My Sun is in Taurus

I was born in spring, between April 20th and 20th May, when the Sun was in Taurus, the Sign of the Bull. All bulls are male, but of course the Taurean person could equally be female.

Taurus is the fixed earth sign. Fixed signs are more powerful than adaptable, whereas Mutable signs like Gemini are more adaptable than powerful, and Cardinal signs like Aries have an equal balance of power and adaptability. So the Fixed signs are the best suited for continuing things that have already been established and are still going strong.

Earth is the heaviest, darkest, coldest, least volatile element, and the easiest to contain. Elemental earth represents the physical or material level of the personality- our physical body in other words. On this level we move and act through the physical action of our muscles. We perceive through our five ordinary senses, and our strength is measured by our physical muscle power, and sustained by the food we eat.

The qualities of Earth are the exact opposite of the qualities of Fire. Every new thing must first be conceived in imagination, and sustained through belief until it can be realised. Every new idea begins as an intuitive insight. Fire represents these qualities of imagination, intuition, and belief, so we may say that everything begins in Fire. Likewise, everything worthwhile must end in Earth- in physical, material reality. Beautiful, high-flown fantasies are of little use if they cannot make a difference to the “real” world where people plod along, weighed down by burdens, hungry and in pain. The ancient religions recognised that all things begin from the Divine spirit, flow down into the material world, and back up again to the Divine. Humankind becoming incarnated in the material world was not some tragic accident! We Earthy types recognise that the natural, material world is just as holy as the highest heaven.

So if Earth is the slowest and heaviest element, and if Fixed signs are the strongest and least adaptable, then Taurus, the Fixed Earth sign, must be above all stubborn and stolid, like the bull who stands his ground and will not budge. We are not agile or lively, but when we are provoked sufficiently we move with terrible momentum, trampling down all obstacles! Generally we go slowly and deliberately. We think and talk slowly, not from stupidity, as the quick-witted Arian or Gemini may suppose, but because we want to establish the facts, fair and square. We would rather measure our intelligence by its depth and thoroughness, than by its speed. We distrust vague generalities and high-flown fantasising. Lighter, swifter minds are exasperated by our tendency to “make a meal of everything!” But we would retort that “if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly!”

On the farm, the bull has an enviable role, being mainly occupied in mating with as many cows as possible. Like our farmyard namesake, we Taureans appreciate physical pleasures, because these are more available in the well-established phase of any practical endeavour. By contrast, the Capricorn type is best adapted to the early phases of a practical project, before its material benefits have come on stream- hence he has less need of sensual and material rewards. We Taureans identify with our own body, rather than seeing it as a mere vehicle or an encumbrance. We are quite rightly offended by some peoples’ mistaken assumption that our practical, sensual nature is inferior to more spiritual, intellectual or emotional types. In fact we Taureans are equally capable of love and kindness, which we will typically express through providing practical help and physical enjoyment. In relationships, we will strive to be a “good provider”, and to leave a solid legacy behind us.

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