These are the global energies of a mercury in Taurus or in 2nd House that must be nuanced according to your chart, see the article Mercury in signs; see also the article on the general meaning of the planet Mercury.
You will also have to take into account whether the Sun is in this sign, in Aries, or in Gemini.
The planet mercury can also indicate the type of Projection of mental qualities in the colors of the occupied sign.
The slow speed and perseverance of Taurus
This position leads Mercury to be persistent and hard-working, slow to understand and integrate knowledge, and also slow to make decisions, but once something has been understood or decided, it is set in stone.
Your tenacity goes hand in hand with your stubbornness, and it’s extremely difficult to make you change your mind. The advantage is that you are not easily influenced, but the disadvantage is that you are not always open or willing to debate. In fact, one could say that at times you are so focused on your own, fixed ideas that you do not listen to others.
Some people have a hard time understanding your rhythm, which they consider to be the equivalent of immobilism, apathy, or laziness. They do not understand that you are like a diesel engine : the start is slow and you need to be warmed up, but after that you steadfastly put forth your best effort. Perhaps you do not spontaneously initiate new projects, but you have all of the necessary qualities to see things through in your everyday life, including your thankless, routine tasks.
You have a strong ability to concentrate and focus. You may not be as meticulous as a Virgo, for example, but you have a greater capacity to be invested in what you are doing.
With Mercury in Taurus, you are very pragmatic, very rational, very down to earth, materialistic, and practical. You gain intelligence by learning things empirically : you try something, you test it, if it works you hold onto it, and if not you try something else. This is not necessarily the fastest way to learn, but it’s certainly one of the most effective ! You need to “see” things, “feel” them, and “taste” them. In short, you need to experience them in a concrete way, or to have others help you learn with demonstrations. You are very “sensitive,” and you are only able to learn using your senses.
You have a hard time with concepts that are too unpredictable or too abstract, lofty ideas, and theories. Those are all well and good, but you feel the need to put them to the test of reality. You are like Saint Thomas : you only believe what you see, what you can rely on, and above all what you determine to be useful in everyday life. And this is perhaps the main problem with abstract concepts and ideals; you understand them, but you do not always understand their concrete aim.
Your apparent calmness and placidness give others the impression that you are serious and have a respectable character, and they would not believe that you had a bad-tempered side; however, you are also like a volcano with thick lava, in that you have difficulty externalizing your anger. The pressure builds up on the inside, and with time it eventually leads to explosive eruptions that are extremely devastating. It’s also related to your authoritarian, “pater familias” or responsible side, and you thus have difficulty tolerating people whose attitudes are too light in serious contexts.
You often show yourself to have some degree of wisdom, good sense, and even tenderness, and you are often listened to and chosen for that reason. Your realism often hits the nail on the head where other signs tend to be scattered or caught up in a dreamland.
Mercury retrograde in Taurus
Retrograde motion of Mercury in this sign is likely to accentuate people’s natural slow speed even more and emphasize their hesitant, meticulous nature.
It may also “confuse” your general senses of practicality and pragmatism, making them feel more complicated and refining them, and make you lose the side of yourself that is too logical. But this doubt can also open up your mind and make you much more receptive to different kinds of introspective thinking, knowledge, and learning that would be less accessible with Mercury direct in Taurus.
As a result, you will be more open to debate, or at least to different opinions, and possibly less stubborn.
Mercury’s retrograde motion in Taurus accentuates the “earth” side of one’s energies even more, but also adds a dose of “air”.
Celebrities with Mercury in Taurus
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Sigmund Freud, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Jean Paul II, Malcolm X, Lenin, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Clint Eastwood, Marquis de Sade, Eric Cantona, Fernand de Magellan, George Lucas, Richard Wagner…