Sunday, 18 December 2016

Temperament Research - An Update

In temperament analysis, the Moon, ascendant and birth season are analysed in terms of the four types – sanguine, choleric, melancholy and phlegmatic. Each individual has an underlying primary 'temperament'. This is usually combined with a secondary temperament. So, for example, whilst an individual may be principally choleric, they may have a secondary temperament, say phlegmatic, giving a mixed choleric-phlegmatic type.

The four temperaments are a blend of four fundamental qualities – hot, cold, moist and dry. Each temperament is made of one of either hot or cold and moist or dry. So the choleric temperament is the combination of hot and dry qualities; the phlegmatic temperament is the combination of cold and moist qualities. Each temperament has positive and negative dimensions. The combination of temperaments can moderate the excess of a predominant temperament giving a more balanced expression of the personality.

The temperament types have a range of associations, so melancholy is associated with autumn by season. Sanguine has associations with spring. The following table gives the particular qualities and associations with each temperament type:

Temperament
Qualities
Season
Humour
Element
Planets
Sanguine
Hot, Moist
Spring
Blood
Air
Jupiter, Venus oriental,
Mercury oriental
Choleric
Hot, Dry
Summer
Yellow Bile
Fire
Sun, Mars
Melancholy
Cold, Dry
Autumn
Black Bile
Earth
Saturn, Mercury occidental
Phlegmatic
Cold, Moist
Winter
Phlegma
Water
Moon, Venus occidental

Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum has written an excellent book on temperament. She gives the following keywords for each of the temperament types. I have added my own words to give additional details about the pure temperaments.

Temperament
Qualities
Description
Sanguine
Hot, Moist
DGG – friendly, social, shallow, unfocussed, cheerful, dilettante, lucky

Excitable, enthusiastic, opportunistic, charismatic, charming, youthful, 'easy come, easy go', forward, warm, exuberance
Choleric
Hot, Dry
DGG – will, inexhaustible, optimistic, aggressive, assertive, take-charge, impatient, hates details, high achieving

Drive, determined, irritable, quick acting, unreflective, challenging, irascible, explosive, hot-headed
Melancholy
Cold, Dry
DGG – anti-social, analytical, pessimistic, connoisseur, studious

Solid, dependable, practical, hard-working, obsessive, dour, quiet, responsible, reliable, ambitious
Phlegmatic
Cold, Moist
DGG – contemplative, reserved, shy, slow-moving, resigned

Pessimistic, languid, emotional, changeable, deep, still, empathic, sensitive, private, retiring


For temperament analysis I have developed a weighted scoring system using the following factors. Temperament analysis is typically made using a combination of the temperaments associated with the Moon placement and the ascendant. The only solar factor that is analysed is the birth season – the Sun's placement according to the equinoxes and solstices.

The following table of temperament factors has been subject to revision over the last year or so. The table presented below represents the latest form of the weighting scores, developed through research using a range of natal horoscopes.

Temperament Factor
Points
Scoring Explanation
Birth Season
3
Score 3 for the season of birth – e.g. Sun in Pisces would be phlegmatic, being a winter birth in zodiacal terms.
Ascendant Sign
3
Score the temperament associated with the rising sign – e.g. Aries rising scores 2 for choleric temperament being a fire sign.
Sign of Ascendant's Ruler
2
The sign of the ascendant's ruling planet scores 2 for its temperament – e.g. Mars, Aries' ruling planet, in Gemini scores 2 for sangine temperament, Gemini being an air sign.
Planet Aspecting Ascendant
4
Score 2 each for the planet most closely aspecting the ascendant and its sign – e.g. Saturn in Capricorn square ascendant scores 2 for melancholy (Saturn is a cold, dry planet) and 2 for the melancholy sign Capricorn (being an earth sign). If there is no planet aspecting the ascendant use the ascendant's sign and its ruler.
Ascendant Almuten
2
The almuten planet of the ascendant scores 2 – e.g. the almuten of Aries is often the Sun which would score 2 for choleric temperament.
Moon Sign
3
Score 3 for the sign of the Moon – e.g. Moon in Leo would be choleric, being a fire sign.
Moon Phase
3
Score 3 for the phase of the Moon – e.g. New Moon to first quarter counts as sanginue, first quarter to full counts as choleric etc.
Sign of Moon's Ruler
2
Score 2 for the temperament of the sign of the Moon's ruler e.g. the Moon's ruler is the Sun; Sun placed in Sagittarius would be choleric, Sagittarius being a fire sign
Planet Aspecting Moon
4
Score 2 each for the planet most closely aspecting the Moon and its sign – e.g. Jupiter in Gemini sextile Moon in Leo scores 2 for sanguine (Jupiter is a hot, moist planet) and 2 for the sanginue sign Gemini (being an air sign). If there is no planet aspecting the Moon use the Moon's sign and its ruler.
Moon's Almuten
2
Score 2 for the almuten of the Moon – e.g. the Sun is usually the almuten of the Moon placed in Leo.
Total
28


