The Taurus Shadow

The Taurus Shadow
(From the book "Astrology for Lovers" by Liz Green)

Let's consider the undertow that exists in all earthy signs: that of fire. And let's remember that this undertow often shows itself in a strange kind of religious fervor or fanaticism. Here you have the Taurean shadow, completely hidden in many Taureans and unleashed in full force in others. Nobody, but nobody, is as good at founding ersatz religions as a Taurus.

Notice the quality of the religions. Let's take Karl Marx, a Taurus. Now, dialectic materialism is supposed to be a political philosophy. It's meant to explain the forces operating in history - all explained in true Taurean fashion, with regard for the economic motivations but with complete unawareness of other currents and motives. The importance of spiritual needs, for example, is grossly ignored. The impact of powerful personalities is missed. And the substrata of myth, the basic patterns and structures of the human psyche, is sadly missed. Dialectic materialism is an anti-religious religion. Witness the religiosity with which its partisans attempt to convert the world. Instead of the old Inquisition hunting heretics, it hunts capitalists. And the impetus is Taurean: fixed, persistent, determined, obsessive, and fanatical.

Let's take another Taurean: Sigmund Freud. Now, modern psychology owes an immeasurable debt to Dr. Freud for he was the first to postulate the existence of what we call the unconscious, the hidden side of man. However anachronistic Freud's theories seem to us now, it is worth remembering that he was the real founder, the builder, of a new outlook of man. Since Freud's time, man has become much more aware that he is a complex creature with many facets not apparent to the ordinary eye. Freud was a true Taurean in that he was an empiricist, non-mystical, pragmatic, thorough, scientific, and a builder. He was also Taurean on the shadow side, for Freudian psychology is like a religion. When you read Freud, you realize that he is offering us a new Bible, a new face of God, a new expulsion from the Garden. The sexual drive, to Freud, is a god; it has the power and absoluteness of God. Freud's own religious propensities found their way into his psychology. It's dogmatic, fixed and orthodox. Its adherents, when strict, are so closely akin to those of the Church that it is amusing to see them such arch antagonists. Freud's work is banned in Ireland, stronghold of the Church.

Yet they bear strange similarities.

This religious fanaticism often permeates Taurus' endeavours. The list is very long, and ranges from the very light - Buddha was said to have been a Taurus - to the very dark - Hitler was also a Taurus. What do they have in common? Well, it's an unfair comparison. But the story of Siddhartha is a Taurean story - all or nothing. So is Hitler's. And in Hitler's you can see the Taurean shadow run so rampant that we have not yet recovered from it: a religious fanaticism so intense that the western world is still reeling under the impact of atrocities unleashed in the twentieth century.

In ordinary life, this fanaticism can peep out in lots of different places. The most typical form is intolerance. Taurus is not known for his easy acceptance of others' viewpoints. He simply negates the existence of anything that doesn't fit in with his scheme of reality. For a realistic sign, Taurus is prone to the strangest sorts of gullible fervours. Often his pragmatism has the undercurrent of gross, blind fanaticism - a very unpragmatic quality. He usually doesn't recognize it. In his own eyes, no one is more realistic. But the bull can be so one-pointed that it can only see red.

Intolerance has a close relationship with prejudice. And prejudice is one of Taurus' chief difficulties on the shadow side. Once he makes up his mind that a particular ideology, religion, race, or type of person is a loss, there his mind stays. There's no moving it, no budging it. And he can be incredibly offensive in his criticism of others' values. For Taurus, his values are the only values. He's not averse to being either rude or insulting if you contradict them.

There are other facets to the Taurus shadow, connected with those just mentioned. One of them is Taurus' tendency to use people. It ties up with his longing to find meaning, his search for the glamorous, the mystical, the dramatic. Sometimes, failing to find these qualities in his own life, he becomes a kind of spiritual groupie. Or a real groupie. You'll find a lot of Taurus women riding arm in arm with famous pop stars, film actors, peerage. Taurus is sometimes capable of selling himself for a piece of somebody else's action. It's a fair exchange for him, barter of his own value for something he values more. There is a side to Taurus, both male and female, that likes to be kept by somebody else, bought by somebody else, because it states a price, a value.

Fanaticism and opportunism: two distorted faces of the repressed fire in Taurus. The fire signs themselves have both but in a different way, diluted and more honest. With Taurus, these are shadowy qualities, and he is usually unaware that he is displaying them. How to deal with them? Well, like all shadowy qualities, it helps to know about them. In the case of the fanaticism, the religious fervours, it helps if Taurus is willing to recognize that life is full of things which are not recognizable through the five senses alone. There are mysteries and layers of meaning to life which elude the pragmatic, statistical approach. This means not trampling, bull-like, over others' values, and it also means not stealing others' values, as in the case of the opportunism of the Taurean shadow. It involves building one's own flexibility and tolerance. Then, like Theseus, the Taurean can deal with his own Minotaur effectively and become what he is truly suited to be: the preserver, the sustainer, the builder, the artist, the giver of gifts. Taurus is not a lukewarm, milksop sign. You'd expect him to pack a pretty powerful wallop on the shadow side. Likewise, you'd expect him to have enormous strength and endurance, patience and courage, on the positive side. Never mind those mild, pretty descriptions of Ferdinand among the flowers. Remember that he's a bull. The power of the earth itself flows through him.

