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Taurus(tôr`əs), Turkish Toros (tôrōs`), mountain chain, S Turkey, extending c.350 mi (560 km) roughly parallel to the Mediterranean coast of S Asia Minor. It forms the southern border of the Anatolian plateau. Its northeastern extension across the Seyhan River is called the Anti-Taurus. The highest peak of the Taurus proper is Ala Dağ (12,251 ft/3,734 m), at its eastern end; Nemrut Dağ (Mt. NemrutNemrut, Mount,
Turk. Nemrut Dağ, mountain in SE Turkey, in the Anti-Taurus Mts. Rising 7,052 ft (2,150 m), it is the site of the mausoleum of Antiochus I (c.69–c.34 B.C.), king of ancient Commagene.
..... Click the link for more information. ) in the Anti-Taurus, is the site of colossal Hellenistic ruins. Erciyas Daği (anc. Mount Argaeus), reaching 12,848 ft (3,916 m), is sometimes considered part of the Taurus although it rises in central Anatolia, in an outlier of the Taurus proper. The Amanos Mts., along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Iskenderun, are also considered an offshoot of the main Taurus. The Taurus is crossed by five major passes; the Cilician GatesCilician Gates
, Turk. Külek Boğazi, mountain pass, S Turkey, leading across the Taurus range. Known to the ancients as the Pylae Ciliciae, it follows the gorge of the Gökoluk River.
..... Click the link for more information. , N of Tarsus, is the best known. The mountains have long been a barrier to movement between the Anatolian basin and the Levant. The range has important chromium deposits and other minerals (notably copper, silver, lignite, zinc, iron, and arsenic). The Anti-Taurus are well wooded.
Taurus[Lat.,= the bull], in astronomy, constellationconstellation,
in common usage, group of stars that appear to form a configuration in the sky; properly speaking, a constellation is a definite region of the sky in which the configuration of stars is contained.
..... Click the link for more information. NW of Orion and lying on the eclipticecliptic
, the great circle on the celestial sphere that lies in the plane of the earth's orbit (called the plane of the ecliptic). Because of the earth's yearly revolution around the sun, the sun appears to move in an annual journey through the heavens with the ecliptic as its
..... Click the link for more information. (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Gemini and Aries; it is one of the constellations of the zodiaczodiac
[Gr. zoion=animal], in astronomy, zone of the sky that includes about 8° on either side of the ecliptic. The apparent paths of the sun, the moon, and the major planets all fall within this zone.
..... Click the link for more information. . Taurus is traditionally depicted as the forepart of a bull, in reference to the Greek legend in which Zeus either assumed the form of a bull himself or sent the bull to carry Europa over the sea to Crete. The constellation contains the bright stars Elnath (Beta Tauri) and AldebaranAldebaran
, brightest star in the constellation Taurus; Bayer designation α Tauri; 1992 position R.A. 4h35.5m, Dec. +16°30'. An orange giant star (spectral class K5 III) with apparent magnitude averaging 0.
..... Click the link for more information. (Alpha Tauri), long used in navigation. A line extended through and slightly up from Orion's belt will strike Aldebaran. Two notable star clusters, the PleiadesPleiades
, in astronomy, famous open star cluster in the constellation Taurus; cataloged as M45. The cluster consists of some 500 stars, has a diameter of 35 light-years, and is 400 light-years distant from the earth.
..... Click the link for more information. and the HyadesHyades
, in astronomy, open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, located immediately to the right of the bright star Aldebaran. The cluster is about 130 light-years from the earth. It consists of about 100 stars all moving in the same direction.
..... Click the link for more information. , are found in Taurus, which also includes a number of double stars (observable with small telescopes) and the Crab NebulaCrab Nebula,
diffuse gaseous nebula in the constellation Taurus; cataloged as NGC 1952 and M1, the first object recorded in Charles Messier's catalog of nonstellar objects (see Messier catalog).
..... Click the link for more information. (M1). Taurus reaches its highest point in the evening sky in January.
Taurus(tor -ŭs) (Bull) A large zodiac constellation in the northern hemisphere near Orion, lying partly in the Milky Way. The brightest stars are the zero-magnitude Aldebaran, the 1st-magnitude Elnath, which was once part of the constellation Auriga, and several of 2nd and 3rd magnitude. The area contains the prototypes of the RV Tauri and T Tauri stars, the Hyades and Pleiades, both beautiful open clusters, and the supernova remnant the Crab nebula with its associated optical pulsar. Abbrev.: Tau; genitive form: Tauri; approx. position: RA 4.5h, dec +15°; area: 314 sq deg.
