Dear ,

 

This is the second post on the four temperaments and I have realized something about writing about the temperaments.   I cannot write my usual type of message one that inspires healing, liberation and empowerment. The temperaments are the basic elements and shapers of our active humanity.  They need to be taught and learned like the ABC's.  So this email is an encouragement rather than an inspiration. I am giving you reasons to study the temperaments.

 

The cycle of the Inner Year moves us from the deep awakening of the spirit at Christmas and the Winter Solstice to the full engagement of our senses at St. John's Tide and the Summer Solstice.  

We follow the Inner Year Cycle to grow and enrich our personal relationship to the spiritual and the sensual, the sacred and the profane.  We want to know ourselves and the two worlds, inner and outer, that we live in.

In these weeks as spring moves into summer and the outer world of Nature is full of almost riotous expression, our soul's rhythm of attention focuses on our own ways of expression.  

When we do this we will find just how "automatic" most of our expression is.  

There are four gestures that combine into why we do what we do the way that we do it. How we say what we say the way that we say it. All on automatic!

These four gestures are the source of our emotional response and reaction. They shape the lies we tell, the truth we seek, and the secrets we cling to. All on automatic!

The four gestures dictate what will soothe us or stimulate us.  They tell us what will agitate us and what will make us anxious. All on automatic!

They even determine how we walk, how we eat, what grabs our attention, how we enjoy social interactions. All on automatic!

We are essentially enslaved by these four gestures, until we study them, until we appreciate them, until we understand them.  

And when we take the time to pay attention to them, to see how they dance together, to know their rhythms and quirks, to see their shadows and bright lights, we find a new freedom. Rather than being on automatic, we begin to take charge.  The four gestures become creative expressions appropriate to our goals.  They give us creative and responsible management of our lives and best of all they bless us with a path to social harmony.

These four gestures are the four temperaments.

I want every person who reads this to do a google search on four temperaments. Read at least one article. Gain some idea of what it means to be choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic.

Let me warn you, many of the articles leading the search list on the temperaments are written by fundamentalist Christians.  Put your automatic reaction aside, ignore the narrow religious perspective, and discover some very astute descriptions of the temperaments.

Another important note: many articles focus on children.  As a counselor, I find when my clients go on automatic and collapse into temperamental imbalance and reactivity, they are operating out of their child consciousness.  I've come to understand that the first step to the maturity of self is leading the very temperamental child in the adult through the wonderland of the temperaments.  

Also, there are a number of personality tests that will tell you your temperament.  They can be illuminating if you do more than answer the questions.  Study the questions for insights into each of the temperaments.  How would your spouse, your child, your friend answer the question?  If you are like me you will often have difficulty choosing the single answer that fits you.  Most of us have at least two temperaments that struggle to be in first place.  Just notice and maybe do a little self-research.

We all need a temperamental coming of age.  We need to stop being temperamental and automatic in our reactions, actions and interactions. We need to find how each temperament, and each combination of temperaments can be intentionally, creatively and therapeutically useful and productive.  We need to become temperamentally awake, sensitive and empowered.

When the gods created the world they first created the elements: earth, water, air and fire.  In our souls the elements become the temperaments.  Each year as spring evolves into summer, take sacred time to discover new ways to make the temperaments your creative servants. You will find new meaning, new possibilities, new organizing principles and new comfort.

You can do this inner work on your own, researching the rich treasure of material on the web or reading the many great books on the temperaments (check Amazon) or you can join with others on the Inner Year teleseminar I am offering.  

 

 

If you want to participate in the teleseminar but will need to miss one or more of the sessions, they are recorded and made available for downloading.  

Do a google search right now. Learn about the temperaments, learn about yourself, learn about everyone in your life.

Temperamentally yours,
Lynn