HILDEGARD VON BINGEN
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a remarkable woman, a "first" in many fields.
At a time when few women wrote, Hildegard, known as "Sybil of the Rhine",
produced major works of theology and visionary writings. When few women were
accorded respect, she was consulted by and advised bishops, popes, and kings.
She used the curative powers of natural objects for healing, and wrote treatises
about natural history and medicinal uses of plants, animals, trees and stones.
She is the first composer whose biography is known. She founded a vibrant
convent, where her musical plays were performed. Although not yet canonized,
Hildegard has been beatified, and is frequently referred to as St. Hildegard.
Revival of interest in this extraordinary woman of the middle ages was initiated
by musicologists and historians of science and religion. Less fortunately,
Hildegard's visions and music had been hijacked by the New Age movement, whose
music bears some resemblance to Hildegard's ethereal airs. Her story is
important to all students of medieval history and culture and an inspirational
account of an irresisible spirit and vibrant intellect overcoming social,
physical, cultural, gender barriers to achieve timeless transcendence.
The Early Years
Hildegard was born a "10"th child (a tithe) to a noble family. As was customary
with the tenth child, which the family could not count on feeding, she was
dedicated at birth to the church. The girl started to have visions of luminous
objects at the age of tree, but soon realized she was unique in this ability and
hid this gift for many years.
At age 8, the family sent this strange girl to an anchoress named Jutta to
receive a religious education. Jutta was born into a wealthy and prominent
family, and by all accounts was a young woman of great beauty. She spurned all
worldly temptations and decided to dedicate her life to god. Instead of entering
a convent, Jutta followed a harsher route and became an anchoress. Anchors of
both sexes, though from most accounts they seem to be largely women, led an
ascetic life, shut off from the world inside a small room, usually built
adjacent to a church so that they could follow the services, with only a small
window acting as their link to the rest of humanity. Food would be passed
through this window and refuse taken out. Most of the time would be spent in
prayer, contemplation, or solitary handworking activities, like stitching and
embroidering. Because they would become essentially dead to the world, anchors
would receive their last rights from the bishop before their confinement in the
anchorage. This macabre ceremony was a complete burial ceremony with the anchor
laid out on a bier.
Jutta's cell was such an anchorage, except that there was a door through which
Hildegard entered, as well as about a dozen of girls from noble families who
were attracted there by Jutta's fame in later years. What kind of education did
Hildegard receive from Jutta? It was of the most rudimentary form, and Hildegard
could never escape the feelings of inadequacy and lack of education. She learned
to read Psalter in Latin. Though her grasp of the grammatical intricacies of the
language was never complete - she always had secretaries to help her write down
her visions - she had a good intuitive feel for the intrintricacies of the
language itself, constructing complicated sentences fraught with meanings on
many levels, that are still a challenge to students of her writings. The
proximity of the anchorage to the church of the Benedictine monastery at
Disibodenberg (it was attached physically to the church) undoubtedly exposed
young Hildegard to musical religious services and were the basis for her own
musical compositions. After Jutta's death, when Hildegard was 38 years of age,
she was elected the head of the budding convent living within cramped walls of
the anchorage.
The Awakening
During all these years Hildegard confided of her visions only to Jutta and
another monk, named Volmar, who was to become her lifelong secretary. However,
in 1141, Hildegard had a vision that changed the course of her life. A vision of
god gave her instant understanding of the meaning of the religious texts, and
commanded her to write down everything she would observe in her visions.
And it came to pass ... when I was 42 years and 7 months old, that the heavens
were opened and a blinding light of exceptional brilliance flowed through my
entire brain. And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame, not
burning but warming... and suddenly I understood of the meaning of expositions
of the books...
Yet Hildegard was also overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy and hesitated to
act.
But although I heard and saw these things, because of doubt and low opinion of
myself and because of diverse sayings of men, I refused for a long time a call
to write, not out of stubbornness but out of humility, until weighed down by a
scourge of god, I fell onto a bed of sickness.
