SOLAR WRITER REPORT

Lee Lehman's Astrological Humors Report

for Emily Dickinson

Compliments of:-

Christine Bennett

PO Box 420

Spit Junction 2088

Australia

Tel: 1300 880 448

Email: cb@ittakes2.com.au

Web: www.ittakes2.com.au

Astrological Summary

Chart Point Positions: Emily Dickinson

Planet	Sign	Position	House	Comment
The Moon	Libra	23°Li59'	11th
The Sun	Sagittarius	17°Sg53'	1st	read into 2nd House
Mercury	Sagittarius	21°Sg21'	2nd
Venus	Sagittarius	15°Sg17'	1st	read into 2nd House
Mars	Aries	5°Ar10'	5th
Jupiter	Capricorn	20°Cp18'	2nd
Saturn	Virgo	1°Vi45'	10th
Uranus	Aquarius	7°Aq44'	3rd
Neptune	Capricorn	21°Cp15'	2nd
Pluto	Aries	7°Ar35'	5th

Chart Point Aspects

Planet	Aspect	Planet	Orb	App/Sep
The Moon	Sextile	The Sun	6°05'	Separating
The Moon	Sextile	Mercury	2°37'	Separating
The Moon	Sextile	Venus	8°41'	Separating
The Moon	Square	Jupiter	3°40'	Separating
The Moon	Sextile	Saturn	7°46'	Applying
The Moon	Square	Neptune	2°43'	Separating
The Sun	Conjunction	Mercury	3°27'	Separating
The Sun	Conjunction	Venus	2°36'	Applying
The Sun	Sextile	Uranus	10°08'	Separating
The Sun	Trine	Pluto	10°17'	Separating
Mercury	Conjunction	Venus	6°03'	Separating
Venus	Sextile	Uranus	7°32'	Separating
Venus	Trine	Pluto	7°41'	Separating
Mars	Sextile	Uranus	2°34'	Applying
Mars	Conjunction	Pluto	2°25'	Applying
Jupiter	Conjunction	Neptune	0°56'	Applying
Uranus	Sextile	Pluto	0°08'	Separating

The Humors

There is an ancient theory of wellness and illness that speaks directly to lifestyle questions. This medical model can still be used today to understand temperament, not only from a psychological standpoint, but also from the perspective of body type, susceptibility to certain types of conditions, and even obesity. It is a type of understanding which can be equally at home in New Age circles, and in health practitioners' offices.

The classical medical model was given by Hippocrates a century before astrology had been incorporated into Greek thought. This model incorporated four basic qualities: Hot, Cold, Wet, and Dry. These four qualities varied by season, gender, age, and person. The ideal of Hippocrates was to lead a balanced life. If the body is balanced, then disease is less likely to take hold. The method of creating balance was diet and regimen.

I have written extensively on the philosophical underpinnings of this model in my book, Classical Astrology for Modern Living. This introduction reviews some of the more pertinent points as they apply to lifestyle issues.

The entire ancient scheme was based on the four qualities: Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry. "Hot" and "Cold" were one pair - "Wet" and "Dry" the other. From a behavioral perspective, "Hot" is exactly what you would expect from the common parlance: someone who reacts vigorously to anything even remotely perceived as an attack. "Hot under the collar" is exactly on target. A "Cold" type is basically lethargic, or slow to react, often perceived as being unemotional, but "slow to react" would actually be closer. The expression "cool under pressure" is also a good fit.

