The Taurus Path - Enjoying Our Physical Experience

by Guru Rattana, Ph.D. - Issue #133 - May 16, 2007

Planetary Alignments

• The Sun entered Taurus pastures April 20th at 4:07am PDT (11:07am GMT), and will stay until 3:12am PDT (10:12am GMT) when it enters Gemini.
• The Scorpio Full Moon was May 2nd at 3:10PM PDT (10:10pm GMT). The Moon was at 11° Scorpio and the Sun at 11° Taurus.
• The Taurus New Moon is May 16th at 12:29pm PDT (7:29pm GMT) at 25° Taurus.
• Chiron, the healer archetype, turns retrograde May 20th (at 15° Aquarius) and remains retrograde until October 19th.
• Neptune goes retrograde May 24th (at 22° Aquarius) and remains in reverse drive through October 31st.
• Jupiter, representing the archetype of expansion, encourages us to expand within during its retrograde phase April 5th through August 7th.

Taurus is about Beauty and Enjoyment - Taurus New Moon, May 16^th

Our soul embodies to have a physical experience, and to learn how to navigate in a dense environment. Taurus is about physical beauty: the beauty of the earth that we experience through sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. Taurus is about experiencing and appreciating the pleasures of being, in a physical body on Planet Earth. Venus, the mentor of Taurus and Libra, teaches us that beauty opens the heart, so we are able to unconditionally give and receive.

A basic human need, expressed by the Taurus archetype, is to connect in a satisfying and nurturing way with our bodies and the Earth. Taurus explores how to relate to the physical world in a way that is supportive, sustainable, and enjoyable.

The Taurus New Moon invites us to experience a more loving connection with our Earth Mother, and the phenomenal creations that we call our bodies.

Where is My Taurus?

Like all the signs, not everyone has planets in Taurus, but the Bull archetype and the instinct to manifest, to enjoy and to take care of ourselves, is part of everyone's birth chart. There are four ways to identify where and how Taurus energy plays out in our lives:

1. If your ascendant is Taurus, you view the world from Taurus eyes.(1)
2. The second house is the territory ruled by Venus and associated with Taurus. Any planets in our 2nd house are conditioned by Taurus energy.
3. Locating the house or houses that contain planets in Taurus, or have Taurus on the cusp, helps us identify the arena in life where we confront our Taurus issues, and display our Taurus traits.
4. The house location of our natal Venus (ruler of Taurus and Libra), indicates how and where our journey focuses on manifestation, resources, values and self-esteem.

The above ways all help us understand how and where our inner Bull faces challenges, in our quest to take care of ourselves, enjoy our body, and relate appropriately to our physical environment.

The Taurus Evolutionary Journey

Immature (needs to learn)	Mature
Stubborn	Determined, inner grit
Confrontational	Compassionate
Emotionally volcanic	Peaceful
Indulgent	Appreciative
Feels unworthy	Knows personal worth
Negative self-judgment	In touch with personal values
Possessive, attached	Enjoys, but not attached to nice things
Lazy	Serene
Complacent	Comfortable
Worried about money	Attains material security
Struggle to survive	Able to take care of self and have enough
Needy	Satisfied, resourceful, responsible for meeting needs
Gluttony or deprivation	Balanced, sustaining intake
Over-indulges in sensuality	Enjoys pleasures of body without excess
Greedy	Experiences abundance
Experiences lack	Experiences sufficiency
Feels like a victim	Able to understand wake-up calls and learn from life experiences
Inflexible and bull-headed	Able to be flexible and adapt to changes
Broods on emotional hurts	Takes responsibility for feelings
Feels alienated	Able to give and receive love and appreciation

First Earth and Fixed Sign

As the first earth sign, Taurus needs to touch the ground, to connect with the earth, and to build and maintain a solid foundation for living life. As the first fixed sign, Taurus is focused on creating a sense of stability, a supportive foundation, and a feeling of satisfaction. Taurus needs to feel safe and secure in its body and in its environments.

Immature Taurus can get engrossed in the extreme of too much hedonism, or the extreme of too little asceticism. If we deprive ourselves of the pleasures of the physical world, we can miss out and feel needy and deprived. If we over-indulge in physical pleasures and things, we can become consumed by the need for more wealth and possessions. Controlled by our quest for external objects, we lose the pleasure component and the sense of freedom, necessary to truly enjoy what we have.

Taurus is concerned with money and earning enough to support itself. Taurus is also about values. Taurus teaches us to get in touch with our true values by tuning into what:

1. opens our heart,
2. allows us to feel truly satisfied,
3. helps us appreciate being alive, and
4. makes life worth living.

