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What's the meaning behind the Earth sign's symbol?
By Chinyere Ibeh — Written on Oct 02, 2020
Taurus is the second sign of the zodiac and ruled by Venus, the planet of love and beauty. The Taurus symbol is a bull, and at its simplest, the Taurus glyph is a circle with another half-circle resembling a bull's horns on top.
The Taurus symbol is a bull.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
You may see the bull symbol of Taurus in different forms, spanning from the simplistic glyph to a full drawing of a bull’s face and horns.
As mentioned before, Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus, which can have a symbol of its own. It can be depicted by a circle over a cross, representing feelings of sensuality, elegance, and materialism over rational thought.
Taurus is the Latin word for “bull.”
The bull is a symbol of strength, tenacity, and power. If a bull isn’t bothered, it will happily graze; once a bull is agitated, it won’t hesitate to charge. The symbol of the bull represents the sign’s slow and steady perseverance.
The personality of a Taurus can be calm and peaceful, but when they are provoked with anger, their temper can be fiery. They are quite “bull-headed” as they are determined whenever they have a goal in mind. Even though they can be pretty determined towards a goal, they also understand the virtue of patience.
Tauruses tend to have a strength of purpose. When it comes to interpersonal connections, they are either extremely loyal to their friends or they can be fierce enemies to those who oppose them.
The tender nature of this sign makes them an excellent cook, lover, and artist. The sign has a good ability to see things from a practical and realistic perspective.
Tauruses tend to be loyal to their friends and they’re always open to making new friends. Many of the friends they have are the ones they have since childhood and they usually last a lifetime. They do their best to nurture the relationships they do have, especially with the people they share an intimate connection with.
The Mythology of Taurus and its Constellation
Taurus comes from the Greek story of Europa who was the daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia and Telephassa.
Europa caught the attention of Zeus and his affections, and he came to her as a white bull at the Phoenician waterside. Awestruck by the bull’s beauty, Europa was drawn to it and climbed onto its back.
Zeus, as the bull, then jumped into the water and carried her across the sea to the Greek island of Crete, where Europa eventually gave birth to three sons.
Zeus put the image of the bull in the heavens. The Hyades, a group of stars, makes up the bull’s head while the Pleiades, another group of stars, make up part of the bull as well. The brightest seven stars of the Pleiades make up their constellation.
The Taurus constellation is most visible in January.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
While it's at its peak in January, you can see it in the sky from November to March.
Hyades, the v-shaped group of stars in the constellation, makes up the bull’s face. The Aldebaran is this red giant star of the constellation and it’s described to be the bull’s eye. The orange-hued star is the brightest in Taurus and it’s the 14th brightest in the sky as a whole. Aldebaran also appears to be glaring at the Orion constellation, which happens to be southwest to the star.
Another major star cluster within the Taurus constellation would be the Pleiades, which consists of seven stars that rest on the shoulder of the bull. The Pleiades represents the Seven Sisters, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione in Greek mythology.
One myth explains that the sisters killed themselves due to grief over the death of their sisters, which happen to be the other star cluster in the constellation, Hyades. Another myth explains that Zeus turned the sisters into stars after being pursued by Orion for seven years. That didn’t stop Orion as he turned into a constellation as well and pursued them throughout the sky.
Chinyere (pronounced sha-near-ruh) is a writer who covers entertainment and pop culture news, along with the zodiac signs.