According to classical astrology, this year the sun enters the sign of Taurus on April 19 at 1:27PM PT and exits on May 20. So what does it mean to be born under this sign?

Do you remember Ferdinand the Bull, from the story by Munro Leaf or the Disney cartoon? Ferdinand was the bull who prefer to smell the flowers rather than fight in the bull ring. Well, Ferdinand was a perfect metaphor for the sign of Taurus.

In real life, the bull is a symbol or power and potency, but the sun sign Taurus is a “feminine” sign ruled by Venus, the love planet. Like the bull, Taurus is slow to anger, but dangerous when provoked. My mother was a Taurus, and while she was usually quite easy-going, I learned that she was a force to be reckoned with on the rare occasions she lost her temper. Most of the time she played peacekeeper, a role much needed in a household containing two Scorpios and an Aries.

Illustration of Taurus astrological sign as a beautiful girl.

Taurus is a fixed, earth sign. My mother wasn’t crazy about change, but she sure had a green thumb. She could make almost anything grow and loved to garden. Like most people born under the sign, she had a lot of patience, but could be stubborn. It’s a fixed sign, after all. The typical Taurus has a love of beauty combined with exquisite taste. My mom used to joke about having champagne tastes on a beer pocketbook. But being a practical Taurus, she never spent more money than she had. (Taurus can be notoriously tight-fisted, but also good at managing other people’s money.)

Taurus can be a loving, peaceful companion. Compatible signs include the other earth signs of Virgo and Capricorn as well as the water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.

Taurus often has a musical or artistic bent. My mother loved music and had a lovely singing voice, which I, alas, did not inherit. Famous people born under the sign include Fred Astaire, Lionel Barrymore, Johannes Brahms, Catherine the Great, Gary Cooper, Oliver Cromwell, Bing Crosby, Elizabeth II, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Henry Fonda, ballerina Margot Fontyn, Sigmund Freud, Ulysses Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Adolph Hitler, Willie Mays, Vladimir Nobokov, Robespierre, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Temple, Harry S. Truman and Orson Welles.

Is there a Taurus in your life?

Linda