In modern psychological astrology, we think of Taurus as the sign of values. It’s about having and possessing, but when you translate that into the language of thought, decision and self-understanding, we get a process of evaluating what is important. The result of those evaluations are our values.
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The symbol of Taurus is a cow, or a bull. For now, let’s take the cow aspect. Up until recently, the cow was the poverty line. If you had one, you had dependable food; if you didn’t, you stood a good chance of starving. Notably, a cow wasn’t something you just slaughtered and ate; it was a living creature that had to be taken care of — that is to say, valued. Valuing something or someone is an active process, and it calls for maturity and constant attention.
We are definitely in a values crisis in our culture. Besides being raised to be spoiled kids who can always get a new one, we’re really seeing this come home to roost in big ways — the proposed ripoff of Social Security and Medicare come to mind. Poke around the Internet and check out what’s going on with that story; it’s truly outrageous, that something that we have paid for all our working lives, from the first hour we collected a paycheck, is being derisively being called an “entitlement” and we’re being told that it’s not going to be there. The plan? “Privatize” it, which means, take what working people have earned and saved, and give it to Wall Street and insurance companies.
I could go on about this, but for the moment, let’s stick to the astrology, which is connected to this question of the public wealth, and the public good; our collective wealth as revealed in an issue like Social Security.
In modern astrology, we associate the 2nd house with Taurus, the second sign. It’s true that there are associations, but in recent years, a document has come to the attention of astrologers called the Thema Mundi. I’ve written about it before. It’s an ancient Babylonian ‘chart of the world’ that is really a teaching device. It’s been available for a while, but with the current revival of ancient astrology, more people are aware of its existence (they just don’t know what to do with it, for the most part).
Now, in this Thema Mundi chart, Cancer is the ascendant. That is a clue that the 1st house is associated not with Aries (as we usually think of it) but with Cancer. And if that is the case, then Taurus comes up in the 11th house — the house of the public, and with Taurus there, it’s associated with the public wealth and shared resources. We think of Taurus as being this private, personal kind of sign, associated with the 2nd, this personal, private kind of house.
Yet it would seem precisely the opposite is true. Taurus and all that it represents are very much about public matters, the common good, and values that are shared not in that ‘between me and you’ kind of way, but among all of us here.
You should see my chart then! Cancer Asc, Sun, Merc, Venus, Mars, and Chiron in 11th Taurus, Venus-Merc being where my yod mith Pluto and Neptune is pointing, with Uranus opposite the point, with South Node in 8th house Aquarius..
stellium —
re: “the position of the signs on the Antikythera Mechanism,” you’d have to go to the article’s original site (i link to it in the byline). from there, you can follow additional links to some of the source articles, i believe. those might contain more detail, but i don’t know myself.
it’s entirely possible that while it showed signs & sun/moon movement, it may not have shown houses. since it is a cyclical calendar, its creator may not have had a “starting point” for such things as houses; i’m guessing it would have started whenever it was first set into motion.
maybe?
i have no idea, really.
very much so. now what’s the deal with Cap.7th being the only one materializing with a planet in the light of day?
there has to be meaning to that.
other than they had 7 planets and only 6 fit nocturnally.
Aword…………..only too happy to share my dad with you and delighted that a little sketch of his life made a difference to yours.
(hug)
Linda
tracy, the thema mundi describes the orientation of the houses in relationship to the signs. aries is still aries, but we don’t really have a reason to arbitrarily connect it to the 1st house; with the thema mundi, we have a reason, historical in nature, to connect it to the 10th. which fits, doesn’t it?
Jer
love your interpretations, and this new view of the heavens has got me ruminating..lots of ideas.
hey, now I’m was wondering what was the position of the signs on the Antikythera Mechanism?
