Hildegard von Bingen - The Healing Power of her Symbols. Traude Bollig

people. The spoken word was of much greater importance in her times than it is today, because only very few privileged medieval people could read and write. It was, however, very unusual for a woman to speak publicly, because according to the writings of Paul women were not supposed to speak in church. She was not allowed to preach in her own name, because the right to preach was reserved for male theologians. But the fact that as a prophetess she spoke only in the name of God, gave her the necessary authority. She was also supported by priests and bishops who repeatedly asked her for her advice. This is quite astonishing in view of the fact that in her sermons she explicitly criticised the secularisation of the clergy, pomposity, stinginess and conceitedness of the priests and the corruption that was widely practised in the circles of the church.

      An episode from her last year of life is an impressive testimony for the steadfastness and sincerity of this extraordinary woman: in 1178 an excommunicated nobleman was buried in the cemetry of the monastery after he had found reconciliation with the church shortly before his death and had received the holy sacraments. Since no official revocation of the excommunication had been effected, church authorities in Mainz gave instructions that the body of the deceased should be exhumed and reburied in non-consecrated soil. Hildegard refused to carry out these instructions because she considered the protection through sacraments to be of more significance than the law of the church. As a form of punishment, an interdict was imposed against her nunnery: the bells were not allowed to ring, the nuns were no longer allowed to celebrate mass, no singing was allowed.

      Yet again Hildegard’s valiant spirit arose. When an urgent letter of request to the cathedral chapter of Mainz remained fruitless, the over-eighty-year-old travelled to Mainz. But this too did not cause the official church to relent. It took another few interventions until the interdict was eventually withdrawn. A few months later Hildegard von Bingen died in 1179.

      3 Heinrich Schipperges, Hildegard von Bingen. Here, in a very visual way, the importance of virtues and vices in the life of Hildegard and with reference to our world today is portrayed. In the individual description of the symbols on p 39 – 83 they are listed with reference to the respective topics under the heading “Hildegard”.

      The healing principle

      lies hidden

      in every person

      Hildegard von Bingen

      The meaning of health and illness for Hildegard von Bingen

      Hildegard considered human beings as being embedded in the cosmic order. Man is the most important among all creatures because he is endowed with reason and thus forms part of the godly sphere. However, he is dependent on the soil from which he was made to maintain his physical and psychological balance. Thus the powers of the earth “encourage man, for his own benefit, to keep the earth because he is dependent on the very powers of the earth in order not to fall to destruction”.⁴ Man was given the instruction to work in harmony with nature because he can neither live nor exist without nature. “Nature” refers to the entire cosmos, including all other forms of life with which man is intrinsically linked: man is God’s creation and as such is linked to God as every other creature is as well. A world in which man subjugates and exploits nature would have been unimaginable for Hildegard. However, on the basis of his reason, man has the freedom to determine his actions. If he abuses his power and loses the right measure, he causes an imbalance of external forces that will have repercussions for him too: his body and soul become ill. Because man is dependent on nature and all other creatures, their destruction will ultimately lead to his own destruction.

      Hildegard’s understanding of health and illness can only be understood against the background of her holistic view of man. The inherent structures of the order of creation determine all creatures and only if man sees himself as a part of this order and acts in accordance with this order, health will be possible. Thus Hildegard’s medicinal knowledge is at the same time also knowledge of life. It affects how man deals with nature, eating and drinking, working and resting, waking and sleeping and all emotions. And man is not only responsible for his own well-being, but also for that of his fellow human beings, of the environment, of the entire universe.