Enter Summer
We leave the chatty, sociable Sanguine season behind and enter the white heat of fire
Marigold.
Comforts the heart and the spirit, is used for people who are nervous and easily frightened, associated with shock and trauma and the expression of strong emotions, especially anger.
There is too much Mars energy in the world, Marigold can help to balance this out. Aggression is expressed out in the world and we direct aggression at ourselves. We need to connect again with solar life-giving forces; to live with nature, co-operate with each other to stop the deadly road we are traveling down. The sun was reborn each day, we can give birth to a new way of living, a new world. extract from A Woman's Book of Herbs.
The Choleric Humour is ruled by the Sun and Mars. Sun herbs include Marigold, St. John’s Wort, Angelica, Chamomile, Eyebright, Saffron, Mistletoe, Lovage and Rosemary. Mars herbs are Nettle, Ginger, Garlic, Milk Thistle, Wormwood, Tobacco, coffee, Hedge Mustard, Bearberry and Hawthorn.
The Choleric temperament is hot and dry and often shows with red faces, hot hands, and a predisposition to fever and sharp, cutting pains. It can bring bad temper and irritation both individually and collectively-summer is a time when there are often riots and an increase in violence. On the other hand in summer people want to have fun, party and get things done. Fire gives optimism and energy, dynamism and action, but always has to be mindful of rash action and lashing out in frustration.
Choleric types need goals and meaning in their lives, it is not enough for them to just ‘be’ they have to be able to see results and movement. Confidence is a fiery attribute which can be wonderful, but arrogance, its shadow, is ugly. Fire goes well with earth as earth does not mind the mundane and routine, so will always remember where their keys are and to buy food and pay the bills. These trifles Fire finds boring-and boring is the worst thing for them. Boring people, boring lives, boring jobs will all put out fire, for despite their bravado, it is easy to douse the flame and bury it in responsibility or convention.
To read more buy the book here
Fire, as those of you currently sweating out in heatwaves know, is relentless and inescapable. While, counter-intuitively great heat has the effect of slowing us down as we wilt under its fiery blast. Fire is the element of action, without fire things cannot begin, inspiration does not strike and we are left with routine and a lack of imagination.
Exciting, unpredictable and irritable, fire can be selfish, childish and bossy, but also warm, friendly and enthusiastic.
Fire people are doers, movers and shakers. They can make other, more slow moving Temperaments alarmed or energised. They are fast moving, restless, over-heated and dynamic people, who just want to get going and get ahead. They can be charming, funny, playful and quick witted, but also cruel, harsh and aggressive.
Fire is hot and dry, there is no moisture to soften their strong energy. Fire types work best with Earth. Earth will take the inspiration of Fire and make a plan, something Fire hates to do. And then Earth will make sure it all works out. Fire has ideas, and vision but its restlessness prevents it seeing things through to the end, so they tend to leave a trail of unfinished projects, broken relationships and half-baked schemes.
In the body, the Choleric temperament shows heat and dryness; fevers, boils, inflammation, irritation, overheating, and sharp, stabbing pains, illnesses of sudden onset, coming out of the blue, massive collapse and sudden death can all be Choleric symptoms.
Migraine is a classic Choleric condition. It often comes on after stress, not during stress, but when the body begins to relax and the crippling pain forces the person to rest.
On a more serious level, strokes and heart attacks are a sign the body has overheated at some level, often emotionally, illustrating the classic Type A person, who is driven and impatient and unable to relax who pushes themselves to the limit until the body shuts down.
Inflammation, is a fire symptom. Generalised inflammation in the body is now believed to be the cause of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 Diabetes, cancer and dementia-which functional medicine practitioners now call Type 3 diabetes. In my latest book, Ageing Gracefully I discuss inflammation and healthy ageing.
I will be speaking about the book and signing copies at the Power of Plants Festival July 12th at 4pm.
If you If you can't make it, I recorded a Masterclass on the book which you can buy here
Fire rules the Vital Spirit, which is similar to the Qi and Prana of TCM and Ayurvedic traditions.
We are born with a certain amount of Vital Spirit, (ancestral) which we get from our family line. We can conserve or dissipate our Vital Spirit depending on our diet, lifestyle and habits.
Fire loves to push things to the limit and can suffer from burnout, can be hot-headed, explosive, a self-starter, fiery, volatile, heated, blazing, sizzling, scorching, blistering, burning, febrile, smouldering, flushed etc. etc.
Mars gives us the hot herbs such as Ginger, Garlic, Onion, Horseradish, Chili as well as Nettle.
Nettles are beginning to seed right now, and as the most concentrated part of the plant they are the most fiery. You can use them as a condiment, dried, mix in with bread or sprinkled over salads. They are very stimulating so use with caution.
Hops have the opposite effect and are great to counteract excess fire, for calm, sleep and pain relief.
Herbs of the Sun are less fiery but warming, healing and nourishing, like Eyebright, Rosemary and Chamomile.
I shall be teaching about the Choleric Season on July 1st at 7pm, part 4 of the four part series on the seasons and the temperaments. You can buy this one or all four here
I have decided to offer a beginners course in Astrology as so many of you were interested in the Humoral Medicine group but did not have the basics to follow the Astrology.
I plan to run it in the Autumn, I think 1-2 x a month, on an early weekend morning so students from the Southern Hemisphere can join us. I will keep the group smallish. The idea is then to assemble the recordings into a stand alone online course. Let me know if you are interested by emailing me at elisabethbrooke209@gmail.com
For those of you who have some astrology I write a fortnightly astrology blog which you can follow here
