Living With a Sulphur

What’s it like to live with a Sulphur constitutional type? It’s certainly a question
that comes up either directly or indirectly from patients all the time. The sulphur
constitutional type (1 of 6 personality types which can be balanced by their
corresponding homeopathic remedy) becomes the focus of so much attention due
to the fact that they are the most radial of all the constitutional types. I use the
term ‘radial’ in polar opposition to the term ‘spherical’, which is the polarity that
all constitutional types are organized within. A radial force is one which pushes
outward, as in the “better out than in” direction of cure we talk about with
healing reactions. The spherical force is the opposite, and one which creates more
of a space of containment or reserve. Every physiological process in our body is
a meeting of these two forces.

Whether in the classroom, the family, or the workplace, the radial force of the
sulphur constitution is very difficult not to notice. A sulphur lives directly in the
“here and now”, which usually makes them very charming, or occasionally
annoying to those around. A healthy sulphur is full of life, and are usually always
in motion. The parents of sulphur children are usually asking for my help for
developing coping strategies, and an unhealthy parent with a weak ego structure
is easily buried by their vivacious child. For sulphur children, it is imperative that
the parent constantly and consistently enforces appropriate boundaries around the
sulphur’s world, in line with their age and stage of development. The radial force
of the sulphur drives them to constantly seek out and touch all 4 corners of the
world, and beyond, and will be constantly testing their parents and their limits.
Slacking off on the boundaries is a grave error for the parent of a sulphur child to
make.
While we’ve seen all sorts of conflicts and health challenges arise in children of
every constitutional type as they engage with the “mass education” system, it is
often the sulphur children that are the biggest cogs in the wheel of the system.
These days, the proposed solution is usually an ADHD drug, or something
similar, however this does not address the real disconnect between the needs of
the student as a unique individual and the standardized curriculum. The sulphur
child just happens to be the “canary in the coal mine” in this particular battle. All
children have the same inner plea as do sulphurs, which is to be treated as an
individual, and allowed to pursue their own interests. The sulphur child is just
much more vocal about it, and the least willing to conform to external
expectations.
In marriages, we have observed that each of the 6 constitutions naturally pair up
in a pattern that repeats a majority of the time. Each constitutional pair is a set of
a matching ‘radial’ and ‘spherical’ personality types which provide an excellent
mutual point of balance. The radial sulphur constitution most frequently marries
the spherical calcarea type, who are usually best suited for containing and
organizing their energy and charge into more productive avenues. In return, the
sulphur keeps calcarea away from their tendency towards inertia. Being a
calcarea type myself, and married to a sulphur, I know this dynamic quite
intimately!
As is true for every constitutional type, the knowledge that your spouse or child
is a sulphur is extremely useful for understanding how to participate the
relationship in a healthy way, rather than in a more reactive way to behaviours
that otherwise don’t make sense.
As I mentioned, sulphurs live life in the moment, which means they live in their
own sense of time rather than clock or schedule time. I used to be very frustrated
by a friend of mine, before I learned about the homeopathic constitutions, and
realized that he is a sulphur. Until then, I had always been so frustrated that he
would always turn up late when we were meeting, as he was running on the inner
time of his own world and experience. I learned that I needed to structure social
meetings so that the meeting place was somewhere that I would have something
to do while I waited for him to arrive.
Also, it may be good news for you to know that the healthier that a sulphur
becomes through the process of Heilkunst treatment, the less “edgy” and difficult
they become to deal with. Every constitutional type is actually quite a joy in a
state of health, and there are no “good” or “bad” constitutions. A truer
understanding of the essence of each type goes a long way in understand our self
and others, and how to interact most harmoniously.
« The First Consult is Like a First Date
Watching Heilkunst on TV : Columbo »
 11 thoughts on “Living With a Sulphur”

1. Tess says

January 26, 2012 at 2:40 pm

That’s so interesting that certain constitutions meld well romantic coupling. How do the other 4 tend to pair up? Also
what is the general dynamic in a couple of 2 same constitutions? Can it make for ‘too much’ of the characteristic
constitution qualities or they are easily able to understand and relate to each other due to the similarities? Sorry lots
of questions-I’m fascinated by this topic! Am loving reading and learning from your blog posts everyday by the way.
🙂

2. jkorentayer says

January 26, 2012 at 4:59 pm

HI Tess,

Keep in mind that the larger principle here is of “resonance”, and the matching of constitutions is a resonance
through typology, although a resonance through the individuality can override typological factors.

Do you know all 6 of the genotypes? In your imagination, how would you pair them up?

2 of the same constitution can be…. interesting! I rarely see it, as a matter of fact. Depending on the type, it can
either produce too much conflict, or too much peace, neither of which is desirable.

3. Tess says

January 27, 2012 at 1:52 pm

I do know the genotypes. I can imagine that the more ‘outgoing’ types would do well with the more intellectual/self-
contained constitutions, like maybe phosphorous and silicea, and pulsatilla and lycopodium. . . I think that it’s really
common to see couples with one partner more ‘out there’ and the other more reserved.

Yes-I guess there are many reasons why people are drawn to relationships with each other- I can see karmic
connections for example could be the foundation of attraction above typology in some cases.

4. jkorentayer says

January 27, 2012 at 2:05 pm

Exactly! Silicea with Phosphorous or “Spirit” with “Soul”, and Lycopodium with Pulsatilla or “Rational mind” with
“Emotional mind”.

Since you bring up ‘attraction’, I’ll probably shortly write about the difference between attraction and resonance.
5. emma says

July 14, 2013 at 1:14 pm

hello,
your article was really interesting! my homeopath diagnosed me as a sulphur and have read another article that
said female sulphur types were very rare, i was wondering, how rare are they? kind regards, emma

6. jkorentayer says

July 14, 2013 at 3:36 pm

HI Emma,

Actually, female sulphurs are not rare at all – about half of sulphurs are female, and the other half are male.

This is one of many misconceptions in traditional homeopathy, partly due to the bias of 19th century textbooks.
Unfortunately, most 21st century homeopaths haven’t caught up with the times.

There are exactly 6 healthy constitutional types, as you can read in the other blogs posts on this site, and all of
them are about half and half of each gender.

7. dr ejaz hashmi says

July 12, 2016 at 1:31 pm

hi sir
your article is interesting. as a Homeo physician, really curious about the basic theme and founding thought of your
thesis. so if u u can tell me what is the basic theme, it would b lot easier to grasp your whole idea.
thanks

8. jkorentayer says

July 19, 2016 at 3:29 pm

Hello Dr. Hashmi – Could you clarify for me exactly where you find the topic of this blog post to be unclear to you?
I’m not sure exactly what you are asking of me.