Using this scheme, which is developed from Greenbaum's temperament analysis methodology in her book Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key, Donald Trump, President-Elect, is clearly a choleric type, with an admixture of sanguine. According to this scoring system, Trump has no cold qualities at all – melancholy or phlegmatic. You can follow the breakdown of the scoring in the table below.

Temperament Factor

S
C
M
P

Birth Season
3
3



Spring
Ascendant Sign
3

3


Leo
Sign of Ascendant's Ruler
2
2



Gemini
Planet Aspecting Ascendant
4

4


Mars in Leo
Ascendant Almuten
2

2


Sun
Moon Sign
3

3


Sagittarius
Moon Phase
3

3


Second Quarter
Sign of Moon's Ruler
2
2



Libra
Planet Aspecting Moon
4
2
2


Sun in Gemini
Moon's Almuten
2
2



Jupiter
Total
28
11
17


Total = 28

Trump is true to his temperament, being quick to react, direct, assertive, and concerned to act authoritatively. You can read Greenbaum's other choleric qualities above. The sanguine element of his temperament may make him more likeable than he might be if he was more or less completely choleric. Only time will tell if he has the temperament to be President, or whether, as Hillary Clinton suggested, he is “temperamentally unsuited” to be POTUS.


Donald Trump - Natal Chart

14 June 1946, 10:54 EDT, Jamaica, NY, USA: RR AA.

 

Reference

Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum (2005) Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key. The Wessex Astrologer, Bournemouth, England.

Sunday, 20 November 2016

The Exeter Fire - 2016


Exeter's 'birth chart' is reckoned to be the Date of Incorporation: 23 August 1537 at 00:00 hrs local mean time. This gives the degree of 10 Cancer 59 rising, with 9 Pisces 00 on the midheaven. The following chart is set for the Date of Incorporation with Porphyry cusps for the intermediate houses.
The Sun at 8 VIR 51 and Saturn at 9 VIR 45 straddle the I.C. They form the apex of a yod shape with Neptune-Moon at 8-9 Aries and Pluto at 7 Aquarius. They are also part of a grand sextile with Venus and Uranus if one includes the nodes at 6 GEM/SAG 56. 

Chart 1: Exeter - Date of Incorporation

The fire that devastated the Royal Clarence Hotel on Friday 28 October 2016 occurred 8 weeks and a day after a Solar Eclipse hit the Sun-Saturn-I.C. conjunction in Exeter’s horoscope. A more immediate trigger was perhaps the New Moon two days afterwards, though prefigured by the actual event.
The relevant annular eclipse (not visible in the UK) occurred on 1 Sep at 9 VIR 21. 

Chart 2: Solar Eclipse Preceding Fire


The following bi-wheel chart shows the Incorporation chart in the centre with the eclipse chart in the outer wheel. The alignment of the eclipse degree with the MC-IC axis is clear. The fact that the eclipse occurred on the subterranean degree shows the fire attacking the heart of the city, the very foundations of its identity.


