To understand Taurus’ meaning, you have to be familiar with the mythology of the bull. We find the stars of the bull in many ancient cultures. These sacred texts exist to help us understand the meaning of this zodiac. Folklore that includes bulls, is found in many cultures and can help expand its meaning.
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Prehistoric Bull in the Sky
We first see humans relating star configurations to a bull in 15,000 BCE. This was about when the cave painting at Lascaux in France was created. There is a bull and a probable depiction of the Pleiades painted on cave walls. While only a visual story, it illustrates the long history we have has with the celestial bull.
Mesopotamian Stories for The Bull of Heaven Meaning
The Babylonian story, Epic of Gilgamesh, dating around 2100 BCE, references the Bull of Heaven. Gilgamesh rejects the advances of the goddess Ishtar. She asks her father, Anu, for the Bull of Heaven named Gugalanna. Ishtar sends the bull to kill Gilgamesh, who ends up killing the bull.
The Sumerians associated the goddess Inanna with the celestial bull. She is a goddess of warfare, but also of sexual love and fertility.
Egyptian Mythology of the Bull
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Egyptian myth relates these stars to the Apis, the Bull of Memphis. They also regarded it as Horus, the son of the bull-god Osiris. Taurus was the zodiac of the vernal or spring equinox from 4000 to 2000 BCE. The Egyptians believed that the disappearance of the bull into the sun and the bursting forth of spring represented sacrifice and the restoration of life.
Greek Mythology of Taurus
The first Greek myth of Taurus is Zeus disguising himself as a bull. He mingles with the cows from the grass plains to the shore where Europa, the daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia, is at play. Zeus abducts Europa by tricking her to riding his back, then wades into the sea and paddles across to Crete. There, he seduces her. She gives birth to three sons by Zeus and eventually married King Asterius of Crete. King Minos of Crete is one of her sons by Zeus.
Another Greek myth assigns the form of the bull to Io. She is a human and Zeus’s first mistress. To hide Io from his wife, Herna, Zeus turns her into a heifer. This follows with a lot of drama of Herna trying to possess Io and keep Zeus from her. Eventually, Io swims in her cow form to Egypt. Zeus restores her to human form. She gives birth to a son and daughter with Zeus and eventually marries Telegonus, the King of Egypt.
Irish Mythology of The Brown Bull
There is no reference to the bull asterism in Celtic literature. We can relate Taurus to the story of the Cattle Raid of Cooley. Queen Medb likes the finer things of life in possessions and has an insatiable appetite for sex. Medb argues with her consort King Ailill over, which of them are richer. Determined to win, Medb plans to steal the Brown Bull of Cooley from the Ulster lands of King Conchobar. A long epic battle ensued. Medb eventually claims the Brown Cow, which kills Ailill’s White Cow. In the end, the Brown Cow, upon seeing his native land, bellows so sadly that his heart bursts and it dies. Medb and Ailill eventually make peace with Conchobar.
Summary of Taurus Meaning
We derive we derive or extract Taurus meaning from these stories. The might and passion of the bull, even though it may be through deception. It’s stability and steadfastness. Slow and persistent, delighting in the time to gain things of beauty. The bull values honesty over deception. Taurus loves pleasure and romance.
Beware the faults of the bull. Slow progress can become stoic or stagnant bull-headedness. Lack of progress stifles growth. It may resist change. It can be deceiving. There is a temper that erupts in a torrent. Those things of beauty can switch from inanimate possessions to becoming its self-identity.
What does the celestial bull mean to you now?
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