Taurus

The Bull of Heaven appears in the oldest surviving literature. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the goddess Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh for rejecting her advances. The Babylonians catalogued the constellation as MUL.GU4.AN.NA and associated it with springtime fertility. Egyptian astronomy linked the bull to Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis, and to the goddess Hathor, who wore cow horns framing a solar disc. The bull represented agricultural abundance across the ancient Near East.

Greek mythology offered multiple origin stories. The most common identified Taurus with the white bull form Zeus assumed to carry Europa across the sea to Crete. Another tradition connected it to the Cretan Bull captured by Heracles as his seventh labor. Ptolemy assigned Taurus the exaltation of the Moon, strengthening its connection to fertility and the rhythms of nature. Venus became its ruling planet in Hellenistic astrology, linking the sign to beauty, pleasure, and material comfort.

In modern astrology, Taurus represents the principle of embodiment. Where Aries initiates, Taurus sustains and builds. The psychologist Howard Sasportas described Taurus as the sign that gives form to impulse, turning raw energy into something lasting. Its association with the second house connects it to values, possessions, and self-worth. The fixed earth quality gives Taurus its reputation for stubbornness, but that same quality produces remarkable endurance and loyalty.