Taurus

Above all else, Taurus refers to the value of embodiment. It says that living in form is a good and valuable experience, and that doing so is a worthy choice.

Taurus is the first Venus-ruled sign. It is personal and derived from the spiritual value of life in form. Its most obvious expression is self-worth. At its best, it knows that love is not an action, but a state of being. Its realization is love as the magnetically charged substance of life, particularly human life, and especially my life. It is the form that divine love takes for manifestation on earth.
If Being is signified by the first awakening of self-awareness, and Seeing by the opening of the eyes to light, then the urge to snuggle down into the covers and prolong the pleasure of soft, warm, inactivity signifies the awakening of self-worth. Here, we most clearly experience human, physical, objective life as good--even wonderful! This is the Venus/Love principle at its purest and most spiritual. It is unsocialized love as expressed in Taurus form. It is consciousness experiencing, or focusing on, unconditional, objective, pleasure. This has nothing to do with thinking, it is simply feeling. It is the mastered, unconscious, awareness of the goodness-of-life, functioning automatically, without attention, as a feeling of pleasure.
Without modification by other chart aspects, Taurus will characterize any planet she holds as pleasurable, as inherently good. It is important to realize that this can produce an appearance of mixed or even negative results. EXAMPLE: With Saturn/limits in Taurus there could be a sense that it is good to stay within whatever boundaries exist, a kind of inertia. Probably there would be some very good internal reason for inhibiting some movement in the life temporarily. However, these limits might not be socially acceptable, and might inhibit the expression of (socially defined) success.
If planets in Taurus are giving you problems, you probably need to reexamine the definition or concept you have of that part of personality represented by them. Look at that function from a different perspective, or as many different perspectives as necessary to integrate the goodness available within the structure of your life.
Ask, “How is this good? What is it good for?” Sometimes it is a matter of , “When is it good?” Steak or popcorn, or any number of other things may be not-good babies and very good for healthy adults.
Remember that Taurus is only the second sign and something of a "baby." The values she appears to hold and those inherent in her being may be different, because babies are expected to absorb the values of those around them. Taurean functions are sometimes very good, well-trained, and well-behaved without bringing the expected rewards. If so, what you believe to be your good is different from what you really need to have or get. For resolution, try examining the assets that you bring to any crisis. What can you do when there is no time to think about whether you should or should-not be doing it? These are your inherent spiritual abilities and they need to be brought to consciousness and practiced intentionally. Learn to love these skills; if they are there for you in crisis, they are valuable indeed.

Structure is a word attached to the Taurus concept. Its roots lie in the basic idea of form. A form--as opposed to space--is a place where micro-particles such as atoms, molecules, quarks, and photons are clustered or bonded. They stick together and are integrated into a structure. Taurus refers, then, to bonding, integration, and to the secondary form that occurs as the result of combining certain building blocks. Taureans are builders.
The process that maintains structure, is called integrity and refers to the principle: Like attracts like. We then extend our concept to include the ideas of attraction and attractiveness, magnetism and beauty. We might refer to the beauty of rationalism, of order, of the way in which things that belong together are attracted to each other. On Earth and its adjuncts we call that magnetism gravity, and we say that like gravitates toward like.
In this aspect, we admire or love the form and structure of life and evaluate it as necessary and good, even as beautiful, awesome, magnificent. As applied to mundane life, it becomes the value of builders and of building. Taurus combines necessity with beauty. The emphasis is comfort and pleasure. It is the sign of practical artistry, designed to please both body and spirit. (Architect, decorators, chefs, seamstresses, etc.)

Abstractly, Taurus refers to the beauty in good function, in well-executed action, and in good fit as it is derived from proper connection. When this aspect extends to human body, we assign Taurus to the neck as the link between the head and the body. It is the throat that gives shape and form to the voice. Voice is the transmitter that shapes ideas into sounds. When we enjoy these sounds, when we are pleased by them, we will call them harmonious or musical. Many Taureans are singers, and/or have the gift of charming expression. Taurus actually relates more closely to charm and the art of pleasing than it does with classic beauty.
Like children, Taurus planets and points can charm us even when they are not objectively beautiful. Here beauty is not so much in the appearance, as it is a combination of all the aspects of being and the pleasurable effect that they have on the beholder. Remember that, like children, pets, and plants, they respond well to praise, wanting, above all else, to please. Also, like children, they will let you know when they are happy and pleased--and when they are not!

One cannot write about Taurus, without mentioning its connection to money. Money is often very important to Taureans. This is because money is a means of expressing value–either the value inherent in substance (gold, silver, gems, etc), or value coferred by personal meaning, or most commonly the value of one’s time and effort (paycheck). Money seldom has value in and of iteself (excepting some coins). It is merely a convenient way of dealing with commerce, of exchanging value for value.
This is probably what Jesus ben Joseph intended to express in saying that the love of money is the root of all evil. Notice how often those who quote this leave out the love–condemning that which is merely a medium of exchange.
Today, metaphysics teaches two things about money. The first is that prosperity consciousness is not about accumulating funds. It is about the amount of money that flows through your life. It is about being sufficiently in touch with the Divine part of us to understand that we can have the use of a great deal when we stop trying to own or hoard it.
The other thing is that, when using affirmations to acquire something, it does not work to ask for the money to buy it. EXAMPLE: Do not ask for $30,000 to buy a car. Instead, ask for the car, while remaining willing to accept it as a gift, or something that enters your life in some coincidental way.

I will end on a personal note. I have never had much money in my life–I suspect that this is partly because I could never get much interested in money. However, over the years my ability to make the money I had
s-t-r-e-t-c-h, almost beyond belief, developed almost to the point of looking magical. In recent years, (since retirement age) a great deal is simply furnished me, by various agencies and people. I still live modestly–again I think that is because I have no real desire for more–but my needs are met.
My life and my finances flow more smoothly than ever before. I laughingly say that part of my contribution to the mass consciousness is:
to live with no visible means of support!
There is an excellent book on prosperity thinking entitled
Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow. For me, that is true, albeit in an original form!