Peripatetic Meditations about ‘The 4 Temperaments or Humors of Man’
“…Tradition tells stories of two methods of forming man by the operation of occult means.The first method consist in preparing a shape into which the formator infuse, first his vital force, then his nervous emanations, psychic and mental, or receive in this vitalized form the being of a ‘separated’ (deceased), or the being of an even more rarified state who will be like that incarnated.
The second method consist to provide man’s spermatozoid similar conditions that the ones he find in the mother’s womb. To this purpose, it is essential no only to know the constituents of the quaternary bloods, but also the needs of the quaternary embryo at the various stages of its existence. ‘It has been the custom of the past 1800 years to attibute the works of formation to the One-Without-A-Form, which is in contradiction with the teachings of the Tradition. In reality, Tradition attributes the formation of Man, and of all the terrestrial formations, to individual beings that ‘sentiated’ the physical state in all its degrees, and consequently possessed the necessary organs for that ‘sentiatation’. They formed beings to their own outmost material similitude.’
Al Koran mention an ancient tradition that states five modes of formation of Man.One with atoms of the physical density. Another, by cultivating spermatozoids. Another, by collecting and solidify the constituents of blood. Another, by taking an embryo half developed of a lesser evoluates being and in giving it what is necessary to its perfecting that will allow it to partake the human form. Another, at last, in the mother’s matrix that is called ‘ the three time veiled dwelling.’
In the Koran, there is also mention of the making of Man by the means of various physical constituents collected for this purpose by angels or by those who were sent by the formator. Those mentioned as being sent for that purpose are four in numbers, and the various physical constituents they were sent to collect up to the number of seven. The time being for completion of this formation was translated by forty days or time period. It may be interesting for the student to note that the number forty, four times ten, symbolise in ancient tradition the quaternary perfection, of which one can induce that this number is used to indicate that the physical enveloppe in which the formator, infused divine life, was able to be perfect in its four level, being, that is the mental, psychic, nervous and physical degrees.
Tradition alludes also to the possibility of forming a Man with the particules of certain metals put into fusion: This is known as as the ‘sixth formation’ and is being veiled into the symbol of a six pointed star and later to a star made of two triangles.”
First Meditation :
” …The humors of Man are of a quaternary nature. One can distinguish the saliva, the secretion of the liver, of the spleen, of the mucous membranes, the secretions of the gland systems, of the skins’s pores. The first one stops and destroys the armies of tiny hostiles. It will also acts to assimilate, relieve and clean. The second protects, doubles, lubricates all channels. The third one is the great natural solvent. The fourth one rejects impurities. As long as these four secretions are sane, the body is rarely subject to illness. When assimilation, confort and cleanliness are all ruling, when the channels are clean and not obstructed, when the unnormal concretions are dissolved, when all impurities are rejected, the cells are able to resist victoriously to anything adverse.”
Second Meditation :
“…The theory from which Boehme draws his inspiration is grounded within a symbolic ‘ four-ness’, a symbolism that incorporates not only the ‘ Four Temperaments’ or ‘ Dispositions’ : The Choleric (Fiery), Sanguine (Airy), Phlegmatic (Watery) and Melancholic (Earthy) but more generally the ‘ four elements’, the ‘ four natural qualities’ and the ‘four seasons’. The Temperaments can be represented by two crosses – one diagonal and one upright- within a circle. The theory, grounded in the natural philosophy of the Ancients, locates the temperaments and their traits within the weary ‘ wheel of birth’, the ever-circling wheel of rising and falling, life and death.
…Temperament (equivalent to Boehme’s ‘Complexions’) is inborn, unchanging and largely unconscious. It affects us from our earliest days, shaping the functioning of our soul (our capacities to feel, think, and will) and putting a face to our personality (the outward expression of ourselves). Rooted in the non-conscious, it is a subtle ‘substance’ (in boehmian vocabulary) that flows continually into our consciousness, an aspect of the astral-elemental spirit that hold captive the soul.
‘ Temperament- Temperamentum in Latin- originally meant ‘ the right blending’. The blending in question derives from the ancient medical belief, passed on from Hippocrates through Galen, that the body contains four fluids or ‘ humors’, the four being blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile and melancholy or black bile, and that the differences in Temperaments depend upon the blending of these fluids (or substances). The Temperaments, again are:
The Choleric, fiery and angry, hot, fire, summer (yellow bile).
The Sanguine, ethereal and lively, cold, air, winter (blood).
The Phlegmatic, cool and sluggish,wet, water, autumn.
The Melancholic, dark and gloomy, dry, earth, spring (black bile).
The humor based theory is, of course, long abandoned. This does not mean its perenial wisdom, the esoteric wisdom that goes beyond its psychological factuality, does not speak as truly today as it did before empiricism came to monopolise the sciences. The theory was and is more than a medical theory. It has resonances with other of the ‘sacred sciences’ that once guided the spirit and soul of humankind towards repentance, towards ‘ turning about’- and rebirth. In this, like astronomy/astrology, kabbalism and alchemy (all which find a place in Boehmian cosmology), it is ‘ a science of the soul in its relation to the cosmos…making use of external transformation for the sake of the inner transformation which is the ultimate goal of all traditional sciences.”
