Student Question: Questions about the Temperaments

The following questions on the "Temperaments and Typology" unit were submitted by a student last week. They are VERY GOOD questions so I wanted to share them (and the answers) with you all. The questions are in black. My answers are in blue.

1.In your introduction to Unit 3: You state that different societies had different humors and then you say that for Ayurveda there is just 3 elements. However, in the online link about unani tibb, they have a chart comparing the humors in different traditional healing methods and they list Ayurveda as using five elements just as TCM has 5 elements. I found another good article online which also states that Ayurveda includes 5 elements/humors and not 3. Yet I have read many times in the past about the 3 doshas. I am confused. Does Ayurveda use 5 elements like the online articles say or do they only use 3.

It is confusing because, you are right, Ayurveda recognizes five humors, but it does not use them in the same way Greek medicine or Unani Tibb does. It is misleading to put them on a chart in comparison. If you look into depth at Ayruveda they actually have more than 3 - but do not limit diagnosis to 5. Here is a summary of how they view the systems: Panchamahabhuta or five basic elements: The basic material constituents which exist in the universe and in man are called the Pancha-mahabhuta or five basic elements of Prithivi (Earth), Jala (Water), Teja (Fire), Vayu (Air), and, Akash (Ether). However these are not used in the same way Greek or Islamic medicine uses them. In Greek or Islamic Medicine these are considered as the main forces for disease and healing. In Ayurveda these are viewed a bit differently and the divisions are different. Ayurveda does not view the body as "five elements" of disease and healing - but rather of seven basic tissues and three basic elements - that can then be further divided into 35 total elements of disease and healing.

These are: Dhatus: The human body consists of seven basic and vital tissues called Dhatus. Dhatu means “constructing elements”. These seven are responsible for the entire structure of the body. They maintain the functions of the different organs, system and vital parts of the body. They play an important role in the development, nourishment and even protection of the body. Dhatus are the resultant materials of the functions of the three Humors. They are: 1. Rasa dhatu: predominates the “Jala (water) “Mahabhuta. Function: Prinana(Nurishment) 2. Rakta dhatu: predominates the “Tej (Fire)” Mahabhuta. Function: Jevana(Invigoration) 3. Mamsa dhuta: predominates the “Prithivi (Ether)” mahabhuta. Function: Lepana(holds skeleton) 4. Meda dhatu: predominates the “Jala (water) “Mahabhuta. Function: Snehan(Lubrication) 5.Asthi dhatu: predominates the Vayu and Prithivi. Function:Dharan(support) 6.Majjja dhatu: predominates the Akash Mahabhuta. Function: Purana(to fill the bones) 7.Shukra dhatu: predominates the Jala and Tej Mahabhutas. Function:Garva utpadan(reproduction)

Tridosha or Three Humors: In Ayurdeda the basic elements of human body are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These are called Tridosha or three Humors. Our body is controlled and regulated by the coordinated and balanced functions of Tridosha. It helps the body to be alive. All the physical and mental functions of the body are governed by these three humors. According to Ayurveda, various health problems are caused by an imbalance in at least one of the three humors. In Unani Tibb or Greek medicine it is thought that imbalance is caused by one of the five humors. It is a bit confusing that the translation of Dosha is humors in the same way they translate the word Panchamahabhuta (elements) of the body and the universe to mean "humors". They are different words in the Indian language and provide a subtle distinction. So the word Panchamahabhuta and the word Dosha are not the same but many articles you read in English translate both words to mean HUMORS. This is incorrect. Below you can see, however, they do further divide these Doshas...

Vata: The physical characteristics of Vata are different from others. It is light, dry, mobile, cold, abundant, rough, swift etc. Its fundamental Elements are Ether (Akash) and Air (Vayu). The physical functions are: it is responsible for body movement, speech, Blood circulation, breathing, Excretion, Brain functions, formation of fetus, sexual act, anxiety, grief. etc. There are five types of Vata according to their characters and locations. 1.Prana Vayu 2.Udana Vayu 3. Vyana Vayu. 4.Saman Vayu. 5.Apan Vayu.

Pitta: Pitta is hot like the basic element which is derived from Agni or fire. It is also characterized as being sharp, sour, pungent, fluid, soothing and mobile. It is responsible for vision, hunger, thirst, and digestion, the regulation of heat in the body, softness and luster in the complexion, cheerfulness, intellect, and sexual vigor. There are five types of Pitta which were first indicated by Acharya Susruta. 1.Pachaka Pitta 2.Ranjaka Pitta 3.Sadhaka Pitta 4.Alochaka Pitta 5.Bhrajaka Pitta. Kapha: Kapha is also called Slesma, and is derived from the fundamental elements earth (Prithivi) and Water (Jala). It is smooth, cold, heavy, dull, and viscid.

Kapha constitutes the entire solid structure of the body. The functions of Kapha are unctuousness, binding, firmness, heaviness, sexual potency, strength, forbearance, restraint and the absence of grief. Kapha was also categorized into five divisions: 1.Avalambaka Kapha 2.Kledaka Kapha 3.Bodaka Kapha 4.Tarpaka Kapha 5.Shleshaka Kapha.

