Taurus rising

Old handbooks read this rising as physical build first. Lilly 1659 sees a short and strong figure with broad shoulders, and Adams 1928 stresses sturdiness and a square face. Raphael 1828 lists Taurus among the signs of short ascension, meaning it takes less time than average to cross the horizon in the northern latitudes where he wrote, so the birth minute carries real weight.

Raphael's Guide 1877 is unkind about the character here and Adams far kinder, since she sees mildness joined to force. The disagreement is useful, because it shows these sketches come with the writer's temper attached. Modern popular astrology presents the rising Taurus as calm and unhurried on first meeting, and that picture is its own.