There has to be a coherent relationship between money, how we earn it, and our values to achieve the sense of contentment that Taurus strives for, and holds so dear.

Going Inside to Expand Our Consciousness

Near the end of May both Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius will go retrograde. Chiron turns retrograde May 20th (until October 19th). The asteroid Chiron represents a core issue or area of great challenge, that can only be resolved by integrating the physical and spiritual realms.(2) Chiron is often referred to as the wounded healer. I like to refer to is as the healer archetype, because it does not simply show us where we are wounded. Chiron reveals how we can invoke the healing powers within us, to claim a higher level of consciousness. Chiron in Aquarius invites us to look at where we have felt isolated, alienated, mistreated and misjudged, and then to look beyond these wounds or our misperceptions. From the perspective of the universal mind, we can experience our inherent unity, and witness the connections that exist between us and other human beings.

We have to remove our walls to let others in. We have to expand our consciousness to recognize the soul love that exists beyond human skirmishes. We all need to experience Love. Some strategies work better than others. Some are simply superficial chatter. Chiron's retrograde period helps us identify, and integrate, inner strategies that have transformative power and produce lasting results.

Neptune goes retrograde May 24th at 22° Aquarius, and remains in apparent backward motion until October 31st. The Aquarian theme invites us to let go of beliefs and programming, that knot us up in fear and perpetuate our perception of separation. The more we actually experience our connection with others, the Earth and the Universe, the more we can enjoy a sense of community in our daily lives.

Scorpio/Taurus Polarity - Scorpio Full Moon, May 2^nd

Full moons reveal what is brewing under the surface. Scorpio is the archetype of our inner brewery, our inner caldron, that either festers with poisonous emotions or creates the alchemy for transformation and liberation. Scorpio obliges us to examine the nature of our emotions, and what we are doing with this primal energy. Emotions are like plant food. What we create and how we manifest is determined by the emotional food that nurtures, sustains, or destroys our intentions and hard work.

Taurus is our garden. How is what you have planted fairing? What is growing? What is not growing? The Scorpio/Taurus polarity offers us a chance to evaluate our progress, and to make decisions about our how we choose to use our emotional energies, and our physical resources.

The Scorpio Full Moon reveals the shadows of our unconscious, and what has been hidden from our view. However, it is not just during the Scorpio Full Moon that the sorcerer forces our inner Taurus to get in touch with our deepest emotions. As the Taurus polarity, Scorpio is ever-present in the Taurus psyche, forcing the Bull to examine emotions, that both serve as warning signs and act as sabotaging forces. It is a constant challenge that forever keeps the Bull alert, to deciphering the difference between hurtful and helpful emotional messages.

The Scorpio/Taurus polarity incessantly confronts us with questions of honesty and values. What do we really want? What do we really need? Ultimately what will make us feel satisfied and fulfilled? And how do we use our emotional body to manifest and find contentment?

The Taurus Path - The Evolution of Our Values

The Taurus path focuses on the physical world and our relationship with it - our body, physical resources, possessions, money and the planet. Taurus invites us to examine how the quality of our self-worth influences our relationship with all of the above.

Aries is simply excited to be alive. In Taurus we move to our second developmental stage, where we have to develop a healthy relationship with ourselves, our body and the physical world. Lack of self-worth and deserving are expressions of self-denial, which can foster expressions of tendencies toward both deprivation and overindulgence. Both are fed by subconscious fear, anger and sadness. The Full Moon in Scorpio and Venus' opposition to Pluto (May 6th), bring these deep emotions and their programming to the surface. The Taurus/Scorpio polarity continually obliges us to examine what is real or not, what works or not. The only lasting solution is to bring Light into the darkness.

The Taurus path is about the definition and evolution of our personal values. In addition to figuring out what we REALLY value, and REALLY need in the material world, we are also asked to examine and cultivate a sense of self-worth. Taurus teaches us that what we attract is highly correlated with what we think we deserve, our self-image, and how we value ourselves.

Separate to not feel Separate

In many parts of the world where the Judeo-Christian religions prevail, the concept of original sin influences the human psyche, by teaching us that we are born unworthy sinners, and must find salvation in order to escape doom. These teachings create a mindset which is susceptible to low self-esteem, subservience to external authorities, and lack of personal power. Where the Buddhist philosophy prevails, self-deprecation is not culturally endemic.

