Temperament Assessment: Which is the Right Way?
July 10, 2006 by admin
In light of Thomas’s quiz (see previous post), and my post on melancholy, the question came up: which is the right method for assessing temperament, anyway? Every traditional astrology has his or her pet method, none of which work 100% of the time. With people who are strongly tilted toward one or two temperaments, all of the methods will arrive at very similar if not identical conclusions. With individuals who are more balanced, and have only a slightly predominating humor or two, we will see a greater discrepancy with using various techniques.
Let us take the example of Paul Newman. I got interested in Newman’s horoscope while writing “Spiritual Direction in the Horoscope,” an article that will be published in the next issue of the Dutch traditional magazine Anima Astrologiae. Newman has a pretty balanced temperament, so the results will vary depending on the method we use.
Here is Newman’s horoscope:
Here is the result we get if we use Dorian Greenbaum’s method (discussed in her book on temperament) which she has developed by her study of various traditional sources (all of whom, in turn, had their own methods!):
- Ascendant sign element – Capricorn – Melancholic (2 points)
- Ascendant ruler intrinsic quality – Saturn – Melancholic (1 point)
- Ascendant almuten (defined as planet with most essential dignities in a given degree) intrinsic quality – Mars and Saturn are tied, so Choleric and Melancholic (1 point each) – we’ll pay attention to these if there is need for a tiebreaker.
- Moon sign element – Pisces – Phlegmatic (2 points)
- Moon ruler by sign – Jupiter in Capricorn – Melancholic (1 point)
- Moon phase (using Lilly’s method here) – 1st Quarter – Sanguine (1 point)
- Season of birth – Winter – Phlegmatic (2 points)
The grand total is: Melancholic (4.5), Choleric (.5), Phlegmatic (4), Sanguine (1 point). So according to Greenbaum’s method, we have a melancholic/phlegmatic, a hard-working, practical type with an emotional, self-protective tendency. This analysis gives us a very cold temperament, with some difficulty getting the heat going, both physically and emotionally.
Let’s use a different method to compare and contrast. John Frawley, in his Real Astrology Applied, goes through a temperamental analysis based closely on William Lilly’s method. Using the Frawley/Lilly method, Newman’s temperament would look something like this:
- Ascending sign: Capricorn – Cold - Dry - (a slightly melancholic Ascendant)
- Lord of the Ascendant: Saturn in Scorpio, oriental: Cold – and Moist +
- Aspected by Mercury in Capricorn, oriental (Hot and somewhat Dry)
- Aspected by Venus in Capricorn, oriental (slightly Hot and Moist)
- The Sun in a Winter Sign – Cold and Moist
- The Moon in Pisces in 1st Quarter – Hot – and Moist +
- The Lord of the Geniture – Mars in Aries, occidental – Hot (due to placement in Aries) and Dry + . Mars is the LoG, as it is the only strongly essentially dignified planet in the chart.
This gives us Cold-, Cold-, Cold, Hot-, Hot, Dry-, Dry+, Moist+, Moist, Moist+. Using Frawley’s method of combining the most frequent elements, we see that Newman is pretty well balanced, and gives us a slightly predominantly phlegmatic (cold and moist) temperament. So we still get a cold temperament, but one that is only a little cold, whereas Greenbaum’s method gives us a downright glacial temperament. We don’t know Paul Newman well enough to decide which is correct, but our guess is that the latter method describes him better. He is known for taking a relaxed approach to his career, and even his hugely successful charity food line, Newman’s Own ™, happened sort of by accident, as he tells it.
This is not to say that Greenbaum’s method is wrong – any solid method will succeed 85 or 90% of the time. However, nothing in our sublunary sphere is 100%, and astrology, or rather the astrologer, is the same. This is the point of traditional astrology – because we astrologers tend toward imperfection, we seek out methods that have passed to us from higher, more lasting spheres than our own.
To have your temperament analyzed with suggestions on how to better balance it, consider a professional astrological consultation with Nina Gryphon.
Ye Quizze: In feven Partes (Parte the First)
July 5, 2006 by admin
Dear readers, This week, I am happy to present a special ongoing feature in addition our normal weekly article. This feature is by Thomas Decker, a German astrologer who has graciously written for the Gryphon Astrology blog before. This is a traditional astrology quiz, with answers to be revealed later. You can use the comment board for each question (the link is at the end of the article itself) to share your answers and guesses. Good luck, and have fun! Nina AKA Gryphon
Note: Although multiple choice, each question may have more than one right answer. And some of the answers may be partially right! (Just to keep a measure of suspense 
)Ye firft Questione:
What is Temperament and how is it assessed in a chart?
a. Temperament shows elemental balance. One checks in which sign each planet is and what element they have. So if someone has lots of planets in earth signs they have an earthy temperament.
b. Temperament is another name for the native’s emotional life. All that is required is to look at the positions of the Moon, Venus and Mars and the aspects they make to each other.
c. Temperament describes the deep-seated constitutional nature of a person. If the life is considered as a symphony then temperament is the key in which the symphony is written in. The ascendant, Lord of the Ascendant, Planets aspecting the ascendant, the Sun, the Moon and the Lord of the chart must all be included in assessing the temperament of a person.
d. Temperament is something our ancestors had. We don’t have it anymore. Some people had lots of black bile while others were full of yellow bile. Some just had too much blood and if one wanted to insult someone one said they were full of phl…
e. Temperament or complexion describe a person’s predominant humour. Just as mercurial describes a quality and not only the metal and the planet known by that name so too does the quality of the predominant humour describe the constitution of a person and how it might be expressed in their personality. The melancholic has an abundance of the cold and dry black bile while the sanguine person an abundance of hot and moist blood. The choleric has plenty of hot and dry yellow bile and the phlegmatic plenty of cold and moist phlegm. Quite often two humours are dominant. The temperament is thus based on the assessment of how hot, cold, dry or moist the ascendant, Lord of the Ascendant, Planets aspecting the ascendant, the Sun, the Moon and the Lord of the chart are.