"Wet" and "Dry" don't have quite the linguistic familiarity. "Dry" represents anything with a discrete shape or structure, while something "Wet" adapts its shape to the container. "Dry" thinking is characterized by making distinctions, while "Wet" thinking sees connections. A new example of Wet thinking is "hyper-linking:" the World Wide Web is definitely Wet! A Dry thinker is more easily swayed by intellectual argument than by passion. A Wet thinker fits emotion into the picture. Dryness is the position that this moment is unique, that reality can be "objectively" known. "Wet" thinking takes the position that separate concepts are interconnected. Without Wet thinking, we could not be astrologers, because it is Wet thinking that sees the interconnections of microcosm and macrocosm. Without Dry thinking, there would be no technique, because we couldn't distinguish signs, planets, or houses from each other. The danger for Dry thinking is that, confronted with something new, the Dry thinker has no solution: the pieces are incompatible, and there is no way to bring them together. Each moment is unique, and unconnected to what came before. To the Wet thinker, connections lie everywhere, right down to the involvement of the Knights Templar in the assassination of Martin Luther King and JFK, and let's not forget that the Templars have connections back to Ancient Egypt and Atlantis! Submergence and drowning is the danger of extreme Wet thinking. There is nothing for the Wet thinker to grasp for support. Yet one other way to contrast the two is to say that the epitome of Dry thinking is clarity and the epitome of Wet thinking is ambiguity. And yes! The very process of attempting to explain the concept is Dry!

Each of the four qualities actually represents a cluster of concepts, and their opposites. For example, the qualities Hot and Cold do not represent extremes of a temperature continuum, as we would define them. They represent qualities of energy, where Hot represents high energy or physical heat, and Cold represents low energy or physical Cold. But these qualities are opposites in a critically different way from the way we normally envision them. Take temperature. From a purely chemical perspective, molecules in a hotter gas vibrate more rapidly on average than molecules in a colder gas. Mixing Hot and Cold gases will produce an intermediate result. In other words, in our thinking the "Cold" portion is completely canceled out by a portion of the "Hot" component. But this is not how it works - at least as far as the qualities, and not chemistry, is concerned! People are, in fact, more than capable of expressing opposite qualities without one canceling the other. In psychological testing there is often an index of consistency, which is actually a measure of to what extent an individual will give the same answer to the same question. If such an index is deemed necessary, it becomes clear exactly how capable we are of expressing "incompatible" ideas and emotions! Opposites do not cancel each other out!

Thus, people have Hot and Cold qualities simultaneously. In fact, having "half and half" would be to manifest equal quantities of each, not to have a "zero-sum state" in which "Hot" cancels "Cold," perhaps producing lukewarm. It may be useful to envision Hot and Cold as being like two different colored marbles, red and blue. Having more blue marbles doesn't take away the red ones: it just means that, if you were to draw one marble out of a box at random, you would more likely draw a blue one, but you could draw a red one.

The balanced state should not be lukewarm. Rather, it is the ability to be high energy (Hot), or completely at rest (Cold) as the moment and the circumstances require. Being merely Hot is to approach all circumstances as a Type A personality: everything is a challenge to be conquered. To approach things from a Cold perspective is to be motionless: to wait for the problem to go away or resolve itself without having to do anything: living life as a couch potato.

Finally, this is where Astrology comes in. Hippocrates put forward a workable theory of qualities, but other than general distinctions of age, gender, and physical appearance, he had no way to classify a person as having a particular make-up. We do. By using the chart, we can actually calculate the temperament type. Further, this result can then be used in a host of ways, including to establish a diet and exercise plan that truly supports well being.

We finally get something we can sink our teeth into, because Astrology eventually became the preferred mode for distinguishing the constitution from its components, or humors.

There are several possibilities for the computation of the temperament type. The general definition includes the following components. The method of computation comes from Gadbury, pages 249-258; and more specifically in Lilly, pages 531-534 and 742-749.

1. Sign of Ascendant

2. Planet ruling Ascendant

3. Planets aspecting Ascendant

4. Moon sign and phase

5. Planets aspecting Moon

6. Quarter of Year

7. Lord/Lady of Geniture

8. Lord/Lady of Moon

Each component is assigned qualities as follows:

1. Signs:

Fire	Hot and Dry
Air	Hot and Wet
Earth	Cold and Dry
Water	Cold and Wet

2. The Moon is classified by phase.

New to 1st Quarter	Hot and Wet
1st Quarter to Full	Hot and Dry
Full to last Quarter	Cold and Dry
last Quarter to New	Cold and Wet

3. Seasons are classified as follows.

Spring	Hot and Wet
Summer	Hot and Dry
Fall	Cold and Dry
Winter	Cold and Wet

4. Lord/Lady of the Geniture: this is a compound Almuten for the hylegical points and angles: the Sun, Moon, Part of Fortune, Ascendant and Midheaven.

