Taurus is the second sign of the zodiac, and it moves at exactly the pace of the late spring earth it is born into: slow, sure and in no particular hurry to explain itself. Born under the bull between 20 April and 20 May, a Taurus is the zodiac's gardener and its steady hand, building a good and beautiful life one unbothered day at a time. This is a complete guide to the Taurus star sign: its dates and symbol, its grounded personality, its strengths and its softer edges, who it loves, the houses of the chart, and the old myth written into its stars. Read it as a portrait to recognise yourself in, never a rulebook.
Taurus at a Glance
Taurus is an earth sign ruled by Venus, and the second of the twelve zodiac signs. Here are the essentials.
| Trait | Taurus |
|---|---|
| Dates | 20 April to 20 May |
| Symbol | The Bull |
| Element | Earth |
| Modality | Fixed |
| Ruling planet | Venus |
| Opposite sign | Scorpio |
| Signature crystal | Rose quartz |
Dates shift by a day from year to year, so if you were born on the cusp it is worth checking your birth chart.
The Taurus Personality
Taurus is fixed earth: fixed signs sustain and hold, earth signs are practical and rooted, so Taurus is the zodiac's steady ground and its immovable object. Ruled by Venus, the planet of love and beauty, a Taurus feels the world through the senses and wants comfort, security and the slow pleasures of a life well made, preferably with good food involved.
There is a deep reliability to the bull. A Taurus is the friend who shows up, the partner who stays, the one who would far rather build something lasting than chase something new and shiny. Patient and loyal, they understand that the best things, like a garden or a love, are grown rather than rushed, and they will not be hurried by you or anyone else.
"Taurus is the persistent provider of the zodiac."The AstroTwins, Astrostyle
Taurus Strengths and Weaknesses
At their best, Taurus people are patient, loyal, dependable and warm, with a gift for creating beauty and calm wherever they settle. They are steady in a crisis and generous with comfort, and their devotion, once given, runs very deep.
The shadow side is the same steadiness dug in a little too hard. Taurus can be stubborn, possessive, resistant to change and prone to indulgence, holding on to a person, a habit or an opinion long after everyone else has quietly moved on. The lifelong homework, for the bull, is learning to bend a little, to loosen its grip, and to trust that change is not always an ambush.
Taurus in Love and Compatibility
In love, Taurus is devoted, sensual and slow to hand over its heart, but utterly steadfast once it does. They tend to harmonise most easily with the fellow earth signs Virgo and Capricorn, who share their patience, and with the water signs Cancer and Pisces, whose tenderness they adore. Their opposite sign, Scorpio, brings a magnetic intensity the bull finds almost impossible to resist, however sensible it intends to be.
Wondering how Taurus matches with another sign? Try our zodiac compatibility calculator to compare any two people by sun, moon, rising or full birth chart.
Sun-sign compatibility, though, is only the opening line of the story. Real chemistry is read from two whole charts, your moon, your rising and your Venus included. To see the full picture, map both of your birth charts and read them side by side.
Taurus Sun, Moon and Rising
Most people mean their sun sign when they say they are a Taurus, but the bull can sit in three very different places in a chart, and each one feels distinct.
Taurus Sun
Your sun sign is your core self, your ego and the energy that drives you, set by the date you were born. A Taurus sun is steady and sensual at its centre: patient, loyal and quietly determined to build a beautiful, secure life.
Taurus Moon
Your moon sign is your inner, emotional world and what you need to feel safe. A Taurus moon needs comfort, calm and constancy, and finds peace in the simple and the sensory: good food, soft textures, a settled home and a love that does not waver.
Taurus Rising
Your rising sign, or ascendant, is the way you meet the world, set by the exact time and place of your birth. A Taurus rising moves through life slowly and gracefully, with a calm, grounded presence and an unhurried, reassuring warmth.
You might be a restless, fast-moving person who is surprised to be called a Taurus, simply because your moon or rising sits in a livelier sign. The only way to know your whole sky is to look: our free birth chart calculator reveals your sun, moon, rising and every planet in moments.
Taurus Through the Houses
Taurus does not only turn up as your sun sign. Wherever the bull falls across the twelve houses of your birth chart, the areas of life, it brings its steadiness and its love of the good and beautiful to that corner of your world. Here is how Taurus colours each one.
- First house (self): a calm, grounded, sensual presence and a Taurus rising who moves slowly and surely.
- Second house (money and values): a natural ease with money and comfort, and a deep need for security.
- Third house (mind and communication): steady, deliberate thinking and a warm, unhurried voice.
- Fourth house (home and roots): a beautiful, comfortable home built to last a lifetime.
- Fifth house (love and creativity): loyal, sensual romance and a love of making beautiful things by hand.
- Sixth house (work and health): patient, reliable work and a body that loves routine, nature and good food.
- Seventh house (partnership): seeks a devoted, dependable partner and stays for the long haul.
- Eighth house (intimacy and change): slow to trust but deeply loyal, and quietly resistant to upheaval.
- Ninth house (travel and belief): learns through the senses and prefers the tried and the true.
