The constellation of Taurus is known as the Bull and appears on the Meridian on January 15. One of the oldest constellations which the Sun appeared at the beginning of spring between about 4000 and 1800 B.C.
To the ancient Middle Eastern civilizations, spring signaled the start of the new year. Today the Sun is in Pisces at the beginning of spring (due to the precession) and does not enter Taurus until June 21.
The bull, a symbol of strength and fertility, figures prominently in the mythology of nearly all early civilizations, from Sumer to India to northern Europe.
In the face of Taurus, there is a V-shaped group of stars called the Hyades. The ancients knew this cluster as the "rainy stars," because their rising heralded the beginning of autumn and the onset of the rainy season.
In Taurus the better-known group of "maidens" is the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, a small but very noticeable cluster of stars on the bull’s shoulder. They were called the "sailing stars," for early Greek seamen would set sail only when they were visible. On a clear night a person can resolve six individual stars, and thousands of years ago it was likely that seven were visible.
The constellation of Taurus, The Bull, has the same meaning in every language which is a great beast, a bull or ox, with his head lowered and his horns pointed forward. He is untamable and irresistible, charging forth--rampaging, raging, head down and so to bring destruction to all who are in his way. A symbol of the coming destruction of the wicked, of Christ in his judgment.
Taurus is only the forepart of the bull; it appears to grow right out of Aries, The Lamb. Thus the Lamb is changing into the Bull. In Capricornus, we see the half goat and half fish, giving birth to the Fish, the Church of Christ -- the slain Lamb giving birth to the people of God. Here we see the Lamb now rising to the Christ coming in great glory and in judgment.
The opposite constellation is Scorpius, The Scorpion, a picture of Satan, engages in striking the left foot of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Holder) and being crushed with his right foot. When Christ (Taurus) rises in His judgment, then Satan (Scorpius) that old serpent, the dragon, the devil -- will disappear into the bottomless pit.
Also see Monoceros, The Unicorn for information relating to Taurus.
The Assyrians had the winged bull so often sculpted as guardian of Assyrian palaces.
Taurus was also the inspiration for the Cretan Minotaur, a creature with the body of a bull and the head of a man.
The Sumerians had the sacred "bull of light."
Even the Israelites had their idol the "Golden Calf" of the Exodus. Aaron made a golden image of a male calf in order that the people might worship the Lord under this form in Exodus 32:4. It is very unlikely that the golden calf was a representation of an Egyptian deity. The feast held in connection with this worship was a "festival to the LORD" (32:5). After the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam set up two golden calves in his kingdom, one at Bethel and one at Dan (1 Kings 12:28-29). Many bull figurines have been found in the Early Israelite (Iron) period (c. 1200-1000 B.C.).
The Druids also worshipped the bull. They held their spring festivals when the Sun was in Taurus, and they especially honored the Pleiades, a cluster of stars in Taurus. In Scotland today there is a legend that says that on New Year’s Eve the Bull rises in the twilight and crosses the sky -- which is what happens astronomically.
To the Egyptians the deity with the bull was Apis, the Bull of Memphis. Apis was an actual bull chosen to serve as the earthly vessel of the soul of Osiris, god of the Sun and of the Nile. On the death of each Apis, the spirit of Osiris transferred itself to a successor. The animal meant to inherit the divine duty was recognized by certain markings: when a bull fitting the description was found, he was called Apis and lived as an object of reverence and sacrifice. The living bulls were worshiped in Egypt. Memphis (Heb. noph, moph, Copt. menphe, memphi, Gr. Memphis) was the first capital of united Egypt (c. 3200 B.C.) south of modern Cairo. Legend ascribes the founding of the city to Menes, the traditional first king. The original name of the city was "The White Wall." Later it was called Men-nefer-Pepi, after the name of the pyramid of Pepi I of the Sixth Dynasty; it is from this name that "Memphis" is derived. The chief god of Memphis was Ptah; also prominent at Memphis was the worship of the Apis bull, whose famous burial place, the Serapeum, is located just west in necropolis of Sakkarah. Saqqara also Sakkara a village of northern Egypt near Cairo. It is the site of the oldest Egyptian pyramids, including the Step Pyramid built by Zoser during the Third Dynasty (c. 2980-2900 B.C.), but conservative sources place it around 2630 B.C. as seen in Old Kingdom (Dyn. 3-6; 2700-2200 B.C.) - Picture of Tomb of Pharaoh Zoser .
All of the biblical references to Memphis are in the Prophets. Hosea 9:6; Jeremiah 2:16, 41:16-18, 44:1, 46:13, 19; and Isaiah 19:13. Ezekiel declared that the Lord would "destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis" (Ezek. 30:13, 16). Today there is very little of the ruins for the tourist to view.
The Babylonians looked on the bull as the symbol of their greatest gods. The bull was a sacred animal in Phoenicia and Syria. Among the Semitic Canaanites the bull was the symbol of Baal. It appears that the bull was in some way connected with the reproductive processes of plants and animals and with the sun. It symbolized strength, vigor and endurance.
Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
The words' ox, oxen, bullocks, and calves appear at least 136 times in the Holy Bible. In the New Testament the Greek word are Ox (‘Bous’); Oxen (‘Tauros’); and Calf (‘Moschos’) denotes anything young, whether plants or the offspring of men or animals, the idea of being tender and delicate, hence a calf, young bull, heifer, in Luke 15:23,27,30; Heb. 9:12,19; Rev. 4:7.
Hyades a group of about 200 Stars.
Pleiades M45 actually hundreds of stars.
Atlas was the father and Pleione, the mother of the sisters.
The seven sisters were Alcyone, Asterope, Calaeno, Electra, Maia, Merope, and Taygete.
M1 is the famous Crab Nebula, the cloudlike remnants of a supernova explosion of a massive star. All that remains is a pulsar, a star the size of a city but more massive than the Sun, rotating many times a second and emitting radio waves.