 Chart 3: Incorporation Chart and Eclipse Chart


The nodes and also Fortuna will be hit by the next New Moon at 7 SAG 43 in late November. This might signal some minor upturn, such as the switching on of the Christmas lights. Future lunation aspects include the Lunar Eclipse of 11 Feb at 22 LEO 28, exactly conjunct the Charter’s Mercury, and more importantly, the Solar Eclipse of 26 Feb at 8 PIS 12 opposite the Charter’s Sun. Expect major issues following the fire to come to a head around then.
In the context of the event, Saturn well describes the hotel, opened in 1770, as a ’piece of history’, an old traditional structure of dry plaster and timber (Saturn) finally consumed by fire (the conjunct Sun). It was arguably Exeter’s second most iconic building, right in the heart of the city (the I.C.) and just 100 yards across the Green from the most iconic – the Cathedral itself (the Sun). Exeter, a city whose long history dates back to Roman times, is itself commensurate with Saturn and equates numerologically to the Saturn-related number 8 (E+X+E+T+E+R = 5+5+5+4+5+2 = 26; 2+6=8).
On the day, Neptune by transit was on the M.C. opposite at 9 PIS 23. This describes the continuing confusion over why the fire took hold after initially being ‘under control’, why sprinklers weren’t operative, how long the demolition will take, how much of the shell can be saved, even what caused the fire to start, and so on. (The owners have vowed to rebuild with a ‘sympathetic reconstruction’).

The chart for the moment at which the alarm was raised, at 5:00AM, is shown below.

Chart 4: Exeter Fire 2016


Transiting Neptune at the time of the fire is within two minutes of arc of the solar eclipse degree at 09 Virgo 21.
The New Moon occurred on 30 Oct at 7 SCO 44, in exact T-square to the Charter’s Venus at 7 LEO 45 and opposing Pluto at 7 AQU 27. The fire stated in an art gallery (Venus) two doors down. It spread via roof spaces running across the tops of buildings and set the hotel alight. [This New Moon also falls opposite the ascendant (7 TAU 16) in Exeter’s Royal Charter of 1 Jul 1463.]

Chart 5: New Moon - 30 October 2016

If the chart is turned upside down, with North at the top as in the street map of the city centre, the superimposed Moon’s T-square reproduces the T-square formed by the junction of High Street and Queen Street. The safety cordon that blocked (Saturn) all routes through the centre for a week is located at this axis, where down Martins Lane stands the ruined hotel. Neptune now at the base of the chart can also graphically represent the gas main running under the hotel which fractured on the Saturday morning, intensifying the blaze.
In the weeks following the fire, there has been a tangible air of sadness in Cathedral Green as people confront the reality of the tragedy. It seems to be a sadness much equated with Saturn.
The Aries Ingress 2016 – Exeter
In traditional astrology much store would have been placed in the Aries ingress chart, set for the location of interest, as a guide to the forthcoming year. The following chart shows the moment that the Sun entered the tropical sign of Aries in March 2016 in Exeter. 

 Chart 6: Aries Ingress, 2016, set for Exeter

This occurred during the night, at 4:30AM. This means that the chart should be judged as 'nocturnal', according to the principles of sect. This is a striking chart, with the two malefic planets, Saturn and Mars, elevated in the tenth house. Mars is within a few minutes of arc of the midheaven.
The rising degree in the ingress chart is 4 Aquarius. This places Exeter's natal Uranus position on the ingress descendant, with the close Venus-Pluto opposition being brought to the horizon. 


Chart 7: Incorporation Chart and Aries Ingress, 2016


Mars, as the lesser malefic, being intensely hot and dry, is the planet associated with fires and destructive forces. Saturn, as the greater malefic, being intensely cold and dry, is associated with sorrow and loss. We may infer that the coming year, based on this ingress chart, shows a propensity for loss through fire for Exeter. We should note that the midpoint of the malefic planets is 10 degrees 29 minutes of mutable signs, bringing Venus, Neptune and Fortuna into a close, tense relationship.
This conflicted arrangement in these degrees of mutable signs is made doubly powerful because these degrees are closely associated with Exeter's 1537 chart: the midheaven axis 9 degrees Virgo/Pisces. We have noted that Sun, Saturn, the nodal axis and Fortuna are close to this axis in Exeter's 'birth chart'. In essence, the Aries ingress marks out 2016-2017 as a particularly challenging year for the city.
Other significant features of this ingress chart include the midpoint of the transiting Sun-Uranus combination picking out the city's Moon-Neptune square the natal ascendant. This portends events of great unexpected shock (Sun-Uranus) that will have an emotional impact (Moon-Neptune) on the city (ascendant). The Sun-Uranus midpoint moved on to square the natal rising Mars a few days after the ingress.
Although the fire devastated the historical heart of Exeter, it is important to note that there was no loss of life. The emergency services were able to contain the blaze to a specific area of the city, when there was concern that it may spread beyond this zone to the High Street. The impact on business may be substantial. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the fire including local residents and workers whose jobs depended on the hotel and other local businesses.

