In Edward Carpenter's, "Pagan & Christian Creeds : Their Origin and Meaning" one of the claims is made that the golden calf story in Exodus is allegorical due to the astrological turning of the age of taurus. There are also claims that the death, 3 days, and then subsequent resurrection coincides with a solar cycle at the winter solstice. These claims are also repeated in numerous other sources, such as the popular (but in all ways horrible and shoddy) movie Zeitgeist. The second source (due to its questionable conclusions) has led me to question if this is at all an accepted theory, or even matches actual timing.
However, there seems to be a lot of confusion about astrological signs, their naming, the history surrounding them, and how those symbols were used in other cultures (whether symbolic or allegorical).
Do other more reputable sources support Carpenter's assertions about the allegorical nature, as drawn from regular astronomical cycles, of the Abrahamic myths?