Hello and welcome back to the chart ruler series!

I’m getting quite a few requests for Libra

Rising and I do pay attention to those requests, even if I can’t always respond to them and don’t
seem like I do. So, let’s go ahead and tackle Libra Rising next. Again, just for me to reiterate
what I always say, the chart ruler – which some people can be a bit confused on – is the ruling
planet of the sign that your Ascendant is in. It’s not your most dominant planet or anything like
that. Therefore, being born with a Libra Ascendant means that your chart ruler is Venus, since
Venus is Libra’s ruler.

Venus is also Taurus’ ruler and we’ve delved into this lovely planet before through the Taurus
Rising article in the chart ruler series. There are only two planets that get modern rulership over
two signs: Venus and Mercury. So, it’ll be interesting to address how the planet can rule two
people’s lives in similar yet different ways. The Venus rulership of Taurus is not the same as the
Venus rulership of Libra, just like Mercury’s domain over Virgo differs from its rulership of
Gemini. With Taurus, we are still dealing with love (for the self and others), harmony, beauty,
and pleasure. But, that gets manifested in an earthy, practical ways: through values, good
sense, money, and possessions.

Meanwhile, with Libra, Venus’ beauty and pleasure is more of an intellectual thing. The reason
being is that Taurus, of course, is of the Earth element and Libra is of the Air element. So, when
you’re a Libra Rising, you get the Airy side of Venus instead, which makes quite a difference. It’s
more so about living a life involving mental pleasures. The chart ruler, after all, defines the tone
and the development of your life story. It’s how each chapter of your life unfolds. Like Taurus
Rising, those with a Libra Rising often find themselves living quite an easy life. Of course, there
are those slew of Libra Ascendants who are born of the Pluto in Libra generation, often having
Pluto either conjunct their Ascendant or in the 1st House. If this is the case for you, life is not
going to be so easy. But, even in the face of those terrifying trials, you can walk through the fires
and find the burns magically healing themselves, often times without you even having to try that
much.

If the Ascendant is how we were brought into the world, having a Libra Ascendant usually
means that your entry into life was quite a harmonious one. Similarly to the Taurus Ascendant,
this placement can mean that you were an easy birth or that the mother was particularly
cooperative and at peace when she was giving birth. In some sense, the Libra Rising baby
becomes a symbol of peace and loveliness in this environment. From the beginning, you were
given the kind of treatment that made you feel like you just made other people happy. Maybe
your early environment was chaotic before you arrived and your arrival just balanced everything
out somehow, even when you were still just a baby or a toddler. This is also because you were
remarkably agreeable, from the start. Babies with this placement are the types to rarely cry or
fuss, not really wanting to cause a disturbance, and this is a pattern that obviously continues
throughout life.
This sets you up for being the peacemaker in any given situation you are involved in. The
Ascendant is our general demeanor and those with a Libra Ascendant have a demeanor that
keeps things civil, balanced, and enjoyable for everyone. Venus is the planet of relationships
and making sure that you are compatible with someone else. And with Venus as the chart ruler,
it’s as if you want to be compatible with everyone. The thing is that you have a way of carrying
yourself that makes you seem as if you are; as if you could be anyone’s lover or friend. I’d say
that Aquarius Ascendant is your only equal in getting on the same page as anyone else. But,
they behave this way out of egalitarian drives and as a sort of social experiment. You behave
this way because you’re essentially matching yourself up with someone else.

And that’s why your life is ruled by the Airy side of Venus. Throughout each chapter in your life,
you will be able to look back and see how you allowed a relationship (Venus) to take over a part
of your brain (Air). It’s very common for Libra Rising people to feel like a distinct sort of person
when they’re in a relationship and then question how they were behaving when it’s all over. This
isn’t just in terms of romance, either. Venus is love, in general, and it can happen with anyone
you love: your best friend, your older brother, your mother, etc. And you can become such a
mirror of this person, you have to stop and ask how do you live and how you do act when
they’re not around? This will send you looking for another person to mirror, wanting to mesh half
of their brain with yours.

