It's time to explore the sign of Taurus! I will be exploring all twelve signs from a medical astrology perspective with an emphasis on herbal healing. Learn more about the series and what all the correspondences mean check out the introduction to The Introduction to Astroherbology Zodiac Series. Missed the first sign of the Zodiac? Find out about the astroherbology wisdom of Aries!

Looking for inspiration and plant allies for the season of Taurus? Come this way!

Element: Earth
Mode: Fixed
Guardian Planet: Venus
Direction: East (traditional)
Season: Spring (NH), Autumn (SH)
House: 2nd House / Succedent
Lunar Mansions: 3rd Mansion, 4th Mansion, + 5th Mansion (Learn more about the Lunar Mansions)
Solar Gemstone: Amber
Tarot: The Hierophant, the Empress, 5 of Pentacles (4/12 - 4/30), 6 of Pentacles (5/1 - 5/10), 7 of Pentacles (5/11 - 5/20), Knight of Pentacles
Tissue State: Cold/Depression (learn more about the energetic system of traditional western herbalism)

Body Systems: Throat, neck, vocal cords, thyroid, voice, and middle ear. Metabolic system, medulla oblongata, and hearing. Salivary glands, taste buds, and teeth of the lower jaw. Jugular veins, cervical nerves of the blood vessels, and bladder. Procreative desire. Base of the skull. Find out more about the astrological correspondences to our bodies.

Imbalances + Diseases: Including sore throats, tonsillitis, thyroid conditions (especially hypothyroid), and overindulgence. The formation of tumors. Slow digestion, excess weight, and weak metabolism. Hearing loss and ear infections. Excess mucus in the upper respiratory system. Apoplexy, loss of coordination between organ systems, erratic movements, and paralysis. Glandular swelling, goiter, gout, bad blood. Loss of voice and vocal cord conditions. Sore throat, bronchial complaints, dry cough, tonsillitis, ulcerated throat, and diseases or injuries to the larynx and vocal cords. Accumulation of toxins especially in the intestinal tract and congested colon. Overly cold and dried out. Tend towards more persistent and chronic conditions - through their stubbornness they can tend to hold onto disease. Resisting change, ungrounded stubbornness, avoiding conflict, hurtful, brutish, brooding, lack of reflection on their emotions, and melancholic.

Disease Degrees: 1 degree: palate; 2 degrees: pharynx - oral part; 3 degrees: uvula; 4 degrees: Pharyngeal cavity; 5 degrees: larynx; 0 - 6 degrees: drowning; 6 degrees: vocal cords; 7 degrees: cervical nerves; 8 degrees: alcoholism, jugular veins; 9 degrees: cervical veins, neurasthenia; 10 - 13 degrees: cervical and bravial plexi, neurasthenia; 14 degrees: true vocal cords; 15 degrees: epiglottis; 16 degrees: carotid arteries, abscess; 17 degrees: thyroid glands and tonsils; 18 degrees: lymph vessels, hair; 19 degrees: maxillary artery, alcoholism, goiter; 20 degrees: occiput, goiter, alcoholism; 21 degrees: arteries of the nasal cavity, alcoholism; 22 degrees: tongue muscles, rheumatism, alcoholism; 23 degrees: teeth, rheumatism, alcoholism; 24 degrees: upper jaw, fractures, broken bones, alcoholism; 25 degrees: lower jaw, fractures, broken bones, alcoholism, adenoids, suicide; 26 degrees: nasal bone; 27 degrees: atlas, alcoholism; 28 degrees: alcoholism, deltoid muscle and main neck muscles; 29 degrees: deltoid muscle and main neck muscles, eyesight; 30 degrees: Trapezius muscle.

Remedies for Imbalanced and/or Weakened Taurus: Warming and stimulating activities, with emphasis on detoxifying activities. Eating a whole foods diet is important to all signs, but Taurus folk need to be especially mindful of the quality of their food and eating mindfully.

Gifts of Taurus: Resourcefulness, grounding and centering, body knowledge, long-term planning, and consistent energy.

Rituals of Taurus: Expressing body-positive sensuality, fertility and abundance, successful long-term plans, such as business endeavors or big material investments, stability, and invoking or supporting long-term romantic partnerships. Artistic and musical rituals in which the pleasure of the senses are indulged.

Taurus Guardian Herbs: Sage (Salvia officinalis), Rose (Rosa spp.), Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), Plantain (Plantago major), Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), Nettles (Urtica dioica)

Taurus Remedy Herbs: Gingko (Gingko biloba), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Ashwaghanda (Withania somnifera), Burdock (Arctium lappa)

Flower + Gem Essences: Aspen (Populus tremula), Gentian (Gentiana amarella), Peacock Ore, Willow (Salix vitellina)

The Sun in Taurus

Taurus is the first earth sign and fixed sign of the zodiac and they embody these energies well. Where Aries is quick-moving, Taurus is slow and steady. The bulls are typically the longest lived of all the signs of the zodiac even with their tendency that when they do get sick for it to be a permanent or chronic condition. Earthly, sensual, and indulgent pleasure (as opposed to the more artistic and balanced pleasure of Libra) can be a focus of Taurus folks. Overindulgence is something to be wary of if you your Sun or Ascendent is in Taurus or if many of your other planets are in the sign of the Bull. Typically, Taurus folks tends towards the materialistic such as the garden growing in their backyard versus a mystical garden of new age enlightenment located halfway between paradise and nirvana.

