Beltane, the season of abundance, falls approximately halfway through the Sun’s transit through Taurus. This is the sign of nature, of embodiment. We connect to the world through our physical senses, apt for Beltane energies of fertility and growth. Taurus is the sign of fixed earth but of course, the earth is never fixed. She is always in flux, ever-changing, growing and releasing. The Sun waxes ever more strongly as we move into the warmer seasons of the year. Taurus energy asks us to put down roots, to bring our dreams into reality, to manifest. Our powers of manifestation are at their height just as nature manifests all her beauty and lush growth.
The gifts of embodiment
Taurus season is a season of abundance, a sign deeply connected to form, to matter, and to reality as we perceive it with our physical senses. It may not seem like a very spiritual sign, concerned as it is with the material realm, with stability and comfort and even luxury. Contemporary society often conditions us into believing that connecting to spirit means transcending earthy reality – but as pagans we know different. Taurus can actually be one of the most spiritual signs. We relax into the joy of spring and the inner and outer growth all around us.
Taurus builds, shapes, finds form, with deep powers of persistence and stamina. Taurus calls us to decide what we value the most and to take possession of it. And also to simply enjoy what we have, to embrace and celebrate all of the magic. The small everyday magics as well as the dramatic life-changing magics. Other signs might reach further and seek meaning beyond our everyday reality. But for Taurus, the meaning is right there in what is tangible and what we perceive with our senses. The apple tree in blossom, the birds singing up the dawn, the leaves greening the trees.
Taurus and the flower bride
In British mythology, we see Taurean symbolism in Flower Brides such as Creiddylad, the daughter of Llud Llaw Eraint, desired by both Gwythyr ap Greidawl and Gwyn ap Nudd. King Arthur passed judgment on them that they must fight for her hand every Mayday, neither able to win until the final day of Judgment or the end of the world. The Summer and Winter King must fight for the Flower Bride. She is the embodiment and the sovereignty of the land and therefore able to bestow that sovereignty on the king.
Here we find an echo of the Taurus symbolism of possession and ownership, deeper than our contemporary understanding of these concepts. She is the sovereignty of the land, is the land itself, and he must prove his claim and his worth to share her power rather than simply taking what he wants. Again we see Taurus as fixed earth – the goddess is constant and unchanging but the god changes and must win her anew each year.
The goddess at Beltane has been associated with both a white horse and a white cow, both symbols of the primal source of life and of fertility in agricultural societies. As the sign of the bull, Taurus also brings a connection with the energy of the Horned God, giving us the Lady and Lord of Beltane.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In