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Taurus the Bull
© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
Taurus the bull is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Taurus
doesn't look anything like a bull. At least Cassiopeia (not in the zodiac)
looks like a "W". But, it's supposed to look like a woman. At least the Big
Dipper (also not in the zodiac) looks like a dipper. But, it's supposed to look
like a bear. About the only constellations that look like what they're supposed
to represent are the Southern Cross (Crux) and Scorpius (and maybe Orion).
Scorpius is in the zodiac. Eridanus (not in the zodiac) is a constellation
where there are no stars. You have to have a very dark night to see any stars
at all in Eridanus.
Astrologers tell us that people born in May (and the last few days of
April) are under the sign of Taurus. And these people tend to be stubborn,
among other things. They are stubborn because ... well ... because they are
like that bull, in the sky, that doesn't look anything like a bull. Over 2000
years ago, somebody thought that these stars looked like a bull. And now,
people are stubborn because of that.
Most people will claim to be stubborn. They say, "People probably think
that I'm wishy washy, but I'm really stubborn, just like my sign says." Maybe
they are right. Maybe we are all stubborn, under the right circumstances.
These people are under the sign Taurus, because when they were born,
the sun was in the constellation Taurus; well not exactly. Actually, the sun
was probably in Aries. So, you are a Taurus because the sun was in Aries. That
makes about as much sense as astrology, as far as I can tell. Back 2000 years
ago, if you were born under the sign of Taurus, then by golly the sun was in
the constellation Taurus. And I'll bet those people were stubborn. But the
earth's orbit has rotated since then. This slow rotation is known as the
precession of the equinoxes. The equinoxes (spring and autumn) are moving
westward, against the background of stars. Astrologers neglected to adjust for
this, down through the ages. Astrologers are now aware of the precession. But
now, it's a little late to tell you, "Oh by the way, you're really an Aries,
but you can still be stubborn, because Aries is a ram, almost as stubborn as a
bull, but don't worry that those stars don't look like a ram, by the way."
But astrology is so scientific. Bull!
Comment: Now there is a Ford automobile called a Taurus. A stubborn
car, I presume.
Addendum #1:
A reader responded to this article with, "You should get some writing
skills." Huh, where do I get some of those? She went on to say that I didn't
know anything about Taures. She got me there. I didn't even know that they are
called "Taures." It should be fairly obvious that I am not dealing with
astrology in great, accurate detail, in the above essay. I am fairly flippant
about it, actually. I hear that Taures (Is that correct?) are stubborn. I don't
really care if they are. If they are, it is because astrologers told them that
they are. And their sign is in the constellation Aries, for goodness sake.
Another reader said that I should be more open minded, like Carl Sagan.
She must not have read any of his books. He was fairly brutal in criticizing
pseudoscientific beliefs.
Addendum #2:
I received another email, saying that of
course astrology is bull, but that the constellation Taurus does indeed look
like a bull. Do you see Taurus in the picture at the left? It is in the center,
actually. Apparently, it is just the bull's head. Doesn't look like a bull to
me. The reason that it looks like a bull to many people is the way that the
connect-the-dots are usually drawn. I wasn't going to do that here, as I would
rather that you see the stars as they really look, without the lines. But here
is a second picture with the head drawn in (and above right is a drawing from
Broderbund's ClickArt). The bright
star in the face is Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri). The two horns go up and left from
the face. One of them connects to the brightest star in the upper left of the
picture (El Nath or Beta Tauri). Above right of the face are the Pleiades (they
show up as three or four overlapping stars, here). Below left of the face are
Orion's shoulders (the two bright stars).
Not only does this not look like a bull to me, but most of these stars
are physically unrelated. Alpha Tauri is 68 light years away, very close, right
in our neighborhood. And Beta Tauri is 300 light years away, way out there.
That makes any resemblance to a bull even more of a coincidence.
I'm sure that some people can see a bull there. I think that you
can see anything you want. I'll bet you can even find Darth Vader riding on a
flamingo. On the right is a picture drawn by a reader of this page. I think
it's supposed to be Darth on a camel.
Addendum #3:
People born "under" the zodiac sign Cancer (supposed to look like a
crab, although its hard to see any stars there) are often called "Moon
Children," as no one wants to be born under any Cancer sign anymore.
Over the years, there have been a few horoscope hoaxes, when the
"astrologer" of a newspaper took the horoscopes from some other source (book or
other newspaper) and gave them to the wrong people (switching perhaps Taures
and Cancers) for a few days or weeks. Nobody ever complained that their
horoscope didn't fit. In fact, there were numerous letters of praise, saying
that the horoscope fit very well indeed.
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