Sunday, 29 May 2016

Henry Miller's Phlegmatic Temperament


Henry Miller was a twentieth century American modernist writer who garnered a notorious reputation as a pornographer. Many of his books were banned from publication in the English speaking world until the 1960s. He was born in the late nineteenth century, under the Neptune-Pluto conjunction, and died in 1980.

He composed a number of controversial novels during the middle part of the last century. He is most famous for writing The Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn and Black Spring. He also wrote a trilogy called The Rosy Crucifixion (Sexus, Nexus and Plexus). These freeform novels combine erotic description, hallucinogenic prose and semi-autobiographical content.

 

Henry Miller - 1940

 

Carl Van Vechten

 

Miller is notable from an astrological point of view because he maintained a long-term interest in astrology. It is likely that he consulted astrologers, perhaps Sydney Omarr, and that he knew how to interpret a birth chart. He corresponded with Dane Rudhyar and was influenced by Rudhyar's Astrology of Personality. Rudhyar and Miller met in the early 1940s in New York. At the same time, Rudhyar met Anais Nin, Miller's lover from his days in Paris in the thirties. Miller also made frequent references to astrology in his works.

Miller's birth time is cited in Erica Jong's homage to Miller called The Devil at Large. She gives his birth details as 26 December 1891, 12:17PM, Manhattan, NY. The source of this data is likely to be another biographical work called Always Merry and Bright by Martin Jay. There is a copy of Miller's horoscope on the web at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-hoyle/the-astrological-henry-mi_b_5397661.html which also shows this time. Other times exist for Miller's birth, with other sources giving between 12:30PM and 12:45PM. The time given in the Solar Fire database is the midpoint of these two – 12:37PM.

Any of the times between 12:17PM and 12:45PM can be used to successfully establish Miller's temperament type. Miller himself confirmed that he had Aries rising, and any of the birth times mentioned above will give this Mars ruled sign on the ascendant. During the 1970s Miller corresponded with Erica Jong, another American writer. He said in a letter to her dated Saturday 15 June 1971 “No, I am not Aries, I am Capricorn (Dec. 26 1891) – really ancient, what! But Aries is my rising sign. I have been in love several times with Aries women – always disastrously.”

Henry Miller's horoscope, calculated for 12:17PM, is shown below.


Chart 1: Henry Miller (12:17PM)


In another blog on Janis Joplin I have given a brief background to the temperament technique. The only variation I am adding in to the calculation below is to identify the temperament associated with the solar quadrant – for example, if an individual is born between sunrise and midday, the temperamental association for this quarter is sanguine. Miller was born just after noon, hence his temperament by solar quadrant is choleric.

The following table summarises Miller's temperament factors:

Temperament Factor
Score
S
C
M
P

Birth Season
3



3
Winter
Solar Quadrant
3

3


Afternoon
Ascendant Sign
3

3


Aries
Sign of Ascendant's Ruler
2



2
Scorpio
Planet Asp. Ascendant
4


2
2
Venus occ in Cap.
Ascendant Almuten
1

1


Choleric - Sun
Moon Sign
3



3
Scorpio
Moon Phase
3



3
Final Q
Sign of Moon's Ruler
2



2
Scorpio
Planet Aspecting Moon
4
2


2
Jupiter in Pisces
Moon's Almuten
1

1


Choleric - Mars
Totals

2
8
2
17


 Table 1: Henry Miller's Temperament Type



Henry Miller is strongly phlegmatic. In some ways, this is a great surprise, given his reputation for being a wonderful raconteur and welcoming host. However, although Henry became well-known in later life, his reputation was essentially an underground one and he did not move in high level academic and literary circles. He lived in relatively obscurity at Big Sur in California for most of the 1940s and 1950s. It was only when the world caught up with him, and the censorship of his books ended in the 1960s, that he became something of a celebrity.

Miller wrote from a feeling point of view. His novels are fluid, free-form and driven by emotion. He is not a scholarly writer or novelist. He did not give his works a highly structured (melancholic) quality. Although Henry was a highly intelligent man, he had little time for academics and critics. He felt that most of them did not understand what he was trying to achieve. It was his reputation with other writers and artists that made his name, rather than formal critical acceptance.

