When I first started to learn astrology I noticed that everyone stressed the need for balance, but as I got deeper I saw less and less emphasis.

Nothing is more important than finding balance.

My favorite way to get to understand the twelve zodiac archetypes is through the sister signs. Aries and Libra, Taurus and Scorpio, Gemini and Sagittarius, Cancer and Capricorn, Aquarius and Leo, and lastly but certainly not least Virgo and Pisces.

Although we often use the terms opposites to describe these signs, I like to think of them more as two ends of the same line.

Aries is how the self asserts themselves. Ruled by Mars, it is the masculine energy within all of us. It is the force that takes the ego, your Sun, and lets it move mountains. There’s a reason the Sun shines best through Aries. On the opposite end is Libra. Ruled by Venus, it is the feminine energy representing balance and harmony. It’s what let’s your Sun dance close enough to another sun without colliding. One is not inherently better, because you can’t have one without the other. They both bring something to the table. Aries allows us to never get stepped on, to pursue our dreams, and to be true to ourselves while Libra allows us to dance with other souls that help us grow along the way and to gain happiness and companionship. Life is in intricate balance between pursuing yourself and fostering strong relationships. If someone spends too much time in relationships they tend to lose themselves, but if someone spends too much time alone they begin to become lonely and they can’t learn from the souls around them. It is up to everyone to strike balance between the self and others to have a healthy sense of self and to have healthy relationships.

Taurus is stability, practicality, and grounding. A Taurus will spend forever deciding where to move, and once they do they will not be swayed. Taurus is the creature comforts of the world. Representing the Earth, it is the material and the familiar. Scorpio is transformations, life and death, rebuilding. Like a phoenix a Scorpio will endlessly die and be reborn from the ashes. Scorpio gets naked with the dark pools of Plutonian water and makes it their home. They face the deep depths with bravery, using it as fuel, letting them channel their power. Scorpio often deals with abuse, manipulation, fear of abandonment, but it is from these lows that a Scorpio can soar so high. However, one would not be able to go from high to low and back again without the grounding of Taurus. Scorpio can be a scary world and Taurus allows for a sense of comfort, a sense of value that can arm any soul through any journey. It is important that Taurus learns to get familiar with the Scorpio intensity, because how can you know comfort if you don’t know discomfort? How can you know stability if you do not know change? If one avoids the transforming energy of Pluto too much in favor of the Taurus creature comforts they can find themselves being pulled under anyway. The trick with anything Pluto is to let go of the control, don’t be afraid of what may come because you will always have the Taurus grounding to get you through. Get familiar with your shadows and enjoy the physical world.

Gemini is lower learning. It is grade school. It’s learning to tie your shoes, brush your teeth, jump rope, and ride a bike. Think about all of the things you learn in the first few years of your life. Gemini has a lot of energy and a very short attention span, bouncing from whatever can hold its interest, taking in as much as they can as they go. Gemini is quick spurts of energy. Sagittarius is higher learning. It’s college. It’s taking what Gemini learns and going deeper. Whatever Jupiter touches it expands, and as Sagittarius is on a quest for knowledge it wants to know everything it can on whatever subject strikes them. It is foreign lands, foreign ideas, and foreign beliefs. Its long journeys around the world. You need the bursts of Gemini to learn the basics, but when you find something that truly touches your heart Sagittarius takes over, pursuing your passions with intensity. Without Sagittarius you would be a jack of all trades but a master of none, while without Gemini you would never know what you are really interested in. The balance between shallow and deep knowledge helps you get direction in life. Master the Gemini and you will fly like Sagittarius’s arrow across the sky.

