Temperament

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Choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic temperaments: 17c., part of the Grande Commande

The four temperaments (Latin: temperamentum "the right measure, the right mixture", from temperare "to moderate, to mix"; used in the 16th century in the sense of "balanced mixture ratio" in pharmacy) determine the more or less permanent basic mood or disposition of a person. Basically, every human being has all four temperaments, which are individually mixed in the most diverse ways. Ideally, all four temperaments are in harmonic balance, but as a rule there are shifts in accent, which usually make one temperament more prominent, the two neighbouring ones resonate and the fourth, opposing one recedes into the background.

Temperaments and etheric body

Unlike momentary emotions or feelings, the temperaments have their seat in the etheric body. From here, however, they partly have an effect on the outer form of the physical body; on the other hand, they are reflected in inner experiences of the astral body or the soul members.

„These four temperaments express themselves in the etheric body. There are thus four different main types of etheric bodies. These in turn have different currents and movements which express themselves in a certain basic colour in the astral body. This is not dependent on the astral body, it only shows itself in it.“ (Lit.:GA 95, p. 64)

Temperaments and Elements

According to Hippocrates of Kos (460-375 BC), who first formulated the doctrine of the temperaments in exoteric terms, four temperaments are distinguished which correspond to the four elements:

„Strangely enough, there is a mysterious relationship in man between the four elements of the elementary world and what is called his temperament. There is a relationship between the melancholic temperament and the element of earth, between the phlegmatic temperament and the element of water, between the sanguine temperament and the element of air, and between the choleric temperament and the element of fire. This relationship is expressed in the experience of the elemental world in such a way that the choleric person, for example, has a greater tendency to grow together with the beings living in fire in the elemental world than with the beings living in the other elements. The sanguine person, on the other hand, has a greater tendency to grow together with the entities living in the element of air, the phlegmatic person with those living in water and the melancholic person with those living in the earth. Thus one comes into a different kind of dependence the moment one enters the elemental world through real experience. And from this you can easily form the idea that the most different people can tell you the most different things about the elementary world and that actually no one need be quite wrong if he describes his own experiences in this world differently from the others.

Those who know and are familiar with things will of course know that a melancholic, when he describes the elementary world, describes it as a world in which there is much that repels him. This is quite natural, for his melancholy is mysteriously related to everything earthy, and he ignores the other, so to speak. The choleric will tell you how fiery everything is in the elemental world, for he disregards everything else and, as it were, only ever glows in the element of fire when he lives in the elemental world. Therefore you need not be surprised if the descriptions of certain lower clairvoyants differ greatly with regard to the elementary world, for one can only judge this world when one has an exact knowledge of oneself. If one knows to what degree one is, for example, a choleric or melancholic person, then one knows the reason why one shows oneself in this or that way in the elementary world. Then, precisely through this self-knowledge, one is spurred to turn one's gaze away from that with which one is most closely related by one's natural constitution.“ (Lit.:GA 119, p. 176f)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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