This actually gives nine temperament types, not four. The reason is that often two of the qualities are often in balance, or so close as to have little dominance. These nine types are:

Hot and Wet	sanguine
Hot and Dry	choleric
Cold and Dry	melancholic
Cold and Wet	phlegmatic
Hot	sanguine-choleric
Cold	melancholic-phlegmatic
Wet	sanguine-phlegmatic
Dry	choleric-melancholic
all	balanced

What may appear to be the simpler states, the single quality ones, are actually more complex. The reason is that the single quality types are in fact mixtures, because, as we have seen, qualities don't cancel out. Having close to an even ratio of Hot and Cold, or Wet and Dry, means that it is easy to become out of balance: stress, the change in season, or even too much to drink. Astrologically, the transit of an Outer Planet brings an effect of the nature both of the transiting planet, and of the transiting sign. People with these combinations may also experience them as being simultaneously present: such as having different parts of the body that are Cold, while other parts are Hot.

Hippocratic medicine is basically allopathic: this means that if you have become out of balance because your body is experiencing too much heat (that Mars transit to your Sun?), then you need to take a Cold herb, Cold food, Cold exercise, or literally experience Cold temperatures in order to cool yourself down. These means of adjusting the qualities experienced by the body fell under the rubric "regimen," which included such components as the following:

(1) The season of the year: "In winter eat as much as possible and drink as little as possible, and food should be bread, with all meats roasted. During this season take as few vegetables as possible, for so will the body be most Dry and Hot." By the way, the reason for this recommendation is because Winter is classified as Cold and Wet. Thus, to compensate for the seasonal qualities, food is used to heat up and Dry out the seasonal effect.

(2) The age of the person: "Young people also do well to adopt a softer and moister regimen, for this age is Dry, and young bodies are firm. Older people should have a drier diet for the greater part of the time..."

(3) The gender: "Women should use a regimen of a rather Dry character, for food that is Dry is more adapted to the softness of their flesh..."

(4) The constitution: "Those with physiques that are fleshy, soft and red, find it beneficial to adopt a rather Dry regimen for the greater part of the year. For the nature of these physiques is moist."

In food, this is represented by cooked (Hot), raw (Cold), soft food (Wet), or hard food (Dry). In exercise, Hippocrates distinguished two types: wrestling (Cold and Wet) and running (Hot and Dry), but we may extend this considerably by considering the following classification:

Classification of exercise:

Hot is represented by aerobic activities, with an emphasis on strength. Cold emphasizes agility: the pinpoint application of force with a minimum of effort.

Wet is given by either team or contact sports and Dry by either solo sports, or one-on-one, with the opponents preferably separated by a distance.

Examples of Sports by Type:

Hot & Wet: football, basketball, soccer, hockey, rugby, lacrosse.

Hot & Dry: track, men's professional tennis, racing in any medium or on any equipment, weight lifting and training, aerobic classes (although the classes introduce a Wet component through social interaction), skiing, jai alai.

Cold & Wet: wrestling, martial arts.

Cold & Dry: archery, fencing, shooting.

Dry: woman's professional tennis (it is still possible to win by either power or precision), figure skating (definitely Dry, but is it power and jumps [Hot] or precision [Cold]), biathlon (skiing is aerobic, while shooting is Cold, but both are Dry), ski jumping (power helps, but position is critical).

Mixed or variable: baseball, softball and cricket, where a successful player ranges from team play (defense) to solo play (batting), and where either strength of finesse can work, decathlon and heptathlon, which test the balance of all four qualities, gymnastics (different apparatuses test strength vs. flexibility and balance, and competitions run by both teams and single competition).