Taurus(religion, spiritualism, and occult)
Taurus, the second sign of the zodiac, is a fixed earth sign. It is a negative (in the value-neutral sense of being negatively charged), feminine sign, ruled by the planet Venus. Its symbol is the bull, and its glyph is said to represent a bull’s head and horns. It takes its name from the Greek word for bull. A sign known for its stubbornness, Taurus is the source of such expressions as “bullheaded” and “stubborn as a bull.” Taurus is associated with the throat and neck. People with a Taurus sun sign, while they often have beautiful voices, are also prone to sore throats, thyroid irregularities, and other neck problems. The key phrase for Taurus is “I have.”
Taurus, like many signs of the zodiac, does not have a developed mythology associated with it. Taurus is most often said to be the bull that kidnapped Europa. As the story goes, the god Zeus saw the princess Europa playing with female attendants on the beach and was filled with love for her great beauty. Zeus then transformed himself into a beautiful white bull, wandered into the group of females, and laid down among them. He presented such a peaceful appearance that they petted him, and Europa climbed onto his back. Zeus then unexpectedly took off swimming, eventually depositing Europa on the beach at Crete, where he made love to her. She bore him three sons and received three gifts from the king of the gods—an unerring spear, an inexorable hound, and a bronze man who drove away strangers.
Like Zeus, Taureans are fond of beauty and sensuality and like to place themselves in beautiful surroundings. They make a special effort to enjoy the good things of life. Similar to the bull of this tale, they are usually handsome and peaceful and are content to lie around and be “petted”; they enjoy receiving massages more than any other sign. They can remain calm when others panic but can explode into rage when pushed too far; though slow to anger, they have the worst temper in the zodiac when aroused. Like the unerring spear and the inexorable hound of the myth, Taureans are “doggedly” stubborn, pursuing a task in the face of all odds. And like the bronze man who chased away strangers, Taureans prefer the familiar over the new.
The sign that the Sun was in at birth is usually the single most important influence on a native’s personality. Thus, when people say they are a certain sign, they are almost always referring to their sun sign. There is a wealth of information available on the characteristics of the zodiacal signs—so much that one book would not be able to contain it all. Sun-sign astrology, which is the kind of astrology found in newspaper columns and popular magazines, has the advantage of simplicity. But this simplicity is purchased at the price of ignoring other astrological influences, such as one’s Moon sign, rising sign, etc. These other influences can substantially modify a person’s basic sun sign traits. As a consequence, it is the rare individual who is completely typical of her or his sign. The reader should bear this caveat in mind when perusing the following series of sun-sign interpretations.
One traditional way in which astrologers condense information is by summarizing sign and planet traits in lists of words and short phrases called key words or key phrases. The following Taurus key words are drawn from Manly P. Hall’s Astrological Keywords:
Emotional keywords: “Amorous, artistic, gentle, loyal, domestic, proud, quick-tempered, self-indulgent, sensual, moods make definite statements concerning emotions impossible.”
Mental keywords: “Patient, persistent, thorough, steadfast, conservative, retentive, discriminating, determined, argumentative, stubborn, materialistic”
At present, there are various astrology report programs that contain interpretations of each of the 12 sun signs. A selection of these for Sun in Taurus has been excerpted below:
You are known for being patient, slow moving and careful—you love to prolong and savor enjoyable times. You appreciate and need comfort, ease and warm surroundings. Be careful of a tendency to become placid and self-satisfied and to overeat (especially sweets). You require strenuous situations in order to grow and mature properly, even though you try to avoid them. Affectionate, even-tempered and slow to anger—when you do become emotionally upset, you are also slow to forgive and time must pass before your calm returns. You demand real results from any situation—abstractions are very difficult for you to comprehend. Very artistic, your hands love to mold and shape things. You portray an earthy, physical sexiness that others find quite seductive. (From “Professional Natal Report.” Courtesy of Astrolabe [http://www.alabe.com].)
You are a steadfast and patient soul, capable of tremendous devotion, dedication, endurance, and constancy. The ability to follow through and stick with things is one of your greatest assets. Once your course is set, you pursue it tenaciously until it is completed, stubbornly resisting any attempts to sway you from your purpose.