The 12th century was also the time of schisms and religious foment, when someone
preaching any outlandish doctrine could instantly attract a large following.
Hildegard was critical of schismatics, indeed her whole life she preached
against them, especially the Cathars. She wanted her visions to be sanctioned,
approved by the Catholic Church, though she herself never doubted the divine
origins to her luminous visions. She wrote to St. Bernard, seeking his blessings.
Though his answer to her was rather perfunctory, he did bring it to the
attention of Pope Eugenius (1145-53), a rather enlightened individual who
exhorted Hildegard to finish her writings. With papal imprimatur, Hildegard was
able to finish her first visionary work Scivias ("Know the Ways of the Lord")
and her fame began to spread through Germany and beyond.
Major Works
Around 1150 Hildegard moved her growing convent from Disibodenberg, where the
nuns lived alongside the monks, to Bingen about 30 km north, on the banks of the
Rhine. She later founded another convent, Eibingen, across the river from Bingen.
Her remaining years were very productive. She wrote music and texts to her songs,
mostly liturgical plainchant honoring saints and Virgin Mary for the holidays
and feast days, and antiphons. There is some evidence that her music and moral
play Ordo Virtutum ("Play of Virtues") were performed in her own convent. In
addition to Scivias she wrote two other major works of visionary writing Liber
vitae meritorum (1150-63) (Book of Life's Merits) and Liber divinorum operum(1163)
("Book of Divine Works"), in which she further expounded on her theology of
microcosm and macrocosm-man being the peak of god's creation, man as a mirror
through which the splendor of the macrocosm was reflected. Hildegard also
authored Physica and Causae et Curae (1150), both works on natural history and
curative powers of various natural objects, which are together known as Liber
subtilatum ("The book of subtleties of the Diverse Nature of Things"). These
works were uncharacteristic of Hildegard's writings, including her
correspondences, in that they were not presented in a visionary form and don't
contain any references to divine source or revelation. However, like her
religious writings they reflected her religious philosophy-that the man was the
peak of god's creation and everything was put in the world for man to use.
Her scientific views were derived from the ancient Greek cosmology of the four
elements-fire, air, water, and earth-with their complementary qualities of heat,
dryness, moisture, and cold, and the corresponding four humours in the body-choler
(yellow bile), blood, phlegm, and melancholy (black bile). Human constitution
was based on the preponderance of one or two of the humours. Indeed, we still
use words "choleric", "sanguine", "phlegmatic" and "melancholy" to describe
personalities. Sickness upset the delicate balance of the humours, and only
consuming the right plant or animal which had that quality you were missing,
could restore the healthy balance to the body. That is why in giving
descriptions of plants, trees, birds, animals, stones, Hildegard is mostly
concerned in describing that object's quality and giving its medicinal use. Thus,
"Reyan (tansy) is hot and a little damp and is good against all superfluous
flowing humours and whoever suffers from catarrh and has a cough, let him eat
tansy. It will bind humors so that they do not overflow, and thus will lessen."
Hildegard's writings are also unique for their generally positive view of sexual
relations and her description of pleasure from the point of view of a woman.
They might also contain the first description of the female orgasm.
When a woman is making love with a man, a sense of heat in her brain, which
brings with it sensual delight, communicates the taste of that delight during
the act and summons forth the emission of the man's seed. And when the seed has
fallen into its place, that vehement heat descending from her brain draws the
seed to itself and holds it, and soon the woman's sexual organs contract, and
all the parts that are ready to open up during the time of menstruation now
close, in the same way as a strong man can old something enclosed in his fist.
She also wrote that strength of semen determined the sex of the child, while the
amount of love and passion determine child's disposition. The worst case, where
the seed is weak and parents feel no love, leads to a bitter daughter.
