Today we’ll be exploring the meaning of Mars in Taurus. I’m excited to discuss this placement because it just so happens that one of the greatest actors in cinema history has it in his birth chart — the legendary Robert De Niro. While there are plenty of famous people with Mars in Taurus, I’ve found that De Niro embodies the symbolism of this placement in such perfect and bizarrely literal way that I honestly had no choice but to use him as our case study. And after we review his chart, I’m confident you’ll have a much clearer understanding of what Mars in Taurus means, and how to interpret it in your own life/chart.
That said, let’s kick things off like we always do by reviewing the two primary components we’ll be working with today:
Mars – The planet of war, aggression, conflict, athletes, fighters, anger, blood, force, and intensity. Mars represents the part of a person that pushes directly against resistance and attempts to overcome obstacles through raw effort, courage, and confrontation. Wherever Mars is placed in a chart, there is usually some kind of sharpness, pressure, aggression, or direct action taking place. Mars also has a strong connection to rage itself. In astrology, Mars rules the zodiac signs Aries and Scorpio.
Taurus – Ruled by Venus, Taurus is the sign of stability, support, endurance, persistence, resources, and material security. It governs things that are steady, grounded, resistant to change, and built to last. Taurus is associated with food, agriculture, ownership, comfort, wealth, and physical substance. It also has a reputation for stubbornness. And of course — Taurus is symbolized by the bull.
Alright, now that we’ve brushed up on the fundamentals, let’s take a deeper look at Robert De Niro’s chart and see how his Taurus Mars manifests in real life. Please note, I am using the tropical zodiac for today’s analysis (though I sometimes use the sidereal zodiac in my work as well)
The Meaning of Mars in Taurus
So right away, we can see that De Niro’s Mars is sitting in Taurus at 26 degrees. It’s also in the 11th House, and it’s acting as the 10th Lord.
So…what does all this mean exactly?
Well, as stated above, Mars fundamentally represents things like: aggression, conflict, competition, force, rage, masculinity, courage, violence, anger and the color red (obviously). Mars is the part of the chart that wants to push forward, overcome obstacles, and dominate resistance through direct action.
Taurus on the other hand represents: resources, nourishment, speech and voice, eating, possessions, stubbornness, and sustenance. Taurus tends to operate slowly and steadily, but once it locks onto something, it becomes extremely difficult to move. And of course — Taurus is symbolized by the bull.
So what could happen when we combine these two symbolic ingredients together?
And if not, I’m guessing “History of Film” isn’t your best category when playing trivia games….??
Because in 1980, Robert De Niro starred in a film called Raging Bull. The film is consistently ranked among the greatest movies ever made by critics, directors, and film fans alike. And De Niro’s performance in that film is widely considered to be one of the greatest performances of all time.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie told the story of boxer Jake LaMotta and explored themes of violence, jealousy, masculinity, obsession, self-destruction, and uncontrolled rage.
Notice how naturally those themes overlap with Mars symbolism.
Violence? Mars.
Competition? Mars.
Fighting? Mars.
Masculine aggression? Mars.
Rage? Mars again.
And then sitting directly beside all of that Mars symbolism is the Taurus symbolism: Bull
Taurus is a Latin word. It literally means “Bull”. It’s that simple.
Add Mars to it and you obviously get: Raging Bull.
This is what makes De Niro’s chart so fascinating. The translation of his Mar’s placement is so elementary and precise, it’s honestly kind of bizarre.
With that said, this is the way I recommend you evaluate Mars in Taurus in your own chart. You take one of the primary themes of Mars, combine it with one of the primary themes of Taurus, and just keep doing that again and again until the outcome becomes clear (as I just demonstrated above).
And if you need a bit of help figuring out exactly where and how Mars and Taurus are showing up in your life, then it never hurts to also consider what house Mars is sitting in, as well as which house/s Mars is ruling in your chart.
Let’s discuss that more in depth right now, using De Niro’s chart as our guide.
Mars in Taurus & the 10th Lord
As mentioned above, De Niro’s Mars is acting as the 10th Lord. If you’re new to astrology, let me quickly explain what that means.
In astrology, the 10th House (the box at the top of the chart with the #10 in it) is associated with career, status, achievement, public visibility, reputation, success, authority, and legacy. It represents the highest point in the chart and is heavily connected to a person’s professional peak or greatest accomplishments in life.
The ruling planet of the sign located in the 10th House becomes what astrologers call the “10th Lord.” The 10th Lord basically indicates the same themes as the 10th House, things like career, professional peak, legacy, etc.
In De Niro’s chart, the sign of Aries is in his 10th House. Mars is the planet that rules Aries. Therefore, when reading his chart, we refer to Mars as the “10th Lord”.
This means that Mars becomes deeply tied to his career path, public identity, achievements, and long-term legacy.
And remember what Mars in Taurus already gave us symbolically?
Raging Bull.
So once we factor the 10th Lord into the equation, the symbolism suddenly becomes far more precise. We end up with something like:
“Robert De Niro’s legacy and professional peak (10th Lord) will be heavily associated with RagingBull (Mars + Taurus).”
Accurate enough? I’d say so.
But wait, we aren’t done yet.
Mars in Taurus in the 11th House
As mentioned earlier, De Niro’s Mars in Taurus is also sitting in the 11th House. In Vedic astrology, the 11th House is traditionally known as Labha Bhava, which in Sanskrit translates to “House of Gains”.
Now when most people hear the word “gain,” they immediately think about money. And to be fair, the 11th House absolutely can indicate financial gains, profits, rewards, acquisitions, and material success.
However, on a more fundamental level, the 11th House simply represents increase and expansion in general. It shows what causes the “self” to gain or expand.
So when the 11th House becomes strongly activated, it can sometimes correspond quite literally to growth or expansion involving the body or personality – aka the “self”.
And this is where De Niro’s chart becomes almost hilariously literal.
Because in preparation for his role in Raging Bull, Robert De Niro famously gained around 60 pounds. At the time, this was considered one of the most dramatic physical transformations ever undertaken by an actor for a film role.
Now think about how precise the symbolism becomes once we combine all the pieces together:
Mars = rage, aggression, fighting, masculinity.
Taurus = bull, physicality, embodiment.
10th Lord = professional peak, success, legacy
11th House = gains, increase, expansion.
So what prediction do we end up with?
“Raging Bull (Mars+Taurus) will affect Robert de Niro’s profession/legacy (10th Lord) and will cause him to gain or expand (11th House).”
And that is EXACTLY what happened.
His body physically expanded (11th House) because of his role in Raging Bull. And, he won an Oscar for the film, marking the height of his professional success (10th Lord).
It’s all so wonderfully accurate and literal that it almost defies belief.
Cool right?
I hope after reading this article you’ve gained some insight into how Mars in Taurus actually works in a birth chart.
I could continue to analyze De Niro’s chart and give you my specific opinion on why Raging Bull ended up being a film in his life and not the name of some business or a personal motto of his or something else entirely.
But honestly, I don’t think that’s necessary. Because, the main point is this:
We took a simple, fundamental term that is universally associated with Mars – “Rage”.
And we then combined it with a simple, fundamental term that is universally associated with Taurus – “Bull”.
And we arrived at a prediction that everyone knows is associated with the life and career of the man who’s chart we were analyzing.
That’s accuracy guys.
And personally, I think it’s enough to suggest there might be some truth to this whole “astrology thing” that all the lunatics like me keep raving about.
I’ll leave it at that for today guys.
I hope you enjoyed this short article. If you’d like to check out a few others like it, then I recommend: Mars in Leo and Mars in Gemini.
