{"id":411,"date":"2024-05-08T08:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T08:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/?p=411"},"modified":"2024-05-08T08:03:10","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T08:03:10","slug":"health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html","title":{"rendered":"HEALTH IS A HARMONY OF THE HUMORS!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"color: #999999;\">This article focuses on a key teaching or clinical precept of Greek Medicine, that Health is a harmony of the humors.\u00a0<\/span><\/em> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\/#The_Four_Humors_A_Universal_Holistic_Healing_Concept\" >The Four Humors: A Universal Holistic Healing Concept<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\/#How_Can_We_Define_a_Harmony_of_the_Humors\" >How Can We Define a Harmony of the Humors?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\/#Inter-Relationships_among_the_Four_Humors\" >Inter-Relationships among the Four Humors<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\/#The_Yin_and_the_Yang_of_the_Four_Humors\" >The Yin and the Yang of the Four Humors<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\/#Complexion_in_Cosmetology_and_in_Medicine\" >Complexion, in Cosmetology and in Medicine<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\/#Conclusion_and_Acknowledgements_Thank_You_Hakim_G_M_Chishti\" >Conclusion and Acknowledgements: Thank You, Hakim G. M. Chishti!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Four_Humors_A_Universal_Holistic_Healing_Concept\"><\/span><strong>The Four Humors: A Universal Holistic Healing Concept<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I remember having a conversation with the president of an acupuncture school in Tucson, Arizona once \u2013 I believe that this was before I put up my website, but during our conversation, he brought up the subject of the Four Humors.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if he intuited that I had leanings in that direction at the time, but he told me how the Four Humors are even present in the various <em>Zang Fu <\/em>organ syndromes of Chinese medicine \u2013 heck \u2013 they have all kinds of phlegm syndromes, for example.\u00a0 And Chinese Medicine is always talking about Qi and Blood, and how the former always follows the latter around, like a shadow \u2013 Greek Medicine describes this clinical reality as the vital function of Blood, or the Sanguine Humor.\u00a0 And the various Spleen syndromes, especially those involving deficiency, fall pretty neatly into the category of the Melancholic humor and temperament in Greek Medicine, with both pertaining to the Earth element in their respective systems.\u00a0 In Greek Medicine, the Spleen is the receptacle for Black Bile, or the Melancholic humor.\u00a0 And the parallels go on and on\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ayurveda, or the ancient Vedic healing science, has three <em>Doshas, <\/em>or fundamental principles, or essences, whose harmony and balance defines health and whose disharmony and imbalance lead to disease.\u00a0 Although rough parallels are often drawn between the three <em>Doshas <\/em>of Ayurveda and the Four Temperaments of Greek Medicine, they are not exactly the same thing, in spite of their considerable overlap.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see \u2013 <em>Vata <\/em>is Melancholic, <em>Pitta <\/em>is Choleric, and <em>Kapha <\/em>is Phlegmatic, with the most healthy and youthful Sanguine temperament corresponding to the state of <em>Sama Dosha, <\/em>or a healthy balance of all three <em>Doshas.<\/em>\u00a0 The main difference between the Four Humors and their respective temperaments of Greek Medicine and the three <em>Doshas <\/em>of Ayurveda is that the latter lean more towards the temperaments, or constitutional bodymind types of Greek Medicine than they do the humors per se, although there is some degree of overlap with the humors as well.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the moist, flourishing humors of Greek Medicine, which are the Sanguine and Phlegmatic humors, if we delve into the seven <em>Dhatus, <\/em>or fundamental tissue types, we get more into the humoral side of things: <em>Rasa Dhatu, <\/em>or the vital sap or plasma of the organism, corresponds quite closely with the various fluids of the Phlegmatic Humor \u2013 and <em>Rasa Dhatu <\/em>is also called <em>Poshaka Kapha, <\/em>or that which nourishes or feeds the <em>Kapha Dosha.\u00a0 <\/em>When it comes to Blood or the Sanguine Humor, the waters get muddied considerably, and the connections are much more tenuous, with the humoral aspect of Blood being the <em>Rakta Dhatu, <\/em>which is the <em>Dhatu <\/em>that follows <em>Rasa Dhatu <\/em>in the generation process.