You have a very practical nature and want to see concrete, tangible results for your efforts, and you are not one for spinning wild dreams that are unlikely to come into fruition. Most of your “wild dreams” have to do with material achievements, well-being, and security, for you have a great love of the physical world and you want to experience and enjoy it to the full. Though you will work long and persistently, you also have a strong sensual and comfort-loving side, and you want to enjoy what you have worked for. In fact, you can be enormously lazy at times and have a tendency to overindulge in good food and other earthly pleasures. You also love the beauty of the natural world and probably prefer a serene country setting rather than an urban life style.
At heart your needs are simple and you are easy to please. You have a strong desire for security, stability, and peace, and will rarely make changes unless you are forced to do so. You are not very demanding emotionally, though you do crave lots of physical closeness and affection. Because of your faithfulness, emotional steadiness, and gentle strength, others often depend upon you for support. Though you hate upheaval and sudden changes, you usually maintain your poise and equanimity. You also have an innate sense of harmonizing with nature, allowing things to grow and unfold in their own time, and the patience to nurture something into being—be it a garden, a child, or some creative project. You make an excellent mother or father, especially if you follow your instincts more often than “the experts.”
You have three major faults: one is your bullheaded obstinacy. The second is your unwillingness to deviate from your safe, predictable routine. And the third is your tendency to always insist upon realism and undervalue the imaginative, speculative, and fanciful—in other words, you lack the ability to play with ideas and possibilities, to open your mind to the new. (From “Merlin,” by Gina Ronco and Agnes Nightingale. Courtesy of Cosmic Patterns [http://cosmic.patterns.com].)
Ease, calm, naturalness—those are the spiritual goals of the Bull. Silence too. But not just the kind that comes from keeping your mouth closed. The Bull’s silence is deeper: it’s a quiet heart. Feel the wind in your hair. Feel the efficiency of your body, the rightness of its rhythms, the easy intelligence of your cells and muscles. That’s Taurus. The part of you that’s learning the lessons of the Bull is getting more grounded, more present, more receptive to immediate reality. As a result, it has a physical orientation and a practical feeling. It’s not so interested in abstract flights of speculation. It avoids the metaphysical Disneylands that seem to fascinate so many people. It specializes in the wordless mysticism of ordinary life.
Feed your Taurean side with hands-on work: gardening, crafting wood or cloth, communing with animals. Soothe it with music. Restore and renew it with time spent close to nature—in the forest, in the mountain valley, by the ocean. Dress it in blue jeans and flannel. And never, ever, ask it to go to a cocktail party!
With your Sun in Taurus, you renew your basic vitality in simple ways. Take a walk in the woods. Paddle a canoe. Build something of oak or maple. Your deepest nature is quiet, stable, solid. You benefit from having a strong tone of continuity in your life—especially in relationships. Keep in touch with old friends. Stay close to people who aren’t too quick to get off on “trips,” be they guru-scenes, make-a-million schemes, or a new kind of bean sprout that will change your life. At the deepest level, you are learning about calm and naturalness. So keep things simple.
Your practical skills are enormous: you understand the world of raw materials, of money, of daily life. Be careful those skills don’t run away with you! A pitfall for you lies in getting so busy keeping all your responsibilities magnificently fulfilled that you starve yourself for quiet time. Then the Sun grows dimmer in you, and every other aspect of your character has less light to reflect. (From “The Sky Within,” by Steven Forrest. Courtesy of Matrix Software [http://thenewage.com] and Steven Forrest [http://www.stevenforrest.com].)
Among its several natal programs, Matrix Software created a unique report based on the published works of the early-twentieth-century astrologer Grant Lewi (1901–1952). Lewi’s highly original delineations were recognized as creative and insightful by his contemporaries. One measure of the appeal of his work is that his books Astrology for the Millions and Heaven Knows What are still in print. The following is excerpted from the report program “Heaven Knows What”:
“I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all Summer.” (Ulysses S. Grant, born in Taurus, April 27, 1822.)
“In all movements, we bring to the front as the leading question in each case, the property question.” (The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx, born in Taurus, May 5, 1818.)
“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” (Karl Marx.)
