Signs: Fixed Cross—Taurus

I see, and when the eye is opened, all is illumined

Gaining self-worth: illumination, clarity, strength

Taurus: esoteric meaning

in this sign comes the emphasis upon struggle. It is a cosmic, planetary and individual struggle, for desire-will underlies the manifested activities of the Logos, the planetary Life and of man and also of all forms in nature. It is the struggle of that which is deeply hidden in darkness to reach the light of day; it is the struggle of the hidden soul to dominate and control the outer form, the struggle to transmute desire into aspiration and aspiration into the will to achieve. It is the struggle to attain the goal which an increasing light reveals. So potent is this struggle that on the ordinary wheel it culminates (prior to the re-entry in Aries of the soul seeking incarnation) by the fixed desire, growing steadily stronger, to follow the wheel of re-birth; on the reversed progress around the zodiac, the struggle is to overcome and destroy all that has been so laboriously achieved upon the ordinary wheel and to demonstrate in Scorpio (through the terrific tests there applied) that the form no longer controls but that the lessons learnt through the use of the form have been retained; the struggle is to achieve initiation in Capricorn and thus release the soul from the revolving wheel and achieve final liberation from the thralldom of desire and from form control of any kind. (EA 401-2)

Taurus: rulers

• Orthodox: Venus
• Esoteric: Vulcan
• Hierarchical: Vulcan

Orthodox: Venus ⇧

Details to follow for Venus as orthodox ruler.

Esoteric: Vulcan ⇧

The exaltation of the Moon and the esoteric ruler Vulcan in Taurus:

Through desire translated into terms of spiritual will, the form is esoterically “exalted” and of this fact the exaltation of the Moon in Taurus is a symbol. To this the ordinary astrological symbol of the Bull’s horns testifies. This is the crescent Moon and also the symbol of the destructive nature of the form life of the Bull. Forget not that in this connection the destruction or death of the form and the ending of form influence thereby is the goal of the process which changes desire into aspiration. (EA 400)

Details to follow of Vulcan as esoteric ruler.

Hierarchical: Vulcan ⇧

Details to follow of Vulcan as hierarchical ruler.

Decanates

See the notes about the inconsistency of decanates in Esoteric Astrology. For comparison, Stephen Pugh’s decanate rulers are listed, alongside current orthodox rulers and those given in the book.

Esoteric/developmental: conscious development (annual signs from Aries via Taurus to Pisces)

0-9°: Venus D: Taurus, intelligent love and the “final liberation from the thralldom of desire and from form control of any kind” Venus as the inner self or soul, revisited in the third decanate, foreshadowing its meaning as Capricorn’s Hierarchical ruler

10-19°: Mercury C: Virgo, “escaping from illusion and entering into light”… “the struggle [towards] initiation in Capricorn and… release… from the revolving wheel” The central decanate implies the “Fixed Cross experience” and struggle (Ray 4) of inner development

20-29°: Saturn G: Capricorn, “…the lessons learnt through the use of the form have been retained”, this is the final outcome of the struggle in the central decanate

Exoteric/experiential: humanity in general (precession from Aries via Pisces to Taurus)

29-20°: Saturn G: Capricorn, “The pursuit of material stability, pleasure and comfort: the ambition that values material stability and comfort”

19-10°: Mercury C: Virgo, using the mind for “the struggle and conflict to gain possessions and control” (Ray 4 brings conflict)

9-0°: Venus D: Taurus, “the love of beauty and the sensual pleasures of charm and seduction”

• Orthodox: Venus, Mercury, Saturn (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
• EAst e/o: Venus, Mercury, Saturn / Saturn, Mercury, Venus
• Pugh e/o: Saturn, Mercury, Venus / Venus, Mercury, Saturn (swapped?)

The esoteric decanates as described here cover all three planets and Earth signs as a wholistic journey through Taurus. Sepharial’s Moon being connected to Venus, as mentioned below, is not a veiling but more of an “as above, so below” kind of pairing.

Both the astrologers, Leo and Sepharial … agree in their assignment of planets to govern the triple aspects of the sign. They only vary exoterically on one point for Sepharial gives the Moon as governing the second decan whilst Leo gives Venus as ruling the first decan. However, Venus and the Moon are often used interchangeably and both express or emanate the same basic energy of active intelligence in its higher and lower aspects. One expresses intelligent love and the other the intelligence of matter; this dual emphasis is concerned with the dominance of the form nature in the Taurian subject and… release through the Venusian Son of Mind. The Moon or Venus, Mercury and Saturn control the decanates and our consideration of these planets in the other signs will have indicated to you their right interpretation, both here and elsewhere. Form life, intelligent activity, and intense struggle summarises the Taurian problem, whilst Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, reminds the struggling [individual that they] must become ever what [they] essentially [are], thus escaping from illusion and entering into light. (EA 402)

Esoteric Astrology: 402