We can also classify the body type by these characteristics. The two most obvious are Hot and Dry (thin and wiry) and Cold and Wet (fat or endomorphic). In general, a Hot body shows muscular development, while a Cold body does not. A Wet body shows fluid retention or roundness, while a Dry body does not. Thinking in typical types of our Olympic athletes, a swimmer has a wetter body than a runner, yet both sports are Hot and Dry. However, swimming takes place in a Wet medium. A marathoner has a typically Dry body, but not especially Hot or Cold, since the muscular definition is less apparent that the thinness. A male gymnast is about as Hot and Dry as we can imagine: the muscular definition is combined with thinness. A weightlifter (or a football offensive lineman) is Hot and Wet: both strength and bulk. The female gymnasts are typically Dry, since the overall effect is anorexic in appearance. Probably the most aerobic sport of all is synchronized swimming: but here the body type is wetter: in fact, the only sport that is conducted in the water that doesn't have a substantial Wet component to the typical body type is water polo.

Notice that our current cultural ideal is the Hot and Dry body, although women are supposed to be wetter - at least from the standpoint of breast development. This corresponds to the choleric temperament type, which was not the preferred type. The traditionally favored body type was Hot and Wet, which does match the preferred temperament type, known as sanguine. The advantage from a social standpoint is that the sanguine type is friendlier: a social animal highly sensitive to the opinions of others. The choleric type is more standoff-ish, and given to anger.

This discrepancy between body type ideal and personality ideal has not always been as extreme: the voluptuous body preferred by Runin and his school is wetter, and thus closer to the sanguine personality ideal. While it may be observed that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between body type and personality, neither is the distribution random. The correspondence is closest in youth, when mind and body have not had ample time and opportunity to diverge. For most people, the basic personality type is set by adulthood, while the body continues to change, at the very least becoming colder with age. But after adulthood, the personality does not necessarily change with the body, and this in turn can produce dissonances of its own.

As we have become increasingly aware of the mind-body link again, the corollary needs to be spelled out: the whole organism can be affected by deliberate changes to either mind or body. Thus, begin an exercise program, and while the body is primarily affected, there is feedback to the brain. As we have seen, the equation is not absolute, but it is still of use.

Thus, we can use this system to deliberately change our energy level, emotional state, or physical condition, but changes have a price. For example, to lose weight, it would make sense to move to a hotter, dryer state. Obviously, exercising more raises the heat in the body. But dryness? Many diet programs encourage drinking a lot of water: this should increase the wetness of the body. Why? If the extra water is being used to flush metabolites from the body, this can work. But if the Native is naturally Wet to begin with, then fluid retention could consume the greater amount of extra water, thereby increasing instead of decreasing weight.

The underlying question is: how much can we really change the quality ratio of the body, and what is the cost of doing so? Through aging, seasonal change and transits, there are quite a few changes that we make unconsciously. So there is a range in which conscious redirection can occur. However, we may also understand this question in another way: to what extent can a Leo consciously operate as a Pisces? Or a Gemini? Obviously, the greater the change from one's natural state, the greater the effort needed to maintain it, and the greater the stress placed upon the body in the process.

We can still change our condition. But the challenge is to understand the possible: what is the goal, what is the means, and how can this goal be maintained? Then we can apply our knowledge of the qualities to program a new equilibrium. Once the body type is determined, then some suggestions concerning diet and exercise can be made.

The following description of your body type and its ramifications is based on performing a calculation for your complexional type, and then using specific Hippocratic ideas, translated into modern life styles. This should not be taken as a prescription or guarantee of a successful lifestyle or activity, but as consistent with understanding these principles as they have been applied historically.

Complexional Scores

Sign of Ascendant: Scorpio = Cold and Wet

Ruler of Ascendant: Mars (Aries) = Hot and Dry

Aspect to the Ascendant: Jupiter (Capricorn) = Cold and Dry

Sign of Moon: Libra = Hot and Wet

Phase of Moon: Last Quarter = Cold and Wet

Aspect to the Moon: The Sun (Fall) = Cold and Dry

Aspect to the Moon: Mercury (Sagittarius) = Hot and Dry

Aspect to the Moon: Venus (Sagittarius) = Hot and Dry

Aspect to the Moon: Jupiter (Capricorn) = Cold and Dry

Aspect to the Moon: Saturn (Virgo) = Cold and Dry

Season: Fall = Cold and Dry

Ruler of Geniture: Mercury (Sagittarius) = Hot and Dry

Ruler of Geniture: Jupiter (Capricorn) = Cold and Dry

Almuten of the Moon: Mercury (Sagittarius) = Hot and Dry

Almuten of the Moon: Venus (Sagittarius) = Hot and Dry

Your final complexional scores are:-

Hot: 7

Cold: 8

Wet: 3

Dry: 12

Complexional Type is Dry

The "Dry" type means, among other things, that you see distinctions easily, and that you are more swayed by intellectual argument than by passion. Because "Dry" prefers the reasonable approach, you can sometimes end up completely out of touch while your emotions run rampant.