Cancer is the inner mother as well as the inner child, as well all have both within us. Children often manifest their moon sign traits more than their sun, suggesting that we are innately Cancer, yet as we grow and experience we evolve into our Sun. Cancer is what is hidden underneath, vulnerable and raw. It is where we may put up walls to protect. It is where we go to find home. Capricorn is the father. It is practicality, structure, and discipline. It is the light that is used to funnel our most private self into something ready for the public eye. Capricorn is the stern hand telling us no and handing out consequences when we don’t listen. Cancer may cover the emotional baggage someone may have, what scars they picked up from childhood, but Capricorn covers our karmic baggage. Capricorn brings lessons so that we can grow and refine our energy into something great. If you ever witnessed the effects of a single parent you can understand the difficulty of lacking one end of this spectrum. Cancer is impulsive, wanting to sooth their inner child and needs Capricorn’s discipline to help them become more than what they entered this world as. Capricorn needs Cancer to be a reminder of our foundation, and the fact that we all do have an inner child, and if we neglect them they will lash out. The father disciplines and the mother soothes. You do not just discipline a young child and then send them away. You give them a time out and then afterwards you comfort their cries, letting them know that you still love them. Take care of your inner child, allow yourself to be the mother, but never forget the importance of Capricorn’s lessons, build on your foundations.

Leo is heart. It is where happiness comes from. Leo is the Sun, wanting their own planets but providing endless warmth and life in return. Leo is the ego. It is I. It’s having fun, romance and dating, children, creating things, anything you put your heart into. Leo is the center of attention, dramatic and fiery. Leo is the brave lion, pursuing their self with courage. Aquarius is the water bearer, the humanitarian, the one who sits in the background and invents knew ways to help society, often going unappreciated for their contributions, but never letting that stop them. While Leo wants to be the center of attention and the trend setter, Aquarius wants to be unique, rebellious, and controversial. An Aquarius will never fit the standard. Aquarius sets trends of their own, but they are usually years ahead of the rest of the world. Their ideas will only catch on after they have moved on. Aquarius is the group, its friends. It’s all the souls the universe sends you to help you on your way. Aquarius is the head. Its logic, it detaches itself from the heart to make the best choice for the group. The goal is to find a balance between the head and the heart. Let your inner Leo be the light guiding you on your path, but never forget about the cards Aquarius brings to the table. And when helping the group and making society better don’t forget to prioritize yourself as well. Find the balance between the self and society. Be unique but contribute to the collective consciousness. This polarity reminds us that while we are each our own universe, we are also all one.

Virgo is form, structure, and order. It cleans up the physical world. It is your daily chores and routine, your nine to five job for minimum wage. Virgo is the last sign of the first six signs of self and focuses a lot on achieving perfection of ourselves in order to be ready for the second six signs of others. It is very easy for Virgos to get down when they realize they will never be as perfect as they want to be. The key is to understand that you can’t achieve perfection one day and then everything will work flawlessly for the rest of your life. Your goal is to never stop working on improving yourself. Use the Virgo eye for detail to notice the room for improvement in your life and take steps to improve. That is how you achieve Virgo perfection. Pisces, on the other hand is after a different kind of perfection, spiritual perfection. Being the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces is preparing the soul for heaven. Again, like the Virgo, know that perfection is not a place you can arrive at, but something you do. Always work on your spiritual growth. Pisces is chaos and content. It is the energy that fills the form of Virgo. It is the subconscious. It is solitude where we can truly be alone with our soul. With Pisces and Virgo, it is important to balance your time between improving your spiritual self and your physical world. Pisces does not have boundaries, so it is up to you to use your Virgo to define where you end and where the rest of the world begins. It is also up to you to fill your form up with the substance of Pisces. We are more than just physical bodies walking around, we are souls. Find balance between the two to create the ultimate harmony between yourself and the world.

It is important to understand that all of these pairs operate on a spectrum rather than a binary. We all have each sign within us. It is up to us to learn how to blend the energy of each end to create something stable.

Be patient in your journey. As you try to adjust balance in your life, it’s okay if things swing in the other way too much. Just stop, take a moment to breathe, and then adjust again.

You are like a pendulum swinging between the two ends, eventually you will settle back into the center every time.

~Positive energy