Contemplation by Hildegarde von Bingen

At one point during my lifetime studies I "met" Hildegarde von Bingen (1098-1179). It was in England, where I bought a CD with music, composed by her and sung by a choir (with a short biography of the lady included as well). 

It was so lovely to listen to and for ages I used this beautiful music to ease me into my meditations.

Hildegarde was a Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary and *polymath of the High Middle Ages. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, a well as the most recorded in modern history. She has been considered by many in Europe to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.

Today I like to share with you one of her many contemplations.

"From my early childhood, before my bones, nerves and veins were fully strengthened, I have always seen this vision in my soul, even to the present time when I am more than seventy years old. In this vision my soul, as God would have it, rises up high into the vault of heaven and into the changing sky and spreads itself out among different peoples, although they are far away from me in distant lands and places. And because I see them this way in my soul, I observe them in accord with the shifting of clouds and other created things. I do not hear them with my outward ears, nor do I perceive them by the thoughts of my own heart or by any combination of my five senses, but in my soul alone, while my outward eyes are open. So, I have never fallen prey to ecstasy in the visions, but I see them wide awake, day and night. And I am constantly fettered by sickness, and often in the grip of pain so intense that it threatens to kill me, but God has sustained me until now. The light which I see thus is not spatial, but it is far, far brighter than a cloud which carries the sun. I can measure neither height, nor length, nor breadth in it; and I call it "the reflection of the living Light. And as the sun, the moon, and the stars appear in water, so writings, sermons, virtues, and certain human actions take form for me and gleam." 

* A polymath is a person whose knowledge and skills span a wide variety of different subjects. Also called a "Renaissance person" or polyhistor, a polymath does not just casually know facts about various topics, but achieves deep understanding, mastery and integration across distinct fields, such as science, art, philosophy and politics. (Wikipedia)

With love,

Juliet Joan