I don’t remember that being mentioned, just that the front dials held the months with the zodiac running around them, which makes me think it was conventionally modeled.
hm. gotta go. weather is sketch, a tornado is . well, gotta do some energy work.
hold good thoughts.
and remember
I Love you Jere!!!
peace
I think the Thema Mundi actually makes more sense on a species-carnate level, whereas Aries rising fits more properly into the infinite-soul realm model. Speaking as a Cancer rising, we initiate this lifetime in a family, and don’t generally come into our own (aries) until we carve our expression on the walls of society (10th house). Leo in the 2nd helps us identify our individuality, through context of a group. Virgo in the 3rd gets us differentiating our communications in an individualistic manner. Libra in the 4th allows us the adjustment necessary to evolve our behaviors and species. Scorpio in the 5th gives us the impetus to experiment with ourselves within society. Sag in the 6th allows us a sense of integrative detachment to the necessities of earthly existence. Cap in the 7th allows us the capacity to see the mechanations of society and our part in its continuity. Aquarius in the 8th helps us to understand that if we are to survive as a species, we need the concept known as ‘humanitarianism’. Pisces in the 9th brings us to ponder and study those things that lie outside of the mundane animalistic realm. Taurus in the 11th fits nicely in the enjoyment and sharing of all that we have worked for throughout this lifetime. And, Gemini in the 12th gives us the opportunity to integrate our experiences, before we take another trip (the symbol actually looks like a gate).
It’s a very cool chart/concept to bake on.
Peace,
Jere
LindaGM – oh! what a lovely visual. I hope it is OK with you if I hold and carry your description; father and bird with me as my Taurus image. -? I had a parakeet as a child and there was a bond there that is without words.
Thank you.
so, if someone would, please
help Amateur Hour out here, in order to apply this Thema Mundi chart to our own natal situation, are you just moving the wheel, and keeping the planets in their same houses & positions, indicating a sign change or are you moving them to their ‘new’ houses, keeping the signs they are conventionally designated with?
and why? meaning, which comes first, the chicken or the egg? does this make sense? if your ascendant is based upon what is coming up in the heavens, like in the real heavens, how can you mess with that?
maybe you’re just saying that the house interpretations and their traditional rulers are different…hm
maybe just answered my own question.
sorry. we’ve been having a crazy amount of 90mph wind thunderstorms and tornadoes where I live and the power/satellite/ has been off for quite awhile. the wind messes with my brain.
which I’ll add, at any moment it could go off again, so it may take a bit before I can ruminate. but I will.
thanks everyone,
peace.
ps. cows are the best! acting without thinking sometimes means splitting an atom or two, putting a paper crown on your head, & thinking you’ve got the greatest thing since sliced bread. and then some dirtbags end up building worldwide energy reliance upon something completely poisonous and fatal! all because the peace-loving cows weren’t allowed to chew their cud. sad.
smile!
Amanda, I savor your food writings!!!
Great perspective turn – like another spin of the rubik’s cube!
My dear deceased father was a 1 degree Sun in Taurus and everyone loved him but conversely he was also a private man. He had a special relationship to birds of all types and the wild parrots would come and eat out of his hands. He nursed abandoned chicks and fed them with eyedroppers until they fledged and flew.
At the end of his long life, he had a budgie (parakeet) as a constant companion who sat on his shoulder and ate out of his mouth. He usually wore an extra shirt so the bird shit didn’t penetrate to his good clothes! I have a photo of the two of them both looking into the camera and honestly, they looked alike – especially in the eyes.
Taurus – for all of us here including the creatures!
“We all need to begin seeing each other (and ourselves) in greater dimensional depth.”
Thank you too, Len.
Good day… This is a goood day…..(heart pumps hard trying to overtake head which tends to behave like a runaway cart before it’s horse…….this little engine that could is driving on power provided by the light of Earendil and guided by Eric and PW crew…)
The Ruminator! Hah! Gives a whole new meaning to “I’ll be back.” 🙂
Eric,
Thank you. Speaking as someone whose natal chart closely approximates the Thema Mundi (which is how i came to call myself an “ancient geek”), your proposal to adopt a parallax view of the house-sign relationships is most welcome. The combined approach lends a depth perspective much as the use of esoteric planetary rulers does. We all need to begin seeing each other (and ourselves) in greater dimensional depth. Sure, it is more work than the two dimensional stereotypes, but it is the process of that very work that invests one with a sense of personal responsibility for perceptions and responses. You did a great public service with today’s blog, Eric. Thank you.
I will also add that the two Taureans who remain in my Life Lesson Plan as extremely difficult influences both have birthdays NOW. And I must ascertain what is the connection with my son – who always becomes deathly ill this same time of year. oh my, where DID I put that light of Earendil?
