Contemperament

Definition

Contemperament is Ashmand's term for Ptolemy's doctrine of compound-temperament — the blended quality, krasis (Greek κρᾶσις, "mixture"), produced when several stars in dominion combine their natures over one ruled place. The resulting effect is the admixture of all the dominant stars together, not the simple effect of any one of them. It names the blending of natures, not a single planet's static disposition.

In Tradition

Ptolemy holds that where multiple bodies share dominion over a place, the quality of the outcome is the resultant of their combined powers. Planets, fixed stars, and zodiacal places that carry planetary nature through familiarity all enter the mix. The doctrine governs his prognostication of eclipse-effects, since the actual kind and quality of an event is set by the admixture rather than by any one ruler alone. He treats it as the bridge from qualitative natural philosophy to prediction: stars keep their proper natures, but their joint operation yields a compound.

In Practice

When more than one planet has a claim on a place, do not read each in isolation and stop there. Judge the blend they make together, weighing how their natures temper and modify one another. This is the dynamic counterpart to temperament: temperament names a fixed humoral disposition, while contemperament is the act and result of mixing several dominant natures into one resultant quality. Reach for it especially with shared dominion and with eclipse-effects, where Ptolemy makes the admixture, not the single ruler, decide the character of what unfolds.

Historical Origin

The doctrine is set out in Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos Book II, chapter 9 (trans. J. M. Ashmand, pp. 96-97), where contemperament anchors the compound-effect treatment of eclipses, and it underlies the multiple-ruler combinations referred to across Books II-IV.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: a blending-together; compound mixture.

Further Reading

• Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos
• Chris Brennan, Hellenistic Astrology