Ash & Honey Episode 2: Fire in the Blood: Yellow Bile and the Cost of Burning Bright cover art

Ash & Honey Episode 2: Fire in the Blood: Yellow Bile and the Cost of Burning Bright

Ash & Honey Episode 2: Fire in the Blood: Yellow Bile and the Cost of Burning Bright

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Have you ever had one of those weeks — maybe one of those years — where you just couldn't stop? The to-do list was endless. The deadlines were screaming. And somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice kept saying: just a little more. Just push a little harder. Sleep when you're dead.

The ancient Greeks had a name for this. They called it an excess of yellow bile — the humor of fire, ambition, and heat. And they understood something we've forgotten: the same fire that drives you can also destroy you.

In this episode of Ash & Honey, host Alexandria Quinn Love explores the choleric temperament — the fire in your blood that makes you a leader, a creator, a force of nature. We'll uncover how the Greeks mapped yellow bile to the liver, to summer, to the element of fire itself. And we'll get honest about what happens when the fire burns out of control: the inflammation, the insomnia, the irritability, the crash.

But this isn't a condemnation of ambition. It's an invitation to tend your fire instead of letting it consume you. Learn the ancient remedies for cooling excess heat — and discover why your fire is worth protecting.

🎧 In this episode:

  • What is yellow bile? Fire, summer, and the choleric temperament
  • When fire serves us: ambition, courage, and the drive to create
  • When fire destroys us: hustle culture and the epidemic of burnout
  • Cooling the fire: ancient remedies for modern exhaustion
  • Balance, not elimination: building a hearth for your flame

Your ambition is not a disease. But a fire without a hearth becomes a wildfire.

Next Episode: Blood — the sanguine humor of warmth, connection, and joy.


Let the burn teach you. Let the honey keep you.
Until next time — be gentle with the body that carries you.

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