Taurus

Taurus follows the first burst of spring with its settling: the shoots of Aries take root. The sign inclines toward patience, loyalty, a feel for what is real and useful, and a deep pleasure in the senses — food, touch, music, the garden. It tends to move slowly and to hold its ground once it has chosen it. Its strength is endurance; its difficulty can be letting go of what no longer serves.

Element, mode and polarity

Taurus is an Earth sign of the fixed mode. Earth makes it practical and grounded; the fixed mode makes it the sign that keeps and consolidates what has been started. It is feminine (receptive, inward) and nocturnal. Its fellow Earth signs are Virgo and Capricorn; its fellow fixed signs are Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.

Rulership and dignities

• Domicile: Venus, the night house of Venus (Libra is her day house).
• Exaltation: the Moon, traditionally at 3° Taurus.
• Detriment: Mars, whose home Scorpio lies opposite.
• Fall: no traditional planet has its fall in Taurus.

There is no separate modern ruler; Venus rules Taurus in both schools.

In a chart

Planets in Taurus tend to work steadily and to want something tangible to show for their effort. Mercury here inclines to think things through and stick to a conclusion; the Moon, exalted, tends toward emotional constancy and comfort in routine; Mars may act slowly but with stamina. The house with Taurus on its cusp is often where a person builds, saves, and resists being hurried. With Taurus on the Ascendant, Venus becomes the chart ruler, and the person often comes across as calm, unhurried and attentive to comfort and beauty.

The tradition

Ptolemy counts Taurus among the four solid signs, those that follow the turning points of the year, when the season's quality is felt most firmly. He explains the Moon's exaltation here: after meeting the Sun in Aries, she shows her first crescent in Taurus, the first sign of her own triplicity. Lilly calls Taurus "earthly, cold, dry, melancholy, feminine, nocturnal, fixed", of the earthly triplicity and the South, the night house of Venus. It governs the neck and throat. Its places are stables, pastures with no houses near, ground where wheat is sown, and in a house cellars and low rooms. Lilly describes the type as of middle height but full and strongly set, broad in the shoulders and forehead. Its colour is white with citrine; its countries include Ireland, Switzerland and Persia. The Earth triplicity is ruled by Venus by day and the Moon by night.

In the tarot

The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow.

Major Arcana: The Hierophant

Its three decans: Five of Pentacles (Mercury, 0°–10°), Six of Pentacles (Moon, 10°–20°), Seven of Pentacles (Saturn, 20°–30°)

Suit: Pentacles (Earth)

Related

• Scorpio, the opposite sign
• Venus, its ruler
• Second House, its natural house
• Earth · Fixed