Visions of Hildegard

A lovely maiden

2007-04-06T08:46:00.000+10:00

And I saw one like a lovely maiden, her face gleaming with such radiant splendor that I could not perfectly behold her. Whiter than snow was her mantle and more shining than the stars, and her shoes were of the finest gold. In her right hand she held the sun and moon and tenderly embraced them. And on her breast was an ivory tablet in which there appeared the form of a man, the color of sapphire; and all creation called this maiden Lady. Now she spoke to the form that appeared in her bosom, saying,
"With you is the beginning of the day of your virtue, in the splendour of the holy ones; I bore you from the womb before the morning star."

A most beautiful image

2006-11-10T09:06:00.000+11:00

Towards the end of her life, Hildegard had a vision of the Goddess which has parallels with the earlier vision of Boethius in his De Consolatione Philosophiae:

Lying long in my bed of sickness, in the 1170th year of the Lord’s incarnation, I saw – awake in body and spirit – a most beautiful image of womanly form, most peerless in gentleness, most dear in her delights. Her beauty was so great that the human mind could not fathom it, and her height reached from earth as far as heaven. Her face shone with the greatest radiance, and her eye gazed heavenward. She was dressed in the purest white silk, and enfolded by a cloak studded with precious gems – emerald, sapphire and pearls; her sandals were of onyx. Yet her face was covered in dust, her dress was torn on the right side, her cloak had lost its elegant beauty and her sandals were muddied. And she cried out … ‘The foxes have their lairs, and the birds of the sky their nests, but I have no helper or console, no staff on which to lean or be supported by.’

( from Letters, v2, p92)

Scivias 1:4

2006-11-08T19:47:00.000+11:00

… And I saw the image of a woman who had a perfect human form in her womb. And behold! By the secret design of the Supernal Creator that form moved with vital motion, so that a fiery globe that had no human lineaments possessed the heart of that form and touched its brain and spread itself through all its members.

Scivias Book 1, Vision 4

Hildegard's trilogy

2006-11-07T13:08:00.000+11:00

Hildegard received visions of the Divine Feminine from her earliest childhood through to her last days. These visions formed the basis for a series of extraordinary books which provided her with a platform for commentary on the actions of her contemporaries both ecclesiastical and temporal.

The first of the three volumes recording her visions is Scivias (Know the Way), written between 1141 and 1151, after the Holy Spirit had descended on Hildegard and enlightened her whole being, as so powerfully described in the opening Declaration. Scivias contains a number of visions of the Divine Feminine, including as the Mother of the Soul (I:4), as the Synagogue, with parallels to the Shekhinah (I:5), as the Church (II:3,5), and as Christ’s Mother (II:6).

The second volume is the Liber Vitae Meritorum (The Book of the Rewards of Life), written between 1158 and 1163, which contains visions relating to the weakness of the human condition.

The third of this trilogy is the Liber Divinorum Operum simplicis Hominis (The Book of the Divine Works of a Simple Person), written between 1163 and 1173. Also known as De operatione Dei, this volume is a synthesis of Hildegard’s theological beliefs, structured around ten visions, and contains her knowledge of the elements of the universe, and the physiology of the human body.

Scivias 2:5

2006-11-07T12:48:00.001+11:00

… I saw a splendour white as snow and translucent as crystal had shone around the image of that woman from the top of her head to her throat. And from her throat, glowing like the dawn from her throat to her breasts and shining from her breasts to her navel mixed with purple and blue. And where it glowed like the dawn, its brightness shone forth as high as the secret places of Heaven; and in this brightness appeared a most beautiful image of a maiden, with bare head and black hair, wearing a red tunic, which flowed down about her feet.

And I heard the voice from Heaven saying, “This the blossom of the celestial Zion, the mother and flower of roses and lilies of the valley. O blossom, when in your time you are strengthened, you shall bring forth a most renowned prosperity.”

Scivias
Book 2 Vision 5

Holy Spirit

2006-11-07T12:27:00.001+11:00

Symphonia armonie celestrium revelationum (Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelation)

15. Spiritus sanctus vivificans vita

Holy Spirit, quickening life,

Moving all things, the root in all creation,

Who washes all things of impurity,

Removing sins and soothing wounds

Who is shining light and laudable life,

Wakening and reawakening things.