If you have known someone with a strong Sun in Taurus, you have probably met the legendary stubbornness of the sign. Think about the idea of being “bull-headed” and you’ll begin to understand the Taurean temperament. They very much need to believe that something is their idea before they commit and if they aren’t interested or perceive something to be not useful, they can be hurtful in how they express their opinions. Learning to connect with their emotional world and not just the physical world is a challenge for most Taurus folks but well worth the effort if they want as enduring and fruitful a relationship with others as they have with their garden. All that said, Taurus folks are very loyal in relationships, their endurance for seeing a project through is matched only by their stubbornness, and they can be profoundly inspiring when it comes to helping folks re-member and re-connect to the sacredness of physical embodiment.

As mentioned earlier, Taurus folks are typically the longest lived of all of the signs (again, it could be said that they stubbornly refuse to depart their physical form until they damn well want to). They can tend towards diseases and imbalances of congestion, cold, and impurity - they need to be very aware of what they eat and being sure to engage in regular energizing activities. The gift of Taurus Sun folks is that they are so blessedly grounded. They remind us to take pleasure in the physicality of life and not get so lost in our heads and the abstraction of pleasure or whether we should be desiring it. Be your pleasure, is what Sun in Taurus folks teach us.

Taurus Guardian Herbs

**Rose (Rosa spp.)**

18th century herbalist, J. Quincy, wrote that Rose “raises the spirits and gives sudden strength and cheerfulness” and categorized Rose as primarily a Cardiac and Cephalic or relating to the head. (1) In addition to strengthening the heart, Roses assist with memory and promotes clarity of mind, heart, and spirit by connecting all three. Rose nourishes the body and is sweet medicine which calms the nervous system. Within Ayurveda, Rose is considered a rasayana (rejuvenative tonic) and medhya (brain tonic + nervine) for all of the doshas. A very Taurean herb, indeed!

As an aphrodisiac, Rose is an opener - it opens the heart and body to sensual experience. Like many aphrodisiacs, Rose has nervine and nourishing qualities which help to relax and soothe the body so that it may become ready and desirous of intimacy. Additionally, Rose has also been shown to increase sperm count if fertility has been compromised because of lackluster sperm.

The benefits of Rose for the skin are manifold (anti-inflammatory, astringent, vitamin and mineral rich) and can be used in oils, scrubs, and baths for skin health and beauty. As a humectant, Rose Water adds and maintains water to the skin. Keep Rose Water in a spray bottle to use as a mild antiseptic for first aid needs.

As an herb of Venus, which is Taurus’ Guardian Planet, Rose and other Venusian herbs typically balance and cool the fiery energies of Mars in a chart.

The latter was a sample from the much longer Rose Plant Profile available to my Lunar Apothecary students. Learn about the Rose Plant Personality, Rose Remedies, and a more in-depth exploration of Rose’s healing qualities as a member of the Lunar Apothecary!

Taurus Remedy Herb

image via wikimedia.org — *image via* *wikimedia.org*

**Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)**

While warming herbs might be needed for Taurus folks who have fallen out of balance (such as Rosemary or Ginger), I generally reach for a tonic herb such as Ginkgo which connects with the underlying of wisdom of Taurus. Ginkgo is the oldest living plant species on earth and has more or less stayed the same for 200 million years. I mean, come on, how much more Taurus can you get? A longevity herb for a sign known for its longevity helps Taurus folks relax into and connect with the healing qualities of Ginkgo.

Ginkgo is an antioxidant-rich, blood-clearing, memory sharpening teacher. Taurus folk can have difficulty connecting the physical reality with their emotional experiences, so Ginkgo can help them learn to interact with their emotional and spiritual landscape. I have also found the plant to help open up pathways to useful communication which Taurus folk can struggle to find when they feel apathetic, depressed, or ignoring and/or confused by their emotions. Ginkgo is clearing, moving out stagnation that may have settled in the body as pain, whether the slow healing of wounds or painful pre-menstrual tension.

As a longevity herb, Ginkgo not only helps us live longer but live longer with vitality. My experiences with the herb is that because it connects the brain and heart (via the blood) so well it helps us to make better choices that will support vitality into our elder years.

Sun in Taurus Flower Essence

Peacock Ore supports the foundational gifts of Taurusfolk – making spirit into matter – and helps keep them from feeling that they are stuck in the mud when life feels burdensome and challenging. The stone itself looks like a healing Taurean aura - dark and rich with rainbow gleams of fertile promise. The stone aligns the energy centers of the body and creates energetic motion which can be very useful for Taurus folks who feel stuck or bogged down. Peacock Ore helps connects us back to hope in times of hopelessness and joy when it is needed most.

Ready to learn more?

Check out the rest of my Astroherbology series including Starry-Hearted + Wild-Rooted: An Introduction to Astroherbology which includes additional study resources.
Need a visual guide? Starmaps: The Astrological Body is for you!
Looking for inspiration for Taurus season? Come this way!
The Lunar Apothecary is a full length course using the tools of moon-centered herbalism and ritual to help you discover who you are as a healer.
Want to create a healing Taurus recipe? Check out my Beautiful Sustenance Chaga Chai!

Footnotes

(1) Tobyn, Graeme, Alison Denham, and Margaret Whitelegg. The Western Herbal Tradition: 2000 Years of Medicinal Plant Knowledge. Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2011.

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Taurus: The Astroherbology Profile