What is a human being?

Understanding the human being leads to more questions, more developments, more possibilities….like a pattern or puzzle waiting to be linked together.

The Four Temperaments were first described by Hippocrates and later by the Greek physician Galen in the second century AD.

Temperament, from the Latin verb ëtemperareí means to mix, to combine, to blend.  The idea that the physical body could have an influence on the soul was Generally accepted for over 2000 years until the 19th century.

The original Greek texts on the humors are thought to have been lost in the great library fire in Alexandria, Egypt, in 391 A.D.  Hundreds of years later, when the Crusades ended, previously unavailable Arabic translations were brought to Europe.

Rudolf Steiner spoke about the role of the temperaments in 1919 to teachers of the first Waldorf School.  He described how teachers who understood the temperaments could develop a heightened sensitivity to children’s behaviour.  Steiner also stressed that each person is influenced by all four temperaments and that the dominant temperament should be seen as a tendency toward certain behaviour rather than as a conclusion.  In this view, causes for behaviour are found both within the child and without.  He emphasized the importance of both the environment and the teaching methodology for child development.

Our temperaments are expressed by psychological and physical characteristics which fall into four broad groups: Choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine.  I will only attempt to outline some of the main traits of each…….