This sign more than any other is the symbol of Earth and the state of being grounded or rooted, for Taurus is the first of the earth signs and the first of the fixed signs.  It is also one of the four pillars of the zodiac or four Faces of God.  It is the Face of God depicted by the bull - symbolizing fertility and the infusion of spirit into flesh or matter (earth).  Without the grounding of our soul to our bodies (represented by the archetype of this sign), we would soon perish.  The four sides of a pyramid (the Egyptian pyramids at Giza) are emblematic of the four faces of God and, inherent is each pyramidal, triangular side is the divine principle of the threefold manifestation of God - the recognizer, the recognized and the recognition.  To paraphrase Elisabeth Haich (Id., p. 228), when we human beings seek to return to a state of reunion with God, we shift our consciousness from our personal "I" - deeper and deeper into ourselves - turning our consciousness to our true selves, to our Creator, until we consciously recognize ourselves in God.  In the process, we stop thinking about ourselves and instead become ourselves by recognizing the divine in ourselves.  In this state, the recognizer, the recognized and the recognition are one in the same because we recognize that our own true self has created us, is constantly creating us, and that our true self is the Creator of the entire Universe!  How appropriate that Haich described this metamorphosis as resurrection, since I wrote this article the day before Easter.  Through his resurrection, Jesus Christ demonstrated that we each have the capacity to recognize our own true nature as that of divine spirit, inextinguishable by death.

Each of the four Faces of God form the apex of a triangle, the triangle formed by each element of the zodiac.  Thus, Taurus is the apex of the triangle of the earthy element (or triplicity) with the other two signs of the earth element, Virgo and Capricorn, forming the base of this triangle.  The Taurean, west Face of God blows the east wind, a refreshing, gentle, mild wind, and has a motherly nature (Mother Earth).  The other Faces of God consist of the other fixed signs of Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius and these signs comprise the apexes of the fire, water and air element triangles respectively.  The triangles of the four elements can be pieced together to form a pyramid with their coinciding apexes at the pinnacle and, when viewing such a pyramid from above, the fire triangle is opposite the air triangle and the counterclockwise order of the sides of the pyramid is fire, earth, air, water, same as the order of the signs of the zodiac.  The signs at the corners of the pyramid are also opposite one another in the zodiac (e.g. the Aries corner is opposite the Libra corner) and the pairs of signs at each corner of the pyramid are square (90 degrees from) each other in the zodiac (e.g. Aries and Capricorn at one corner are square one another in the zodiac) to reflect the 90 degree angle formed at each corner of the pyramid (both between the sides and in the base)!  Additionally, the pairs of signs at the four corners of the pyramid (e.g. Gemini/Virgo, Cancer/Libra) are of the same quality (or quadruplicity), e.g. cardinal, fixed, mutable, and these pairs are opposite another pair of the same quality!

The four pillars of the zodiac (the fixed signs, not the cardinal signs) or Faces of God that form the pinnacle of the pyramid symbolize the aspiration that our souls have to "see the Face of God," to return to our true state - that of paradisiacal reunion with God.  However, the base of the pyramid is a square and this geometric form symbolizes (and contains) the cross or crucifixion of the material world, one beam of the cross representing space or substance (our soul being attached to our physical body) and time (our soul suffering and learning in our body for a period of time until our body dies).  When we die, we are released from this cross until our next incarnation because we no longer have a physical body and we have no way of measuring or marking time.

The Greek myth of Taurus is that of lust, deception, abduction and rape.  Europa, daughter of the king of Phoenicia, was playing and gathering flowers (both Taurus activities) on the seashore one day when a bull with a glistening, attractive hide and a gentle but majestic demeanor grazing among her father's herd captivated her attention.  She had no idea that the bull was none other than Jupiter (Zeus), king of the gods, in disguise because he lusted for her.  Europa innocently caressed the bull, which knelt before her so that she could climb onto his back.  The bull then sprang into the sea and abducted poor Europa, carrying her to Crete where he raped her and where she subsequently gave birth to three children.  Jupiter placed Taurus the bull in the sky to commemorate his conquest.  This myth warns the young (male and female) that the beauty of someone to whom we are attracted, though alluring, can hide a deceptive nature, the encounter can take away our innocence (the abduction), and it can wound or brutalize us (the rape).  Yet, this brutal act was procreative (Taurus) and was based on love/lust (Taurus), however brief on the part of Jupiter, for Europa bore three children as a result.