Divine Harmonies
Music was extremely important to Hildegard. She describes it as the means of
recapturing the original joy and beauty of paradise. According to her before the
Fall, Adam had a pure voice and joined angels in singing praises to god. After
the fall, music was invented and musical instruments made in order to worship
god appropriately. Perhaps this explains why her music most often sounds like
what we imagine angels singing to be like.
Hildegard wrote hymns and sequences in honor of saints, virgins and Mary. She
wrote in the plainchant tradition of a single vocal melodic line, a tradition
common in liturgical singing of her time. Her music is undergoing a revival and
enjoying huge public success. One group, Sequentia, is planning to record all of
Hildegard's musical output in time for the 900th anniversary of her birth in
1998. Their latest recording Canticles of Ecstasy is superb. Be sure to read the
translations of the latin text of the songs which provide a good example of
Hildegard's metaphorical writing, and are imbued with vibrant descriptions of
color and light, that also occurs in her visionary writings.
The Most Distinguished Migraine Sufferer
It is now generally agreed that Hildegard suffered from migraine, and that her
visions were a result of this condition. The way she describes her visions, the
precursors, to visions, to debilitating aftereffects, point to classic symptoms
of migraine sufferers. Although a number of visual hallucinations may occur, the
more common ones described are the "scotomata" which often follow perceptions of
phosphenes in the visual field. Scintillating scotomata are also associated with
areas of total blindness in the visual field, something Hildegard might have
been describing when she spoke of points of intense light, and also the "extinguished
stars." Migraine attacks are usually followed by sickness, paralysis, blindness-all
reported by Hildegard, and when they pass, by a period of rebound and feeling
better than before, a euphoria also described by her. Also, writes Oliver Sachs
Among the strangest and most intense symptoms of migraine aura, and the most
difficult of description and analysis, are the occurrences of feelings of sudden
familiarity and certitude... or its opposite. Such states are experienced,
momentarily and occasionally,by everyone; their occurrence in migraine auras is
marked by their overwhelming intensity and relatively long duration.
It is a tribute to the remarkable spirit and the intellectual powers of this
woman that she was able to turn a debilitating illness into the word of god, and
create so much with it.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a remarkable woman, a "first" in many fields.
At a time when few women wrote, Hildegard, known as "Sybil of the Rhine",
produced major works of theology and visionary writings. When few women were
accorded respect, she was consulted by and advised bishops, popes, and kings.
She used the curative powers of natural objects for healing, and wrote treatises
about natural history and medicinal uses of plants, animals, trees and stones.
She is the first composer whose biography is known. She founded a vibrant
convent, where her musical plays were performed. Although not yet canonized,
Hildegard has been beatified, and is frequently referred to as St. Hildegard.
Revival of interest in this extraordinary woman of the middle ages was initiated
by musicologists and historians of science and religion. Less fortunately,
Hildegard's visions and music had been hijacked by the New Age movement, whose
music bears some resemblance to Hildegard's ethereal airs. Her story is
important to all students of medieval history and culture and an inspirational
account of an irresisible spirit and vibrant intellect overcoming social,
physical, cultural, gender barriers to achieve timeless transcendence.
The Early Years
Hildegard was born a "10"th child (a tithe) to a noble family. As was customary
with the tenth child, which the family could not count on feeding, she was
dedicated at birth to the church. The girl started to have visions of luminous
objects at the age of tree, but soon realized she was unique in this ability and
hid this gift for many years.
At age 8, the family sent this strange girl to an anchoress named Jutta to
receive a religious education. Jutta was born into a wealthy and prominent
family, and by all accounts was a young woman of great beauty. She spurned all
worldly temptations and decided to dedicate her life to god. Instead of entering
a convent, Jutta followed a harsher route and became an anchoress. Anchors of
both sexes, though from most accounts they seem to be largely women, led an
ascetic life, shut off from the world inside a small room, usually built
adjacent to a church so that they could follow the services, with only a small
window acting as their link to the rest of humanity. Food would be passed
through this window and refuse taken out. Most of the time would be spent in
prayer, contemplation, or solitary handworking activities, like stitching and
embroidering. Because they would become essentially dead to the world, anchors
would receive their last rights from the bishop before their confinement in the
anchorage. This macabre ceremony was a complete burial ceremony with the anchor
laid out on a bier.