The singleness of purpose of the Taurean, his loyalty, his stick-to-it-iveness, spring from one source: his need for security. Self-preservation … is the hub of the Taurean wheel of life; and the Taurean curls and dies within himself when security—emotional or material—is denied him. Not likely to be grasping, sure to be the embodiment of the idealist form of love, Taurus may himself, or herself, be quite unaware of inner motives, for self-analysis is rarely important to this sign. Instincts are powerful and generally right—always right in so far as they serve the perhaps unarticulated motives of the Taurean, who, while not selfish in the ordinary material sense, sees to it that nothing interferes with the gratifying of his instinctual urge, self-preservation and its more abstracted form, self-fulfillment.
The Taurean will not interfere with you if you don’t interfere with him in these essentials, but will fight like a bear at bay for his rights to these things. He is the easiest person to live with, if you are willing to live with him and not against him. Anyone who is going to get along with a Taurean must understand that to him or her cooperation doesn’t mean doing things together; it means doing things peacefully, in a friendly manner, even if the things are done separately. This kind of cooperation annoys people who are less self-sufficient until they learn that the heart of the Taurean comes home to roost only if you don’t try to coerce it, and will break itself against bars of any kind, even if the bars are put up by love itself.
The Taurean is so sure of his need for security that he resents any implication that he needs watching or holding; his instinct is to hold himself to what he needs and wants—and he can’t by any force in the world be held to anything else. On the other hand, once he has polarized his instinct on an essential, he will cling to it with hands, teeth and toenails, and no one can tell him that it is unworthy, or wrong, or useless, or low. Once it is his, in that it satisfies his deepest needs, it is his forever, whether it be home, a man, a woman, ambition, love, money or anything. When the Taurean has determined in his deep and sometimes dark subconscious that his emotional or material security lies there, he goes there and stays there forever. (Courtesy of Matrix Software [http://thenewage.com].)
The following excerpt comes not from a natal report program, but from David Cochrane’s recent book, Astrology for the 21st Century. Based on lessons for astrology students, it approaches the signs of the zodiac from a somewhat different perspective than the other short delineations cited here:
Taurus patiently builds things using an inner instinct. Taurus is attuned to the plant kingdom and a love of nature is usually strong in people who have a lot of Taurus in their charts. Taureans are practical and down-to-earth.
I have not found that love of food and comfort or materialism or acquisitiveness, which are often ascribed to Taurus, are accurate. From my viewpoint Taurus is the builder, plain and simple. Taurus approaches life instinctively, following its own inner sense, and persistently and patiently builds something. Taurus does things in an organic way and does not respond to reason, preferring to follow an unfolding process that works from within. Taurus is attuned to the plant kingdom because Taurus develops organically and slowly, just as plants do. People with strong Taurus in their chart like to build things up step-by-step, unfolding a plan that is within them and as the vision unfolds and materializes, Taurus takes great joy in the process. Others may feel bored, as if the Taurean is delighting in watching the grass grow, but patience and tenacity are implicit in the Taurean unfolding process. (Courtesy of Cosmic Patterns [http://cosmic.patterns.com] and David Cochrane [email@example.com].)
A number of specialized report programs has been developed that offer useful supplements to the generic delineations of general reports. The following sun-sign interpretation has been drawn from a program written by Gloria Star (originally part of her book, Astrology: Woman to Woman) that generates a specialized report for women:
With your Sun in Taurus your steadfast, easygoing energy helps to keep you focused on your priorities. You’re interested in a life which provides ample opportunities to grow, and your ego self is driven by a need to experience consistency. The beautiful things in life are most valuable to you, and your capacity for love is immense. Learning the difference between stability and stubbornness can be one of your biggest lessons. Since your Sun shows “who you think you are,” you can grow to realize that loving thoughts produce amazing results.
Through your Taurus Sun you experience a sense of continuity and stability, and can express your masculine side through establishing as secure place in the world. Whether you choose a career path or family structure as your focus, you are like an anchor and have the ability to provide strength and consistency. It may be important that you to create a home base, and the energy you put into building your home includes both house and family. Your special sensibility toward the environment can grow as you mature, and you may find that your awareness of the importance of preserving the environment and making the best use of resources is behind your most powerful drives. As a woman, you will take great care to build upon the foundations in your life, and may prefer to assert yourself in a slow, steady pace. Your career path needs to provide opportunities for you to establish yourself and grow steadily. Regardless of your marital status, you function best when you have your own money and resources. Although your father may have been the breadwinner and financial mainstay when you were a child, you may prefer a different situation with a husband or partner. Allowing the man in your life to control your finances will ultimately result in a power struggle, if not externally, then certainly within yourself. You can work cooperatively with a partner toward joint ventures, financially and otherwise, and can feel willing to share and contribute to the financial and other needs of your family. You will feel greater autonomy if you also have a separate fund which you control for yourself.