\u00a0 But, oddly enough, <em>Rakta Dhatu <\/em>nourishes or feeds the <em>Pitta Dosha, <\/em>or the fiery bilious principle; it seems like Ayurveda keys into the warmth or Hot quality of Blood more than its wet or moist quality.\u00a0 And you might say that the <em>Pitta Dosha, <\/em>when we examine it more closely, seems to hopscotch back and forth between Yellow Bile, or the Choleric Humor, and Blood, or the Sanguine Humor in its warmer, more heating aspect.\u00a0 The real black sheep if we compare the two systems is <em>Vata, <\/em>which, in its overall clinical manifestations and symptomatology, corresponds quite closely with the Melancholic temperament of Greek Medicine.\u00a0 But when it comes to the theoretical underpinnings of <em>Vata <\/em>versus the Melancholic humor and its temperament \u2013 forget it \u2013 they are as different as night and day!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_414\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-414\" style=\"width: 340px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/avicena.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[411]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-414\" src=\"http:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/avicena.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"340\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/avicena.jpg 496w, https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/avicena-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/avicena-300x406.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-414\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Avicenna, the Prince of Physicians. Courtesy of Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As you can see from the above discussion, weaving back and forth between these three systems \u2013 Greek Medicine, Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda \u2013 can be a tricky business, and can test the intellectual mettle of even the most astute medical or natural philosopher.\u00a0 One such medical sage and luminary was <em>Ibn Sina, <\/em>known in the West as Avicenna.\u00a0 Hailing from Persia and central Asia, Avicenna had a broad, panoramic and encyclopedic view of just about all the traditional healing systems of his day, of both East and West.\u00a0 And one of the truths that Avicenna saw and recognized is that some concept or notion of vital essences or fluids that permeate the human body, whose harmony and balance creates health, and whose imbalance and dysfunction create suffering and disease.\u00a0 Besides the notion of vital fluid essences or humors, a system of constitutional delineation and typology was another universal, or near universal principle that Avicenna recognized.\u00a0 Avicenna compiled his <em>magnum opus, <\/em>his Canon of Medicine, which was his great overview and synthesis of all the medical knowledge that existed in his day.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Can_We_Define_a_Harmony_of_the_Humors\"><\/span><strong>How Can We Define a Harmony of the Humors?\u00a0 <\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In human health and disease, within the rather broad parameters that are considered to be normal, different individuals have their own personal set-points that define more precisely what is normal and healthy for them.\u00a0 The way Greek Medicine looks at this phenomenon is from a humoral standpoint \u2013 that each person has their own precise balance or mixture of the vital fluids or humors.\u00a0 When an individual is enjoying precisely the right mixture and balance of humors that defines him or her, there is health, which the ancient Greeks called <em>Eukrasia, <\/em>or a \u201cgood mixture\u201d; when that same individual got out of balance with their humors, and suffered debility or disease, the resulting state was called a <em>Dyskrasia, <\/em>which is a faulty or dysfunctional mixture of humors that was out of tune with their true self.\u00a0 Ayurveda looks at things in terms of a balance or mixture of their three <em>Doshas, <\/em>or constitutional types.\u00a0 Someone\u2019s inherent nature, their own personal makeup of <em>Doshas, <\/em>is called their <em>Prakriti, <\/em>or Nature; when someone departs from their inherent state of natural balance and gets their <em>Doshas <\/em>out of balance, that is called <em>Vikruti, <\/em>or being thrown off of one\u2019s inherently natural state of harmony and balance.\u00a0 The physician\u2019s job then becomes leading the patient from their current out-of-balance state back towards their natural self, and its natural state of harmony and balance.<\/p>\n<p>You might say that, quantitatively speaking, each one of us has their own personal set points when it comes to each of the Four Humors \u2013 both within the organism as a whole as well as in each of its individual organs or parts as well.