I’m not exactly sure why this topic is on my mind, but recently I’ve been thinking about the ancient theory of humours.
This link has a series of visual aids and descriptions of the four humours at various points in the past, and is worth a little perusal, but the quick-and-dirty version is that once upon a time, people had the idea that there were four fundamental humours, or elements, in the human body. Each of the humours had a corresponding disposition, phenotype, and good and bad characteristics. The idea was that everyone had certain innate proportions of all four elements and in a healthy person’s body, these elements would be balanced. Ill health (physical or mental) was the result of imbalance.
Here’s a nutshell chart:
| Humor | Disposition | Qualities | Characteristics |
| Blood | Sanguine | Hot/Wet | Happy, Rash |
| Black bile | Melancholic | Cold/Dry | Thoughtful, Depressed |
| Yellow bile | Choleric | Hot/Dry | Passionate, Cranky |
| Phlegm | Phlegmatic (duh) | Cold/Wet | Gentle, Lazy |
I used to categorize myself as primary Choleric, but the older I get, the more Melancholic I become. So I’m somewhere between the two: a depressed crank. Excellent.
So how ’bout you? For today’s FFT, tell us where (if?) you fit in this ancient schema of poor science!
I am somewhere between Phlegmatic and Melancholic. Just to pull another philosophy in, I have trouble with “dampness” in Chinese medicine, so maybe I am more Phlegmatic than Melancholic.
Dammit, that chart is all jacked up–that is to say, NOT A CHART–no matter what I do to it.
I, too, fall somewhere between Choleric and Melancholic … although now that I’ve been closer to people with actual clinical depression I’m less inclined than I used to to identify myself as “depressed.” Perhaps Choleric is the closer match! I also think that I’m less melancholic than I was as a teenager/college student (oh the adolescent weltschmertz!)
Aren’t those little zodiac symbols in the picture? I guess I am meloncholic.
like a cantaloupe maybe
@PhDork … I threw the stuff in a table so the image couldn’t screw it up
They are. But I don’t think they’re sorted by their elemental affiliations.
So in the top right quadrant, Sanguine, are the the first three zodiac signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini) and the rest continue around, clockwise, but Aries is a Fire sign and should thus be affiliated with Choleric/yellow bile. But who knows what they’re going for here?
I’m also melancholic / choleric – a depressed crank as PhDork so eloquently phrased it!
I am Choleric with a bit of phlegmatic. And about once a year when I get a head or chest cold the phlegm threatens to take over!
I think I’m a cross between sanguine and choleric.
Melancholic with a dash of Choleric (cranky) and a dash of Phlegmatic (lazy).
No one is going to claim sanguinity? Ok, forget my previous attempts at misspellings/humour. I’m sanguine.
oops Sorry MA!
I’d be choleric, with a possible side of melancholy, depending on how the meds are doing.