Libra baby gifts and keepsakes

A Libra baby is born around 23 September to 22 October, under the scales. Libra is the cardinal air sign ruled by Venus, the planet of beauty, love and getting along. These babies are sociable from the start and happiest in company, and they notice the mood of a room long before anyone thinks they can.

That tells you most of what you need. A good Libra gift is lovely to look at or to hear, it is meant to be shared with another person, and it keeps the peace instead of causing a squabble. One beautiful thing beats a pile of loud ones. Here are eight ideas, then the sign itself, explained for the person holding the wrapping paper.

The eight best gifts for a Libra baby

1. A wind up music box for the shelf. Venus loves harmony, and a gentle tune changes the air of a room.
2. A beautiful constellation or glyph print, framed as a matching pair. Libra is the sign of balance, and two pictures hung side by side show it.
3. A rose to plant for the birth. The rose is the flower most often given to Libra, and it comes back every year.
4. A small world set chosen in pairs. Two rabbits, two bears, two boats: Libra will match them up and give each one a friend.
5. A book made for two readers. Stories where the adult reads one line and the child joins in the next suit a sign that does everything better with someone.
6. One well made piece of clothing in soft pink or pale blue. Libra has an eye for loveliness, and one good thing outlasts five ordinary ones.
7. A copper framed keepsake with the birth details. Copper is the metal of Venus, warm in colour and kind to the eye.
8. An evening off for the parents, together. A Libra child feels the ease between the grown ups, so their rest is a gift to the baby too.

The Libra sign, explained for a gift giver

The scales: the only object in the zodiac

Every other figure in the zodiac is a creature or a person: a ram, a crab, twins, a water bearer. Libra alone is a thing. It is a pair of balance scales, the old kind with a beam and two pans that hang level when both sides weigh the same.

The stars of Libra were once counted as the claws of the scorpion next door. Their two brightest stars still carry Arabic names that mean the southern claw and the northern claw. Over time the claws became the beam of the scales, and the sign was given its own picture.

For a gift giver, the scales say three things. Balance: Libra likes things that are even, matched and fair. Two sides: the sign always sees the other person’s view, and it likes gifts that bring two people together. Weighing: Libra takes time to choose, so a gift that offers a few good options is kinder than one that offers fifty. There is a fuller reading of the child on the Libra baby page.

The glyph: a beam over a level line

The Libra glyph is two lines, one above the other. The bottom line is straight. The top line runs level, then rises into a small rounded hump in the middle, then runs level again. It draws the beam of the scales resting on its stand.

Many astrologers also see the sun half set on the horizon in it. That fits, because the Libra season begins at the September equinox, when day and night are about the same length all over the Earth. The sky itself is in balance on Libra’s first day.

The glyph is graceful rather than bold, which makes it lovely in fine embroidery, thin metal lines or a light pencil drawing.

Air, cardinal and Venus, in plain words

Element: air. The twelve signs fall into four groups called elements: fire, earth, air and water. The air signs, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, live through people, talk and ideas. For Libra, the air is mostly about other people: who is here, who is left out, whether everyone is getting on. The four elements guide explains the groups.

Modality: cardinal. Each sign also has a way of moving, called its modality. Cardinal signs begin a season. Libra opens autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern. A cardinal sign starts things, and Libra starts connections: the first smile at a stranger, the first friend at playgroup. More on the three ways of moving in cardinal, fixed and mutable children.

Ruler: Venus. The ruling planet of a sign is the one whose nature colours it most. Venus rules love, beauty, music, pleasant company and peace. Venus also rules Taurus, but where Taurus enjoys beauty with the body, through touch and taste, Libra enjoys it through the eyes, the ears and the company of other people.

A small reference table for Libra

	Libra
Dates	around 23 September to 22 October
Figure	the scales
Glyph	a beam with a rounded rise, over a straight line
Element	air
Modality	cardinal
Ruler	Venus
Colours	soft pink and pale blue
Zodiac stone	chrysolite, the old name usually read today as peridot; an old Spanish list gives jasper
Calendar birthstone	sapphire for September births; opal or tourmaline for October births
Metal	copper
Flowers	the rose, and hydrangea
Keyword	company

Sign stones and month stones

There are two separate stone lists, and a Libra baby has a place on both.

The zodiac stone belongs to the sign, whatever the date. In the 1913 table of zodiac gems by George Frederick Kunz, the list most English writers still use, Libra’s stone is chrysolite. That is an old name for a clear yellow green gem, and most people today read it as peridot. The older Spanish list in the same book gives Libra jasper instead. You will also see opal on many modern sign lists, borrowed from October.

The calendar birthstone belongs to the month:

• Born from 23 to 30 September: sapphire.
• Born from 1 to 22 October: opal or tourmaline.

Most Libra babies are October babies, since only the last week of September falls under the scales. But a late September Libra has sapphire, not opal, so check the date before you choose a stone for a keepsake.

