DLTK's Horoscope Activities
Taurus: The Bull
While there are many tellings and re-tellings about how the stars in the sky came to be, myths about the zodiac constellations always have the most interesting alternate stories attached to them. The tale of how Taurus the bull became immortalized in the stars is one such example!
Writers usually like to focus on the stories that involve Zeus and his decision to make a certain hero immortal in the sky. In the usual re-telling of the myth of Taurus, Zeus takes a young princess from her home and family. The story is age-old: Zeus sees a woman, falls in love with the sight of her, and captures her. Often, Zeus is not very nice!
As the story goes, the princess, Europa, is picking flowers in large colorful bundles. Zeus approaches her, disguised as a magnificent bull, and the two become enraptured. Europa decorates Zeus with flowers, and he steals her away to the island of Crete. She stays there for the rest of her life. Zeus gets busy--as usual--and drifts from Europa. As a result, he makes the image of the great bull shine brightly in the night sky so that Europa can remember him forever.
The myth of Zeus and Princess Europa is pretty bleak although we can read for a lot of qualities that might represent those individuals born under the Taurus sign. The bull in this story is passionate and stubborn, gentle yet unwavering. If Princess Europa was part of the decision to go to the island and live and have children with Zeus, then we can understand the bull as committed, and a little bit dreamy as Zeus immortalizes it with the Taurus constellation.
The re-telling we would like to share here has many similarities with the story of Princess Europa and the bull. Our story tells the tale of Persephone, the goddess of Spring, and Cerus, a giant but mortal beast.
Once upon a time in the lands of ancient Greece, long before garden centers and packaged seeds, Persephone kneeled in a large bed of flowers and began to remove all the dead flower heads from their stems. As she lifted the brown parts, she smiled to herself. She was happy in the Underworld with Hades, living as queen of all those below, but she was grateful to be home with her mother Demeter once more.
The land was happy to have her home, too. She tended flora and fauna (plants and animals) with compassion and care. She rested when she needed. She took care of herself to ensure that she was ready to care for others around her. She spent a lot of time with people, you see. She loved the community that springtime renewal brought about. People joined together to share experiences of the blooming flowers, the swaying grasses in the ocean breezes, and the crashing waves and singing birds.
The people of Greece also gossiped a lot. So when Persephone heard a loud "STOMP, CLOMP, STOMP," she placed her pickings in a large basket, walked gently over the hill, and was unsurprised to see a great bull running around in the flower beds.
The bull looked so fierce running about that Persephone was not sure if she should approach it. It was no wonder the Greeks had such a fascination for the animal they had all thought was immortal--one would think Zeus crafted this bull from the marble produced at the highest peak of Mount Olympus. Yet, Persephone knew all eternal beings, and this bull was not one of them.
She moved closer to the giant beast, fully ready to jump back quickly if the animal made any sudden movements. Apparent to Persephone, the bull was thinking the same thing, for when a rare branch cracked under her weight, the bull slowly turned in her direction and bowed its head.
Stunned and curious, Persephone kneeled once more and placed her head against the earth. She peered up into the bull's eyes. It peered back. She had heard a lot about this bull, but she had never listened to what its name might be. "What is your name?" she asked.
The bull was stunned, for no one--let alone a Greek god--had ever asked him anything.
"Cerus," the bull replied. He saw Persephone smile to herself. Then, she ran up the nearest hill and rolled down the other side. Cerus quickly followed. Pollen flung into the air and the flowers danced after her. He was comforted by the goddess's behavior. Her playfulness made him feel calmer than he'd ever felt. He could feel his strong emotions breaking down at the sights and sounds of Persephone and her flowers.
They were friends forever after that. When Persephone would move down each year with Hades, Cerus would run over the Grecian hills, keeping the ground always changing and nourished for Persephone's arrival. When Persephone would return each year, Cerus would again have his best friend to calm him. The blooming flowers, ever- beaming around her, never failed to amaze him. And it was not unusual to see Persephone riding peacefully on Cerus' large, sturdy back when she herself needed some time to calm herself and rest.
Many of the Greek people, gods, and goddess grew to know and care about the relationship between Cerus and Persephone. Eventually, people even began to talk to Cerus as he tromped soils or tended roses. If Hades and Demeter agreed on one thing, it was the importance of Cerus and Persephone's friendship. Along with Zeus, who had been observing, these gods immortalized the bull in the sky as the constellation Taurus. No matter the season, no matter how high in the air or how deep in the Underworld, Cerus and Persephone would never be apart.
The End.