The Hippocratic suggestion for the diet to balance "Dry" is to drink copiously. If drinking alcohol, it is better to drink diluted forms rather than neat. Consider swimming as a good form of exercise. However, with this emphasis on dryness, it may be better to do your swimming in a social environment: either on a team, or in a club, because you can too easily go off by yourself. This, by the way, does not mean you would initially choose to do things socially - you'd just as soon do your exercises anonymously - passing through the exercise equipment unnoticed, or working out at home. Many people solve that problem by engaging in social activities - a friend calls you to remind you to go to the gym. But since you are less outgoing, you can simply approach this by establishing a routine, such as: first thing in the morning, three days a week, this round of exercises. You find it easier to stick to one repetitive system than to vary your patterns.

Notice that, being Dry, you should be acquainted with your personal symptoms for lack of moisture in your body. Often, a simple one to track is dark circles around the eyes, or Dry skin or lips. Also, being Dry, you are more susceptible to health symptoms that also suggest it, such as a Dry cough. Being Cold, these symptoms often appear gradually rather than suddenly, and may be very difficult to get rid of.

Because you do not have a preponderance of either "Hot" or "Cold," this means you can go either way. If you see yourself flying off the handle at people, or into a manic pace of getting things done, you have moved into a "Hot" state. If you find yourself resisting getting up in the morning, or leaving the house, or even leaving the couch, you have moved into a "Cold" state.

Being of a single type, "Wet," instead of a compound type, means that you are likely to find your "Wet" tendencies fairly easy to adapt to, but that the fluctuation that you experience between "Hot" states and "Cold" states is much more difficult to monitor, and to integrate into your routines.

When you are "Hot", you react to things quickly: by expressing your anger strongly and immediately, you don't tend to harbor a grudge. This means that others merely have to come to grips with your tendency to blow, knowing that you will get over it.

The Hippocratic suggestion for the diet to balance "Hot" is to drink Cold liquids, preferably diluted. Foods should tend toward raw or boiled. In exercise, you do well with aerobic activities, although you are quite capable of carrying this to an extreme.

When you are "Hot," exercise is an effective component of your weight control system, and the more aerobic the better. For best effectiveness as a weight control system, it's better to minimize fluid intake before exercise, and to eat sparingly while still heated up from exercise. It's better to eat raw foods at this time: you basically want your body to shift its higher metabolism into the digestive process, and in effect, spend calories "heating up" your food. Being Hot, you will appreciate any exercise that emphasizes speed. Racing in all media, and with any toy, is a good kind of exercise.

When you are in a "Cold" state, you have an outward appearance of being unemotional. A "Cold" type is basically lethargic, or slow to react. The "problem" with "Cold" is that it makes it hard for you to forget slights. Because you don't tend to lash out immediately, it's hard for you not to allow your anger to build up. You can be a brooder. Because you wait to think things over before expressing yourself, when you do choose to express yourself, you can present a much more thoughtful approach. However, it is often tempting to say nothing at all, and if this is an issue that you consider at all important, then you are likely to build up resentment.

When you are in a "Cold" state, any symptoms of illness often appear gradually rather than suddenly, and may be very difficult to get rid of. You also need to watch for symptoms that you are "freezing up:" that your muscles are becoming locked from staying too long in one position.

The Hippocratic suggestion for the diet to balance "Cold" is to eat copiously. Fast walking is also recommended, and if weight loss is desired, then food should be taken immediately after exercise, when the body is still heated up. The difficulty you have with exercise is not the lack of discipline - but getting yourself started to do it. Cold people act strongly out of inertia - a body at rest stays at rest until forced to move, but a body in motion stays in motion as well. So the key here is to get into motion in the first place. You find it easier to stick to one repetitive system than to vary your patterns.

