Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (12 page)

Harmonious sounds and beautiful visual effects draw her like a magnet. Most Taurean women have a marked talent for, or an appreciation of music and art. Her doodles are often very clever drawings. Concerts and art exhibits are a good bet on dates, and Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon are the best choices for a honeymoon. She'll be ecstatic at the sight of nature's grandeur.

If you can't afford Niagara, take her to an amusement park. She'll probably love to ride on a Ferris wheel, feel the sharp wind across her cheeks, watch the colored lights and listen to the calliope music. (The roller coaster will appeal more to her Aries and Gemini sisters.) It's a rare Taurus female who has never been on a farm nor hiked in the country—who doesn't love horseback riding and fishing. With all her sensuality, the Taurean female is a tomboy at heart. The earth beckons her with a seductive call—and she responds by throwing her arms around Mother Nature in honest rapture. If you want her to throw her arms around you in honest rapture, be sure you don't play raucous music on your record machine, eat garlic without gargling or wear clashing colors.

Finally, there's the sense of touch. Taurus women are the ones who complain that your sweater is “scratchy.” It doesn't “feel nice.” They can almost tell the color of a fabric by stroking it with their eyes closed. The materials she wears will be soft and luxurious to the touch, never irritating, and she'll probably dress with simplicity and taste. Her sensuous nature may not stretch to include fussy lingerie and dainty clothing (barring a Pisces or Leo ascendant or Moon). She prefers sportswear and plain, expensive outfits with no excess trimmings, and she dresses mostly for comfort; her practical nature taking over in the costume department. If she happens to have a heavy Aquarian influence in her chart, she can go a little cuckoo in stores on occasion, but even then her offbeat selections will serve a utilitarian purpose.

As you get to know her better, you'll realize that this Taurean can be a tower of strength. She's seldom demanding, except in the area of loyalty, and her disposition is generally even, down-to-earth and pleasant. People love her straightforward, easy-going manner—it's as relaxing as a warm bath. She's probably fond of warm baths herself, with lots of lotions and oils and bubbles. Taurean bathrooms often look like Cleopatra's private quarters. You keep expecting to see a slave appear and start waving a palm leaf fan.

You might have to find out the hard way that a Taurus woman doesn't like to be contradicted, especially in public, but why do that, when you can learn the easy way by understanding her Sun sign? Remember that she likes to do things slowly. If you hurry her or rush her, she'll become angry, and it isn't wise to make a Taurean female angry. Her tempo ranges from slow to deliberate and steady; it seldom rises to impulsive, but it can reach violent, when she's goaded too far.

Motherhood becomes her nicely. It blends smoothly with her serene disposition and matches her bovine nature beautifully. She'll cuddle little babies and adore toddlers, but as the youngsters grow older, she may be too strict and demanding. There's an unbending, stubborn streak in Taurean females that makes it hard for them to accept easily the multiple and confusing changes of adolescence. The Taurus mother becomes angry when her discipline is thwarted. She won't stand for disobedience or defiance. All the fury of the bull is aroused. She'll also find it difficult to tolerate laziness or sloppiness, and the children will probably keep their rooms neat—or else.

The Taurean love of beauty and harmony prevents calm acceptance of untidy habits. Messy youngsters and sloppy surroundings can make her see red. Outside of these few failings, she'll probably be a good parent, more of a friend to her children than a mother image as the years pass. Most offspring of a May-born woman remember her as a warm, maternal image in the early years and a pal with a sense of humor in their later years. The in-between years—when youthful impatience clashes with the bull's firm determination—may leave a few unpleasant memories. She'll fiercely and loyally defend them from outside hurts and teach them to imitate her own honest courage.

