Taurus

Taurus at a glance

Taurus follows Aries as the second sign, and where Aries starts things, Taurus keeps them. It is an earth sign, sharing the element with Virgo and Capricorn, and a fixed sign, one of the four in the middle of each season, when a season is most itself. Venus rules it, the planet of pleasure and value, and its symbol is the Bull. Its polarity is the receptive, inward one. The tradition gives Taurus the throat and neck, and many astrologers link the sign with a fine voice and a love of music. Its opposite is Scorpio: the two share the fixed mode, and between them they are read as the axis of what we own and what we share.

The Taurus character

The tradition reads Taurus through the senses. Earth grounds it in the physical world, Venus gives it taste and a love of pleasure, and the fixed mode gives it patience. A Taurus is described as calm, reliable and quietly determined, someone who builds slowly and keeps what is built: savings, friendships, gardens, habits. It is said to enjoy good food, comfortable rooms and things made to last, and to have little interest in change for its own sake. The shadow side of the same qualities is inertia and possessiveness, the Bull that will not be moved even when moving would help. Astrologers often give Taurus the lesson of letting go gracefully.

Taurus in love

In love Taurus is read as loyal, affectionate and in no hurry. It wants to be sure before it commits and, once committed, tends to stay. The earth signs Virgo and Capricorn are read as its most natural partners, sharing its practical view of life, and the water signs Cancer and Pisces as the friendliest, bringing feeling to its steadiness. Scorpio, the opposite sign, is the famously intense pairing: both fixed, both loyal, both unwilling to give ground. Leo and Aquarius square Taurus and are read as a clash of pace and priorities. As always, Sun signs are a starting point; comparing two whole charts in the synastry calculator says far more.

Taurus at work

Work that produces something solid suits the tradition's Taurus: finance, banking and anything to do with value, building and property, farming, gardening and food, design, craft and music. It is read as the colleague who finishes what it starts and dislikes being rushed, excellent in a long project and less happy in chaotic or constantly changing settings. The sign's Venus rulership adds an eye for quality, and many astrologers point Taurus toward work where beauty and practicality meet, from architecture to cooking. Security matters to it; a Taurus is said to prefer steady progress to a gamble.

Taurus beyond the Sun sign

A planet in Taurus takes on the sign's steadiness and taste. Taurus rising is read as a calm, grounded presence; the Moon in Taurus, traditionally the Moon at its most comfortable, as emotional steadiness and a need for security; Venus in Taurus, Venus in its own sign, as a love of pleasure and loyalty in love; and Mars in Taurus as slow to start and hard to stop. The birth chart calculator shows where each of your planets sits. Below are the Taurus dates for the coming years, its relation to every other sign, its three decans and the slow planets' passages through it.