Taurus These notes are based upon the teachings of Djwhal Khul presented in Alice Bailey’s Esoteric Astrology (Lucis Trust, 1951). It is the work of the zodiacal influences to evoke the emergence of the will aspect of the Heavenly Man and of all monads, souls and personalities who constitute the planetary body of expression. … The goal of evolution for humanity is to become consciously and livingly aware of the nature of these energies and begin to know them and to use them. TAURUS NEW MOON 14 DEGREES TAURUS, 4TH MAY 2000 Constantly in this sign comes the emphasis upon struggle. It is a cosmic, planetary and individual struggle. … 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 that an increasing light reveals. As an individual comes into incarnation and takes an astral shell (the emotional body) he comes into the Taurian cycle, for it is desire which impels one to rebirth, and it takes the potency of Taurus to do that. The energy of Taurus produces great movement and momentum, impulsing the will. As we enter the Aquarian Age, humanity is beginning to come increasingly under the influence of Taurus. As Taurus is the symbol of desire in all its manifestations, the effects of Taurian influence are likely to be extremely varied. It sees average man impelled by desire and unruly appetites, just as with equal power the disciple is impelled along the Path of Return by aspiration. The one is driven by wilfulness, stubbornness and insistence upon material or sensual satisfaction; the other uses the energy as a motivation towards constructive, creative living. Average man is governed by the will of the personality; the disciple is cultivating purpose and vision. This is the distinction that needs to be made when thinking about Taurus: desire is a force of the form nature; will is the energy of the soul expressing itself as direction, progress and conformity to the Plan. Taurus is the sign in which desire is transmuted into aspiration, darkness into illumination. The Buddha taught us the effects of unenlightened desire; Christ taught the transmutation of desire into aspiration. Gradually, the disciple learns to distinguish between soul and personality levels, becoming evermore discriminating until he knows which is an expression of force (the form level) and which are energy contacts (the soul level). At this point in time Taurus is working to express a most refined aspect of desire - spiritual will: Now, as the Shamballa force is beginning to pour into the world, man is seeking another interpretation of God’s will which will not involve the hitherto blind acquiescence and unavoidable acceptance of the inscrutable dictates of a potent, inescapable Providence, but which will produce an understanding co-operation with the divine Plan and an enlightened fusion of the individual will with the great, divine will and this for the greater good of the whole. Will, power, desire, aspiration, ambition, motive, purpose, impulse, incentive, plan - these are all manifestations of evolutionary processes: the will-to-be or the will-to-live. They can manifest as stubbornness and wilful adherence to personality aims, or as the intelligently expressed will motivated by the impulse of love (which connotes adherence to soul purpose). When desire is transmuted into aspiration, the disciple begins his career. Taurians can test their major activities by asking themselves honestly: ‘Is my present attitude, my work or intention actuated by personality desire or am I working and planning directly under the soul urge and incentive?’ Energy of the will emanating via the head centre of the Planetary Logos from the Great Bear, is stepped down in vibration via one of the Pleiades (in the constellation of Taurus) and brought into the solar system. Its effects are two-fold: it produces in certain nations, races and individuals a welling-up of self-will characteristic of a developed lower nature it also produces the will-to-serve the Plan as grasped by aspirants, disciples and initiates. This force can become distorted in concepts like the super-state (which leads to the curtailment of freedom as the individual becomes captive of the greater whole) and materialistic systems of life and thought, blindly driven by the momentum and power of the desire-nature. The same force brings also a measure of illumination revealing synthesis, indicating the secret of right human relations, the far vision of possibility and steady movement forward in spite of immediate dangers and difficulties. ‘The question is: Will the Bull of desire or the Bull of divine illumined expression succeed?’ As Taurus belongs to the earthy triplicity of signs (with Virgo and Capricorn) its will and desire must find expression on the physical plane. Taurus concerns the physical body; the health or wholeness of the body is closely connected with the expression of past desires or present idealism (i.e. whether satisfaction of the form life is sought, or connection with soul energy in order to raise the quality of will and desire). Taurus provides the energy and powerful movement required for the spiritual journey; in Virgo the inner life makes its pressure felt and it begins to pulsate; in Capricorn divinity is found to be deeply embedded in substance, and matter is subdued to divine purposes. The orthodox ruler of Taurus is Venus, alter ego of Earth. The unique relation of Venus to Earth implies a close relationship between Taurus and Earth at this stage of planetary development. Taurus, Venus and Earth have a karmic relation and a definite dharma to work out together. The only words to express this karma and relationship are Will, Desire, Light and