The second face of Taurus — A Linga-Yoni, ruled by Venus. What this face asks of the people born wearing it.
She stands in her garden at the moment between planting and harvest, her hands stained with earth and honey. The morning sun catches the dew on leaves she has tended through cold nights, and she sees how her patience has drawn abundance from what looked like barren ground. In her left hand, the key to the storehouse. In her right, coins for the children who helped her weed. She has learned what the old women knew—that wealth flows only when it moves, that the secret of success lies not in the getting but in the giving, and that the most fertile ground is found where opposites meet and merge.
This is the recognition that marks those who carry Taurus II: the understanding that creation happens in the sacred marriage of apparent contradictions.
The Face Itself
Between ten and twenty degrees of Taurus, at the heart of spring's promise, rises the face called A Linga-Yoni—the ancient symbol of generative union carved in stone. Here, where medieval astrologers saw horn-headed beings promising wealth and fecundity, and where Agrippa later glimpsed a figure holding the key to success itself, we find the essential mystery of manifestation: that all creation springs from the marriage of complementary forces.
The linga-yoni is no mere curiosity from distant temples. It is the axis around which all making turns—the vertical pierce of intention meeting the horizontal embrace of receptivity, the active principle wedding the receptive, consciousness penetrating matter to birth form. In the seasonal wheel, this decan holds Beltane at its heart, that ancient celebration of the Sun's fertilization of the Earth. The growing light penetrates the warming soil, and what was dormant quickens into abundance.
This is why the early images spoke of building and sowing, of bestial unions that nevertheless brought forth prosperity. The raw creative force that drives all manifestation moves through this face, but it does so with a profound understanding: that lasting success comes not from taking but from giving, not from hoarding but from circulation, not from conquest but from collaboration.
The key-bearing figure of later tradition reveals the deeper truth. The success this decan offers is not the harsh accumulation of the first face of Taurus, nor the desperate prayer of its third. It is the success that comes from understanding the natural rhythms of abundance—how wealth, like water, must flow to remain pure, how generosity becomes the very engine of prosperity.
Venus and Saturn: The Alchemical Marriage
Under the dual rulership of Venus and Saturn, this decan embodies the sacred marriage of beauty and discipline, pleasure and work, reception and structure. Venus brings her gift of attraction and harmony, her understanding of beauty and connection. Saturn contributes his mastery of time and form, his knowledge of how things endure and grow strong through testing.
Together, they create something neither could achieve alone: sustainable abundance. Venus without Saturn becomes indulgence that dissipates. Saturn without Venus becomes grinding labor that yields no joy. But when they work in concert, as they do in this face, they reveal the secret of the Six of Pentacles—that true wealth is a living system, not a dead accumulation.
The Rider-Waite Six of Pentacles shows us the key image: a prosperous figure, scales in one hand, distributing coins to supplicants with the other. This is not charity born of guilt or obligation, but the wise circulation of resources according to cosmic law. The Thoth card names it simply "Success," but this success is earned through understanding reciprocity as a fundamental force.
In the tarot's wisdom, we see how Venus and Saturn resolve their apparent conflict. Saturn's structures become the channels through which Venus's abundance can flow sustainably. Venus's connections become the networks through which Saturn's achievements can multiply and endure. The successful person of this decan understands that their prosperity is not separate from the prosperity of others, but intimately connected to it.
This is the face that teaches the art of timing in all exchanges—knowing when to plant and when to harvest, when to give and when to receive, when to work and when to rest. The linga-yoni teaches that creation is not a single act but a rhythmic dance, and mastery lies in learning the steps.
The Sun in Taurus II: The Generous King
When the Sun travels through this decan, it illuminates the path of enlightened leadership. Solar energy here expresses itself through the understanding that true kingship lies in service, that real power comes from empowering others. This is the Sun that shines not to blind but to help things grow.
Those born with the Sun in this face often find themselves in positions where they can influence the distribution of resources—whether material, emotional, or spiritual. They have an instinctive understanding that their own success is tied to the success of their community. When developed, they become natural mentors, able to see potential in others and provide the precise combination of encouragement and challenge needed to help it flourish.
The solar expression here can manifest as the teacher who genuinely delights in their students' achievements, the business leader who understands that thriving employees create thriving companies, or the artist who finds their greatest satisfaction in inspiring others to create. There is a warmth to this Sun that comes from understanding abundance as a shared rather than competitive reality.
Yet this solar placement also carries the lesson that generosity must be wise. The scales in the tarot figure's hand are not ornamental—they represent the need for discernment in giving. The Sun in Taurus II learns to distinguish between enabling and empowering, between indulgence and true nurturing.
The Moon and Rising: Rhythms of Exchange
When the Moon or Ascendant falls in this decan, the personality is shaped by an instinctive understanding of reciprocity and exchange. These individuals often seem to draw abundance to themselves without apparent effort, but closer observation reveals their secret: they naturally give before they receive, and they create value for others as a matter of course.
The Moon here creates a temperament that is both practical and generous, comfortable with both work and pleasure. These people often have an intuitive sense of timing—knowing when to push forward and when to wait, when to save and when to spend, when to give and when to receive. They tend to be well-liked because others sense their genuine interest in mutual benefit rather than zero-sum competition.
The Ascendant in this decan creates a persona that others find both trustworthy and prosperous. There is something about these individuals that suggests they know how to make things work, how to create win-win situations. They often become the people others turn to for practical advice, not because they have all the answers, but because they understand the principles that underlie successful exchange.
Both placements carry the challenge of the decan: learning to maintain boundaries while remaining generous, understanding that saying no is sometimes the most generous act of all, and recognizing that their gift for creating abundance comes with the responsibility to use it wisely.
The Practice: Sacred Economics
Working with Taurus II means engaging with what we might call sacred economics—the understanding that wealth and resources are not merely personal possessions but forces of nature that must flow to remain healthy. This face teaches that abundance is not a fixed pie to be divided, but a living system that can grow through wise circulation.
The practice begins with attention to your own patterns of giving and receiving. Notice where you hoard—whether material goods, emotional support, knowledge, or opportunities. Notice where you give compulsively, without discernment. The linga-yoni teaches that both extremes disrupt the natural flow of abundance.
Create conscious rhythms of exchange in your life. This might mean setting aside time each week for both earning and giving, or it might mean approaching your work with the understanding that your success is intimately connected to the success of those around you. Look for ways to create value for others as a natural part of creating value for yourself.
Pay attention to timing in your exchanges. Saturn's influence in this decan teaches patience—understanding that true success unfolds according to natural rhythms, not forced timelines. Venus's influence teaches appreciation—finding genuine pleasure in both your own prosperity and that of others.
The deepest practice of this decan is learning to see abundance everywhere: in the generosity of nature, in the web of mutual support that makes civilization possible, in the creative force that continuously brings new forms into being. When you truly understand that you live in an abundant universe, your relationship with wealth—material and otherwise—transforms from scarcity-based competition to flow-based collaboration.
This is the face that teaches the ultimate secret of manifestation: that the most powerful creative acts happen not when we force our will upon the world, but when we align ourselves with the natural generosity of existence and become conscious channels for its expression.
For those who recognize themselves in this portrait of sacred reciprocity and wise abundance, The Book of the Self offers a deeper journey into your unique cosmic blueprint. This comprehensive astrological portrait reveals not just where you carry the gifts of Taurus II, but how they weave together with all the other faces that shaped your birth moment, creating the complete mandala of your soul's design.