Student Dialogues - More Depth to the Temperaments

This is from a student's test comparing homeopathic temperaments to the Islamic temperaments. The answer is correct, but I wanted to comment (for the benefit of everyone) that you CAN expand the Islamic temperaments beyond the four by combining themkin the same way homeopathy does - there is no rule against this. I often find it useful. Assignment and my comment are below...

Homeopathy also further breaks down the four major temperaments into 12 minor groups as individuals may not fit completely into only the four temperaments. These minor groups are: cholero-phlegmatic, the sangino-phlegmatic, the nervo-phlegmatic, the phlegmo-choleric, the sanguino- choleric, nervo- choleric, the cholero-sanguine, the phlegmo-sanguine, and the nervo-sanguine, the cholero-nervous, phlegmo-nervous and sanguino-nervous. The nervous is known as melancholic in the Islamic temperaments.

Very good. Although when one starts using the temperaments you can also break them down yourself as well. I will often combine temperament evaluations and have noticed, for example, that a melancholic sanguine is much different than a melancholic phlegmatic.

Student Dialogues - Temperaments

I made some comments on a student's test about the temperaments I wanted to share with all of you who are studying that unit. I am always learning more about the temperaments and the more I learn the more fascinating they become. I wanted to share the following tips/comments with all students in the hopes that you can gain some more insight into the temperaments. Insight and depth of understanding is what will help you create temperament profiles for clients, friends and family members. That insight and depth will increase over time.

My Comments are in BLUE:

I am going to insert some comments into the below. These comments do not indicate that your answer is wrong, because I do not know and have not met the woman. I am simply giving you some more ideas so you can gain some more insight into each temperament and find new ways to “read” people by asking in-depth questions about “why” or “how often” they do certain behaviours. Another tip is to ask them, “have you been like this your entire life?” How they acted as a child after the age of 7 is a good indication of their core temperament”

Choleric attributes:

§ She is very ambitious, and when she is energetic she tries to instill it upon others.

This can also be sanguine. It depends on HOW the person does this. Does she do this all the time or only when she is energetic and feeling well? A Choleric person could be “on their deathbed” or ill and still pushing their desires and opinions on people. A Sanguine will do the same, but NOT when they are ill, or feeling low. Sanguines have very passive mood periods – they come and go and are of varying degrees, but a true Choleric has very few passive moments.

§ She is dominating, although she has learnt to be passive, although her desire is to take control and can get agitated if asked for her opinion and it is not taken.

This can also be a melancholic trait. Although usually melancholics and cholerics cannot learn to be passive. If they do they would most likely suffer great physical and emotional stress from this.

§ She gets extremely irritable if she asks someone to do something and they do not conform.

This can be an attribute of any of the temperaments. A melancholic typically does this. A phlegmatic will do this when pushed and a sanguine will do this a lot too because they feel a need to balance their own “butterfly-like existence” with the firm security of the things and people around them. So they can become VERY upset if people do not conform. Even if they do not always conform themselves, they feel most comfortable when other people do.

§ She has always started things and never completes them, recently she has been more organised and completing projects.

This is more of a sanguine trait. The phlegmatic is “slow and steady” and usually completes , the melancholic is “like a train on a track” in completing things and usually completes, the choleric is “like a fire sweeping through the forest” in completing chores and tasks and may stay up all night just to finish something. If a choleric is not completing their tasks it is because they have a hint of sanguine as well.

§ She has yellow/orange soles and palms, she has excess body hair (although not abnormal for Mediterranean ethnicity), she has a slim face (quite bony), is of a yellow complexion (although naturally a light olive complexion, she says it becomes brighter with exercise).
§ She has very lively eyes (however, due to depression they can look dim and lifeless)

This is a sanguine and choleric trait

§ She craves sugary, sour, hot spicy foods.

This can also be sanguine

§ She suffers from hypoglycemia, and has a circulatory problem (blood does not flow correctly in her left calf (medial)).

What you need to look for in a person is those one or two traits that make them unquestionably fall into one category or another. You cannot finish your evaluation of their temperament until you have at least two traits that you can say “no other temperament would do this” and “she does this all or most of the time”. Even better if you can trace the behaviour back to her childhood.