Taurus females are never sissies. They seldom whine or complain. She doesn't have a lazy bone in her body, despite her often slow, deliberate movements and need for frequent rest periods. Taurus females are hard workers. She can climb a stepladder to paint or scrub the walls with the strength of a man, but she needs that afternoon nap to keep her sturdy. She'll walk proudly beside her man, and seldom try to pass him or stand in his shadow. Many a Taurean wife helps her husband with his studies, if he's taking special courses in a professional career, or types up the business correspondence he brings home from the office. She's an excellent helpmate in these areas. Taureans never expect to be supported without contributing their share, and they're miserable with a man who doesn't contribute his, though they'll try to make the best of it. Taurus women dislike weakness in any form.

Her impassivity to pain and emotional stress is almost miraculous, often even surpassing that of the Scorpio female. I remember a scene I once watched in a hospital. A Taurus woman was going upstairs for serious surgery, so serious that her chances of surviving the operation were very small, and she knew it. It was a calculated risk. As her husband watched her being placed on the cart that would wheel her to the operating area, she noticed the tears in his eyes. But she never commented. She made jokes instead, until the nurses giggled and even the doctor smiled. The last thing her family heard her say as the orderlies were pushing and pulling, trying to get the cart into the elevator, was typically Taurean. Instead of glancing back at her loved ones with a tearful look of farewell, she rose up on one elbow and spoke to the young men firmly. “Before you put me back on this thing again, get some oil and grease those damned wheels.” A Taurus woman never lets sentiment interfere with practicality.

A man who marries a female born in May won't marry a cry baby or a gold digger. She'll expect him to provide for her and manage the family finances sensibly. She'll also want the best quality when it comes to food and furnishings. But she'll always keep a sharp eye out for bargains, and be willing to wait for the luxuries she craves.

Quick fortunes without a solid foundation don't appeal to her sense of stability. She'd rather see you build carefully for the future. Making a good impression is important to her, and lots of Taurean women encourage their husbands to aim for a secure future by inviting influential people to dinner. A Taurus wife is the soul of hospitality.

This is a woman who will stay up night after night with a sick child and pray him back to health with a rock-bound faith—the kind of woman who can tenderly replenish a man's store of hope when the world has defeated him, infusing him with her own brave, dauntless example. She's as dependable and predictable as a grandfather clock, as capable of repairing a leaky faucet or fixing a blown fuse as she is of baking a cherry pie or sewing on a missing button. There's always room enough and love enough in her heart to welcome strangers and relatives to her hearth, and her house will warm you, when you've just come in out of a storm. Like my friend said, a Taurus female is “a tall woman.”

It may begin to be evident that your newborn baby is a Taurean when you try to dress him to take him home from the hospital. “Put your little arms inside your nice sweater Grandma knit for you,” you'll murmur in tender, maternal tones. “Why are you clenching your little fists and holding your arms so stiff? Let go, like a good little baby. Please, let go.”

“Let me try,” says your husband. ‘Okay, come on now, Kid. Let's get those arms in the sleeves. Easy does it. Hey! Did you hear me, Charlie? Let go. Move your arms. Move them!”

The nurse comes in. “Don't be upset,” she says. “It's always hard to dress them when they're little. My, what a good baby. Wide awake, but he doesn't make a sound.”

“Yes, he's quiet,” says your husband. “But he keeps folding his arms across his chest, and I can't pull them apart. He's so strong, I can't even pry them apart.”

“I don't think he wants his sweater on,” you remark uneasily, a mother's intuition beginning to rise.

The nurse approaches your little bull with professional efficiency. “I'll do it. All right now, upsy daisy! In the sleeve—fist first—that's the way.”

She forces the tiny arm through the opening in the sweater. Suddenly, your small bull's face turns a deep, bluish-purple-red color, and a wail is heard that brings every nurse on the floor rushing into the room. (It's more of a roar than a wail. The intern down the hall thought the boiler had exploded in the basement.) Your Taurus baby is just announcing that he doesn't appreciate being pushed. It's a warning. And it will be repeated.

Your neighbors will hear the same sound every time you try to press your May child into doing something he doesn't want to do. There will be lots of little problems like trying to stuff oatmeal into a mouth that's glued shut, pressing an iron leg into a pair of rubber panties, and trying to force a chubby, pink body, suddenly turned to unyielding cement, into the bathtub. You'll lose lots of weight and develop strong muscular control. Mothers of Taurus children always have muscles like Pop-eye, though they often look as haggard as Olive Oyl.