However, your brain is a powerful thing, in and of itself. I’ve found that out of the Air family,
Gemini and Aquarius get a lot more press when it comes to being really intelligent. Gemini is the
mastermind, bright and communicative and witty and full of ideas, while Aquarius is the genius,
thinking outside of the box and challenging conventional ideas and sticking to its ideals. But,
Libra is sort of like the nice, pretty one in the family who everyone underestimates yet who is
actually acing all of her tests. Libra is just as intellectual as the other two Air signs and when you
have a Libra Ascendant, you view life from a very intellectual perspective. It’s just that, because
Venus rules your life and Venus is about relationships, you’re going to need to surround yourself
with people who can understand, mesh with, and nurture your own intelligence in order for your
mental abilities to shine through more. You see life as needing to be about a meeting of the
minds. So, a lot of your life will be spent trying to find that intellectual equal of yours.

And, let’s face it, so much of your life will be spent trying to find love. With the Airy Venus
dominating your life, your life story is a lot like a romantic-comedy. In fact, Libra Rising
individuals usually love romantic-comedies. Unlike Taurus Rising, you are living out a
Venus-fueled life that is more about ideals of love: finding Mr. or Mrs. Right. It’s why you will
have a really hard time staying single, as you’ll either be a serial monogamist or bouncing from
one love affair to the next. Libra’s connection to Venus fills it with ideas about love, meaning that
you’re constantly thinking some variation of “he/she might be the one” or “I don’t know if this is
going to work.” Needless to say, it can create a lot of indecision or inconsistency in your life.
Love is a concept for you and one that is constantly in flux, which means that there’s a lot of
love going in and out of your life.

This will be evidenced through the house that Venus is in. Libra Rising folks live out both the
joys and the downfalls of their Venus house to the hilt. If you have Venus in the 9th House ruling
your chart, it means that love is constantly an adventure for you, something that inspires you
and liberates you and gives you direction! That’s wonderful! Until the love no longer lives up to
that idealism. Then, the 9th House Venus ruling your chart will make you terribly restless,
careless, and insatiable in love, constantly feeling like the grass will be greener elsewhere.
Maybe you have Venus in the 11th House as your chart ruler. Because of this, love is an entirely
unpredictable and unexpected thing for you. It comes into your life very abruptly, out of nowhere,
and you’ll usually find yourself turning acquaintances into lovers. This can result in a wonderful
feeling of like-mindedness and friendliness in the relationship. That is, until the love is no longer
ideal. Then, you can become a wild, erratic force in the love affair, turning things upside down to
regain your freedom. Either that or you may suddenly switch off and become too casual and
detached with your lover, treating them way too much like a buddy, without any of the romantic
passion.
So, in spite of the balance you seek, you might sometimes be quite a disaster in love if you are
all over the place about it or too idealistic about it. The problems of your Venus’ house can be
blatantly obvious to everyone, particularly family and friends. With Venus in the 5th, people
might always tell you, “You can’t keep making the relationship about you.” If you have Venus in
the 10th, you may constantly hear, “Love and success don’t cancel each other out.” The good
thing is that you enjoy taking advice because you are so open to other people’s ideas. As a
result, you will probably be able to establish that balance in your Venus’ house at some point.
It’s usually around the age of 30 or so, after a particularly messy or chaotic love life, that most
Libra Ascendants figure out how to be the right kind of man or woman so they can attract the
right kind of man or woman. That’s a lesson we can all stand to learn. But, as a Libra
Ascendant, you are walking, talking proof of that.

Yet, it will not be difficult at all for you to attract someone because the attractiveness of this
placement is legendary. The Ascendant is the appearance and Venus is beauty. Put those two
together and you have someone who is usually very beautiful to look at. Regardless of your
actual physical appearance, there is a real “glow” from within that beautifies you. It’s often a
case of inner beauty creating the outer beauty. That inner beauty comes from your Venus’
house. Venus is self-love and self-worth, so you will do whatever you can to emphasize that. If
you have Venus in the 3rd, you will really emphasize your wit, communication skills, and
intellect, to a degree that makes you feel so good in your own skin and so loved that you cannot
help but develop this very attractive aura. And, yes, it’s not always just a case of you being
beautiful on the inside. The percentage of really pretty people with this placement is quite high.
The Ascendant is the impression we make and many Libra Rising folks can give the impression
of being a model or an actor, even if they’re not. Something about them just seems gorgeous,
refined, and camera-ready. And if this is their line of work, the response is often, “Yeah, of
course, with those looks.”

