Persons born from April 21 to May 22, or those who have this sig rising at birth (which can be ascertained only through a knowledge of the hour of birth), will come under the dominion of the earthy, fixed sign Taurus, symbolized by the Bull and governed by the "lesser Fortune," Venus. In the case of Taurus, the difference between the active and passive types is by no means so remarkable as in Aries, and with this sign the passive type is, in some ways, the more harmonious and well balanced. It is the difference between the angry bull in the ring and the hard-working ox and the placid cow.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Taurus almost always gives extreme sturdiness of body, with great breadth of shoulder; there is at least a stockiness, a thick-set figure, probably with rather short limbs in comparison to the general size of the body. The muscular development is usually great, but with some danger of fat if proper exercise is not taken. However, Taurus being full of natural energy, this tendency is usually held in check.
The cranium is distinctly short in proportion to its breadth, and the general shape of the face is square, with flat planes and an expression of stubbornness and endurance, indicating great force of character capable of withstanding {15} whatever strain may be put upon it. The hair is usually dark. When it is not so, the type is very often so blond as to be almost albino. In the dark type, the hair is generally crinkly and very often shows a thick tuftlike growth above the center of the forehead, curiously similar to the growth between the bull’s horns. The eyes are usually dark, and their expression, though determined and courageous, is exceedingly soft and affectionate when not in anger. The tendency of the nose is to be short and fleshy, the mouth large but shapely, and the lips often full and voluptuous. The chin is strong and the jaw square, but not necessarily prominent; the neck is short and powerful. The general expression is very characteristic of the symbol of this sign; combining great mildness with great strength. In the active type, the aggressive qualities are accentuated. There is a great deal of self-indulgence and laziness in the lower form of Taurus, and where this is combined with an exceptionally strong will, there is apt to be a certain harshness in the features. The native is usually patient, calm and long-suffering, but a very small cause of irritation may throw him into a fury which is at times positively dangerous, being totally ungoverned by reason. People of this type seem to have no higher conception of victory than the imposition of the will by means of brute force. The lower type is a sort of degeneration of the active; coarseness marks the expression, greed and sensuality are very clearly indicated. This is sometimes combined with that curious type of cunning which one associates with people like the Norman peasants of Guy de Maupassant. It is fortunate that these types are rarely seen in their {16} integrity. It may be noted that every Ascendant has a tendency to take something from its succeeding sign. We have just noticed the modifications of Aries by Taurus, and here again we see in Taurus something borrowed from the diplomatic and suave qualities of the impinging Gemini. The average Taurian is an exceedingly pleasant person. The influence of the ruler, Venus, softens any brutality, and that of the Moon, that is exalted therein, confers a purity which raises the sign from its natural tendency toward the sensual. Ireland is governed by Taurus, and one gets a very good idea of its main characteristics from the people of the Island of the Saints. There is a plump, physical beauty and graciousness which is rendered yet more charming by the exquisite delicacy and chastity of thought. Just as we have seen that Taurus contributes its stubbornness to the English race governed by Aries, so in the Irish race, we see some of the Gemini qualities just mentioned.
People with Taurus rising are naturally somewhat slow and heavy in their movements. They are very much creatures of physical habit. It takes them a long while to acquire an aptitude, but having done so they never lose it. As a general rule, however, it may be asserted that people born with this sign rising are best suited for heavy work, although the sign gives great equilibrium, and it is remarkable that many acrobats and trapeze performers are born under Taurus. A study of these people at their work will convince the observer of this fact, not alone from their physical appearance, but also because one will see that their mind is in their muscles. The strength of Taurus people is very much beyond the average, and their endurance almost superhuman. The {17} nervous system seems not to be so finely ramified as with many people and they are therefore more fitted to endure a severe strain. They do not complain, because they are not sensitive to pain, and this of course makes it sometimes difficult for them to understand the comparative frailty of others.
