Taurus

Labour 2: The Capture of the Cretan Bull

Alone and still filled with deep distress, Hercules must rescue a sacred bull from its intended sacrifice to Minos, King of Crete and deliver it to the mainland where dwell the one-eyed men. On the island, where the bull is captive, is a vast maze, which can lure the adventurous to their bewilderment. Here, following the gleaming star shining from its forehead, Hercules pursues the bull from place to place. Single-handed, he captures it and rides it like a horse through the waters to the mainland, surrounded by the seven Sisters. He leads it to the Holy Place and delivers it safely to its chief guardians, three one-eyed Cyclops.

Interpretation of the myth::

This second labour deals with the potent world of desire and leads the disciple to an understanding of the great Law of Attraction. The lesson concerns the nature of desire and its transmutation into aspiration, the right use of sex and the law that governs that magnetic force. All these must be mastered for the disciple to control the bull of desire sufficiently enough to ride it across the waters of the emotional nature. In the myth, this effort is aided by a star of illumination shining from the forehead of the bull that has a physical plane correspondence with the brilliant fixed star Aldebaran, in the constellation of Taurus, and the nearby constellation of the Pleiades, the seven sisters.

Only when the soul is single in its purpose and free from the hold of matter will right action follow. When the disciple achieves this, the bull of desire is handed over to Cyclops, the initiate with the single eye, which is himself, the soul. Then begins the manifestation of the three divine aspects, spirit, soul and activity, represented by the three Cyclops of the myth. These begin to take control of a person once desire is transmuted into aspiration and spiritual will. The opportunity in Taurus then is the purification of form, its consecration and spiritualisation, so that the light may shine through it - the glorification of matter leading to illumination.

If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Group implications:

Today, the goal is attained through group effort and Alice Bailey writes of a new, subjectively linked group of servers who work within the influence of Taurus: “The group, therefore, which 'serves as Aquarius indicates' is the spiritual Hierarchy; the group which is 'speeded upon the upward Way' is the New Group of World Servers. This group is ruled by Taurus, and to it that divine Taurian energy brings 'illumination and the attainment of the vision'. This group is, figuratively speaking, the 'bull, rushing forward upon a straight line with its one eye fixed upon the goal and beaming light'. That goal is not the goal of Self-illumination, for that lies far behind; it is the goal of providing a centre of light within the world of men and of holding up the vision to the sons of men."

Keynote of Taurus:

Personality Aspect: Let struggle be undismayed.

Soul Aspect: I see and when the Eye is opened, all is light.