So what if your temperament type doesn't match your body type? There are still two things to consider. The first is the body type given by the ruler of your Geniture. This planet represents the greatest planetary influence that you personally express.

Ruler of the Geniture is Jupiter

Jupiter is always Hot and Wet. This means that the body type is high energy, but corpulent. Yes, you're going to have to count those calories as you get older. This is the person who, if the Jupiteran corpulence strikes early in life, says, I may be heavy, but I'm strong! Others don't experience the full impact of Jupiter until after their Saturn return.

This is the type that has the greatest difficulty with weight control. Why? Because the "Hot and Wet" combination is less susceptible to "heating up" (exercising) as a means for weight control, because the body is already heated up. Aerobic activity is what this body is pre-adapted to: more activity will not necessarily spur the metabolism to greater heights, although that does not mean that exercise will do no good: it just may not help the person lose weight.

The Jupiter type is naturally expansive in all dimensions, waist or otherwise. You will, however, tend to put on proportionally more weight in the hips and thighs than with other planetary rulers. You can be generous to a fault. Jupiter-ruled types generally tend to work within whatever environment they find themselves in: probably in great part because you seem to adapt well. You do not tend to be the ones to initiate change, although you may pick up the banner and extend the march of others.

You are generally virtuous; just and honest in your dealings and actions; wise and prudent, liberal to those in need, with a desire to benefit all persons, and hating all unjust acts. (C)

...and Jupiter is Debilitated by Fall

Unfortunately, you are also extravagant, ignorant, and careless, a dull capacity; with a tendency toward fawning and dissembling, and not fit to be trusted. (C)

Ruler of the Geniture is Mercury

Mercury is hard to describe, because Mercury is so affected by the rest of the chart. Mercury is considered Hot, and it can be Dry if Oriental, or Wet if Occidental. But it's not that simple.

If one were to describe a temperament for Mercury, it would be "nervous." You are very quick to observe stimuli in your environment. You are like the proverbial bird dog, always on the alert. You adapt to your surroundings. You are curious. Being nervous in this sense, which might just as well be called alert, you are the most susceptible to stress, which in your case is basically defined as sensory overload. You are often mistaken for being younger than you are, a quality especially prized as you get older! Another quality often associated with Mercury as the Ruler of the Geniture is androgyny.

...and Mercury is Debilitated by Detriment

You are verbal, but with a tendency to boast - you pretend to more knowledge than you have. It is easy to fall into lying, cheating, pilfering, and other dishonest actions. (C)

So: suppose your body type doesn't match either your complexion or your Geniture type? By now, it should be obvious that someone's "type" is a visual clue: corpulence is Wet, thin is Dry, muscular is Hot, undifferentiated is Cold.

There are two explanations for deviation from type. (We exclude the possibility of merely being wrong, you understand!) The first is that there is some component in your chart which is completely unrelated to the angles that is skewing your type. This planet or configuration in its particular is so strong that it dwarfs other factors, but, being unrelated to the angles, would not carry much weight in either the complexional calculation or the Ruler of Geniture calculation.

The second is that you have a medical condition which masks your "natural" body type. For example, if you have a metabolic disorder, such as hypothyroidism or diabetes, this can result in weight or water retention patterns completely apart from your natural patterns. In this light, if you observe yourself changing rapidly in your body patterns - rapid weight gain or loss (unexplained by dieting or supplementation), or changes in your water balance - it may be wise to seek a consultation with a health practitioner to determine whether you have a condition which needs attention. At the very minimum, a significant change from your normal body type may be indicative of stress that you are not handling.

References

Gadbury, John. 1658. Genethlialogia, or The Doctrine of Nativities Together with The Doctrine of Horarie Questions. Printed by J[ohn] C[oniers] for William Larner. In production: Regulus Publishing Co., Ltd.: London.

Jones, W.H.S., Translator. 1931, 1992. Hippocrates IV. Loeb Classical Library: Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.

Lehman, J. Lee. 1996. Classical Astrology for Modern Living. Whitford Press: West Chester, PA.