\u00a0 Qualitatively speaking as well, each of the Four Humors within a person\u2019s organism must have the right viscosity, the right qualities and temperament, and should be relatively pure and free from toxic or harmful residues, amalgamations or admixtures.\u00a0 And each of the Four Humors must also be in its place, or in the places that they belong, where they can do their job properly.\u00a0 And within the fairly broad range called \u201cnormal\u201d, each individual will have his or her own distinctive mixture and distribution of humors that defines health for them.\u00a0 Although various organs and body parts can express symptomatic reactions when their humors are impure or out of balance, imbalance or disease is something that the entire organism experiences as a whole; when everything is right with the Four Humors, health is experienced by the whole organism, in body, mind and spirit.\u00a0 And during the recovery process, the entire organism, or <em>Physis, <\/em>recovers as a whole.\u00a0 From a state of disharmony and imbalance, the physician must know how to lead the person back to their original state of balance and health.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Inter-Relationships_among_the_Four_Humors\"><\/span><strong>Inter-Relationships among the Four Humors<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In order to bring the Four Humors back into a state of healthy harmony and balance, we must first have a good understanding of the various inter-relationships that exist amongst the Four Humors, as well as how the Four Humors relate to the larger framework of Nature.\u00a0 Like everything else in the material universe, the human body is composed of Four Elements: Fire, Air, Earth and Water.\u00a0 Each of these Four Elements is characterized by its own particular pairing of the Four Basic Qualities: Hot, Cold, Dry and Wet.\u00a0 As part of the Natural Faculty that is responsible for the nutrition, growth and feeding of the organism, each one of the Four Humors serves its associated element as its metabolic agent in the body:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blood, <\/strong>or the <strong>Sanguine Humor, <\/strong>serves the <strong>Air <\/strong>element as the carrier of <em>Pneuma, <\/em>or the vital principles to every cell, organ and tissue of the body.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Phlegmatic Humor, <\/strong>comprised of all the clear, watery fluids of the body, serves the <strong>Water <\/strong>element by cooling, moistening and nourishing the organism on a deep and fundamental level, as well as providing lubrication, transport and expulsion of substances.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Choleric Humor, <\/strong>or <strong>Yellow Bile, <\/strong>is responsible for the transformation and distillation of nutritive substances and essences in the digestive process; it is also behind other manifestations of heat and fire in the organism, such as the inflammatory response.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Melancholic Humor, <\/strong>or <strong>Black Bile, <\/strong>has a Retentive Virtue, as well as a thickening, solidifying, crystallizing influence on bodily digestion and metabolism; it is also responsible for the deposition of minerals from the Earth into the bones and connective tissue.<\/p>\n<p>There are Four Basic Qualities, arranged in two pairs of complementary opposites: Hot versus Cold, and Dry versus Wet.\u00a0 These same Basic Qualities are also paired up and inherent in the Four Elements and their corresponding humors.\u00a0 On their own, the Four Basic Qualities are rather unstable and ephemeral in nature, but the Four Humors serve to hold the Four Basic Qualities in place, and give them some endurance and stability.<\/p>\n<p>The moist, flourishing humors are <strong>Blood, <\/strong>or the <strong>Sanguine Humor, <\/strong>as well as the <strong>Phlegmatic Humor.\u00a0 <\/strong>Both of these humors serve elements that have the quality of wetness or moisture inherent in their nature: the Air and Water elements, respectively.\u00a0 Because these humors are moist and flourishing, they exist in the human body in the largest amounts, and the lion\u2019s share of the proper nutrition of the human organism rests on their shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>The dry, effete humors are <strong>Yellow Bile, <\/strong>or the <strong>Choleric Humor, <\/strong>and <strong>Black Bile, <\/strong>or the <strong>Melancholic Humor; <\/strong>they serve the Dry elements \u2013 Fire and Earth, respectively.\u00a0 They are only needed by the body in relatively small amounts, to perform certain specialized digestive and metabolic functions.