Advent Calendar 2023

The bull is one of the most ancient symbols of the strength and fertilizing power of nature. All over the Mediterranean and the Middle East, the bull was worshiped as the consort of the earth goddess, and a vivid portrayal of these rites comes down to us in the frescoes of the bull dance, so beautifully portrayed at Knossos, in Crete. The animal's blend of slow, patient movement, and terrifying power when angered, epitomized the benign and destructive faces of the forces of nature.

The Greek god, Poseidon, ruler of earthquakes, was worshiped in the form of a giant black bull who lived in the depths of the earth and shook the ground when he stamped in anger. Bulls also figure as the hero's bane in many myths, and none is more disturbing than the bull-headed, human-bodied Minotaur who lived at the heart of the Labyrinth and fed on human flesh. Here, the raw forces of nature are perceived as inimical to the heroic will, for instinctual compulsions erode self-reliance and undermine the capacity to direct one's life.

In the Mithraie mysteries of the late Roman Empire, the bull became the clear symbol of primitive human passions, which had to be sacrificed to open the door to a higher level of consciousness.

The Buddha, according to legend, was born under Taurus, and the image of the taming of the bull feures in many Buddhist tales. Taurus in myth is thus both an embodiment of earth's creative potency, and the eternal challenge of the instincts to the human will and spirit.

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