Taurus-The Bull (Vrishabh Rasi) in Western Astrology

 

Taurus-The Bull (Vrishabh Rasi) in Western Astrology 

Taurus is the second astrological sign in the present zodiac. It spans from 30° to 60° of the zodiac. The bull is its zodiac symbol. This sign belongs to the Earth triplicity. It has a fixed modality with a feminine polarity. It is ruled by Venus and it is the sign where the Moon is exalted. The Sun transits in the sign of Taurus from approximately April 21 until May 20 in Western astrology. People born between these dates, depending on which system of astrology they subscribe to, maybe called Taureans

 

Vrishabh Rasi ( Taurus- The Bill ) in Vedic Astrology

Taurus, the 2nd Sign of the Zodiac, is an Earth Sign. People born under Krittika Nakshatra(2, 3, 4 Pada), Rohini Nakshatra(4 padas), Mrigashira Nakshatra (1, 2 Pada) comes under Vrishabha Rashi. Lord of this Rashi is Venus.It is hard working, rock-solid, stable, and practical. Ruled by Venus, Taurus, however, is also given tremendously to sensual pleasures. So, be it the physical pleasures or material comforts, the Taurus-born love to indulge in excesses. And, they will not hesitate in going an extra mile to find these pleasures. Most Taurus-borns are connoisseurs of good food and good life. Paradoxically, though, Taurus natives are fixed in their approach; they disregard change.

Sign Ruled By: Venus

Element: Earth

Quality: Fixed (= stability)

Symbol: the Bull

The symbol denotes: Stubbornness and tenacity, fierce energy and aggression but also a laid-back, lazy attitude.

Characteristics: Cold, feminine

Noteworthy qualities: Steadfastness, trustworthiness, persistence, composure, self-reliance, constructiveness, practicality, humor, fearlessness and stability.

Undesirable personality traits: Stubbornness, domination, obstruction, dogmatic attitude, conceit, self-centered behavior, laziness, exacting approach.

Birthstone: Diamond, White Sapphire, and White Topaz

Birth Colors: Pink, White

Deepest need Comfort, material ease, wealth.

Quality most needed for balance: Flexibility.

Detriment: Mars

Exaltation: The Moon

Fall: Uranus

Associated Flowers and Plants: Daisies, foxgloves, lilies, poppies, primroses, roses and violets.

 

History of Taurus in Western Astrology

Taurus was the first sign of the zodiac established among the ancient Mesopotamians, who called it as the Bull of Heaven because it was the constellation through which the sun rose on the vernal equinox at that time. Due to the precession of the equinox, it has since passed through the constellation Aries and into the constellation Pisces. Cults centered around Sacred bulls began to form in Assyria, Egypt, and Crete during the Age of Taurus, known as "The Age of Earth, Agriculture, and the Bull"

 

Taurus Details in Western Astrology

Taurus (Latin for "the Bull") is one of the constellations of the zodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of the ecliptic. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

 

A number of features exist that are of interest to astronomers. Taurus hosts two of the nearest open clusters to Earth, The Pleiades and the Hyades, both of which are visible to the naked eye. At first magnitude, the red giant Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation. In the northwest part of Taurus is the supernova remnant Messier 1, more commonly known as the Crab Nebula. One of the closest regions of active star formation, the Taurus-Auriga complex, crosses into the northern part of the constellation. The variable star T Tauri is the prototype of a class of pre-main-sequence stars.

 

Characteristics

Taurus is a big and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lies Perseus and Auriga, to the southeast Orion, to the south Eridanus, and to the southwest Cetus. In September and October, Taurus is visible in the evening along the eastern horizon. The most favorable time to observe Taurus in the night sky is during the months of December and January. By March and April, the constellation will appear to the west during the evening twilight.

 

This constellation forms part of the zodiac and hence is intersected by the ecliptic. This circle across the celestial sphere forms the apparent path of the Sun as the Earth completes its annual orbit. As the orbital plane of the Moon and the planets lie near the ecliptic, they can usually be found in the constellation Taurus during some part of each year. The galactic plane of the Milky Way intersects the northeast corner of the constellation and the galactic anti center is located near the border between Taurus and Auriga. Taurus is the only constellation crossed by all three of the galactic equator, celestial equator, and ecliptic. A ring-like galactic structure known as Gould's Belt passes through the constellation.

 

The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is "Tau". The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 26 segments. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between 03h 23.4m and 05h 53.3m, while the declination coordinates are between 31.10° and −1.35°. Because a small part of the constellation lies to the south of the celestial equator, this can not be a completely circumpolar constellation at any latitude.

 

Taurus Astronomical details

Figure 2 shows the night sky covering the Vrishabha Raashi or the Taurus. It shows Nakshatras, Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashiras. Nakshatra Krittika has already been discussed in Mesha Raashi, where a quarter of Krittika is said to occur. 

 

Rohini Nakshatra is defined traditionally as a mansion of five stars. In the olden days, Europeans called it as Haydes. The following table provides candidates that qualify as Rohini Nakshatra from the brightness point of view, location with reference to moon traverse band, and distance from previous Nakshatra.

Nakshatra	No.	SAO	HD	Bayer	Bright	Arab/Other
Rohini	5	94027	29139	87 a Tau	+0.85	Al Debaran
		93955	28307	77q1Tau	+3.85	-
		93868	27371	54 g Tau	+3.63	-
		93897	27697	61 D Tau	+3.76	-
		93954	28305	75 eTau	+3.53	-

 

Rohini is the brightest of the 27 Stars used for Bharateeya Nakshatra system of names, with a brightness of 0.85. Rohini is identified as the birth star of Sri Krishna. The distance between Krittika and Rohini is about 12.5 degrees (E-W). If a single star has to be identified as representing Rohini Nakshatra, the best candidate is 87aTau/SAO-94027/HD -29139/ Aldebaran.

Mrigashiras is traditionally defined as a mansion of three stars. The following table provides candidates which qualify as Mrigashira Nakshatra from brightness point of view, location with reference to moon traverse band, and distance from previous Nakshatra.

Nakshatra	No.	SAO	HD	Bayer	Bright	Arab/Other
Mrigashiras	3	77168	35479	112 bTau	+1.65	El nath
		77336	37202	123 zTau	+2.98	-
		94628	36389	119CE	+4.38	-

Mrigashiras Nakshatra is associated with the month of Maargashira where, on full moon day, the moon will be near Mrigashira Nakshatra. This approximates to the month of December. The Zodiac name Vrishbha suggests a bull with horns, and Mrigashiras is the head of the bull. With some imagination, in figure 2 one can imagine springing bull. Mrigashiras has been named El Nath by Arabs. If a single star has to be identified as representing Mrigashira Nakshatra, the best candidate is 112b Tau /SAO-77168 /HD -35497/ Elnath.

The distance between Rohini and Mrigashiras is about 50 minutes corresponding to 12.5 degrees (E-W) not too far from 13.33 requirement. All the Vrishbha stars are within the Moon traverse band.

In the Raashi/Nakshatra translation, 1/4 of Krittika is treated as a part of Mesha and 3/4 of Krittika is treated as Vrishbha Raashi. Rohini is considered to be fully in Vrishbha while 1/2 of Mrigashiras is in Vrishabha and the other 1/2 is in Mithuna.