The taurus harem is actually a church with dedicated faithfuls; the Taurus Pimp Faith mission Church. Membership will cost you only your blind faith in our leadership into the land of abundant cheese, steak(rump), milk and yoghurt.

HELL YES ...abundant cheese. I can rival all rodents in terms of how much cheese I can stuff my face with

Posted by Damnata
HELL YES ...abundant cheese. I can rival all rodents in terms of how much cheese I can stuff my face with

Alright, if you wanna be lead from the wild ways of aquarius veganism into the land of cheese Follow me... This way woman

My dad's taurus girlfriend rarely gets pissed but when she's upset he throws food at her.

Excellent tactic 🙂)

Oh yes, but that's too much work, I mean you have to get up from the sofa, to the fridge, open it think abt what you're gonna make, etc. i just put on nottinghill and skip foward to that song- 'you say it best when you say nothing at all' women love this movie < now that's a good taurus tactic, the minimal effort yet so damn effective. Diabolical stuff I say

Posted by Damnata
Notice the quality of the religions. Let's take Karl Marx, a Taurus. Now, dialectic materialism is supposed to be a political philosophy. It's meant to explain the forces operating in history - all explained in true Taurean fashion, with regard for the economic motivations but with complete unawareness of other currents and motives. The importance of spiritual needs, for example, is grossly ignored. The impact of powerful personalities is missed. And the substrata of myth, the basic patterns and structures of the human psyche, is sadly missed. Dialectic materialism is an anti-religious religion. Witness the religiosity with which its partisans attempt to convert the world. Instead of the old Inquisition hunting heretics, it hunts capitalists.

Strongly disagree!

Soren Kierkegaard (b.May 5, 1813) Taurus
Regarded as the 1st existentialist philospohper.

"He proposed that each individual—not society or religion—is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely ("authentically").

I don't see the economic motivation behind this philosophy in regards to religion....In my opinion, it appears to be altruistic, raw and genuine to the highest extent.

Posted by Damnata
And the impetus is Taurean: fixed, persistent, determined, obsessive, and fanatical.

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We're fixed because we're realistic, not because we're close-minded and materialistic. Please read below.

Kierkegaard wrote critical texts on organized religion, Christendom, morality, ethics, psychology and philosophy of religion, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and parables. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a "single individual", giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking,

The author Liz Green probably never saw a stand up comedy show by the late, great comedian George Carlin.
(b.May 12, 1937- d.June 22 2008)Taurus.

I think he would agree that her narrow-minded view of Bulls in regards to religion and philosophy were full of CaCa!

She seemed biased towards some of the signs, I agree

George Carlin, a man after my own heart 😄

Jim Jones was also a Taurus. He definitely portrays this shadow side, but in a very religious way.

Posted by TaurusLovesScorpio
Jim Jones was also a Taurus. He definitely portrays this shadow side, but in a very religious way.

Posted by Damnata

Intolerance has a close relationship with prejudice. And prejudice is one of Taurus' chief difficulties on the shadow side. Once he makes up his mind that a particular ideology, religion, race, or type of person is a loss, there his mind stays. There's no moving it, no budging it. And he can be incredibly offensive in his criticism of others' values. For Taurus, his values are the only values. He's not averse to being either rude or insulting if you contradict them.

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As emotionally and mentally unstable as Jim Jones was during the cult/murder suicide in 1978 ( in regards to religion),however his views on politics, sociology and race were more evolved and post-segregated. (Despite being raised by a lineage of Klan members, and studying Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin).

Posted by TaurusBull1977

Posted by TaurusLovesScorpio
Jim Jones was also a Taurus. He definitely portrays this shadow side, but in a very religious way.

Posted by Damnata

Intolerance has a close relationship with prejudice. And prejudice is one of Taurus' chief difficulties on the shadow side. Once he makes up his mind that a particular ideology, religion, race, or type of person is a loss, there his mind stays. There's no moving it, no budging it. And he can be incredibly offensive in his criticism of others' values. For Taurus, his values are the only values. He's not averse to being either rude or insulting if you contradict them.

As emotionally and mentally unstable as Jim Jones was during the cult/murder suicide in 1978 ( in regards to religion),however his views on politics, sociology and race were more evolved and post-segregated. (Despite being raised by a lineage of Klan members, and studying Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin).

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Totally agree. I would've probably joined up. I even like the idea of Jonestown...hahahaha. While tolerant of racial differences, seems fair to say he was fairly intolerant of disagreement, extremely manipulative right from the beginning, and an extremely harsh disciplinarian though. Further, it looks like he had some sort of Messianic/God complex. I think the darker side of Taurus enjoys being worshipped.

Posted by TaurusLovesScorpio

Further, it looks like he had some sort of Messianic/God complex. I think the darker side of Taurus enjoys being worshipped.

...And can be overly-hedonistic...thus, plaguing or filtering out any altruistic agenda that may have beem primarily put into practice.

Taurus folks have a talent for drawing people in. Add a true strength of purpose and it can border of fanaticism really quick.

Most Tauruses I know though are happy with living their lives according to their principles, they see no need to push their beliefs unto others.

Posted by Damnata

Most Tauruses I know though are happy with living their lives according to their principles, they see no need to push their beliefs unto others.

This is true. I pulled this from another thread on the Taurus Board.

Posted by Theatrum

A Taurus will not argue they will just let you learn the hard way.

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😉

Didn't read any of that but I adore George Carlin 😉