The Sulphur personality is often endowed with an amazing memory, but, strangely enough, not for the names of other people, unless they are authorities on his own particular interests. This may be due to the fact that he considers few people important enough to remember their names at all.
Sulphur is usually a dirty persons, not very careful about washing and changing clothes; as a matter of fact, there may be a distinct aversion to washing, and many Sulphur skins are aggravated from washing. And yet, on the other hand, this individual may make a fetish of cleanliness. To some Sulphur types filthy smells, or places, or talk may be very obnoxious, although the opposite may be just as true. Amongst Sulphur types one may find the practitioners of a very ancient form of autotherapy, namely the taking internally of their own urine and faeces for medicinal purposes. Or these people may be advocates of such practices. And again young children may eat the dried secretions from their noses or excreta. Sometimes these same practice are observed amongst the demented.
With some of these people, organized education means nothing. They are either too lazy to study or believe that education is not such a wonderful asset at all. They often suffer from what one may term the “arrogance of ignorance.” Yet with many more there is a great thirst for knowledge, but often their studies concern subjects not ordinarily followed, or lead into the extraordinary, the abstruse, the peculiar. The philosophic student will usually follow up one of the mystic or esoteric branches of philosophy.
In this search for a solution of the riddle of the universe, he may give up all practical considerations of the everyday duties that life enjoined upon him, forget about his person, the necessities of his family and dependents. Kent considered this selfishness, but the fact is, that it seldom enters his mind that he is selfish. He is probably fully aware of the conditions to which his dependents are subjected, but he can hardly do anything about it, because he feels that his search or research is a great necessity for the benefit of Mankind at large, and so is often is. So did many a religious aspirant, a philosopher, a scientist, an artist work, or locked himself into seclusion to do just this.
So did Karl Marx toil away at his controversial philosophy, amidst squalor and want, with his family in abject misery and without the amenities and comforts of everyday life. It is related that he developed many boils, was careless in his writing, as well as rather unclean. He had an inflated opinion of himself, was pitted against all those better off, and who perhaps worked much harder for what they had. As a scientific experiment for the exhibition of Sulphur in high potency, his life story sounds very interesting!
This type is also a very easy borrower of money, books, just about anything, but, whereas other types will make an effort to return the borrowed things, or else borrowed with the dishonest intention of never returning, the Sulphur person has every intention of doing so some day, but seldom does. He just keeps on forgetting the obligation.
If there is also one who believes that the world owes him a living, it is this one. He is often peevish, almost childish in his expectations and complainings. It is written in the symptomatology that Sulphur is “a hopeful dreamer.” It is true that with may Sulphur types “there is always tomorrow.” This should not be such a bad trait, but, where as with others there may be an active effort to make “tomorrow” better, not so with this one. He just hopes from day to day, does not bestir himself, and quite often believes in Fate, in luck, or for some miracle to happen which will alleviate his lot.
A listed symptom of this remedy: “thinks rags beautiful,” is, I am afraid, somewhat ambiguous, unless more circumscribed. It is not necessarily to be taken that the Sulphur person will look at a piece of rag with ecstasy, unless he is utterly insane. It is rather a peculiar mental ability acquired by deep philosophic speculation and introspection that gives the power to see past and through the sordid appearances of Life and find that underneath it all is a greater reality which is innately beautiful. This, peculiarly, is the experience of many artists, thinkers, religious men and others who have gone through the terrible struggle between reality and unreality.
