The Chylos Edition
Stories of balance, every month.
Investigations, true stories and honest answers about the oldest medicine of balance, and how it can be lived today.
Edition 00 · The Four · Free at launch
We don’t brief. We investigate and narrate.
Anyone can tell you what the four temperaments are. We go and find out what they meant, and what they still mean.
Reported
Interviews with practitioners, historians and scientists. Real people, real places, named sources.
Told as stories
Patients, physicians, foods and seasons. Every piece has a story at its heart.
Honest answers
Where old ideas meet modern evidence, we say what holds up, and what does not.
Issue highlights
Long before Athens, the world was made of four elements. The Greeks turned them into a body. Arabic physicians turned the body into a medicine. We follow the trail to the one word at its centre.
For centuries, physicians of the old medicine linked one small spice to the heart. We follow the thread, from the spice routes to the modern lab.
Edition 00: The Four
The first edition. Free for everyone at launch.
- Front
- The LetterWhy balance, why nowA short opening from the house of Chylos.
- Core
- The InvestigationOlder than the GreeksThe idea of balance did not begin in Athens. We follow it from the earliest healers to the Greek physicians, then to Baghdad, Bukhara, Cairo and Córdoba, where it was carried furthest.
- Case HistoryThe casebook of al-RaziA patient in ninth-century Persia, and how one of history’s great physicians read the whole person.
- Then and NowDo seasons change us?An old belief held up against modern evidence. What holds up, and what does not.
- The TableHeart and cloves, a mysterious relationThe old physicians tied one small spice to the heart. We follow the thread.
- The SeasonThe black bile seasonAutumn, melancholy, and why the word itself was once a diagnosis.
- From the ArchiveIbn Sina on temperamentA passage from The Canon of Medicine, the book that shaped medicine for six centuries, with our commentary.
- Feature
- The JourneyThe change of airWhy moving from a humid place to a dry one may do more for you than a cupboard of herbs. The forgotten art of temperament travel.
- Back
- Field NotesMaking BALANCEDBehind the scenes of the film, from the first idea to the first frame.
- The WordMelancholyGreek for black bile. A medical word that became a mood.
Inside every edition
The same sections, in the same order, every month. Only the stories change.
Front
Opens every edition
- The LetterA short opening from the house.
Core
In every edition, in this order
- The InvestigationThe lead story. One big question, reported in depth.
- Case HistoryA real patient and physician from the past, told as a story.
- Then and NowAn old idea tested against modern evidence, honestly.
- The TableOne food or herb: its story, its nature, one recipe.
- The SeasonHow the tradition advised living this month.
- From the ArchiveA passage from an old medical text, with commentary.
Feature
One per edition, rotating
- The JourneyA place or climate, and what it does to the body.
- The ImageA work of art, read through the humours.
- The PortraitA historical figure, read through the temperaments.
Back
Closes every edition
- Field NotesBehind the scenes at Chylos.
- The WordOne word the old medicine left in our language.
- LettersYour questions and stories, answered.
A year in four seasons
Each season brings three editions, led by its temperament and its colour.
- SpringSanguine
Warm and moist
March to May - SummerCholeric
Warm and dry
June to August - AutumnMelancholic
Cold and dry
September to November - WinterPhlegmatic
Cold and moist
December to February
Read every edition
- Edition 00FreeThe first edition, for everyone, at launch.
- MonthlyTBCEvery new edition, plus the full archive.
- Founding memberTBCA year of editions at a founding rate.
Also from Chylos
The Chylos Edition
Old medicine, new view.
Edition 00, The Four, arrives free the day Chylos opens. A new edition follows every month.