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Friday, April 29, 2011

Earthly Queen


The Taurean Bull of course can be tracked back to the ancient Egyptian Apis Bull and his partner. The Apis Bull was the sacred symbol of Osiris and through him of his partner Isis/Hathor who sometimes sports the cow head. It is quite debatable which had the most authority, but it is highly suspicious that it was Isis, the goddess who had given birth to the child Horos or Hour, that is a segment of time-space, and symbol of her creative qualities as the Great Mother Goddess. However, make no mistake that Isis would remain barren without the stimulation and support of Osiris.

Venus is the planet most associated with Taurus and Venus is symbolised in the ancient Goddess Hathor. Hathor wears the cow head symbolised in the horns of potency and the disk of creation.



The other image of Venus is the classical Greek goddess Aphrodite, an image that over emphasises the feminine yet one can still sense some yang energies to keep the balance going; she has absolute ‘feminine’ appeal, yet with a hidden stress of being her own person.



In fact Aphrodite can be quite harsh in her search for equality, balance, harmony, and justice. When these desires are harnessed to the Bullish qualities of Taurus, there is not likely to be a middle path towards achieving that peace according to the Taurean will; a will-power that is strong and determined yet ready to play ball with the opponent if good practical reason is given.
Equally, as seen before in the Libran Venus, if Venus cannot be bothered with all the inconvenience of war then she is likely to sit down and refuse to move or to be concerned about the state of things.

Isis and Osiris are the cosmic polarities of the ‘All’; the male and female principles of life, and their story is retold by Plutarch. Plutarch had learnt a lot from the priestess Clea.  Plutarch: Concerning The Mysteries Of Isis And Osiris



Saturday, April 23, 2011

TAURUS EYES


The sun has now moved into the sign of Taurus, symbolised by the bull. What a lovable little creature the young calf is, but watch out as they grow big. Some still maintain that seductive doe eyed gentleness, whilst others snort in rage when you get in their way.


Now this boisterous bull is ruled by the gentle and beautiful planet Venus and that should give us some clue to the other side of our Taurean. You have meet Venus before in the sign of Libra, now we again make her acquaintance as ruler of Taurus. When associated with the zodiac sign of Taurus, the qualities of Venus acquire a more practical and earthly expression of herself. You will see the Taurean Venus in the policeman maintaining harmony by applying man’s version of law and order. You will see the practical side of Venus in the ecstatic expressions of the artist and the dancer giving practical expression to the Taurean love of beauty.



Like most signs, Taurus can sometimes be hard to pin down, yet each sign shares an undeniable likeness of basic qualities and principles of that shared sign by those born with the sun in the same sign. What most of us forget is that an individual has a whole birth chart of 10 planets and is not only the sun.

So why do we need a bull in the zodiac? Because someone has to shovel the opposition out of the way or we would never advance as a group. Some bulls will literally go at the opposition with a full head on butt, whilst other bulls take the subtle gentle approach of silent stubbornness, in pursuit of their aims. Each one needs to harness these admirable qualities with an eye to the bigger picture so that they do not get caught on a one-track path that cannot see the beauty of other ways. For Beauty is essential to the soul of the Taurean – beauty of nature, of artifice, and of money for the beauty that it can procure.


It must not be forgotten that the great star Aldebaran of the constellation Taurus is the ‘All Seeing Eye’ and font of great wisdom. Vera Stanley Alder writes on this wisdom in ‘Finding the Third Eye’. The Finding of the Third Eye.  Wisdom in Practice


Spring Time in Ancient Crete where the Bull of Minos was venerated.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

RAM FEVER


ARIES is the first sign of the zodiac circle because it is the sign of the northern spring equinox, which in turn is the point marking the beginning of the natural year. Ancient calendars used this point to start their solar year in contrast to our western artificial calendar, which starts its calendar year in the month of January.

So, with the rushing in of new energies for the start of a new solar year, the Ram was chosen as the symbol of the zodiacal sign of Aries. And Aries has great affinity with the planet Mars, or in astrological speak, Mars is the ruler of Aries.


