26.01.2015 Views

the-astrology-book

the-astrology-book

the-astrology-book

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Hot: sanguine-choleric<br />

Cold: melancholic-phlegmatic<br />

Wet: sanguine-phlegmatic<br />

Dry: choleric-melancholic<br />

All: balanced<br />

What may appear to be <strong>the</strong> simpler states, <strong>the</strong> single-quality ones, are actually<br />

more complex. The reason is that <strong>the</strong> single-quality types are in fact mixtures, because<br />

qualities do not cancel out. Having close to an even ratio of hot and cold or wet and<br />

dry means that it is easy to become out of balance: stress, <strong>the</strong> change in season, or<br />

even too much to drink.<br />

—J. Lee Lehman, Ph.D.<br />

Sources:<br />

Gadbury, John. Genethlialogia, or The Doctrine of Nativities Toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> Doctrine of Horarie<br />

Questions. London: J. Cottrel, 1658.<br />

Lehman, J. Lee. Classical Astrology for Modern Living. West Chester, PA: Whitford Press, 1996.<br />

Lilly, William. Christian Astrology Modestly Treated of in Three Books. London: T. Brudenell,<br />

1647.<br />

Temperaments in Jungian Psychology<br />

TEMPERAMENTS IN JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY<br />

The assessment of an individual’s underlying type—his or her “complexion or temperament,”<br />

as noted in William Lilly’s Christian Astrology Modestly Treated of in Three<br />

Books—according to a fourfold division, has long been an important feature of astrological<br />

work.<br />

This system of analysis has its roots in <strong>the</strong> four elements—fire, earth, air, and<br />

water—introduced to philosophy by Empedocles in <strong>the</strong> fifth century B.C.E. and<br />

applied to <strong>the</strong> human organism as an analytical and explanatory tool in <strong>the</strong> form of<br />

<strong>the</strong> four humors—choleric, melancholic, sanguine, and phlegmatic—by Hippocrates,<br />

also in <strong>the</strong> fifth century B.C.E. Hippocrates’s use of <strong>the</strong> four humors focused on <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

use for medical diagnosis. Claudius Galen, in <strong>the</strong> second century B.C.E., developed and<br />

preserved Hippocrates’s work, and over <strong>the</strong> centuries a knowledge of <strong>the</strong> four humors<br />

came to be <strong>the</strong> accepted frame of reference in <strong>the</strong> West for understanding a human<br />

being. This understanding was not only for use in making a medical diagnosis, but also<br />

for <strong>the</strong> description of character in everyday parlance. For example, such writers as<br />

Chaucer and Shakespeare used references to <strong>the</strong> humors as a convenient shorthand<br />

for conveying an individual’s character or mood.<br />

The relationship between <strong>the</strong> four elements and <strong>the</strong> four humors is shown in<br />

this table:<br />

Element Quality Humor<br />

Fiery Triplicity Hot and dry Choleric<br />

Earthy Triplicity Cold and dry Melancholic<br />

Airy Triplicity Hot and moist Sanguine<br />

Watery Triplicity Cold and moist Phlegmatic<br />

THE ASTROLOGY BOOK<br />

[651]

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!