Hildegard of Bingen – The Mystic, the Author, the Composer

Not many know of Hildegard of Bingen, but then again, not everything is known of her with certainty, as she lived in the early 12th century and much about her is lost to the ages.

But despite that, she is still a prominent historical figure and a saint, credited as the founder of German scientific natural history. 

The Mystic

Hildegard of Bingen was a regular abbess until she was discovered to be a prophet. She started experiencing visions early on; the Church quickly realized that her insights are real, and they enabled her to put them in writing.

She was humble at first, not wanting to write them. But as she says in her religious text filled with most of her visions – Scivias, she quickly realized that they need to be in writing. “And I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me – Cry out, therefore, and write thus!”

Hildegard quickly started considering her visions as gifts, and they varied a lot in their form. They were often prophetic but sometimes apocalyptic as well. They covered the church, our relationship with God, and redemption. She never stopped writing those, but she did write other manuscripts as well.

The Author and Composer

Hildegard was not only a prophet; her words were also that of poetry and music. She made 77 lyric poems, and each had a musical setting as well. Besides that, she wrote about the lives of many saints. 

However, she also made two treatises on medicine and natural history.

Much of what she wrote was lost for centuries, but some breakthroughs concerning her work were made in the 20th century. 

The most critical part is what she wrote in the field of medicine and natural history. Her contributions are short of groundbreaking and compiled in the book called Hildegard of Bingen’s Medicine. 

The book contains translations of much of her texts on ancient alchemical and healing science. Many professionals today have found her work to be profound for her era. She deeply understood nature and spiritualism and has managed to stand the test of time. Profound wisdom is found in these writings even though medicine has advanced too much when compared to her period. 

All in all, she spent much of her life writing and traveling across Germany. Miracles were reported around her even after she died, but she was formally canonized relatively recently in 2012. The Pope also proclaimed her to be a doctor of the church – an acknowledgment given to only four women in total. 

All in all, Hildegard of Bingen is a woman worth knowing about, as she can be an inspiration to many through her in-depth knowledge and understanding that went beyond her period. 

We at the World Happiness Fest want to go beyond this time as well and work towards changing the world we have today and creating better and happier humanity. Join us and listen to plenty of futurists and dreamers who are working towards making this future earth a reality.