#humors
17 articles
HealthThe Six Non-Naturals: The Galenic Regimen of Health
Galen's six non-naturals, air, food and drink, sleep, motion and rest, evacuation and the passions, were the daily regimen that kept the humoral temperament in balance.
HealthHow to Find Your Temperament from Your Birth Chart
The classical step-by-step method for reading temperament in a chart: the Ascendant and its ruler, the Moon by sign and phase, the season of birth, and sect, the way physicians read it from Galen to Lilly.
BeginnerFrom the Four Temperaments to Modern Personality Theory
The four temperaments outlived humoral medicine. Follow the thread from Galen through Kant to Eysenck and Keirsey, and see where the astrological version still stands apart.
HealthTemperament in Relationships: The Humoral Compatibility Model
Long before sun-sign compatibility, classical medicine read love and friendship through the four temperaments. See how the humors were said to complement or clash.
HealthThe Four Elements in the Body: A Guide to Astrological Medicine
Classical medicine read the body as a mixture of the four elements, each a working force: fire as vital heat, air as breath and spirit, water as moisture, and earth as solid substance.
BeginnerGalen, Hippocrates and the Origin of the Four Temperaments
How the Hippocratic four humors became Galen's four temperaments, and how that medical scheme lined up with the zodiac's four elements. A sourced history.
HealthTemperament and the Planets: Which Planet Governs Each Type
In classical astrology each of the four temperaments has its own planet: Mars and the Sun for choleric, Jupiter for sanguine, Saturn for melancholic, the Moon for phlegmatic. A dominant planet tilts the type.
HealthThe Phlegmatic Temperament: Water, Phlegm and the Calm Type
In classical astrology the phlegmatic temperament is cold and moist. It is the humor of phlegm, ruled by the Moon and Venus, and tied to the water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
HealthTemperament and the Season of Birth
Classical medicine paired the four seasons with the four humors: spring sanguine, summer choleric, autumn melancholic, winter phlegmatic. Your season of birth was read as one thread in your temperament.
HealthThe Four Temperaments and the Ages of Man
Classical medicine read a whole human life as a turning wheel of humors: sanguine childhood, choleric youth, melancholic maturity, phlegmatic old age.
HealthThe Melancholic Temperament: Earth, Black Bile and the Reflective Mind
The melancholic temperament is cold and dry, the humor of black bile, ruled by Saturn and tied to the earth signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn in the classical tradition.
HealthHumoral Imbalance (Dyscrasia): When One Humor Dominates
In classical medicine, health was eucrasia, a good mixture of the four humors, and illness was dyscrasia, a bad mixture in which one humor ran to excess.
HealthTemperament and the Moon: The Body's Moisture and the Lunar Phase
In classical temperament theory the Moon governs the body's moisture. Her sign and phase tilt a chart toward the cold, moist, phlegmatic side.
HealthThe Sanguine Temperament: Air, Blood and the Warm Complexion
The sanguine temperament is hot and moist, ruled by the humor of blood and the element of air. Warm, sociable and optimistic, it maps to Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.
HealthThe Choleric Temperament: Fire, Yellow Bile and the Driven Type
The choleric temperament is hot and dry, the humor of yellow bile, ruled by Mars and the Sun and mapped to the fire signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.
HealthThe Four Humors: Blood, Phlegm, Yellow Bile and Black Bile
Before the four temperaments came the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Learn each fluid and its quality, organ and sign.
HealthUroscopy: Reading the Urine Flask in Astrological Medicine
Uroscopy was the medieval art of judging health by the urine in a glass flask, read alongside the humors and the chart. Here is how the matula and the astrologer's figure met.