Outside of being just plain pig-headed, the Taurus baby is a delight to raise. Parents of Taurean boys and girls will find their youngsters cuddly and loving. They adore being squeezed and hugged and petted. The little bull with a cowlick or curly forelock will jump up on your lap to get a kiss and leave you out of breath with his bear hugs. He'll give your friends the same affectionate treatment, if he trusts them. The tiny Taurus girl will flirt from the high chair to get an extra helping of dessert. She's probably Daddy's little girl. He'll find it hard to resist her limpid charm, as difficult as Mommy finds it to resist her Taurean son's quiet sweetness. The children of both sexes will be strong, healthy and athletically inclined. The boys will be all boys, sometimes little terrors, full of fun, sturdy and tough. The little girls will be all female, taking care of their dolls like small mothers, keeping things tidy and playing house. Some of them will be tomboys, and you'll catch them climbing trees or shooting marbles with the boys; but essentially, they have all the charms of femininity to call on when they choose, and they'll choose often.

Taurus youngsters seem to be generally more competent, even as toddlers, than other children. For one thing, they're emotionally stable, seldom subject to deep moods of depression, fits of impulsiveness or show-off tendencies. They can be negative and stubborn, sometimes shy and timid, but there are few of the normal hang-ups and growing pains. Taurean dispositions are normally calm and pleasant. They're not easily ruffled or disturbed. Except when they balk at being pushed too far or too hard, their personalities are smooth, cheerful and quite predictable. There's a maturity about them that children born under other Sun signs (except Capricorn and Scorpio) lack. Even the very young Taureans are usually quite well-behaved in front of company, but they'll act as if the cat got their tongues if they're forced to be the center of attention. Leave them alone to play in the corner and the chances are that visitors will be impressed at how well they've been trained.

A Taurean youngster quietly minds his own business, and the young bull will seldom embarrass you by rudeness or a smart-alecky attitude. However, if you challenge his temper by teasing him (which he can't stand), by applying steady pressure, or demanding that he do something his mind is dead set against—he can turn belligerent. The only way out of such defiance is love. Never force. A Taurean child who's been forced by older people too often may turn into a silent, moody, cruel adult. Remember that he can't remain stubborn against physical demonstrations of affection. A loving squeeze or a big, friendly kiss and a cheerful smile will coax him out of his obstinacy. Always speak gently and logically. Yelling and harsh voices raised in command will just make him shut his eyes and ears. He can resist discipline and orders until doomsday. He can't resist affection for a minute.

Even when he's very young, his mind will respond to common sense. If it sounds reasonable to him, he'll do it—but he'll want a practical explanation. Nothing complicated. Just the plain, honest, unvarnished truth. “You have to go to bed now because I say so,” will get you nowhere at all. That's neither sensible nor reasonable to him. However, a softly spoken declaration like, “You have to go to bed now because we're going to turn out the lights. If you don't, we can't let you go out to play tomorrow, because you'll be too tired,” will probably get him into his sleepers and ready for the sandman. It also works to say, “Hop into your warm bed now, between your nice, clean sheets, while I tuck in your soft baby bear blanket. Then I'll read you a little story.” No matter how stubborn he has been, he'll almost always turn into a docile angel at those words. His is a very sensual nature, and describing the feel of things seldom fails to strike a responsive chord. Pushing him to give in to your demands is both futile and dangerous to his future personality.

Colors and sounds will affect his disposition and his emotions deeply. Bright, clashing oranges and reds in his room will make him restless and obstinate. Pastel shades, especially pink, rose and all tones of blue, will produce almost magical results. This child will react to colors visibly. If they're harmonious to his Taurean vibrations, he'll remain tranquil. If they're discordant, they can literally damage his emotional stability. Loud noises will have the same effect.