What temperament does Mr. X have? (June 4, 1882, 21:08 MET [Middle European Time] München, 11e34, 48n08 Asc. 27 Sagittarius)
Hint: see John Frawley’s Real Astrology Applied pp. 121
Marsilio Ficino: A Study in Melancholy
July 1, 2006 by admin
Image from: http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/CGPrograms/Dict/image/bellerophon2.jpg
Nowadays, when we says someone is melancholy, we mean they are depressed and not enjoying life. In traditional astrology, however, calling someone melancholic had a far more complex and nuanced implication. First, it was directly related to temperament; a unique combination of personality and body type that we all possess. The four classical temperaments are phlegmatic (watery), choleric (fiery), sanguine (airy), and melancholic (earthy). Most people are a mix of two or more of these; if you possess all four in equal measure, you are that rare creature; a well-balanced individual. Melancholics are studious, contemplative, serious, practical, cautious and deliberate in all their words and deeds. They are not given to emotional scenes or histrionics.
In traditional medicine, melancholy is synonymous with the bodily humor of black bile, which is cold and dry, possessing the two qualities most antithetical to life. Aristotle described Bellerophontes as a melancholic, who, having fallen from Pegasus, wandered alone in desert places. Aristotle cites Homer’s description of Bellerophontes: “But when he was hated of all the gods, then he wandered alone on the plain of Aleïum, eating out his heart, and avoiding the track of men.” Here is a description of the coldest melancholy that can exist. Aristotle later makes the distinction between melancholy that is less cold, and thus less harmful, and the very extreme coldness seen in Bellerophontes.
Marsilio Ficino was a Renaissance scholar, priest, musician, poet, philosopher, physician, and astrologer. He was a prolific writer, both of books and of letters, and only recently have we been able to get our hands on decent English translations of his works. Two titles that spring to mind are Three Books on Life, and Meditations on the Soul, a book of some of his letters to well-known personages of his day, such as the Medicis, whom he served as a spiritual advisor.
Ficino struggled all his life with an excess of melancholy, and his Three Books on Life goes into extensive detail on how to cure melancholy, or at least keep it in balance. Many of his suggestions are especially useful because they address the proper lifestyle of scholars who are predisposed to melancholy by their occupation and by their horoscopes, which will tend to have strong melancholic planets, Mercury and/or Saturn. This is very applicable to us today, as many of us work in our sedentary jobs doing mostly cerebral (as opposed to physical) work. This kind of existence aggravates the black bile humor. Ficino’s recommendations stem from the understanding that melancholy is primarily a Saturnian illness. Saturn is best neutralized by Jupiter, and to a lesser degree, Venus and the Sun, so Ficino recommends remedies that are Jupiter-ruled, and therefore hot and moist, to neutralize the melancholic’s inherent cold and dryness.
One great recipe for melancholics, derived from Ficino’s recommendations, is warm almond milk with cinnamon; milk and almonds are naturally moist, while the warm liquid and cinnamon are both heating. This is a very good evening drink, as it is somewhat sedative and soothing. However, the bigger problem for melancholics tends to be the morning, as getting going early is rather against the inherent slowness of black bile. Lots of melancholics guzzle coffee like it’s going out of style to compensate for this, but we have noticed that a strong decoction of ginger-licorice-anise-cinnamon acts like morning rocket fuel for these people. Also, Ficino was a great believer in the power of clear white wine to balance melancholy.
As for non-dietary guidance, Ficino recommended that those predisposed to melancholy rise with the Sun (remember, this was before the days of artificial lighting), meditate and do one’s studies. One was to study no later than noon. The reason for this recommendation was that the Sun is strong right at sunrise, because it is in the Ascendant, and at noon, when it is in the Midheaven, and it weakens significantly thereafter. As melancholics tend to coldness, the goal is to be in tune with the Sun to harness its life-giving warmth. Making music, too, will dispel melancholy, as will the company of young people, who are by their intrinsic nature sanguine (hot and moist). Finally, religious faith is Jupiter-ruled, and though Ficino does not recommend it as such, since it would have been taken for granted in his time that one was religious, it must provide the melancholic with much needed spiritual “warmth.”
Note that Bellerophontes’ loss of Pegasus provides a succinct description of what happens to melancholics when they don’t use their natural gifts for contemplation and spirituality. The black bile becomes even colder and they shun human contact, eating out their hearts. Perhaps this is one reason why today, it seems that everyone is on anti-depressants: our fast-moving lifestyles are not conducive to contemplation or faith, and those with melancholic tendencies have little outlet for their natural tendencies.
Subscribe by Feed/Email
Badges