This is one of the most elegant Ascendants you can have, next to Taurus, Leo, and Capricorn.
Your every move just seems balanced, poised, and sophisticated, even if you’re not feeling that
way internally. You’re projecting that, as it’s just how you carry yourself. Libra Rising people tend
to walk like their walking down a runway, complete with the posture that seems as if they have a
book being balanced on their head. It also helps that you probably dress like a model, as well.
Most Libra Ascendants display a remarkable flair for fashion, as Venus does represent one’s
fashion sensibilities and personal taste. Since you see life in terms of beauty, you know how to
put yourself together in a very aesthetically pleasing way, including clothes-wise. You are a real
clotheshorse. There seems to be two types with this placement, though: those who are total
lovers of fashion and those who don’t really care about clothes but still exhibit wonderful taste.
So, even if you’re not obsessed with fashion, you still know how to pick great clothes and wear
them very well, making the same outfit look sort of basic on a less-inclined person.

On top of it all, though, you have a very lovely demeanor. From the beginning, you have been
playing the part of the nice guy or girl; the one who makes people happy. This is what Venus
ruling your chart does. It gives you a very high awareness of how you’re relating to others,
making you far less likely to make terrible social blunders that others just seem ignorant of. In
fact, it’s often hard for you to imagine how some people can be so rude! With the Ascendant in
Libra, your whole vibe is a kind one and it’s another part of what attracts others to you. Your
default expression, aka your resting face, is a very pleasant, neutral one. Your face
automatically shifts to this peaceful place. Having such a neutral look makes you seem like
someone who doesn’t really have much conflict. Ironically, this is what draws you in the middle
of everyone else’s conflicts, as you are deemed as the person in the situation who can bring
everything back to homeostasis.

The problem with all of this is that you may potentially fall back on being polite and refined and
appealing to others a bit too much. Again, this is where we meet the Airy face of Venus. In
Taurus mode, Venus is just concerned with grounding itself (Earth) in its own self-love first. But,
through Air, that self-love can seem to come through others’ love, which might feel threatened
by fights and conflicts. After all, isn’t that what can cause breakups? So, too much of your life
can be lived trying to make everyone happy and pacify people. As a Libra Rising, this isn’t
news. You’ve heard it, time and time again. But, the root of it is that you live your life by sharing
love with others in a very intellectual way: through ideas, communication, and rationale. So, if
things aren’t logical and light and agreeable, it can be tough to feel the love. Yet, you just need
to see these disagreements as chances to build true love with others, as real love persists in the
face of conflict and disagreement. The ones who truly love you will continue to do so, even
when they want to strangle you or vice versa. And with that Aries Descendant, you are definitely
learning that in your personal relationships, which will, in turn, keep you in touch with your more
fiery, assertive side.

So, what happens when you’re having your Venus Return? The Return of the chart ruler is the
time where a person can truly turn their life around, rewriting their story and proceeding with a
different approach. Your Venus Return will occur about once a year and this is the time where
you can redo your love-focused approach to life. You will feel it strengthening, making the
concerns of your Venus house more powerful and pressing. But, this is occurring in order for
you to really examine what’s going on in your life, in terms of the love you’re giving and
receiving. For everyone, the Venus Return is a time for relationships to become stronger, to feel
more personally attractive, and to become more attuned to the beauty of life.

Yet, all of that is your life. Therefore, you’re always going to really enjoy your Venus Return,
even if you have squares or oppositions happening with Venus. I think the love you spend so
much time pursuing and giving is going to magnify, opening up your heart and allowing you to
touch even more hearts. Libra Rising people are often unanimously adored by the people that
they know. They’re the kinds of people who are very difficult to dislike. So, the Venus Return will
only awaken you to how much love you’re surrounded by. And any neurotic attempts to please
other people or to find that special someone can be modified during this time because you can
stop and realize what a wonderful person you are and how love always has a way of finding
you.