)
Aphrodite (Helios/Greece)
Depending on the interpretation, in addition to the pantheon of love, beauty, fertility, and sexuality, they also represent feminine empowerment and war. In their lore, each has the same FAFO narrative. Whether showing up for their acolytes, saving fellow deities, or protecting their children from wrath, they remind folks—consistently—that they are not to be toyed with.
See, feminine expression is always minimized to aesthetics.
Confined on the world stage to pontificate that the feminine’s job is to be palatable for the consumption of others. And without fail, the feminine proves that it transcends beyond the box and is inconsumable.
The many facets of Venus
With Libra season well underway, I want to highlight some pop astrology descriptors of the sign:
The diplomat
The peacemaker
The people-pleaser
The passive-aggressor
The lover
The artist & fashionista
The Pisces counterpart to delusion
The over giver
The beauty standard
The free-spirit
And while all of these descriptors can be true, justice is overlooked. However, if you’re familiar with Tarot, you know this.
In Tarot, the Justice card has the astrological archetype of Libra. Here, we learn about ethics, creating balance and harmony (as Libra’s icon is the scales), divine order, and being a pillar of strength to maintain that order. The law lives in the archetype of Libra, and when we connect that to the systems we have today, we know, depending on who creates the laws, that it is manipulated to favor those who are unjust.
However…
When we think of Ma’at, another deity who rules justice and the scales, manipulating it to favor the undeserving comes with a price that often yields vengeance.
Earth works in cycles (think of Earth's rotational axis). Things have to flow whether that shows up in the binary or duality, there must be completion. The time it takes lies in a host of variables, but regardless, cycles must be complete. Known as the morning and evening star (sound familiar), Venus amplifies justice to activate that balance.
Our human mind doesn't always conceptualize the way justice is served because we're conditioned to believe balance and harmony must be blanketed with love and light. However, soft is an unrealistic idea of how this karmic energy works; and fair is relative. This could be why Saturn (karma) is exalted in Libra (justice), but that’s another lesson for another day.
Remember, Venus has to remind folks she is not always here to be admired or consumed, and therein lies her power.
The power of reminding folks that you are more than what meets the eye. Reminding them that their tricks and antics come with a cost. That the people who wronged you in any way, their behavior will not be tolerated or go unpunished.
A glimpse into the mythos of the Goddess Oshun is that she brought Ogun, the God of War and Iron, to his knees with a taste of her honey on his lips. A peek into the mythos of the Goddess Ishtar is that she chose her husband Dumuzi to take her place in the underworld for half a year because he did not mourn her death, but sat on his throne being waited on by enslaved girls.
When Libra consults the scales, it weighs out the pros and cons and decides the remedy—which may often mean to humble those who believe they are absolved from their bullshit.
If you keep abreast of current pop culture, pay attention to the vengeance that is Cardi B—a Libra who can be perceived as going against her judgment more than once by attempting to make her marriage work, only to be met with the same behavior from her husband who believes there are no consequences for attempting to make a fool of her in the public eye.
Be mindful of how you handle a Libra.
They may seem passive at first, but I believe they keep score.
Maintain a mental docket of the times you’ve wronged them, and while the get back isn’t always immediate, they ALWAYS balance their scales. Whether themselves or through the divine.
As we enter spooky season and Hoodoo Heritage Month, check on your scales and determine where you need to enact justice for yourself and the hyper-local world around you.
For further research, check out the following links:
Ishtar and Dumuzi: A Divinely Complicated Marriage
Venus: The Planet with Two Names