Copper, soft colours and the rose

Copper is the metal of Venus. It has a warm pink glow that suits the sign perfectly, and a copper frame, a copper engraved tag or a copper wire star on a shelf carries Libra quietly.

The Libra colours are gentle ones: rose pink, powder blue, sometimes a soft green. Nothing loud. The rose is the flower most often given to Libra, a flower that has belonged to Venus since ancient times, with hydrangea as a softer second choice. Both are flowers of gardens, of shared spaces, of somewhere you sit with someone.

Libra gifts through the first years

At the baby shower, before the sign is sure

A shower gift with a sign on it is a guess, because babies keep their own calendar. Libra sits between Virgo, an earth sign ruled by Mercury, and Scorpio, a water sign ruled by Mars and, in modern charts, Pluto. A baby due on 26 September could arrive early as a Virgo. One due on 19 October could arrive late as a Scorpio.

So at the shower, choose a gift that suits a careful Virgo, a deep Scorpio and a sociable Libra all at once. Something well made and built to last does that. A wooden music box, a hand stitched quilt for the wall, a beautiful first book of lullabies: Virgo will like the care in it, Scorpio will keep it for life and Libra will love the beauty and the music. The neighbours have their own pages, Virgo baby gifts and Scorpio baby gifts, if the baby lands on the other side of the line.

A rose is another good shower present, given as a promise: “We will plant it together once the baby is here.” For a birth close to 22 or 23 September, or 22 or 23 October, the guide to being born on the cusp explains how to find the sign for certain.

When the baby is new, and on the naming day

Once the baby is here, the sign is known and the real Libra gifts can start. The best newborn gift for this sign is about people, because a Libra baby is born into a web of relationships and feels every thread of it.

Make a small book called “The people who were waiting for you”. Give one page to each person in the baby’s close circle: a photograph, their name, what the baby will call them and one line about how they are related. Grandparents on both sides, aunts and uncles, the neighbour who brought soup. For a sign that lives through company, it is a first map of the world.

On the naming day, the name itself can be the gift. The Libra baby names page lists names with their meanings and why each suits the sign. Have the chosen name lettered beautifully, with its meaning underneath and the glyph above, in a copper frame.

The first birthday

The guide to first birthday gifts by sign puts Libra with the small world presents, the animal sets and farmhouses, and says a Libra child will pair the figures up. That is exactly right. If you go that way, choose the set in pairs from the start, so no animal is left on its own.

Another lovely Libra first birthday gift is something made for two people at once. A soft ball to roll back and forth across the floor. A pair of shakers, one for the child and one for whoever sits opposite. A board book with a mirror page at the back where two faces can look out together. A Libra one year old does not want a toy to play alone with; they want a reason for you to stay on the floor.

For the day itself, a birthday party for Leo, Libra or Sagittarius explains how to build a Libra party around connection, and why the birthday child should still get one choice that is entirely theirs. If there is an older brother or sister, bring them a very small present too. The Libra child will notice, and it will make their own gift feel better.

From two to four

The toddler years are when Libra’s love of company and beauty becomes play. Good gifts in this stretch:

• A toy tea set for two. Two cups, two plates, a little pot: a real invitation to sit down together.
• A toy balance scale. A simple wooden balance with two pans, for weighing toy fruit, wooden blocks and soft fabric shapes. It is the sign’s own figure, turned into a game.
• Simple musical instruments in pairs, for playing together rather than alone.
• A small easel with chunky crayons or paint. Venus rules art, and many Libra toddlers love to make something pretty and show it.
• A doll or soft animal that comes with a friend. Two together, so there is always company in the toy box.

Gifts by kind

Nursery art, and what each kind needs

There are three kinds of sign art for a nursery, and each needs different information from the family.

A constellation print shows the stars of Libra joined into the scales. It is a gentle pattern, a few soft points of light, and it suits a calm room. All you need to know is that the baby is a Libra, so it can be ordered as soon as the birth is announced.

A glyph print shows the Libra symbol alone, clean and simple. It also needs only the sign. It pairs well with the name.

A birth sky print shows where the Sun, the Moon and the rising sign stood at the exact minute of birth. It is the most personal of the three, and the most demanding: you need the date, the exact time and the place of birth. Without the time, the rising sign cannot be found, and the Moon may be uncertain too if it changed sign that day. The three parts of a chart are explained in Sun, Moon and rising, and the rising sign in children has its own guide.

Here is the Libra way to hang them: in a pair. The constellation on the left, the glyph on the right, the same frame and the same size, level with each other. It is a small visual joke about the scales, and it looks calm and finished on a wall. If the birth sky print shows the Moon in Libra too, the child is a double Libra, and the balance theme fits even better.

Personalised keepsakes

Libra keepsakes should feel lovely in the hand and fair to everyone involved.

• A two family keepsake. A framed print with both sides of the family named, in equal space, around the baby’s name in the middle. A small family tree done with balance in mind.
• A copper engraved tag with the name, the date and the glyph, for a keepsake box.
• A stone for the box, chosen from the right list: peridot for the zodiac stone, or sapphire, opal or tourmaline for the birth month, in a little pouch with a card saying what it is.