Third Meditation :
“…Know that when the drop of semen fall in the matrix, it is first of a spherical form- the drop of water is by nature spherical. Then, the semen under the effect of its own heat and of the matrix’s matures progressively: Its subtile elements separate from the denser ones. Once the maturation is achieved, the dense elements go towards the center and the subtil elements towards the periphery, in order that the semen fragments itself into four layers, each encompassing what is under. In other words, what is dense directs itself towards the center and fixes itself in the middle of the semen; what is subtile, directs itself towards the periphery and fixes itself on the upper surface of the semen. What is below the upper surface is less subtile than what is above; what is above the center is, in density, less than that the center. Therefore, the semen finds itself leveled into four plans. What is at the center is called black bile or melancholy. The black bile is cold and dry; it has the nature of the earth and and take its place. The layer situated above the center is called phlegm.The phlegm is cold and humid; it has the nature of water and takes its place. The layer above the phlegm is called blood. The blood is warm and humid; it has the nature of the air and takes its place. The layer situated above the blood is called bile. The bile is warm and dry; it has the nature of the fire and takes its place. This unique substance called ‘semen’ is therefore tranformed into four elements or humors; this within the time frame of a month. This work achieved, from these four elements or humors will spring successively three realms: The mineral, the plant and the animal realms…”
Fourth Meditation :
There are two types of dreams proceeding from the internal senses. One is just a natural guardrail processing and disposing in an overflow the day’s activities through the memory and the fantasy side of imagination and has no value and possible interpretation. On the other hand, the second one linked with the 4 temperaments, provides a meaning and a possible interpretation:
” O Dervish ! If in the human body, one of the 4 humors prevail, the bile for instance, Imagination will conceive yellow shapes and present them in dreams; therefore a yellow flower, a yellow face, a yellow garment, a fiery furnace that spits flames. One needs to get rid of the bile and evacuate it; otherwise, biliary disorders will appear. According to the amount of bile in the body, the dreamer sees the flower, the fig, the garment ou the fiery furnace. If he sees the yellow flower, he will not be sick, the bile being weak. With a bit of attention, the bile will appease itself. If he sees he is eating the yellow fig and doesn’t dispose of the bile, he will then get sick and fever will rise. If he eats one fig, he will have a proportional fever; if he eats two, the fever will rise up a degree; and so on, for as many degrees as many fig eaten. If he sees he is wearing a yellow garment and doesn’t get rid at once of the accumulation of bile, jaundice will appear. And if he sees the fiery furnace that spits flames, his liver will be overheated. It is to fear that from these heatings the patient will burn – and in many cases, such patient doesn’t survive. Having learned what is at stake with the bile, know that it is the same with the other temperaments. If the ‘sanguine’ one prevails, Imagination will conceive red shapes and will present them in dreams. If the lymphatic temperament prevails, Imagination will conceive white shapes – foamy waters -and present them in dreams. If the Melancholic temperament prevails, Imagination will conceive black shapes – obscures dwellings- and present them in dreams.”
To be used as a Postlude:
“As for the dreams proceeding from celestial angels, we will say again, that through sleep, the external senses being at rest, the internal senses gathered and the heart’s mirror being limpid, a relation is being established between the heart of man and the celestial angels. Heart and angels are like two polished mirrors facing each other: What is known to the angel will reflect on the heart of the dreamer. This kind of dream has a value and can be interpreted. It is the true dream. One of the forty-six aspects of prophecy. Glory to God, Lord of the two worlds !”
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Notes:
The extract from the Prelude comes from ‘ The Cosmic Tradition’, ‘The Chronicles of Chi‘ T.3. Appendice,’ Of the formation of Man’. Cosmic Publications. Paris. 1906. Translated into English from the original French.
1. Extract number 1 comes from ‘The Cosmic Tradition’, volume V.‘ Extract from the book of the life of Kelaouchi’. Page 152/153. Cosmic Publications. Paris. 1920. Translated into English from the original French.
2. Extract number 2 comes from a study by Thomas Isham: ‘ A Christian Spiritual Psychology’, Introduction,pages 11/12/13. New Grail Publishing, a Grailstone book.2006. The study is about ‘Jacob Boehme’s ‘ Four complexions or Temperaments’. 1621. English translation by William Law and Friends here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/395549/Jacob-Bohme-Vol-4-V-A-Treatise-of-the-Four-Complexions
More about Jacob Boehme: http://passtheword.org/Jacob-Boehme/
3/4. Extracts number 3 and 4 + the Postlude are coming from Azizuddin Nasafi’s ‘ Book of the Perfect Man‘, Fayard 1984. Our English translation comes from Isabelle de Gastine’s French translation of the original Persian (!). Extract number 3 : First Treatise, page 27, ‘Of the evolution of the semen’. Extract number 4 + the Postlude: 18th treatise, last section, Page 200/201, ‘ Of dreams’. Original Persian version here :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34569507/Kitab-Insan-e-Kamil-of-Azizuddin-Nasafi
