I just read your artical and the comments and I have one question and one favor, I hope you are still active in this and recieve my message. My question is: Is the “Black Bile” thought to be something real? As a libra, i do suffer from melancholy and some after-party-mornings, i do actually expell black bile. Im sure this is mostly due to the increase in smoking that accompanies the party. But it would be interesting to know that this is what is being refered to here.
Anyways, the favor is: like Peter, I dont want to experiment on myself and would love it if you could send the recipie to me. My email is thyne_thomas@yahoo.com. Thanks Nina
PS. Anyone reading this comment should feel free to email me for whatever reason.

Thanks for getting back to me so soon. That would be great if you could e-mail me the exact recipe, so that I don’t have to experiment on myself. My e-mail is pmccannbrown@hotmail.com.. I look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for doing this.

Warmly, Peter–>

The almond milk Ficino recommends would have to be almonds and milk together. Not vegan “almond milk” made just with almonds, since almonds by themselves are not moistening enough.

Nina

I’m really glad you liked the post; thank you. I purposely left off proportions for the decoction, as it depends on your particular situation. I like to use the “hot” ingredients in a descending amount, but feel free to tweak, obviously. Licorice is moistening, so depending on how dry the melancholy is, you can put in more than just 1/4 of the total volume, or less.

I make a version of this tea (with more stuff), and licorice is the smallest ingredient by volume, so that might give you a starting point. If you’re interested in the exact recipe (and don’t want to experiment on yourself), let me know and I’ll email it to you privately.

This exact recipe is not in Ficino’s “Three Books,” but he does list good herbs to use for melancholy in the first and second books, so I made the recipe myself based on his suggestions. I also know a little bit about Ayurvedic herbalism, so I used some of those principles as well when putting together the recipe. The point is that the tea is heating and moistening to dispel melancholic coldness and dryness.

Kind regards,
Nina

PS: The reason your comment did not go through is because comments first go to my email and I must approve them.

I sent a question earlier with regards to your melancholy post but I don’t think it went through because there it is still listed a zero under comments. Anyhow, I’ll try again, and I had another question too. But let me tell you that I enjoyed your post very much, as usual.
I was wondering if you could tell me the details of the recipe for the cinnamon-anise decoction, for I drink way too much coffee, and I was born with a bit too much melancholy. I looked for it in the Boer translation “The Book of Life” but I could not find it. I was also wondering about the almond milk. Do you have to mix ground almonds and dairy milk together or do you mean pure almond milk, that is, the kind you make with just almonds?
Anyhow, your help would be much appreciated, and keep up the good work on the blog, I enjoy it very much.

Warmly, Peter

I enjoyed your comments on the melancholic temperament and I am wondering if you can tell me how much of each ingredient to use for the cinnamon-anise decoction. I do guzzle coffee or tea in the morning like its going out of style, and I would like to try something else. I have the Charles Boer translation of “The Book of Life” which has all three books, but I couldn’t find the recipe, so I would be most thankful if you could. My e-mail is pmccannbrown@hotmail.com, or you can always post it here, of course.
Thanks, Nina, and keep up the good work on the blog! I may also see you at one of these traditional astrology conferences soon, too.

Warmly, Peter