Taurus governs the throat, and its natives are extremely liable to trouble with this part of the body. The general constitution is usually robust, its power of endurance and resistance making it possible for them to stand privations which would wreck others. They are not nearly so liable to acute sickness as the natives of Aries, but they are slow to throw off any disease that may afflict them. It usually requires a very long and severe illness to pull them down. Their recuperative power is exceedingly strong, but slow to operate. A Taurus native will be reluctant to admit that he is ill and his convalescence may be equally protracted.
Sympathetically, Taurus also governs the heart and organs of generation and circulation. The diseases to which people born under Taurus are susceptible when depleted nervously, or if they are not eliminating properly, are those connected with the throat, such as mumps or quinsy, with the heart, or those peculiar to their sex. They should not neglect any symptoms of scrofula, glandular swellings of the neck or throat, tonsillitis or diphtheria.
Taurus people should avoid too many fats and heating foods. Stimulants in moderation may be taken safely, but malt liquors should be avoided. Moderation should be made the rule of life in eating and drinking, as well as in all things for these people with the bull-like tendencies, {18} as they are by nature addicted to a fondness for excess in every direction.
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS
All cherubic signs hold the greatest force, because they represent at its maximum the power of the elements to which they belong. It is not the fresh burst of youth or the fading fire of age, but the power of manhood at its zenith. There is energy to begin and there is energy to carry on and to finish. All cherubic signs have this great quality of endurance.
Though Taurus represents the least active of the elements, and though its planetary influences are the passive Venus and the Moon, the cherubic nature of the sign is sufficiently strong to make its action upon the character thoroughly positive. For example, the influence of earth in Taurus is to make the native intensely conservative; but this is not the conservatism of idleness or the laziness of contentment, it is the positive conviction that things are right as they are and must not be changed. The Taurus native is therefore always on his guard against influences which make for so-called reform. His mental attitude is like that of the landed gentry or the farmers in an old established civilization, who, feeling that things have gone pretty well on the whole for centuries, are determined to resist radical interference with them, fearing even a desirable reform, lest it should be the thin end of some disastrous wedge. For this reason, the Taurus native is often called stupid, especially by people like the natives of Gemini, who can see nothing but the pure logic of the situation. {19}
The moral character corresponds very closely with its physical indications. The degraded Taurus type is extraordinarily lazy, sensual, and self-indulgent. Even its affection may be a form of debauch, and the mother who spoils her child by overindulgence is showing the worst qualities of Taurus. The tendency in Taurus to overindulgence in the appetites is correlated with the Taurian influence over the throat, which contains the palate. Even the sensual excesses that sometimes are characteristic of the lower type in this sign are likely to be the results of too free dining and wining. In all forms of unrestrained appetite, there is more regard for quantity than for quality.
In the aggressive type, these qualities are largely reversed. The Taurian native loves work for its own sake. He rejoices in conquering and his other pleasures are subsidiary. People of this type are admirable workers, when once interested; nothing frightens them, nothing turns them from their appointed tasks. Obstacles only impel them to greater activity. Taurus men and Taurus women therefore make excellent servants or employees, and they are admirably fitted to act subordinately as superintendents or "bosses" of labor.
The great difficulty of the Taurian native is the difficulty of starting. Neither the planets nor the elements nor the character of the sign itself shows much initiative. Taurus people always need to be trained; they have to be shown exactly what to do, but once they grasp that, they go on forever. Where a new task is imposed upon them, there may be difficulty in consequence of the stubbornness of the type. There is an obstinacy, which often makes persuasion difficult.
Loyalty and fidelity are particularly characteristic {20} of Taurus people. Their affection is indeed almost a doglike devotion without any marked self-assertion.
It is not too much to say that this quiet, steadfast, unimaginative mind is one of the greatest assets of humanity. People with Taurus rising are soundly constructive, but exceedingly cautious. They are always very careful to see that a superstructure, however elegant, should not spoil a building on which it is placed. Their main interest is in the stability of the foundation. Their sense of beauty is great, but they care little for mere decoration, without a foundation of usefulness. Their aspirations are strong, but they insist on proceeding step by step and never make a jump. They never draw a bow at a venture, they never gamble; they are content to work and reap the results in due season and they are not at all cast down by misfortune.