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Yin_and_the_Yang_of_the_Four_Humors\"><\/span><strong>The Yin and the Yang of the Four Humors<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Chinese philosophy and Chinese Medicine are most famous for their dualistic concept of Yin and Yang, or the two primal opposite polarities in the universe.\u00a0 Greek Medicine, with its Four Humors, is also a dualistic system of complementary opposites, with the Four Humors arranged into two different Yin \/ Yang polarities. Like the four directions of a compass, the Four Humors exist as two pairs of complementary opposites.\u00a0 Here are the two main polarities:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blood, <\/strong>or the <strong>Sanguine Humor, <\/strong>is moderately warm and moist, with a moderate level of both warmth and moisture being essential for life; Blood is considered to be the very essence of life, youth and health.\u00a0 <strong>Black Bile, <\/strong>or the <strong>Melancholic Humor, <\/strong>is the polar opposite of Blood in its basic qualities: Cold and Dry, which are two qualities that are considered to be the very opposite or antithesis of life.\u00a0 While Blood is considered to be the very essence of life, youth and health, Black Bile, or the Melancholic Humor, is associated with many different chronic health problems, especially those that most characterize the aging process: arthritis, constipation, irritable bowel, chronic digestive issues, insomnia, and the like.\u00a0 In a way, an absence or a deficiency of Blood is a Melancholic condition, since, due to the relative lack or deficiency of Blood\u2019s Warm and Moist qualities, the resulting anemic or ischemic condition can be seen as colder and dryer in nature.\u00a0 But this is not the same as an excess or aggravation of Black Bile itself.\u00a0 Proper discernment and differentiation of the two requires proper clinical judgment.<\/p>\n<p>The two humors corresponding to the two extreme or cardinal elements, <strong>Fire<\/strong> and <strong>Water<\/strong>, are the <strong>Choleric Humor <\/strong>and the <strong>Phlegmatic Humor, <\/strong>respectively.\u00a0 The Fire and Water elements are the extreme elements because they represent the extremes of Yin and Yang, with Water, the greatest receiver of energy, being the most Yin element, with both of its basic qualities being Yin, and Fire, the greatest emitter of energy, being the most Yang element, or the most energetic and dynamic \u2013 needless to say, both its basic qualities are Yang in nature.\u00a0 Fire and Water are also considered to be the Cardinal elements because they are the primary or root drivers of all change and manifestation in the universe; they are also the prime drivers of digestion and metabolism in the human body.\u00a0 Fire and Water, being so extreme, are also the two elements that have the most destructive power if allowed to go unchecked by their polar opposite.\u00a0 The basic metaphor that describes all metabolic change in the human body in a nutshell is that of a steam engine or pressure cooker, with both the Fire and Water elements both keeping each other in check, as well as being the prime movers of change in the other, as the vital fires of the organism steam and circulate the vital fluid essences throughout the organism, distilling vital essences out of them when and where necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Every traditional holistic healing system has its concept of the vital fire, or the vital fires of the organism; where exactly they are seated or located varies from system to system.\u00a0 In Greek Medicine, the primary seat of the metabolic fire in the body is in the heart; in Ayurvedic Medicine, the primary vital fire of the body is the <em>Jatharagni, <\/em>or the digestive fire located in the stomach.\u00a0 In Chinese Medicine, the main or root vital fire of the organism is the <em>Ming Men Huo, <\/em>or the Life Gate Fire located in the kidneys and adrenal glands; this is said to support and underlie all other metabolic fires of the body.\u00a0 Basically, these vital fires metabolize and transform, distill and concoct.\u00a0 Dr. Lad, my teacher of Ayurvedic Medicine, even went so far as to say that the very heart and soul of the art of internal medicine lay in the skillful adjustment and balancing of <em>Agni, <\/em>or the metabolic fire.\u00a0 These vital or metabolic fires of the human organism are distinguished from the various humoral manifestations of the Fire element in the body; simply put, the vital fires are mostly necessary and beneficial, whereas the humoral embodiments of the Fire element are dualistic in nature, have both their necessary and beneficial side as well as their destructive or pathological side.\u00a0 And so it is with the metabolic fire versus the Choleric Humor in Greek Medicine \u2013 the astrological symbol for the former is the Sun, whereas the astrological symbol for the latter is Mars.