Jutta's cell was such an anchorage, except that there was a door through which
Hildegard entered, as well as about a dozen of girls from noble families who
were attracted there by Jutta's fame in later years. What kind of education did
Hildegard receive from Jutta? It was of the most rudimentary form, and Hildegard
could never escape the feelings of inadequacy and lack of education. She learned
to read Psalter in Latin. Though her grasp of the grammatical intricacies of the
language was never complete - she always had secretaries to help her write down
her visions - she had a good intuitive feel for the intrintricacies of the
language itself, constructing complicated sentences fraught with meanings on
many levels, that are still a challenge to students of her writings. The
proximity of the anchorage to the church of the Benedictine monastery at
Disibodenberg (it was attached physically to the church) undoubtedly exposed
young Hildegard to musical religious services and were the basis for her own
musical compositions. After Jutta's death, when Hildegard was 38 years of age,
she was elected the head of the budding convent living within cramped walls of
the anchorage.
The Awakening
During all these years Hildegard confided of her visions only to Jutta and
another monk, named Volmar, who was to become her lifelong secretary. However,
in 1141, Hildegard had a vision that changed the course of her life. A vision of
god gave her instant understanding of the meaning of the religious texts, and
commanded her to write down everything she would observe in her visions.
And it came to pass ... when I was 42 years and 7 months old, that the heavens
were opened and a blinding light of exceptional brilliance flowed through my
entire brain. And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame, not
burning but warming... and suddenly I understood of the meaning of expositions
of the books...
Yet Hildegard was also overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy and hesitated to
act.
But although I heard and saw these things, because of doubt and low opinion of
myself and because of diverse sayings of men, I refused for a long time a call
to write, not out of stubbornness but out of humility, until weighed down by a
scourge of god, I fell onto a bed of sickness.
The 12th century was also the time of schisms and religious foment, when someone
preaching any outlandish doctrine could instantly attract a large following.
Hildegard was critical of schismatics, indeed her whole life she preached
against them, especially the Cathars. She wanted her visions to be sanctioned,
approved by the Catholic Church, though she herself never doubted the divine
origins to her luminous visions. She wrote to St. Bernard, seeking his blessings.
Though his answer to her was rather perfunctory, he did bring it to the
attention of Pope Eugenius (1145-53), a rather enlightened individual who
exhorted Hildegard to finish her writings. With papal imprimatur, Hildegard was
able to finish her first visionary work Scivias ("Know the Ways of the Lord")
and her fame began to spread through Germany and beyond.
Major Works
Around 1150 Hildegard moved her growing convent from Disibodenberg, where the
nuns lived alongside the monks, to Bingen about 30 km north, on the banks of the
Rhine. She later founded another convent, Eibingen, across the river from Bingen.
Her remaining years were very productive. She wrote music and texts to her songs,
mostly liturgical plainchant honoring saints and Virgin Mary for the holidays
and feast days, and antiphons. There is some evidence that her music and moral
play Ordo Virtutum ("Play of Virtues") were performed in her own convent. In
addition to Scivias she wrote two other major works of visionary writing Liber
vitae meritorum (1150-63) (Book of Life's Merits) and Liber divinorum operum(1163)
("Book of Divine Works"), in which she further expounded on her theology of
microcosm and macrocosm-man being the peak of god's creation, man as a mirror
through which the splendor of the macrocosm was reflected. Hildegard also
authored Physica and Causae et Curae (1150), both works on natural history and
curative powers of various natural objects, which are together known as Liber
subtilatum ("The book of subtleties of the Diverse Nature of Things"). These
works were uncharacteristic of Hildegard's writings, including her
correspondences, in that they were not presented in a visionary form and don't
contain any references to divine source or revelation. However, like her
religious writings they reflected her religious philosophy-that the man was the
peak of god's creation and everything was put in the world for man to use.
