The Symbolism of Scales - Balance, Justice and Libra
Introduction
The Scales have been used as both
a Symbol for Justice and ‘Balance’.
The Scales are also a Constellation - Libra.
The sacred books of India call the Constellation Tula,
the Tamil Tulam or Tolam.
And the word Libra, from Latin libra, plural librae,
Greek lithra, is a weighing scale.
But not only are the Scales, Libra, Justice and Balance
inter-related symbolically but so is the seesaw.
So what on earth does all this mean?
The Scales and Justice
The original use of the symbol of the Scales
to represent Justice may be Chaldean,
but it is perhaps more widely known
from Egyptian pyramid paintings.
Each Egyptian's soul was ‘judged’ in the Hall of Maat
- depicted in the book of the dead
and book five of the book of gates - when they died.
Their heart, symbolic of their conscience and their ‘record of deeds’,
was weighed against the feather of Ma'at (an ostrich feather)
on scales which represented balance and justice.
But, it can also be found in the Bible, in the Book of Daniel,
when Belshazzar is terrified by a hand that writes on the wall,
from whence comes the expression.
The writing on the wall
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand,
and wrote upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace:
and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Then the king’s countenance was changed,
and his thoughts troubled him,
so that the joints of his loins were loosed,
and his knees smote one against another.
The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers,
the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. ...
Then came in all the king’s wise men:
but they could not read the writing,
nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled,
and his countenance was changed in him,
and his lords were astonished.
So the Queen stepped in and made a suggestion
Daniel
There is a man in thy kingdom,
in whom is the spirit of the holy gods;
and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, ...
was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father,
..., made master of the magicians,
astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
... so let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
And Daniel basically said that the king had not only
denied the existence of ‘the Lord of Heaven’;
but had turned to worshipping the equivalent of money.
"You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron,
wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand.
But you did not honour the God who holds in his hand
your life and all your ways.
Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription."
So Daniel took each of the words in turn
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided,
and given to the Medes and Persians.
And that very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans
was killed and Darius the Median took the kingdom.
In other words the symbol of the law we now use
was once used as a symbol of whether one defied
the gods or God, going against Nature, losing all humility,
ignoring one’s conscience and worshipping money instead.
Defying the Laws of Nature puts everything out of Balance,
we disrupt the Balance of Nature.
And an astrologer, a lady called Miss Clerke,
noticed that the 7th month, Tashritu,
the sign of Libra was associated with ‘the Holy Mound,
Tul Ku, designating the biblical Tower of Babel’.
The Constellations of Libra and Virgo
Astraea, was the virgin goddess of justice,
innocence, and purity.
She was the last god to live with humans
during the Golden Age, one of the old Greek
religion's five deteriorating Ages of Man.
According to Ovid,
Astraea abandoned the earth during the Iron Age.
Fleeing from the new wickedness of humanity,
she ascended to heaven to become the constellation Virgo.
Johann Bode, Uranographia 1801
"carrying the Scales of Justice with her
which became the nearby constellation Libra"
The symbolism is thus intended to indicate
that justice is not the breaking of the laws of man
but the justice meted out to humans
who break the laws of Nature
and deny the authority of the gods.
And it is meted out by the gods themselves.
And Virgo/Justice is blind to man’s protestations.
If we live by the sword we die by the sword.
If one was to take this belief as it stands,
something like climate change or all the new viruses
and illnesses are punishment from the gods.
And though some may view this as superstition,
men do seem to have decided to wage a war against Nature,
defying every law,
and are openly denying the existence of any gods.
Robert Browning - from The Ring and the Book
There’s an end to all hope of justice more.
Astraea's gone indeed, let hope go too!
Who is it dares impugn the natural law?
Return of the Golden Age
But there is hope. According to myth,
Astraea will one day come back to Earth,
"bringing with her the return of the utopian Golden Age
of which she was the ambassador".
And during the European Renaissance,
Astraea became associated with the general spirit of renewal.
Indeed, the figure of Queen Elizabeth I
was deliberately promoted as the virgin Queen
reigning over a new Golden Age.
And in Russia, Astraea was identified
with Catherine the Great.
The Tirrukural - Book 1 Affability
Those are sweet words which men of virtue speak
Mingling love with sincerity.
More pleasing than a gracious gift
Are sweet words with a smiling face.
Real charity is a smiling welcome
And sweet words heartfelt.
Want and sorrow shall never be theirs
Who have a pleasant word for all.
Sweet words and humility are one's true jewels;
All else are foreign and none.
Sweet words well-chosen diminish ill
And increase virtue.
Helpful words yoked with courtesy
Breed justice and strengthen virtue.
Sweet words free of meanness yield joy
Here and hereafter.
How can one pleased with sweet words oneself
Use harsh words to others?
To use harsh words when sweet ones are at hand
Is to prefer raw fruit to ripe.