Miller has a relatively strong streak of choler in his makeup. This is created by Mars being strong as the ruler of Aries, his rising sign, and the almuten of the Moon. Choleric qualities are also added by his afternoon birth. Note that Miller's Mars placement in Scorpio reflects the overall temperament balance in his chart, Mars being a choleric factor placed in a phlegmatic sign. Miller has the Moon, a phlegmatic factor, close by his Mars. Aries rising, Mars and Moon in Scorpio, all reinforce the phlegmatic-choleric quality of his horoscope.

The challenge with a phlegmatic-choleric temperament balance is the lack of a common quality that bridges the two modes of expression. The phlegmatic style is cold and wet; the choleric style is hot and dry. The risk is that the cold, wet phlegm drowns the hot, dry choler and extinguishes the individual's fire and drive. Nevertheless, Miller's mode of self-expression is a good example of two temperament types working together. Miller seemed to be able to balance a need for privacy and reflection with a drive to achieve a significant artistic reputation and engagement with the wider world.

Without his choleric streak, Miller probably would have been a recluse. In various interviews that are available on youtube, Miller reflects on the isolation of the writer's life, living in a world of ideas (or, in his case, feelings). The hot, dry nature of choler warms and stimulates Henry's predominantly cold, wet, phlegmatic nature. It is likely that strong phlegmatic qualities gave him a very sensitive, private side that he hid behind his choleric Martian machismo image.

Miller has very few elements in his natal chart that directly add melancholic or sanguine qualities to his temperamental makeup. Miller was little interested in the mundane world of work, a melancholic realm, and we have to look elsewhere in his chart for sanguine qualities, principally to his strong Jupiter, placed in one of its own signs – Pisces. Nevertheless, Henry had a Capricorn Sun; his MC, Mercury and Venus are all in that sign. He also had a strong Saturn, placed in Virgo, an earth sign, which are both melancholic factors.

Even though Miller found it difficult to hold down a conventional job, he had a very tenacious and hard-working streak. He worked hard to become a writer and then experienced great hardship as a result of his vocational choice. It is interesting that these factors do not reflect in his underlying temperament but are other qualities that Henry was able to work with astrologically. This shows that the temperament is about a fundamental mode of self-expression or an underlying orientation to the world. Other astrological factors can play a role in an individual's life but are modulated in light of temperament characteristics.

It is worth spending half an hour watching the interview with Henry Miller called Henry Miller: Asleep and Awake. This film is also known as the Bathroom Monologue. The bathroom is a phlegmatic (watery) environment. During the half hour, Miller reflects on the various images that he has posted on his bathroom walls. You can see him responding to the memories and experiences associated with the images. He seems to be in a very phlegmatic mood. Reflection, memory, and images all have phlegmatic associations. Nevertheless Miller is clearly 'holding court' in a choleric (opinionated) fashion. (Some of the images contain 'adult content' – please be warned.)

In the final five minutes of the documentary Henry is transferred from Pacific Palisades to New York, still wearing his bathrobe, where he reflects, in an unsentimental way, about his roots in Brooklyn. This section of the film highlights the direct, Martian, choleric side of his temperament in an obvious fashion. There is, however, an overall nostalgic tone to the ending of the film, which reinforces Miller's phlegmatic nature.

Reference

Erica Jong on Henry Miller (1994) The Devil at Large. Vintage, London.

Photo Attribution

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=741367

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

Janis Joplin's Temperament Balance

Janis Joplin became a charismatic, emotional, fiesty entertainer during her short life. She was famous during the heyday of the San Francisco flower power movement in the late 1960's. She sang with Big Brother and the Holding Company; in the latter part of her career formed her own backing bands, the Kosmic Blues Band and the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Janis Joplin was a pioneer female entertainer, fronting male bands and becoming a band leader. This pioneering spirit has marked her as a highly influential woman in popular culture.


Janis Joplin (1970) - by Albert Grossman


I would like to look at Janis Joplin's chart from a particular angle. One of the most under-used techniques in astrology is temperament analysis. However, in the traditional astrology practised until the eighteen century, temperament analysis would have been a fundamental part of natal astrology. In temperament analysis, the Moon, ascendant and birth season are analysed in terms of the four types – sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic.

Most individuals have an underlying primary temperament quality. This is usually combined with a secondary temperament quality. So, for example, whilst an individual may be principally choleric, they may have a secondary temperament, say phlegmatic, giving a mixed choleric-phlegmatic type.