Student Dialogues - Temperaments and Children

Student Assignment Excerpt: Typology is not a tag; it is a method that allows one to understand a person and to deal with them accordingly. This is helpful when dealing with children, a personal example is my son (2 years 9 months); he is energetic, lively and has a very fiery temper, yet he is natural leader. My son does not speak very much and he chooses to be this way, when he is with other children he has a tendency to lead them although he does not speak fluently, he determines what games they play, and decides when the play should stop because he wants to drink his milk I found it quite difficult to understand my son, from the moment I can remember he was very strong willed and was not going to be forced to do things and didn’t like to be interrupted. I just didn’t know babies could have such strong characters.

Karima's Comments: Surprising...isn’t it? A few years back I actually started an informal study (that I was not able to finish yet) on analyzing the temperament of a child in the womb of the mother – while she is still pregnant. They even have their own temperament then. My goal was to see if this temperament could somehow predict their adult temperament.

Student Dialogues - Wikepedia Research

From a student assignment: "Wikipedia also states that the black seed shows significant results of improvement in cancer patients, as well as during the prevention stages of cancer and for patients who have undergone chemotherapy and surgery."

My Feedback: "This is correct information. However, do be careful of information found on Wikipedia. They can be used as a “starting block” for research, however, their information is not reliable enough to be used as a sole resource. "

Student Dialogues - Ayurveda and Diet

Student Assignment: On an ending note something else I find interesting is Ayurveda that is slightly similar. I found a short chapter in the book The Directory of Complementry Therapies by Norman Shealy.M.D. PHd. It briefly explains the three DOSHAS or principles. governs mental and physical health and helps to balance their source. The doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Vata is movement, Pitta goes with metabolism, and kapha with solid matter, flesh,a nd
bones. And an imbalance just like with Unani Tibb can cause illness. Simple remedies
are like the humours. For example to much pitta dosha associates with heat, then a
cooling activity, food, exercise or therapy can be prescribed to reduce it.
Vata personality seems like to be the Sanguine type. Pitta could be compared to
choleric type and and the Kapha could be compared to the Phelgmatic type .
Soooo Interesting. This is from India. I can see how they are all connected.

Yes, when it comes to measuring temperament of food with the body the Ayurvedic system actually has the most readily available information on the topic. If you are interested in doing more work with this topic and you need recipes and more inspiration – a good Ayurvedic cookbook would be a good place to start. Chinese medicine and Islamic medicine also work with these principles but sadly there are no really good cookbooks or books on either of those subjects (the specific subject of food and temperament) in English.

Student Dialogues - Different Methods of Healing

This is another excerpt from my dialogues with students this week...

Huda observes in her assignment:
There are some in homeopathy that are shied away from the idea of temperaments and humours, James Tyler Kent* seems to be one of them. Kent’s constitutional medicine had nothing to do with giving remedies by classical temperaments. Kent spoke out against the use of classical temperaments in Homoeopathy in his Lesser Writings.

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND commented back:
I am sure his system works well too. The trick to a system working is deep knowledge of the system, continuing education, faith and immersion in the system. When people ask me what the “best” healing method is I always say, ‘One that the practitioner and client deeply resonate with”

Student Dialogues - Typology in Different Traditions

Each week or two I like to share some conversations I have had with students or excerpts from student work that I think would benefit other students. This week, student Huda, brought up a very good point in one of her assignments. This is an excerpt from her assignment and my comment on her assignment:

Huda:Personal Reflection: it is more suitable to look at the Chinese (and any other) typography as a system in its own right.

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND: You make a good point. I will be sure to include this in the student BLOG so other students can understand that this is the intention of the assignment - to look at a system within its own right is the best way to evaluate a person. Because each system has it own way of looking at things which encompass the entire system. There is a core belief that runs each system and without that you are missing out on the depth. So when you are diagnosing you do need to stay within one system.

However, for educational purposes it helps to see how the systems correlate so you can get a better feel for the way typology works and the way the different systems may or may not work together. Cross referencing typology is like studying history – you are not going to use the information...but your knowledge and ability to make decisions and learn will be enhanced by studying it.