Eric, your ariticle is particularly profound for me on this very day, as I am on the pin-head of my “Taurus Syndrome” and looking to Chyron on my Sun for what I hope is finally a window to healing (or as yesterday’s Oracle suggested – open all orifices to the light…)
Transiting Sun is now on my conjunct Pallas/Hades just some degrees past my mid-heaven. Everywhere I turn Right Now, Malice, Passive Agression and pure out and out Evil are jumping out of people, some known instigators of trouble and others I’ve never seen before – staring me down, threatening, pointing, laughing, heckling. Dare I admit out loud that this has been the story of my life? The more “good deeds” I “do”, the more this shit displays itself. It can become difficult to be the person I choose to be ongoing with this heavy-duty crap taunting me even in people and places I consider “safe”.
Kelly, the taureans I know all intereact well in a crowd of people too – and equally all of them have values skewed way off the positive values chart – the charm and charisma is twisted to manipulate, deceive and backstab.
(Amanda! You are not included in this list! Nor our dear friend Priya Kale or anyone else from PW world! I speak only of personal family/friend etc…and recently a few people ‘on the street” or that is, random encounters.)
I do not see this as the issue of others, but rather a puzzle for Self to solve and live past once and for all. –Although this is one of the times when I wish I had it in me to just be a self-serving bitch; sigh.
But again I say, this exact point is in my face at this moment – I will reread this article as I am certain there are more answers to be contemplated. Thank you Eric. and thanks for the rant space.
Rumi the ruminator? 🙂 ha! oh dear…
@ amanda i couldn’t resist. i ruminate like nobody’s business. and it literally feels like chewing over something, getting to some sort of resolution, then bam! what do you know? i’m back chewing over the same damn thing. i wouldn’t say it isn’t useful… but it can be a big-ass waste of time, seen from a certain perspective. (that would be from the perspective of my non-ruminating self.)
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin ruminat- ‘chewed over’, from the verb ruminari.
Though I liked this guy’s wild guess: “This is very different from my initial guess, that being that somehow, rumination was related to Rumi,” he writes.
you know kelly, once i learned a little about my chart, i figured my comfort “schmoozing” in a group of strangers and being on stage had more to do with my Sag moon. but this puts an interesting spin on it. your observation is really interesting.
as for liking to eat, well, the sign is ruled by venus, which i think is what brings in the appreciation of sensual pleasures. and i can’t think of much that is more sensually engaging and pleasing than cooking and eating food: the look of the ingredients, the tactile sensations while preparing them, the raw smells, the cooking/ed smells, the sounds of boiling/frying/cutting through a crispy chicken skin, the colors and shapes, how it looks on a plate (if you’re not too impatient to skip presentation)… and we haven’t even gotten to putting the stuff in our mouths yet!
…then we get texture/mouthfeel, individual flavors and flavors in combination, how things taste in sequence — like the effect of having ‘just the right wine’ with a meal… oh yes, eating food is a taurus’s dream activity. many of my favorite moments in life have involved food. plus, it’s at its best as a social activity: then you add the fun of talking about the food with others, sharing it, synthesizing the eating and the talking with emotional weight and resonance.
*sigh*
clearly i’m overdue for a transcendent meal shared with someone i love. or several someones.
and of course, cows do chew their cud. that may not be sexy, but taurus is represented by an animal that spends a lot of time eating and then experiencing its food again, a little differently. they are classified as “ruminants” because of this activity, and the word “ruminate” now mainly means thinking something over and over for a span of time. so there we have some sort of link between the sensual/eating side of taurus and the mentally-stimulated/obsessive and and slow-to-act side of taurus.
hmmm…. i wonder where that email is that eric sent with his OED password. now i’m curious how we get “ruminant” to “ruminate — the eating to the thinking. unless maybe centuries ago people must just figure that cows think while they eat? or maybe it’s from a form of insult toward people who over-think things and don’t act — which is about as useful to humans as eating the same meal over and over?
ok, i’ll stop now……
🙂
I know a few Taureans (inc my dad), what I find uncanny about them is their ability to interact really well in a crowd of people – they shine in this type if social environment. It is something I take notice of because I am acquainted with astrology. It has always puzzled me… then again..I also notice how they like to eat and that’s just as puzzling…