Cultural conditioning is very powerful. Yet on our path of to liberation, we must learn to separate ourselves from social and religious programming, in order to NOT separate ourselves from Universal energies or Spirit. This is a personal, not a collective, process. We have to learn to be alone, so that we can cultivate NOT being alone. The road to consciousness is a delicate and deliberate process requiring diligent inner work, practice and training. Each astrological archetype offers us another piece to the cosmic puzzle. While the Sun is in Taurus, we can hone in on getting in touch with what really matters to ME.

Projection and Manifestation

Our projection is what we energetically broadcast to the world and the Universe. What we project determines what we attract. Our projection is fed by what we think, feel and believe. While the Sun is in Taurus, we can examine what ideas, beliefs and needs we are broadcasting in relationship to our self-worth, what we value, money, and what makes us feel secure. If we are sending out messages of fear, lack and neediness, it is highly likely that the Universe is sending back more of the same. (Or not enough of what we wished we had).

It is time to release some of our sabotaging programs, and reconfigure our mindset and our emotional body more coherently with what is authentically true for our soul. Observe your mental and emotional resistance, and be willing let go for short periods of time. Breakthroughs are often nurtured by practice and willingness to experiment within ourselves.

The second of three Jupiter/Uranus squares May 10th facilitates moving to the next level of consciousness and creation. (The first was January 22nd. The Third is October 9th) TO THYSELF BE TRUE is the best touchstone. If we truly follow our hearts, and are willing to take action for ourselves, many doors will open. Always remember, when you see a door, you are the one who has to open it and walk through.

Taurus Touchstones

Your body is the harp of your soul. It is yours to bring forth sweet music or confused sounds. - Kahil Gibran
Your body is the vehicle of your soul. Attuned to Spirit and grounded with Mother Earth, it will lovingly guide you on your human journey.
TO THYSELF BE TRUE.

Grounding - Enjoying Your Body with Kundalini Yoga

While the Sun is in Taurus, it is important to cultivate and enjoy the stability of the earth element. When the Sun moves into airy Gemini May 21st, we will need to be able to stay present to our bodies to stay grounded.

There is a subtle, but real, difference between the sensations of the physical body and the feelings of the emotional body. We often avoid feeling our physical body because we feel uncomfortable feeling our emotional body. Since the emotional body is intertwined in the physical body, it is impossible to separate the two sensations, but as an exercise, practice paying attention to the sensations of the physical body.

Feel your skin, the bottom of your feet, your toes, your calves, your thighs, your hands, your arms, your shoulders, your back, your under-arms, etc. Feel the temperature, the texture, the air and clothing on all parts of your body. For this exercise, avoid feeling the abdomen and the solar plexus, where the emotional energies are more apparent and intense. Be present to the breath and the movement of the breath in your body and chest.

Pick a Kundalini Yoga set that has some exercises that are standing up and involve leg exercises. Two good ones are the Set for Immunity and the Thymus and Immunity Set, both in Transitions to a Heart-Centered World 2nd Edition. Archer pose, which is in the Set for Immunity is always good for grounding. Stay very present to your movement, rhythm and sensations while doing each exercise. Between each exercise take at least one minute to FEEL the sensations in your body.

Your most important task is to train yourself to pay attention to what you feel, and to not get lost in mind chatter. Feelings are NONVERBAL. You can notice if you feel comfortable or uncomfortable, but stay with the sensations, regardless if they feel good or bad. After a while you will move into a state where you are more present in your body, and more comfortable being uncomfortable. Then you will begin to actually enjoy being present in your magnificent vehicle.

With attentive practice our experiences become richer and deeper. This does not mean that we will always have pleasant experiences in our body. Our body often feels uncomfortable. The good news is that the more we are present to what we are feeling, the more in touch we are with our body's feedback mechanisms. Our body constantly provides information that we can use to make choices about our actions. It can guide us about our food intake and the nature of our exercise. Eventually we discover that our body delivers instinctual impulses that are messages from our soul.

This all sounds very simple, and it is, but it does require daily practice to cultivate a deep state of body awareness and presence. Most of us just slip in and out of our body, remaining mostly in our minds. Devoting time to body awareness in your daily Kundalini practice will help you stay grounded, increase your manifesting powers, help you be here now, and enhance the pleasures of being in a human body.

At the end of every set, feel all your sensations at once. Be aware of your energetic, physical presence. Love feeling your body. You are cultivating self-love!

References and Footnotes

"Scorpio Full Moon, Taurus New Moon", Austin, Stephanie, The Mountain Astrologer, Issue #132, April/May 2007, pp.105-106.

"Astrology and Spiritual Awakening", Bogart, Gregory C., Dawn Mountain Press, Berkeley, 1994.

1. See Issue 131 for a short explanation of the Ascendant, Lens to the World.
2. Austin, p. 106.

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