The Zodiac Club #3: The Bull of Heaven - A Taurus Mix
From pleasure gardens to values & possessions, Taurus represents many different things. Here's a mix for Taurus, featuring everyone from Charles Mingus to Ariana Grande to The Grateful Dead.
Hauntology Now! is the Substack of interdisciplinary artist, designer, musician, academic writer, and cultural critic J. Simpson, where he writes about all things hauntological, atemporal, philosophical, as well as sharing thoughts, reflections, and musings on music, movies, books, and life.
art by Melissa Sullivan
It’s the last full day of Taurus, the second sign of the Zodiac. Tomorrow we shift over into the airy sign of Gemini, with its emphasis on communication and language. Let’s take this opportunity to reflect on The Bull and what he has to teach us.
If you think of Taurus in terms of supermarket checkout astrology, you’ll likely think of stereotypes. “Patient” and “loyal” if you’re feeling optimistic. “Stubborn” and “bull-headed,” if you’re feeling less charitable. All have some validity but that’s far from the only lessons Taurus has to teach us.
Spanning April 20 and May 20, Taurus is a fixed Earth sign ruled by the planet Venus. The Moon is exalted in Taurus while Mars and Uranus meet their downfall. Astrologically, Taurus rules the Second House, the House of Values and Possessions. It governs the things we own, how we make our money, our material desires, and even our physical senses. In the tarot, Taurus is represented by the Hierophant trump card.
Taurus encourages us to think about what we value - what we’re growing in our garden and what the fruits of our labor might yield. There’s an idea of “voting with your wallet” inherent in Taurus, which is part of why the second house is known as The House of Values and Possessions. What do you want to see more of in this world? What do you want to grow?
Taurus also encourages steady, persistent work. Taurus can accomplish nearly anything once they’ve dug in their heels and committed themselves.
Taurus isn’t just about work and money, though. They’re about enjoying themselves, about reveling in this gorgeous world of the senses. Ruled by Venus, Taurus are every bit as sensual and pleasure-seeking as they are stubborn and hardworking.
The next installment of The Zodiac Club mixtapes reflect these many different aspects of the Bull. There’s a strong emphasis on gardens, between Oneohtrix Point Never’s Garden Of Delete and The Grateful Dead’s “The Weather Report Suite.” The morningstar is well-represented, with two tracks off of Zara Larsson’s Venus. There’s more pure pop hedonism than Xanadu, with offerings from Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, and Lana del Rey. There’s deep jazz meditations from Charles Mingus and Mary Lou Williams and deep space wisdom from the likes of Barry Lynn and Jacques Greene, making us wonder what a pleasure garden on another planet might look like.
The Zodiac Club mixtapes are meant as a kind of prolonged meditation on the many different aspects of a sign or planet. In astrology, there’s an unfortunate tendency to focus on overly-simplistic and reductive, which is completely contrary to the spirit of spirituality, Paganism, magic, and metaphysics. Everything has its good, its bad, and a million shades of gray in-between. It can also feel confusing how a sign associated with hard work and stubbornness can also be associated with hedonism and laziness. It does make sense, but you’ve got to sit with and investigate the energy in order for it to do so.
Obviously, material wealth, values, and possessions are topics very much on everybody’s minds right now. On the last day of Taurus, I invite you to throw on this playlist and think about what you want to grow in your life. What are you watering? What are you weeding? What would you like to see flourish in this world, and how can you help to bring it about?
Think of what you’re doing now as the seeds you’re putting in the ground. Your efforts over the next few months will water and nourish them, leading to a rich and abundant harvest in the fall.
Many thanks to the /r/astrologymemes community, who came through with a ton of killer suggestions, as usual. Even more thanks to Melissa Sullivan, who made the killer Taurus cover art! She’ll have prints available soon and she is open to offers on the original.
What are some songs or albums that remind you of Taurus? Venus? The Hierophant? What are you growing in your life? What are you hoping to weed out?
A note on Zodiac Club playlists: These playlists are part of the larger Correspondence Web project, investigating occult correspondences across media and culture. If you need more Taurus energy in your life, here’s a playlist of full Taurus albums. Here’s one for The Hierophant. Here’s the Correspondence Web master list. These mixes are meant to serve as a kind of sonic tarot reading as well as emphasizing different aspects of a sign or symbol. Just put ‘em on shuffle and see what the stars have to say!
Melissa Sullivan
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