Libra: The Iron Fist in the Velvet Glove

Vladimir Putin - Russian president and Libra

You know, when I read about Librans in most astrology books I only half recognise them. I mean that fairly precisely. I recognise the need for beauty, the ability to accessorise, the instinct for grace, the love of socialising, but the peacemaker? Uh uh. At least not always...

Librans I come across are not pacifiers; they don't run around pouring oil on troubled waters. Far from it, I've noticed they often like to give those waters a bit of a stir. Admittedly this can be quite subtle, over the ambassador's elegant canapés in the perfectly appointed drawing room, during the politest conversation.



I think Librans like to take sides; they even like to shake it up a little bit and see what bubbles up from below. One can over-generalise about a Sun sign, but I haven't met many Librans who mind starting an argument. This is a cardinal sign after all, one that initiates.

Two Librans square up. 

Let me hastily interject that Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha and Desmond Tutu were all born under the sign of the scales, too. So that's a load of peaceniks, nicht?

Here are some other famous Librans: Margaret Thatcher. Oh and Bob Geldof. And David Ben-Gurion. Oh and that fellow over in Moscow - Vladimir Putin (oy what a peacenik).

What do these people have in common then?

They relish a fight. This is an air sign, a talking sign, a clever sign. These people like to talk out an argument. And so much the better if they have an adversary who can do the same. That just helps them to polish their style and sharpen their wits.

Gandhi with British women workers.

Mahatma Gandhi did not sit around cross-legged and dreaming: he went on the Salt March, rallied all India, engaged in politics, confronted the might of the British Empire. He made the agenda and he crafted the perfect oppositional argument to colonialism.

Libra is a dual sign. The seventh sign of partnerships (and opposition). These people are duellers. I'm thinking now of tennis champ Martina Navratilova and her owlish spectacles – she was fitter and faster than her opponents, yes, but mainly, she was smarter. Then there's the great Serena Williams. Tell you what though - not many Libran boxers…

It's no surprise that in this country, with our adversarial style of politics, Librans do well at the dispatch box. You have to be able to debate like a public school boy to shine in the House of Commons. The current Prime Minister is all Libra – smooth, polished, ruthless. But what is the actual content of his argument? Or is it just about having the argument and taking sides.

Take a look at this video of this week's Prime Minister's Question Time, if you want to see a Libra in action.