25/01/2025 2:12 am
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I’ve been pondering this for a bit and agree with the notion that this is symbolic for a fallen countenance rather than a literal curse of dark skin.
I am a longtime student of ancient traditions and philosophy and work with elemental theory and astrology. Within this there is the concept of the four temperaments, one of which is melancholy.
I’m also a skin care professional so it occurred to me that melan is the prefix for melanin which is the word used for dark or black skin pigmentation.
Choler refers to bile and the melancholy temperament is associated with the bodily humor of black bile.
When we combine melan + choler we get the word melancholic but this is never translated to mean “black skin bile”. Instead it is an interpreted symbolically as a darkening or depression of spirit. In modern times the diagnosis of melancholia is one who is depressed.
It seems like the true meaning got lost in translation and unfortunately was interpreted very literally as someone with dark skin.
Thoughts or additions?
