Man’s soul (personalities)

Choleric

Melancholy

Sanguine

Phlegmatic

The ancient Hebrew word for heart is ‘leb’, which is the mind, emotions and will. These attributes of the human soul can be seen in modern-day psychological studies. One study divides the human personalities as such: Choleric (black and white decision-making); Sanguine (life of the party); Melancholy (detailed, analytical); Phlegmatic (stubbornly unmoved). Although the four-fold nature of this psychological study seems to be enigmatic, its relationship to the triune human soul is simple to see.

The Choleric personality is centered in the will of the soul, as it is a decisive personality. The Sanguine personality is centered in the emotion of the soul. The Sanguine is easily moved to joy or tears. The Melancholy personality is centered in the mind of the soul, as this person bases his every move on meticulous calculation. The Phlegmatic personality is said to have as his motto, “I shall not be moved”. His personality is centered, as is the Choleric’s in the will, however, it is a passive will, while it’s Choleric counterpart is an active, aggressive will.

Another view of the Phlegmatic personality can be illustrated with color, which also holds a triune example. The three primary colors are Red, Blue and Yellow. When mixing these colors together into one color, they become Brown, a very non-specific, or ‘vanilla’ common color. This could also be similar to what happens in the mix of human personality traits, as the fiery Sanguine (represented by red) blends with the cold and calculated Melancholy (represented by blue) and the somewhat removed, or objective decision-making Choleric (represented by yellow, the color closest to light or white) balances and arbitrates between the two characteristics of red and blue. In other words, the ‘average’, ‘vanilla’ Phlegmatic personality is actually a well-blended mix of the mind will and emotions of the soul, while the others excel in one or more areas of these.

(for more study, see the Trinity Concepts Key)