2. More confusion: The assigned readings say that the humoral theory existed among Greeks even before the time of Hippocrates. So why is Hippocrates given credit as the originator of humoral theory in healing? Is it because he named 4 specific types and used them in a practical system? The text also says that Galen is the one who came up with the idea of 4 temperaments which correspond with the 4 elements/humors. Does that mean that during time of Hippocrates up until Galen, people were only focusing on the physical aspects of the humors and that Galen then originated and developed the system which used the humors to describe emotional/psychological traits? This is important because Hippocrates lived about 6 hundred years before Galen.

People have used the humors in all their aspect probably farther back than history has recorded. However, this is a very typical and classical case of "the historical credit problem". This is a problem I try to point out frequently during the course but I do not always suceed in doing so enough. The problem is that all medical and healing traditions are actually discoveries of many different people or peoples. Many of these traditions have been used for hundreds of years before someone "took credit". However history always gives credit to the person who was able to define the tradition and write it down. So credit for iridology is given to the first person who created a chart. Credit for reflexology is given to the first person to create the zone system. Credit in homeopathy is given to the person who created a comprehensive book of all the remedies. In some ways this credit is deserved - the person was usually responsible for A: Defining the tradition in a way everyone could understand so that it had more chance of surviving over time and being taught to more people and B. Expanding and devloping the tradition beyond what it was. In the case of homeopathy it had been used before but nobody (that we know of) had taken the time to test so many rememedies before., Hahnemann was amazing in this respect. However, in reality the system of any healing tradition cannot be attributed to one person.

3. In the reading from the columbia encyclopedia source, it lists winter as the corresponding season for the phlegmatic type which does not seem right because phlegmatic types are considered cold and moist which fits more with autumn and melanchoic fits more with winter because it is marked by cold/dry qualities which fits winter best. what do you think?

Corresponding the humors can be confusing! I can often see how one or more types could fit in each season, in each character, etc...but ultimately you are looking for the basic characteristic of the person or season. Autumn definately has a DRY dominant side because the leaves fall in the Autumn and are dry. The earth is dry. However, phlegmatic is very wet. So they cannot go together.

Winter is actually very moist because of the snow and ice that is classic of a traditional winter. However, one interesting thing about modern times that I noticed - since we use heaters in our homes we have actually created a very cold and dry environment for winter. I think this is responsible for a lot of the health problems we have in the winter. We are not allowing our bodies to cycle through the natural seasons and we are making a "wet" season into a "dry" one.

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 Excerpts: The Temperaments

Student Huda, provided an excellent "translation" for her assignment on the Temperments. This is taken from Chauser's "The Four Complexions":

Melancholic:

The water,
which is moyste and cold,
Makth fleume,
which is many fold
Foryetel, slou and wery sone
Of every thing which is to done:
He is of kinde sufficant
To holde love his covenant,
Bot that him lacketh appetit,
Which longeth unto such delit.

Interpretation:
The water, which is moist and cold,
Makes phlegm, which is manifold
Forgetful, slow and wearisome
Of everything which is to be done:
He is of kind sufficient.
To hold love his covenant,
But that he lacks appetite,
Which longs unto such delight

She further shares:
This is very much the typical characteristics of a Phlegmatic, a phlegmatic’s humour is wet (moist) and cold, consequently producing phlegm. Characteristics of the phlegmatic are forgetfulness, slowness and fatigue. Phlegamatics consider love as a covenant, the phlegmatic has many friends and are reliable and compassionate. The phlegmatic suffers from a lack of appetite however; they crave pleasurable foods, which are likely to imbalance them such as milk, sugar and wheat.

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 Excerpts: Aisha and the Melancholic Temperament

I really enjoyed Huda's application of the temperaments to different people in Islamic history. Here is her description of Aisha as a person of the melancholic temperament:

‘Aisha (ؓ) was one of the seven who narrated more than a thousand hadiths; she was also one of the seven most prolific in giving legal opinions. In both sets she is the only female, which is a remarkable feat; she was revered by women and men alike. She is known for her deep love for the Prophet (ﷺ); she would sometimes get angered out of love for the Prophet (ﷺ). ‘Aisha had heard news of the Prophet marrying a new wife by the name of Saffiya, she was of Jewish heritage. ‘Aisha went to the wedding and remained veiled, the Prophet noticed her. When the Prophet saw ‘Aisha he asked her what she thought of Saffiya, she answered “she is the same as any other Jewess.” The Prophet (ﷺ) was always patient with ‘Aisha and his other wives, he understood their temperaments and knew how to handle each one. Every one of his wives thought she was the most beloved to him, it was only when he fell ill at the end of his life that his request to stay at ‘Aisha’s house let them know that ‘Aisha was the most beloved to him (although he loved them all very dearly).

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.

Supplemental Study: BBCs Broadcast on the Four Humors

The BBC has recently broadcast a wonderful program on the four humors from a historical viewpoint. It does not share much about how they can be used today or how they have been adapted to modern times but it does a good job of talking about how they were used in history. And as always, the BBC shows are wonderful!

Check it out at:
BBC: The Four Humors

If you are a member of the Islamic Healing Course you are able to download my lecture on the modern use of humors at the student site. If you are not a member of the group you can still download the entire 90-minute lecture for only $7.50 at:

Exploring the Temperaments by Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Enjoy the Radio show and the lecture!

Blessings & Health,
Karima