<\/p>\n<p>With the Water element and the Phlegmatic Humor, there is not such a clear cut distinction between vital principle and humor; this is mainly because the Water element is, by its very nature, passive and receptive.\u00a0 In other words, it is the metabolic heat or fire that is driving the changes and distillations in the vital fluid essences of the body, which are most embodied in the Water element.\u00a0 So basically, with the Water element and its Phlegmatic humor, the distinction is mainly between a normal balance and excess or aggravation, and when it comes to the latter, it can be further specified which one of the Phlegmatic body fluids is in excess, or is causing the problem.\u00a0 Qualitative aberrations of the various Phlegmatic fluids of the body exist as well.\u00a0 And of course, when it comes to the Water element and its Phlegmatic Humor, deficiency and dehydration are also a distinct possibility.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the Yin and Yang of the Four Humors, \u201ccousin humors\u201d in which only one of their two basic qualities differs is another possibility. Take the two dry, effete humors \u2013 Yellow Bile and Black Bile, for example \u2013 they differ only in their primary quality of Hot versus Cold, which you could say define Yang versus Yin.\u00a0 An excess or aggravation of Yellow Bile in the liver and gall bladder is called Yang jaundice in Chinese Medicine, and its overall symptom picture is more agitated and vehement in nature \u2013 in other words, hotter and more energetic.\u00a0 An excess or aggravation of Black Bile in the spleen is called Yin jaundice in Chinese Medicine, and the symptom picture here is definitely more passive and indolent in nature than it is for Yang jaundice.\u00a0 And of course, the complexion or skin color in Yang jaundice is brighter than in Yin jaundice, in which the complexion is a dark or dull yellow.\u00a0 The liver sits on the right side underneath the lower ribs, whereas the spleen sits on the left side underneath the lower ribs \u2013 between the two is the stomach, so both Yang and Yin forms of jaundice will negatively impact the digestive process as the liver and the spleen \u201cduke it out\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>You can make a similar differentiation between the two moist, flourishing humors \u2013 Blood, or the Sanguine Humor, and the Phlegmatic Humor.\u00a0 Both nourish and moisten the organism, but Blood has the potential to power cellular metabolism, which the Phlegmatic Humor definitely lacks.\u00a0 From another perspective, a deficient metabolic heat or fire can produce too much of the Phlegmatic Humor and not enough Blood, or the blood will be too thin and watery in its viscosity.\u00a0 Or, there can also be pathological amalgamations of the Phlegmatic Humor admixed with Blood, or the Sanguine Humor.\u00a0 And so, anemia, or a deficiency of Blood, can either be an absolute quantitative deficiency of Blood, or the Blood can be deficient in its viscosity or its richness.\u00a0 In real life, or in clinical practice, there can be all kinds of shades or blendings of various conditions and syndromes, and nothing really exists in isolation.\u00a0 First, an aspiring physician learns the textbook cases and definitions as part of his didactic training, and then he is exposed to actual cases in real life, and in clinical practice.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Complexion_in_Cosmetology_and_in_Medicine\"><\/span><strong>Complexion, in Cosmetology and in Medicine<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In Japan, a traditional doctor of <em>Kampo Yaku, <\/em>or traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, will frequently ask about a patient\u2019s <em>Kao Iro, <\/em>or face color.\u00a0 If the face color looks healthy, and is \u201cin the pink\u201d as they say, there is health and a harmony of the humors.\u00a0 In case you haven\u2019t figured it out already, the different colors of the Four Humors show quite readily through the skin and facial color: red for Blood or the Sanguine Humor and white or pale for the Phlegmatic Humor; since these are the two dominant moist or flourishing humors, this rosy or pinkish hue dominates the complexion, at least in a white or Caucasian individual.\u00a0 In blacks and those of other races, or admixtures of races, we must rely on other qualities of the Four Humors expressing themselves through the skin, like a soft, creamy moisture for Blood and a cold or clammy moisture for the Phlegmatic Humor, for example.\u00a0 The two dry, effete humors also project their colors out through the skin: a yellowish tint for the Choleric Humor, or Yellow Bile, and a brown or olive colored hue for Black Bile, or the Melancholic Humor.