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.