The Melancholic Temperament

The Melancholic Temperament corresponds with the EARTH element, Black Bile (COLD/DRY), the Root (Muladhara) chakra, the Red Aura Color Personality, shades of Red-Orange, Red, and Red-Violet, the season of Winter, The Tree of Life: World of Assiah (of Making, Materializing or Made), Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo, the Tarot Suit of Coins, the sense of Smell, the Physical Body/Material World, FOUNDATION and SENSATION, and LAM (part of God's name).

Melancholic ~ Earth Element

(+) Detail-oriented, thorough, stable, serious, sensitive, reliable, analytical, having high standards, idealistic, objective, predictable, tenacious, organized, perfectionist, able to direct and take action, punctual, cautious, quiet, slow, introverted, respectable.

(-) Melancholy, overly conventional, unsocial or socially superficial, restrictive, no imagination or creative ability, hypersensitive (moody), perfectionistic, compulsive, apathetic, critical (due to idealism), mentally dull or boring, intense, rigid, unable to act, a loner, argumentative in a "whining" sort of way.

The Melancholic's Personality (Strengths & Weakness)

The melancholic temperament is associated with the Red Aura Color Personality. 

Food Remedies

The Emperor doesn't do well with spicy or processed foods. Stale, rancid or astringent foods, soy, too many nuts (especially peanuts) and beans, nightshades, especially tomatoes, and eggplant, will bother the Melancholic temperament. The Melancholic fairs better with diets containing meat.

The idea is to provide your body nutrients opposite your dominant humors to correct humor imbalances. Let's say you have a primarily COLD/DRY constitution. You would choose HOT and WET (MOIST) nutrients to create balance and restore health and wellness.

HOT Choices: Choose from onions, garlic, chicken, horseradish, walnuts, duck, lamb, garbanzo beans, lemon, apple, olives, aged cheeses, walnuts, peppers, chai, cloves, ginger, cardamom, garlic, any foods or nutrients that stimulate the metabolism or make one sweat. Foods served hot or roasted are also considered "heating" foods and create warmth.

WET (Moist) Choices: Wet and moist foods are also considered "heavy". Choose from beef, eggplant, avocados, apricots (WARM/MOIST), cherries, watermelon, peaches, dark red and blueberries, oysters, all fat from meat and fish, various types of meat in moderation, licorice (WARM/MOIST), vinegar, lemon, coconut, and all rich or oily foods or foods that are emollient.

HOT or WET (Moist) Herb Choices: ashwagandha (HOT/WET), astragalus (HOT/WET), saw palmetto (HOT/WET), valerian (WARM), ginger (WARM), fennel (WARM/MOIST), chamomile (WARM/MOIST), mullein (WARM/MOIST), cayenne (HOT), cinnamon (HOT)

Many of the foods considered HOT are also DRY, but not all. COLD foods can also be regarded as WET, but not all.

Neutral food and herbs choices are raspberries, elderberries, calendula flowers, flaxseed, chaste berry, carrots, parsley, oat straw, parsley, psyllium, motherwort, blackberries, and lemon balm.

The dietary information above is not condition-specific.

Choosing Herbs & Essential Oil Remedies

Basil, benzoin, black pepper, cedarwood, cinnamon, red clover, eucalyptus, frankincense, geranium, holy basil, lavender, lemon, myrrh, oak moss, orange, patchouli, peppermint, rose hips, rose absolute, rose otto, rosemary, rosewood, sage, sandalwood, turmeric, vanilla, vetiver, and violet leaf.

Stones & Crystals

Red garnet, red ruby, red jasper, red-brown tiger's eye, red coral, hematite, black onyx, obsidian, bloodstone, smokey quartz, jet, or a plain black pebble