The four temperaments are a blend of four fundamental qualities – hot, cold, moist and dry. Each temperament is made of one of either hot or cold and moist or dry. So the choleric temperament is the combination of hot and dry qualities; the phlegmatic temperament is the combination of cold and moist qualities. Each temperament has positive and negative dimensions. The combination of temperaments can moderate the excess of a predominant temperament giving a more balanced expression of the personality.

The temperament types have a range of associations, so melancholy is associated with autumn by season. Sanguine has associations with spring. The following table gives the particular qualities and associations with each temperament type:

Temperament
Qualities
Season
Humour
Element
Planets
Sanguine
Hot, Moist
Spring
Blood
Air
Jupiter, Venus oriental,
Mercury oriental
Choleric
Hot, Dry
Summer
Yellow Bile
Fire
Sun, Mars
Melancholy
Cold, Dry
Autumn
Black Bile
Earth
Saturn, Mercury occidental
Phlegmatic
Cold, Moist
Winter
Phlegma
Water
Moon, Venus occidental

 

 Table 1: Temperament Associations


Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum has written an excellent book on temperament. She gives the following keywords for each of the temperament types. I have added my own words to give additional details about the pure temperaments.

Temperament
Qualities
Description
Sanguine
Hot, Moist
DGG – friendly, social, shallow, unfocussed, cheerful, dilettante, lucky

Excitable, enthusiastic, opportunistic, charismatic, charming, youthful, 'easy come, easy go', forward, warm, exuberance
Choleric
Hot, Dry
DGG – will, inexhaustible, optimistic, aggressive, assertive, take-charge, impatient, hates details, high achieving

Drive, determined, irritable, quick acting, unreflective, challenging, irascible, explosive, hot-headed
Melancholy
Cold, Dry
DGG – anti-social, analytical, pessimistic, connoisseur, studious

Solid, dependable, practical, hard-working, obsessive, dour, quiet, responsible, reliable, ambitious
Phlegmatic
Cold, Moist
DGG – contemplative, reserved, shy, slow-moving, resigned

Pessimistic, languid, emotional, changeable, deep, still, empathic, sensitive, private, retiring

Table 2: Temperament Types

 
For temperament analysis I have developed a weighted scoring system using the following factors. Temperament analysis is typically made using a combination of the temperaments associated with the Moon placement and the ascendant. The only solar factor that is analysed is the birth season – the Sun's placement according to the equinoxes and solstices.


Temperament Factor
Points
Scoring Explanation
Ascendant Sign
3
Score the temperament associated with the rising sign – e.g. Aries rising scores 2 for choleric temperament being a fire sign.
Solar Quadrant
3
Score the temperament associated with the quadrant occupied by the Sun (diurnal position) – e.g. Sun between the ascendant and midheaven is sanguine being morning; Sun between midheaven and descendant is choleric and so on.
Sign of Ascendant's Ruler
2
The sign of the ascendant's ruling planet scores 2 for its temperament – e.g. Mars, Aries' ruling planet, in Gemini scores 2 for sangine temperament, Gemini being an air sign.
Ascendant Almuten
1
The almuten planet of the ascendant scores 2 – e.g. the almuten of Aries is often the Sun which would score 2 for choleric temperament.
Planet Aspecting Ascendant
4
Score 2 each for the planet most closely aspecting the ascendant and its sign – e.g. Saturn in Capricorn square ascendant scores 2 for melancholy (Saturn is a cold, dry planet) and 2 for the melancholy sign Capricorn (being an earth sign). If there is no planet aspecting the ascendant use the ascendant's sign and its ruler.
Birth Season
3
Score 3 for the season of birth – e.g. Sun in Pisces would be phlegmatic, being a winter birth in zodiacal terms.
Moon Sign
3
Score 3 for the sign of the Moon – e.g. Moon in Leo would be choleric, being a fire sign.
Moon Phase
3
Score 3 for the phase of the Moon – e.g. New Moon to first quarter counts as sanginue, first quarter to full counts as choleric etc.
Sign of Moon's Ruler
2
Score 2 for the temperament of the sign of the Moon's ruler e.g. the Moon's ruler is the Sun; Sun placed in Sagittarius would be choleric, Sagittarius being a fire sign
Planet Aspecting Moon
4
Score 2 each for the planet most closely aspecting the Moon and its sign – e.g. Jupiter in Gemini sextile Moon in Leo scores 2 for sanguine (Jupiter is a hot, moist planet) and 2 for the sanginue sign Gemini (being an air sign). If there is no planet aspecting the Moon use the Moon's sign and its ruler.
Moon's Almuten
1
Score 2 for the almuten of the Moon – e.g. the Sun is usually the almuten of the Moon placed in Leo.
Total
29


Table 3: Temperament Analysis Breakdown


These factors are derived partly for Greenbaum's simplified temperament calculation, but also draw factors from other systems for analysing temperament. Greenbaum's approach is helpful for identifying the temperament type quickly. However, I feel that it is useful to add further detail to the process to get a more subtle understanding of temperament.