- Tenth house (career and reputation): builds a solid, lasting reputation, brick by patient brick.
- Eleventh house (friendship and community): the steady, dependable friend everyone relies on.
- Twelfth house (rest and the inner world): finds peace in quiet comfort, nature and the senses.
To find which houses hold your Taurus placements, cast your free birth chart. Each house now has its own full guide.
The Myth of the Bull
Every sign carries a story, and the bull's is one of the most famous in Greek myth, and one of the least reassuring on close reading. To win the Phoenician princess Europa, the god Zeus turned himself into a magnificent, gentle white bull and mingled with her father's herd. Charmed, Europa climbed onto his back, at which point the bull rose and carried her clean across the sea to the island of Crete, where she became a queen and the mother of kings.
In honour of the tale, the bull was set among the stars as the constellation Taurus, as the constellation's mythology records, its brightest star, the orange Aldebaran, glowing like the bull's watchful eye. It is a fitting emblem for the sign: strong, sensual and quietly irresistible.
The Taurus Crystal
The stone most often matched to Taurus is rose quartz, the soft pink quartz of love, tenderness and self-worth, ruled like the sign itself by Venus. It suits the bull's deep capacity for affection and its unapologetic love of comfort and beauty. For the fuller picture, our guides to crystals for every zodiac sign and star sign crystals pair a stone with each sign by element and ruling planet.
Taurus in Career and Money
Taurus works best with patience, stability and something tangible to build. Finance, design, hospitality, food, property and the trades all suit its steady, quality-focused nature. Taurus is one of the most careful earners in the zodiac: a reliable saver who values security and is entirely willing to work slowly toward lasting comfort, because the comfort is very much the point.
Taurus Compatibility: Best and Worst Matches
Taurus is traditionally most compatible with the other earth signs, Virgo and Capricorn, who share its grounded loyalty, and with the water signs Cancer and Pisces, whose tenderness suits its devoted heart. The trickier matches are usually Leo and Aquarius, two fixed signs whose strong wills lock horns with Taurus stubbornness in a standoff nobody wins. Sun sign is only part of the picture, though; moon and rising signs matter just as much.
The Taurus Man and the Taurus Woman
Taurus man: The Taurus man is steady, sensual and patient, slow to commit but deeply devoted once he finally does.
Taurus woman: The Taurus woman is grounded and loyal, drawn to comfort, beauty and a love she can actually rely on.
Taurus as a Friend
As a friend, Taurus is steadfast and dependable, the one who stays for decades and shows up without fuss or a running commentary. Taurus nurtures through good food, warmth and a reliability you can lean your entire weight on without it budging.
Taurus Crystals, Tarot and Moon Rituals
Taurus sits at the heart of a wider esoteric picture. Here is how the sign connects across crystals, tarot and the moon.
Crystals for Taurus
The stones most aligned with Taurus are Rose Quartz, Green Aventurine. They support its earth nature and the themes it cares about most. For the full set, see crystals for zodiac signs.
Taurus and Tarot
In tarot, Taurus is traditionally linked with The Hierophant in the Major Arcana, and with the suit of Pentacles, the earth suit. Read more in our The Hierophant guide and the major arcana.
Moon Rituals for Taurus
Ground yourself with a sensual full moon ritual, savouring comfort and the senses. To begin, see our new moon rituals guide and what to do on a full moon.
Is Astrology Real?
Honestly, astrology is a language of symbols and meaning, not a science of cause and effect. Being a Taurus cannot make you patient any more than it can make you stubborn. What a sign can do is hold up a mirror, offering words for patterns you already half-noticed and a nudge to actually reflect on them. Read your Taurus traits as a story about yourself, take what rings true, and leave the rest on the shelf. When you are ready to go deeper, begin with zodiac and astrology and map your own birth chart.
Not sure if this is your sign? Confirm it with the free sun sign calculator, then go deeper and find your rising sign and moon sign, or map your whole chart with the birth chart calculator.
Keep Exploring
Frequently asked questions
Taurus runs from 20 April to 20 May. The dates shift by a day from year to year, so if you were born right at the start or end of that window, check your birth chart to be sure of your sun sign.
Taurus is steady, sensual, patient and loyal, the most grounded sign of the zodiac. Ruled by Venus and rooted in fixed earth, a Taurus loves comfort, beauty and security, and builds a good life slowly. The same steadiness can become stubbornness when pushed.
Taurus tends to harmonise with the fellow earth signs Virgo and Capricorn, and with the water signs Cancer and Pisces. Its opposite sign, Scorpio, is a magnetic attraction. True compatibility, though, is read from two whole birth charts, not sun signs alone.
The Taurus symbol is the Bull, and its element is earth. It is a fixed sign, ruled by the planet Venus, and the second sign of the zodiac.
Rose quartz, the gentle pink stone of love and self-worth, is the classic Venus-ruled Taurus crystal. Emerald and green aventurine are lovely companions for steady abundance.
Yes. Your star sign and your sun sign both mean the zodiac sign the Sun was passing through when you were born. You may also have your moon or rising sign in Taurus, which a birth chart will reveal.
