Leah Wellbaum is a musician, artist, and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. She is the principal songwriter, guitar player, and unrepentant aesthete of the band Slothrust, and also has a side project called ANMLPLNET. On the upcoming Slothrust album, Parallel Timeline, Wellbaum constructs a luscious, ethereal cosmos perforated with wormy portals and unexpected magical iconography. She is a lover of all things mystical and absurd. When she isn’t on the road, she offers lessons in music and creativity. You can find her art at www.leahwellbaum.com.
Hello again! It’s officially Libra season and I am back to ponder all the things that this sign has to offer. I am a Libra moon, so there are plenty of components of this sign that resonate with me. Moon signs influence the inner-landscape and the lens with which one views them self and their participation in the world. Of course, it is only one of many components that make up our self-perceptions, but it is an important one. It relates to how you connect with and view yourself. Arguably, the most important relationship you will ever have will be with yourself. And just like most other relationships, it can take some work to get things going smoothly. But unlike so many others, this relationship is not one you can leave behind. You will be with yourself always, whether you like it or not.
I cannot say I have always been met kindly by my Libra moon. The symbol for Libra is the scale. Those with this sign often find that they have trouble making decisions and they carefully weigh their choices. This can be both a good thing and a curse. My sun sign is Leo, which I associate with certainty and confidence. Sometimes it feels like the Libra in my chart detracts from that, defaulting to a place of wanting others to make decisions for me out of a fear that I will pick the wrong thing for myself or for someone else. I fear catastrophic repercussions for seemingly benign choices. It can be exhausting. Some of us call this anxiety.
Libras are meticulous and love to be experts, intentionally dialing in their preferences, but capable of changing them for the sake of the community. They love to make other people happy and have a tendency to be people-pleasers because relationships and companionship are so important to them. Leos are also big into meaningful connections and relationships so the combination of these two signs can create a dynamic where one can put a little too much weight on what others think and feel. I can easily become overly concerned with others and their happiness. This trait serves a mixed bag. I am grateful for its existence in my chart because I find it to be a nice balance for Leo in a working environment. Especially given that I work in an industry where lots of ego is afoot– entertainment. Where a Leo may plow ahead and continue to take the crown time and time again, a streak of Libra thinks to ask if anyone else would like to wear it for a while. Libras are considerate of those they are working with and go above and beyond to see situations with clarity, carefully considering the experience of those around them. Usually.
Libras also have a tendency to get caught up in principled thinking, sometimes becoming unwilling to depart from purely logical thinking despite the fact that not all of us operate on a system of logic and reason. Just because something makes sense, does not mean it will work for everyone. Libras have a strong sense of internal justice that flares up when something feels unfair. There are countless stories about me from my childhood and my obsession with fairness. The lesson of life being unbalanced and unfair is one that children must learn time and time again. Even as adults we continue to learn this lesson and it can be a hard one to swallow. In the end it comes down to Einstein’s classic question of deciding whether or not you choose to perceive the universe as friendly or hostile. If you choose friendly, even something that feels completely unfair can be viewed through the lens of destiny. See how it feels to live under a law that says everything happens for a reason, and there is no such thing as a coincidence.
I touched on some of the tools I think can help one cope with the uneven landscape of life in my last piece about Virgo season. Understanding your personal boundaries, respecting those of others, and figuring out what works for you personally and how to mesh that with someone else’s needs is key. It can also be truly tiresome and this season might have you second guessing absolutely everything.
You can expect to weigh your options heavily this month and run various outcomes in your head while desperately trying to fall asleep. It’s not a bad idea to make a pros and cons list, so long as you can retain your ability to step away and ask your heart and gut what it really wants. Deciphering intuition from fear has been and still is a struggle for me. It takes practice to hear your inner-voice instead of the voice that greater society has attempted to worm into our brains like a virus — the one that constantly tells us we do not have enough. For a Libra this might feel like a pressure to serve justice to yourself and others, while questioning if you even understand what justice is in the first place.
As I ponder which fruit is appropriate to pair with this time of year I found myself a bit stuck. Fruit is not about being fair. The universe and all of its gorgeous patterns do not deal in subjective opinions of justice. It putters along just the same, serving chocolate to some and maggots to others. But who’s to say that the maggots are not equally as delicious to the right audience? Your decisions cannot and will not please everyone and that can be hard to swallow. I know it is for me.
Anyway, I settled upon one of my personal favorite fruits because it asks you to make a choice, and it also feels flirty and romantic, which is a classic adorable Libra trait. I have chosen grapes. This fruit can be challenging for Libra energy because it asks you to choose — I am familiar with this fruit-selecting debacle. I reach for a grape, I make contact, I see if its skin feels right against mine. If it does I pluck it from its home vine and bring it to my mouth. Once it’s in there, we are all good (usually). But I might have to discreetly caress several of them before settling on which is right for me before moving on to another. Some may feel this is a waste of time, but I have found that if you can channel this inclination to be particular into creative practices, there is a sensitivity that can be used to your benefit.
Here is a Libra-themed playlist for your listening pleasure:
As always, we invite you to indulge in the Slothrust ~Mind Your Mood~ astrology playlist generator to see where you’re at today and offer you some tasty jams to match.
Best of luck. Until next time!
Your freaky fruity friend,
Leah