Her scientific views were derived from the ancient Greek cosmology of the four
elements-fire, air, water, and earth-with their complementary qualities of heat,
dryness, moisture, and cold, and the corresponding four humours in the body-choler
(yellow bile), blood, phlegm, and melancholy (black bile). Human constitution
was based on the preponderance of one or two of the humours. Indeed, we still
use words "choleric", "sanguine", "phlegmatic" and "melancholy" to describe
personalities. Sickness upset the delicate balance of the humours, and only
consuming the right plant or animal which had that quality you were missing,
could restore the healthy balance to the body. That is why in giving
descriptions of plants, trees, birds, animals, stones, Hildegard is mostly
concerned in describing that object's quality and giving its medicinal use. Thus,
"Reyan (tansy) is hot and a little damp and is good against all superfluous
flowing humours and whoever suffers from catarrh and has a cough, let him eat
tansy. It will bind humors so that they do not overflow, and thus will lessen."
Hildegard's writings are also unique for their generally positive view of sexual
relations and her description of pleasure from the point of view of a woman.
They might also contain the first description of the female orgasm.
When a woman is making love with a man, a sense of heat in her brain, which
brings with it sensual delight, communicates the taste of that delight during
the act and summons forth the emission of the man's seed. And when the seed has
fallen into its place, that vehement heat descending from her brain draws the
seed to itself and holds it, and soon the woman's sexual organs contract, and
all the parts that are ready to open up during the time of menstruation now
close, in the same way as a strong man can old something enclosed in his fist.
She also wrote that strength of semen determined the sex of the child, while the
amount of love and passion determine child's disposition. The worst case, where
the seed is weak and parents feel no love, leads to a bitter daughter.
Divine Harmonies
Music was extremely important to Hildegard. She describes it as the means of
recapturing the original joy and beauty of paradise. According to her before the
Fall, Adam had a pure voice and joined angels in singing praises to god. After
the fall, music was invented and musical instruments made in order to worship
god appropriately. Perhaps this explains why her music most often sounds like
what we imagine angels singing to be like.
Hildegard wrote hymns and sequences in honor of saints, virgins and Mary. She
wrote in the plainchant tradition of a single vocal melodic line, a tradition
common in liturgical singing of her time. Her music is undergoing a revival and
enjoying huge public success. One group, Sequentia, is planning to record all of
Hildegard's musical output in time for the 900th anniversary of her birth in
1998. Their latest recording Canticles of Ecstasy is superb. Be sure to read the
translations of the latin text of the songs which provide a good example of
Hildegard's metaphorical writing, and are imbued with vibrant descriptions of
color and light, that also occurs in her visionary writings.
The Most Distinguished Migraine Sufferer
It is now generally agreed that Hildegard suffered from migraine, and that her
visions were a result of this condition. The way she describes her visions, the
precursors, to visions, to debilitating aftereffects, point to classic symptoms
of migraine sufferers. Although a number of visual hallucinations may occur, the
more common ones described are the "scotomata" which often follow perceptions of
phosphenes in the visual field. Scintillating scotomata are also associated with
areas of total blindness in the visual field, something Hildegard might have
been describing when she spoke of points of intense light, and also the "extinguished
stars." Migraine attacks are usually followed by sickness, paralysis, blindness-all
reported by Hildegard, and when they pass, by a period of rebound and feeling
better than before, a euphoria also described by her. Also, writes Oliver Sachs
Among the strangest and most intense symptoms of migraine aura, and the most
difficult of description and analysis, are the occurrences of feelings of sudden
familiarity and certitude... or its opposite. Such states are experienced,
momentarily and occasionally,by everyone; their occurrence in migraine auras is
marked by their overwhelming intensity and relatively long duration.
It is a tribute to the remarkable spirit and the intellectual powers of this
woman that she was able to turn a debilitating illness into the word of god, and
create so much with it.