An image of Mars from Albumasar’s ‘De Magnus Conjunctionibus’ [9th Century]

Mars is hot and fiery, it is the life driving force that gives initiative to take action, drawing, as all the planets do, its own life from our sun, the hub of our universe. Mars was the planet particularly favoured by the Romans. This accords well with their pagan religion of Mithraism, the religion of fire, fire that makes so much possible in the lives of human beings.

We have met Mars previously in his association with the sign Scorpio, but here in Aries, the Martian energy is less complicated and therefore freer to have a more direct expression. Without Mars energy, little or nothing can be accomplished; no one would get out of bed in the morning, or strive for achievement in the world. Mars is the fighting energy that enables us to push our way through life. Of course too much push can make one very unpopular and too much fire makes an enemy of an otherwise very useful commodity.

The secret side of the Ram is seen in the Ancient Egyptian god Khnum who guards one of the 21 portals of the House of Osiris. As an ancient creator god, Khnum moulds man on his potter’s wheel or as Vulcan, hammers out man on his anvil with the aid of fire.


Khnum guarding a portal. From the Ancient Egyptian ‘Book of the Dead’. 


It takes persistence and courage to get through life, sadly when these ‘thrusting’ qualities are devoid of the human virtues and chivalry, one can descend into pointless war and aggression, instead of fighting for good like King Arthur or Parsifal.


Go on your own adventure with Parsifal/Parsival; Parsival or a Knight's Tale by Richard Monaco.


Saturday, April 2, 2011

SPRINGING ARIES RAM


The sun entering Aries reminds us of the first energies of spring in the northern hemisphere and that powerful force propelling the bud out of the winter frozen earth. Aries people are driven by a similar first explosion of unstoppable, joyful and expectant energy.
This joyful fiery energy is the case whether an Aries person is born in the northern or the southern hemisphere, for we are referring here to deep space constellation influence rather than only planetary energies of the solar system. Thus the sun and the Ecliptic sign of Aries might be said to be focusing towards earth, the greater energies of the constellation Aries, whilst at the same time being over-laid by the energies of the constellation Aquarius, as the Vernal Point moves into that constellation. Complicated? Confused? Look back at the Equinox blogg and do some research on ‘Precession’ for a clearer understanding.

Whatever; Aries people are full of ‘spring’, energy and enthusiasm, wanting to get things done even before the rest of us have worked out just what has to be done! But watch out for their fire, it can be used like a Promethean gift to progress onwards and blaze a trail for others to follow, OR the fire will singe your toes and elbows so that the burns sting and make you uncomfortable.


 Salamander being transformed by fire, from the ‘Book of Lambspring’


 On a planetary level, another ‘springing’ time is early morning, when a daily sunrise quickens life energies for the coming 24-hour cycle. As the Vedic hymn to the dawn says:-

Listen to the exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day, for it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course, lie all the verities and realities of your existence;
The glory of action, the bliss of growth, the splendour of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this Day.


The Ancient Egyptian rebel Pharaoh Akhenaten [c.1380 BCE] took a different tack on sun worship and wrote his own poem, part of which goes like this:-

‘Splendid you rise in heaven’s lightland,
O living Aten, creator of life!
When you have dawned in eastern lightland,
You fill every land with your beauty.
You are beauteous, great, radiant,
High over every land;…

All beasts browse on herbs;
Trees, herbs are sprouting,
Birds fly from their nests….

And if that sounds familiar, it is. From the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 104 reads:-

Lord…thou are very great;
thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment;
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters….

[that] give drink to every beast of the field…
the fowls of the heavens have their habitation…
….grass to grow for the cattle….

A good read on the rebel king of Egypt is Cyril Aldred ‘Akhenaten’. Akhenaten: King of Egypt 



Like the little lamb, young Arians frolic and gamble around the place, oblivious to the toes they step on. The older Ram has a different take on life and stands firm ready to ‘butt’ the opponent out of the way. Some will ‘butt’ even when there is no enemy, in their bid to be free to create something new.