A number of medical organisations use the rod of Asclepius as their logo. This rod, which consists of a serpent coiled around a staff, is associated with astrology and with healing the sick through medicine. The staff symbolises the “good shepherd” who is a dignified person in a position of authority, and the serpent represents the homeopathic adage “nature can overcome nature”. What is not commonly known is that pre 1700 (the Age of Enlightenment) medical practitioners who were not qualified as astrologers, were not considered sufficiently skilled if they did not at least have an understanding of the sacred science. This knowledge was essential to their diagnostic skills as even the vulgar (common man) had a basic understanding of astrology - it was, in ancient times, the language of the people. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was himself proficient in the craft.

Division of Society by Temperament

Society was, and still is, astrologically divided into four types – the warriors who have a choleric temperament, the scribes who are sanguine, the farmers who are melancholic and the slaves who are phlegmatic - the meaning of these classifications runs a lot deeper and is more profound than they appear at face value. The warriors are action orientated – we all know people who are impatient and who expect an outcome before they have even made an investment; the sanguine types are our writers, our orators, our scholars and our bureaucrats; the melancholic types are those who are not able to assess when an expiry date is up and who cling to things when they should have relinquished them ages ago, but they are tenacious, hard working and frugal; the phlegmatic types are driven by their desire nature – not only can they become slaves to fashion and new fads and trends, but also to their own desire natures as they are swept away in the tempestuous sea of emotion.

The temperament of a person is the fabric onto which everything else is sewn and it is the meeting point of mind and body. In order to assess the natal (birth) chart of someone in the Tradition of Astrology, it is essential that we assess their temperament first – everything else manifests through and is acted out via this weave, and that includes illness. A physician of old would know the basis of a medical problem prior to medical examination simply by assessing the temperament first.

The ideal person has an equal combination of all four temperaments – but the ideal person does not exist. Most of us fall into two categories with one of those two being the dominant one. Our physical appearance is determined primarily by our temperament and then overlaid by other factors. Geoffrey Chaucer, for example, who was a skilled astrologer as well as a poet, could describe a character by his temperament – “cholerick” perhaps - knowing that just that one word would give his readers a good idea of not only his character's general behaviour, but also his appearance (Footnote). Temperament can be used as effectively today as it was pre 1700 – the first step is to assess it – and one cannot even begin to look at the significators of illness in a natal chart without this information.

Choleric

A choleric temperament is hot and dry and of the fire element – these types are prone to choleric-type pathologies such as heart attacks and high blood pressure, and a menopausal woman with a choleric temperament will suffer more from hot flushes than a woman with a different temperament. Taking other factors in the chart into account, if the person has a high level of choler overall, it would be beneficial for their state of health and to maintain homeostasis (balance) if they stayed away from activities and foods that increased their body heat or raised their temperature. It is of interest that a proportion of people with very high choleric factors are predisposed to alcoholism – a means to “putting out the fire” within.

Sanguine

A sanguine temperament is hot and moist and of the air element – sanguine types are prone to nervous disorders, high levels of anxiety and pathologies such as shingles, ADD and even those linked to exhaustion. It is most beneficial for them to pursue hobbies and activities that do not actively engage the mind and that do not over stimulate the nervous system. Certain foods can be prescribed that will be better received by the body and that will balance the excess of heat and moisture such as Saturn type foods like potatoes.

Melancholic

A melancholic temperament is cold and dry and of the earth element – those that are assessed as such will experience problems with elimination – constipation, bloating, leaky gut syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome. Melancholic types require heat and moisture which they lack and they need movement. This temperament is prone to inertia and exercise is an essential part of their well being. It is this temperament that benefits most from foods such as chillies, cayenne peppers and any foods that increase the body temperature and the circulation.

Phlegmatic

A phlegmatic temperament is cold and moist and of the water element – phlegmatic types are prone to lung disorders or any other pathology that requires excessive moisture in order to manifest. It is not uncommon to find that your die hard smokers have phlegmatic temperaments – seeking hot and dry to increase heat (and once again fuelling the desire nature) which then compounds the predisposition to lung disorders. These types require foods that will not thrive in damp conditions thereby causing ailments such as Candida and thrush.

How do we use the temperament?

Once the temperament is assessed the astrologer turns his attention to the sixth house in the chart. Everything that exists can be found in one of the twelve houses of the chart – and the sixth house is where we look to locate illness. The sign that rules the cusp of that house, its ruling planet and any other planets plus the signs they are in all tell us the story of what illnesses will manifest and in what form – referring at all times back to the temperament.

Two of the most esteemed physicians in days of old (pre 1700), Richard Saunders and Nicholas Culpeper, produced extensive works on the subject. Physicians would look to the cause and not the symptoms as it was felt, and rightfully so, that if you treated the cause the symptoms would cease. They did not have the fixation that we do today of finding a label to place on an illness – what does it matter what it is called if you can cure it? Both of these physicians used astrology to first diagnose and then to treat the cause and combined this with their knowledge of medicinal plants. Every plant and herb on earth is ruled by one of the planets – if you can identify the illness based on the planet that it is signified by and based on the temperament of the person, you would know which medicinal plants to use to cure that specific ailment.

The temperament in today's world

Although we live in modern times and have at our disposal some of the greatest medical minds and skills, we would be both foolish and arrogant to think that we cannot learn from the ancients – if the assessment of temperament was used as effectively as it was then, there is no reason to assume that its efficacy is at all diluted today. We all strive for balance, the one word that eludes us in our hectic modern times – knowing your temperament and how to work with it can assist you in making simple yet fundamental changes to your lifestyle that will have a positive impact on your well being and longevity.

We are well aware that stress in all its forms ages the cells of the body and therefore ages us – by not honouring your temperament - eating incorrect foods, pursuing hobbies that clash with the point where your mind and body meet (temperament) and adopting leisure activities that do not enhance the quality of your temperament – this places additional stress on the fine balance that the body strives so desperately to maintain. We are so busy looking to the future for breakthroughs on aging and on how to minimise or alleviate stress that we are missing the simple yet profound clues from the past.

1 The Question of Temperament – John Frawley, Professional International Astrologer of the Tradition