Taurus

Meaning

Taurus is the second sign of the zodiac, the 30° that follow Aries. It is earth in its fixed form, ruled by Venus, and astrologers read it as the sign of what lasts: the body and the senses, resources, and the patience that lets things grow.

A planet in Taurus tends to move at its own pace, to trust what it can touch and test, and to keep what has proved its worth. Its gifts are steadiness, practical sense, loyalty and a real talent for enjoyment: good food, good materials, a settled place to come back to.

Its difficulties are the same steadiness pushed too far: holding on after something has stopped working, mistaking possessions for safety, resisting change simply because it is change. The opposite sign, Scorpio, brings what Taurus tends to keep at a distance, depth, sharing and letting go, and many astrologers read the pair as one question: what is mine, and what is ours.

Tradition exalts the Moon here, at 3°: feelings are said to find calm and fertile ground. Mars is in its detriment, its haste slowed down, and some modern astrologers add Pluto, the modern ruler of Scorpio. No planet is in its fall in Taurus in the traditional scheme.

In practice

• The Sun in Taurus, from 19 or 20 April to 20 or 21 May (the day shifts from year to year): a sense of self that grows by building, slowly and for keeps.
• The Moon in Taurus, exalted: a need for calm, comfort and continuity; moods change slowly and settle well.
• Taurus rising, on the Ascendant: an unhurried first impression. Venus rules the chart, so its sign, house and aspects show where that patience and that taste are invested.
• Venus in Taurus is in its domicile, sensual and constant. Mars in Taurus is slow to start and hard to stop: effort becomes endurance.
• Taurus on a house cusp: that area of life is approached practically, with a wish for stability and quality, sometimes for longer than it needs.

Across traditions

• Jyotish calls the sign Vrishabha, gives it to Venus and exalts the Moon there too; measured from the stars, it begins about 24° further on, and the Sun enters it around 15 May.
• Human Design places gates 27, 24, 2 and 23 wholly in Taurus, with the end of gate 3 and nearly all of gate 8.
• The Chinese calendar opens Taurus with Gǔyǔ, “grain rain”, and sets Lìxià, “start of summer”, at 15° Taurus, where the month of the Snake (sì) begins: the Chinese summer starts in the middle of this sign.

Origin and history

Babylonian astronomers saw here the Bull of Heaven, and the Pleiades, the small cluster on its shoulder, opened their list of the stars in the Moon’s path. The Greeks kept the bull, Tauros, and told how Zeus took the shape of a white bull to carry Europa across the sea to Crete.

The red star Aldebaran marks the Bull’s eye. Precession has carried it to about 10° of the sign Gemini, where Ulune’s table of fixed stars places it. By the boundaries astronomers published in 1930, the Sun now crosses the constellation Taurus from about 14 May to 21 June, and since 1990 the June solstice has fallen among its stars.

How Ulune calculates it

A body is in Taurus from 30° to 60° of tropical longitude, measured from the March equinox point. In the dignity table Venus holds its domicile here and the Moon its exaltation, at 3° by tradition; Mars is in detriment, and no planet is in fall. The triplicity rulers are Venus by day, the Moon by night and Mars participating, after Dorotheus; the terms run Venus to 8°, Mercury to 14°, Jupiter to 22°, Saturn to 27° and Mars to 30°, and the faces are Mercury, the Moon and Saturn. The readings’ decans are those of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, ruled by Venus, Mercury and Saturn. Ulune scores dignities for the seven traditional planets only, so Pluto’s modern detriment is not counted.

Correspondences