There’s certainly no problem with your desires, since your Taurus Sun qualities may help you create a long wish list. Maintaining your focus is one of the tricks you learned long ago, and when you really want something, there may be no end to your patience. The problem can revolve around determining your priorities and learning the difference between what you need and what you want. Sometimes, your stubborn attitudes and refusal to change can interfere with the realization of your needs. In many ways, your success depends upon knowing when to hang on and when to loosen your grasp—at least a little! (From “Woman to Woman,” by Gloria Star. Courtesy of Matrix Software [http://thenew age.com].)
Responding to the revival of interest in pre-twentieth-century astrology, J. Lee Lehman developed a report program embodying the interpretive approach of traditional astrology. The following is excerpted from her Classical Report:
You are a person of few words, with religious or spiritual leanings, and slow to anger. You are sincere and just, confident and bold, an interpreter of dreams who can find out secret and hidden things. There is a danger that in the process you will offend others, and your conceit, or confidence, doesn’t help.
You are an Earth Sign, which means that you are “cold” and “dry.” The “dry” component means, among other things, that you see distinctions easily, and that you are more swayed by intellectual argument than by passion. You are perceived as being “cold,” an outward appearance of unemotional. In the modern parlance, it fits better with “cold and dry” than with simply “cold.” However, a “cold” type is basically lethargic, or slow to react. The problem with “cold” is that it makes it hard for you to forget slights. Because you don’t tend to lash out immediately, it’s hard for you not to allow your anger to build up. Combine this with a tendency, being “dry,” to prefer the reasonable approach, and you can end up completely out of touch while your emotions run rampant.
You are fixed, which means you are strong-willed and stubborn. You will want to hang onto people and things long after they have ceased to be useful to you. The Taurus Bull, being a four-footed sign, means that you have a strong sex drive with a tendency to be vicious or violent if angered. (Courtesy of J. Lee Lehman, Ph.D., copyright 1998 [http://www.leelehman.com].)
Readers interested in examining interpretations for their Chinese astrological sign should refer to the relevant entry. A guide for determining one’s sign in the Chinese system is provided in the entry on the Chinese zodiac.
(in Turkish, Toros Dağlan), a mountain system in southern Turkey.
The Taurus Mountains extend 1,000 km along the Mediterranean Sea, forming the southern edges of the Asia Minor Highlands and the western Armenian Highland. The ranges of the Anti-Taurus form an extension of the system to the northeast. The mountains have elevations to 3,726 m, at Mount Demirkazik. In the Central Taurus, a number of peaks rise above 3,000 m, and the relief is of the alpine type, with traces of ancient glaciation; there are karst landscapes in the west.
The Taurus system, which was formed during the Alpide folding, is composed primarily of limestones; along its axis it is composed primarily of schists and other metamorphic rocks. The extremely steep southern slopes receive 1,000–3,000 mm of precipitation annually, most of it in winter. Up to elevations of 800–1,000 m the slopes are covered mainly by maquis consisting of arbutus, laurel, myrtle, tree heath, and rockrose (genus Cistus); at higher elevations there are oak and cypress forests. Forests of pine, fir, and cedar of Lebanon are found in the upper zone, up to 2,200–2,400 m. There are juniper thickets and meadows at the timberline. Steppe vegetation grows on the relatively gentle northern slopes, which receive 300–400 mm of precipitation annually, and in the eastern part of the Taurus are mountain steppes and semideserts with thorny pulvinate shrubs. The Cilician Gates form a pass through the Taurus Mountains.
IU. K. EFREMOV
(or Bull), a zodiacal constellation (seeZODIAC). Its brightest stars are Aldebaran, El Nath, Alcyone, and ξ Tauri, which are of visual magnitude 0.8,1.6, 2.9, and 3.0, respectively. The two open star clusters called the Hyades and the Pleiades are found in Taurus. The best conditions for observing the constellation are in November and December, when it is visible throughout the USSR. (SeeSTELLAR SKY).