A memory box kept by two

For a sign of partnership, try a memory box with two voices in it. On the same day in the first month, each parent, or each of the two people raising the child, writes a letter to the baby. Neither reads the other’s. Both letters go into the box, sealed, side by side.

Add a few things from that first season: the hospital bracelet, the first card, a pressed rose petal, a note of what was playing on the radio. Then close the lid. It is a record of the baby seen by two people at once, which is how a Libra child sees almost everything.

Libra clothing with the glyph

Libra notices beauty, so here quality matters more than number. One hand knitted cardigan in soft pink, pale blue or a gentle sage, with a small glyph stitched on the pocket, is a better Libra present than a set of slogan tops. Pick soft natural colours that go with everything, choose the next size along, and pick something the parents will enjoy dressing the baby in, because they will be the ones choosing.

Books and toys that suit the temperament

Libra books are books for two. Look for:

• Call and answer books, where the adult reads a line and the child adds the sound or the word.
• Gentle lullaby and song books, with simple tunes to sing together.
• Stories about friends, sharing, taking turns and making up after a falling out.
• Books with really beautiful pictures, because the eye matters to this child.
• Stories that end fairly, where the wrong is put right and everyone is friends again by the last page.

For play, think company, beauty and pairs: small world sets, puppets that talk to each other, tea parties, music and art. A Libra child will happily play near you for a long stretch, and the first friendships by sign guide shows how that love of company grows into friendship later. For more on how this sign plays at different ages, see how each sign plays.

Experiences for a Libra baby

Venus loves art, music and pretty places, and Libra loves to enjoy them in company. Good experience gifts:

• A series of music sessions for babies and carers.
• A morning at a gallery or museum that welcomes prams, with someone to share it with.
• A family portrait sitting, so the whole circle is in one picture.
• A day out at a beautiful garden in rose season, with a picnic for everyone.

A gift for the parents of a Libra baby

The Libra child reading says a household’s atmosphere matters more to this child than any parenting method. Libra babies feel the ease or strain between the adults faster than you would believe. So the kindest gift for the parents is a little peace between them.

Offer an evening off together. You come round, you mind the baby, and the two of them go for a walk, a meal or simply a sleep. When they come home rested and on good terms, the baby feels it. The Libra Moon page explains why harmony around this child counts for so much, and the Libra parent page is a fond read for a parent who shares the sign.

Card messages for a Libra baby

Short, original lines to copy into the card:

• “Born when day and night are in balance. Welcome to a world that has been waiting to meet you.”
• “A Venus baby deserves something lovely. This is for the shelf, and the hug is for you.”
• “Here is a friend for your toy box, so nobody ever has to play alone.”
• “To the newest member of a very full table. There is always a seat for you here.”
• “Two of us, one of you, and a lot of love on both sides of the scales.”
• “Happy first birthday, sweet Libra. Thank you for every smile you shared this year.”
• “For autumn’s gentlest arrival: may your days be kind and your company good.”

What a Libra baby can do without

A few kinds of present clash with this temperament.

• Loud, harsh toys. Sirens, shouting voices and clattering alarms. Libra babies are unsettled by raised voices, and a toy that shouts is no friend.
• Giant mixed sets that ask for endless choosing. A box with fifty different pieces can overwhelm a sign that weighs every choice. A few good things are kinder.
• Gifts made only for playing alone. A toy that needs a child to sit by themselves for a long time misses the point of Libra completely.
• A present for the baby and nothing for the sibling. Libra feels unfairness early. A tiny thing for the older child keeps the scales level.
• Things chosen for loudness over beauty. A clashing, garish design will not be loved. Simple and pretty wins every time.

A calm word on safety, just once: crystals, stones, jewellery, small ornaments, cushions and decorative blankets belong on a shelf or in a box as keepsakes, never in the cot and never in the mouth.

Something lovely, given with love

A Libra gift does not have to be grand. It has to be beautiful, shared and fair. A music box on the shelf, two prints in balance on the wall, a tea set laid for two, a rose that blooms on the birthday every year. Give this child something to enjoy with somebody, and you have given them their sign.

All twelve signs have their own gift pages on zodiac baby gifts, so you can find the right present for every child in the family.

Sources and references

• American Gem Society: birthstones by month, for sapphire (September) and opal and tourmaline (October).
• GIA: birthstones, a second reference for the calendar birthstone list.
• George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913), Project Gutenberg, for chrysolite as the zodiac stone of Libra and the old Spanish list.
• Unicode chart: Miscellaneous Symbols, where the Libra glyph is character U+264E.
• EarthSky: Zubenelgenubi, alpha star of Libra the Scales, for the claw names and the stars’ history as the scorpion’s claws.
• NHS: reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, for keeping the cot clear.
• NHS: baby and toddler safety, for keeping small objects out of reach.