It is perhaps a fault that they are so patient under oppression, but their method is a good one. When their life’s work is ruined, they go on steadily, almost as if nothing had happened, and very often this course of conduct is crowned with ultimate success. By means of this, Taurus people acquire the respect even of those who are naturally inclined to despise their stolidity. In any case, they attract affection; even the most frivolous are compelled to recognize the value of their solid virtues.
In dealings with money, the native of Taurus is extremely trustworthy and honest. He is not a spendthrift and at the same time anything but mean. He is what we call a sound, conservative financier.
In the management of business affairs, his integrity and gentleness combine with his steady, purposeful power to {21} produce excellent results, particularly if of a constructive character. He is quite useless in the management of the vulgar and immoral intrigues which so often pass for diplomacy, whether in business or politics. He has no great gift of speech or of writing. He expresses himself with difficulty, though he feels so strongly.
He is extremely fond of home, the place where he was born; another evidence of his general conservatism. His domestic life should be placid, and generally speaking, happy; indeed, he makes an ideal marriage partner, being much more suited for conventional sex life than for any irregularities of conduct, and he is very fond of children, another safeguard for the home. The Taurian native is very faithful and warm-hearted in his friendships. He is patient and self-controlled, but goad him to a certain point and he will break out in the most violent and dangerous manner. So gentle and kindly is he that it may seem impossible to make him angry. Rash persons presuming on this sometimes go too far with him and find themselves swept away by what appears to them a totally irrational fury.
Parents would do well to realize that their Taurus children are easily hurt and that they become indifferent, unless constantly loved and encouraged. Because of their self-control, they may appear selfsufficient and over-confident, when in reality they are subject to an excess of modesty which amounts almost to an "inferiority complex." They find it difficult to believe that they are loved or appreciated and naturally underrate their own abilities; for this reason they need to be praised whenever possible rather than criticized. These children have an excess of physical force at their disposal, but unless they have a real {22} interest they may become to stolid or indifferent, which later could develop into laziness. Life should not be made too easy for them; an indulgent parent is likely to be their worst enemy, as the pressure of necessity is helpful to those born under Taurus.
It is necessary that these children should have the advantages of a specialized education, as they are more dependent on mental training than the average child. It is also essential that wisdom be shown in the selection of their early companions and pleasures, as they naturally gravitate toward self-indulgence.
People born from the 24th of August to the 24th of September, when the Sun is in the earthy, intellectual sign Virgo, and from the 23rd of December to the 21st of January, when the Sun is in the earthy, conscientious sign Capricorn, are naturally sympathetic and helpful to those born under Taurus. Because their characteristics are complementary, they are good partners for the Taurus born, matrimonially or otherwise. If too intimately associated with those born from 21st of January to the 20th of February (Aquarius), 24th of July to 24th of August (Leo), and 24th of October to 23rd of November (Scorpio), Taurus people will need to be very adaptable in order to get on harmoniously; such an intimacy might result in the natives of Taurus becoming too stubborn and too resentful.
A period of about seven days -- May 20 to May 27 -- when the vibrations of Taurus are merging into those of Gemini, and Gemini still retaining some of Taurus, is known as the cusp. People born between these dates will partake of the mercurial side of Gemini as well as of the practical side of Taurus, or a combination of the two. As {23} Mercury, ruling the mentality, and Venus, the love nature, are so close to the Sun, they, too, may partake of some of the adjoining signs of Taurus. This will account for some of the complex personalities so difficult of comprehension.
With this sign, as with Aries, these deductions are drawn from the position of the Sun or Ascendant, therefore it is probable that among the best friends of a Taurus native, or those with whom he is uncongenial, some will be found who were not born at the times mentioned. The individual horoscopes must be consulted to ascertain how the stars combine with those of the Taurus-born, and thus determine what effect the combinations of influences have upon each other.
These indications are general only, and will not cover all the characteristics of an individual as he knows himself, since those born under the sign Taurus are subject to modifications by the planets. A detailed statement or horoscope must be made to discover the whole truth. {24}