 

Figure 1: Janis Joplin's Natal Chart


Using this scheme, which is developed from Greenbaum's temperament analysis methodology in her book Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key, Janis Joplin had a mixed phlegmatic/sanguine temperament. She also had a strong choleric element in her makeup. You can follow the breakdown of the scoring in the table below.

Temperament Factor
Score
S
C
M
P


Ascendant Sign
3
3




Aquarius
Solar Quadrant
3
3




Morning
Sign of Ascendant's Ruler
2
2




Gemini
Ascendant Almuten
1


1


Saturn
Planet Aspecting Ascendant
4

4



Mars in Sagittarius
Birth Season
3



3

Winter
Moon Sign
3



3

Cancer
Moon Phase
3

3



Second Quarter
Sign of Moon's Ruler
2



2

Cancer
Planet Aspecting Moon
4
2


2

Jupiter in Cancer
Moon's Almuten
1



1

Moon
Total
29
10
7
1
11

 

Table 4: Janis Joplin's Temperament Analysis


By season, Joplin is a phlegmatic type being born in the winter in zodiacal terms. Joplin also has the Moon and Jupiter in Cancer in the fifth house. This means that the phlegmatic temperament scores heavily through these placements, the Moon being the ruler of Cancer and the almuten of the Moon itself. The Moon's wide conjunction with Jupiter, which is itself exalted in Cancer, lends further phlegmatic emphasis.

Phlegmatic qualities are often associated with subtlety, emotion, being private or retiring. Her phlegmatic qualities are somewhat moderated by the presence of Jupiter, a sanguine planet, in Cancer. However, although Joplin had a large phlegmatic component in her horoscope, she also had an almost equal measure of the sanguine temperament. This came from her rising sign - Aquarius - and the fact that she was born in the morning, the sanguine phase of the day. Furthermore, Saturn, her ascendant ruler is in Gemini, another sanguine sign.

There is a very natural relationship between the phlegmatic and sanguine temperamental components. They share the common quality of moisture or wetness. The heat of the sanguine temperament offsets the cold and retiring coldness of the phlegmatic component. Further heat is provided by the choleric components in her horoscope - the elevated Mars in Sagittarius - and the moon phase, Joplin being born in a waxing phase between the first quarter and full moon.

The sanguine and choleric qualities lent warmth and drive to her personality. Joplin used the choleric drive of Mars in Sagittarius to achieve her musical and professional goals. She used the sanguine elements of her personality to lend exuberance and charisma to her presence. Nevertheless the emotional side of her life was never far from the surface and fuelled her performance as an entertainer.

Joplin has very little of the melancholic temperament in her natal chart. The sole melancholic dimension that is brought out by the analysis methodology is Saturn, the almuten of the ascendant. Saturn, a melancholic planet, is the point that delivers the most dignity to the degree of Joplin's ascendant; it is the thus the almuten of the ascendant degree. This lack of melancholy means that Joplin may have found it very difficult to deal with the everyday, and, in particular, the business element of the rock music industry.

Her lack of melancholy might have been offset, to some extent, by her Capricorn Sun. However, the temperament balance suggests a warm, exuberant personality who was able to experience and explore deep emotional elements in her personality.

During the height of her fame, Janis was invited to attend a high school reunion in her home town of Port Arthur, TX. You can find this interview on Youtube. In this brief conversation, you can see the temperament balance in Joplin's horoscope working itself out as she moves between deep emotion (phlegmatic), feisty challenges to the questioners (choleric) and youthful excitement (sanguine). You can see the melancholic temperament in action as she reflects for a moment on some of her answers. However, the other temperaments are clearly predominant.

Reference

Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum (2005) Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key. The Wessex Astrologer, Bournemouth, England.