Humoral Medicine – Ancient Medicine for Modern Times

75 minutes  

Ancient cultures across the globe developed an intimate relationship with the natural environment on which they depended. Foods, medicines, and goods were sourced from the flora and fauna around them and over generations a deep practical wisdom evolved in how to benefit from nature without destroying it. This ancestral wisdom always starts from the recognition that people are also part of the natural world, and that we share the same foundations, experience the same cycles, challenges, and regenerations as all other aspects of our shared cosmos. This wisdom was communicated in European thought through the concept of there being a basic set of four elements which manifest in the body as the humours. Each humour has a natural temperament, and it is the loss of this temperament that leads to sickness. Every plant, food, activity, and aspect of bodily function also have a natural temperament, and by recognising any divergence from this temperament we can take steps to bring back a balance to the foundation of health in the body. Working with the humours allows us to encompass the needs of the mind, body, emotions, and spirit in our assessment and treatment of our patients. The concepts of Humoral medicine still resonate in European language and culture, and are well expressed in the Hippocratic maxim that ‘the natural forces within us are the true healers of disease’.