\u00a0 <em>Cachexia <\/em>is a morbid greenish or ashen grey complexion that indicates a profound and chronic disharmony of the humors.<\/p>\n<p>In Greek Medicine, the term \u201ccomplexion\u201d does not merely refer to skin color; the term can also be used to denote the complex and nuanced tempering or admixture of varied and contrasting qualities and humors present in any given clinical picture.\u00a0 In such clinical situations, it is not just the absolute quantitative vectors that the physician is concerned about, but their relative balance and proportion to each other within the system as a whole.\u00a0 Because the relative balance of these factors within the whole clinical picture is important, slight shifts in an absolute sense may make for substantial differences in the clinical situation and outcome.\u00a0 If we look at climate and meteorology, for example, slight temperature changes of just one or two degrees in the ocean or gulf waters may make all the difference between a terrible or extreme hurricane season and a relatively mild one, for example.\u00a0 And so it goes for the storms and tempests that might arise within the human body as well.\u00a0 The astute physician must develop his or her awareness of, and sensitivity to, these minute differences and changes in order to be an effective clinician.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion_and_Acknowledgements_Thank_You_Hakim_G_M_Chishti\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion and Acknowledgements: Thank You, Hakim G. M. Chishti!<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The great phrase or maxim, \u201cHealth is a harmony of the humors\u201d is not original to me, but appears in <u>The Traditional Healer\u2019s Handbook<\/u> by Hakim G. M. Chishti.\u00a0 This simple, short maxim sums up the heart and soul of Greek Medicine perhaps better than anything else, and it was one of my great \u201ctakeaways\u201d from reading his book, which should definitely be in the library of everyone who is a student of Greek Medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article focuses on a key teaching or clinical precept of Greek Medicine, that Health is a harmony of the humors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[330,3],"tags":[156,357,454,49,457,452,32,453,155,458,456,455],"class_list":["post-411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-astrology","category-traditional-medicine","tag-avicenna","tag-ayurveda","tag-canon-of-medicine","tag-chinese-medicine","tag-choleric-humor","tag-four-humors","tag-greek-medicine","tag-hakim-g-m-chishti","tag-ibn-sina","tag-melancholic-humor","tag-phlegmatic-humor","tag-sanguine-humor"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>HEALTH IS A HARMONY OF THE HUMORS!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This article focuses on a key teaching or clinical precept of Greek Medicine, that Health is a harmony of the humors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HEALTH IS A HARMONY OF THE HUMORS!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article focuses on a key teaching or clinical precept of Greek Medicine, that Health is a harmony of the humors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/spiritual-astrology\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GREEK MEDICINE&#039;S BLOG\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-08T08:03:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/greek_wheel-01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"842\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"595\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Osborn, MH - L.Ac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Osborn, MH - L.Ac\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/spiritual-astrology\\\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/spiritual-astrology\\\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Osborn, MH - L.Ac\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2fd702786f67fa4f923f59cc508b9a81\"},\"headline\":\"HEALTH IS A HARMONY OF THE HUMORS!\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-08T08:03:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/spiritual-astrology\\\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html\"},\"wordCount\":3554,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2fd702786f67fa4f923f59cc508b9a81\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/spiritual-astrology\\\/health-is-a-harmony-of-the-humors.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greekmedicine.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/greek_wheel-01.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Avicenna\",\"Ayurveda\",\"Canon of Medicine\",\"Chinese Medicine\",\"Choleric Humor\",\"Four Humors\",\"Greek Medicine\",\"Hakim G. 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