Plan. [The relation between Venus and Earth is given in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire.] Venus is to Earth what the higher self is to the personality; Venus is a sacred planet, the Earth is not. Taurian energy may be a factor in the raising of consciousness prior to planetary initiation. Venus and Taurus concern sexual energy. This energy relates the lower nature to the higher self. When this connection is made the energy can be lifted up into the light of day, that the individual may reach union with divinity; the divine marriage is consummated upon the level of soul awareness: Men have sought through physical expression to produce the inner fusion and harmony which they crave and this cannot be done. Sex is but the symbol of an inner duality which must be itself transcended and wrought into a unity. It is not transcended by physical means or rituals. It is a transcendence in consciousness. The esoteric ruler of Taurus is Vulcan, forger of metals. He works with the most dense expression of the natural world, going to the depths of the earth to find material for his art and making that which is beautiful and useful. Vulcan stands for the soul - the individual inner spiritual being. Vulcan’s activity is the key to the soul’s task on the wheel of life: raising dense matter from the depths and creating beauty and utility is the work of transmutation, the raising of vibrational energy. Vulcan establishes relationships between the 4th Kingdom (the Human Family) and the 1st (the Mineral Kingdom). Through Vulcan we learn a true understanding and ability to work and live creatively on our rocky planet. Through Venus relationships are established between people and nations; it is the mental energy of humanity. Vulcan is the planet of isolation because it governs the 4th initiation where the depths of aloneness are plumbed and man is detached from the Law of Correspondence. A dramatic moment comes in this process when desire is renounced and the Plan is seen as the only desirable objective. Then the individual must undertake to prove to himself, to others or to a Master, that he has the ability to serve. Then a definite task will be revealed for him - “the Gethsemane experience”. Vulcan bends the will of the little self to that of the greater. Taurians are often prey to a certain selfish centralisation or personality focus. Thus they can be intelligent, but lack wisdom; aspirational but also stubborn, so their aspiration does not take them very far very fast. They tend to move spasmodically, in wild rushes. Measured progress along the way is hard. The application of practical knowledge is also elusive and is apt to remain a mental acquisition and not a proven experience. There is an almost painful consciousness of duality, but rather than producing a struggle for unity it leads to depression. The notorious bull-headedness of the Taurian leads to destructiveness (often self-destructiveness); the measure of illumination means that this destructiveness distresses the Taurian. He needs to grasp the spiritual side of Venus, transmuting knowledge into wisdom. He must transcend the destructive side of Vulcan and aim at clear seeing, joyful will and the death of personality desire. Temper (personality-focused energy run wild) must give way to spiritual energy. Blindness must give way to vision, dispelling self-engendered glamours. Self-pity (the effect of constant concentration on frustrated desire) must give way to compassion for humanity and selfless service. Taurus rules the neck and thyroid gland: the Vishuddha (throat) chakra. This is the chakra that governs creative activity on the Path. It is the point to which energy from the Svadishthana (sacral) chakra must be lifted so that creation through love and by the will eventually leads to the higher use of sexual energy. The right use of the speech organs gives a clue to the process whereby the disciple must bring about certain changes: ideals translated into words and acts lead to transformation. The Moon is exalted in Taurus. The Moon is the Mother of Form and the form side of life is very strong when the Moon is in Taurus, and the individual must constantly reckon with it. Uranus falls in Taurus, accentuating the sharp division between body and soul which is so characteristic of the Taurian. The task of Uranus is to awaken the intuitive response of Taurus to increasing light leading to illumination and the development of spiritual consciousness as higher soul aspects replace lower form reactions. Mars in Taurus is in its detriment. Mars activity adds to the naturally warlike nature of Taurus, but the potency of Taurus’s struggle is so great that the effect of Mars is lost and it only adds to glamour and confusion. Thinking about the power of desire and its transmutation in Taurus, is reminiscent of the poems of the 13th-century mystic, Rumi, which read as if inspired by sexual love but are, instead, passionate addresses to Spirit: When I see Your Face, the stones start spinning! You appear; all studying wanders. I lose my place. Water turns pearly. Fire dies down and doesn’t destroy. In Your Presence I don’t want what I thought I wanted, those three little hanging lamps. Inside Your Face the ancient manuscripts seem like rusty mirrors. You breathe; new shapes appear, and the music of a Desire as widespread as Spring begins to move like a great wagon. Drive slowly. Some of us walking alongside are lame! (Trans. Coleman Barks) ©2000- The D.K. Foundation. This article, including this copyright statement, may be freely distributed but not altered, expanded or abridged in any way. We thank you for respecting this request.