Studies in the History and Method of Science, vol. 1 (of 2)
Religion
Studies in the History and Method of Science, vol. 1 (of 2)
Medicine -- History; Science -- History
The concentric circles appear in numerous visions, and notably in
that of the _Days of the Creation of the World and the Fall of Man_,
illustrated by what is perhaps the most beautiful of all the miniatures
of the Wiesbaden Codex B (lib. ii, vis. 1, Plate XXII). It is in this
concentric form that Hildegard most frequently pictures the Almighty,
and the idea again appears in the eleventh miniature, here reproduced
in its original colours, which she describes as ‘a most shining light
and within it the appearance of a human form of a sapphire colour which
glittered with a gentle but sparkling glow’ (lib. ii, vis. 2, Plate
XXIII). Appearances of this type are recorded again and again.
The type with fortification figures is encountered in a whole series
of visions, of which we reproduce the account and illumination of the
_Zelus Dei_ (lib. iii, vis. 5, Plate XXIV, lower section).
‘I looked and behold a head of marvellous form ... of the colour
of flame and red as fire, and it had a terrible human face gazing
northward in great wrath. From the neck downward I could see no
further form, for the body was altogether concealed ... but the
head itself I saw, like the bare form of a human head. Nor was it
hairy like a man, nor indeed after the manner of a woman, but it
was more like to a man than a woman, and very awful to look upon.
‘It had three wings of marvellous length and breadth, white as a
dazzling cloud. They were not raised erect but spread apart one
from the other and the head rose slightly above them ... and at
times they would beat terribly and again would be still. No word
uttered the head, but remained altogether still, yet now and again
beating with its extended wings.’
From the head extended a series of fortification lines, and this
peculiar form of vision is reproduced on several occasions and
variously interpreted (Plate XXIV, upper section). It is united with
similar visions in what we regard as a reconstructed conception of
exceedingly complex structure. This she claims to see separately, and
she interprets it as the _aedificium_ of the city of God (Plate XXV).
Such reconstructed visions are clearly of a different type and origin
to the simple group in which a shining light or group of lights is
encountered and interpreted as a speaking figure.
[Illustration: From THE WIESBADEN CODEX B fo. 30 r
Plate XXV. THE HEAVENLY CITY]
Hildegard’s visions, perhaps without exception, contain this element of
a blinding or glittering light, which she interprets in a more or less
spiritual manner. We terminate our account with the passage in which
she sums up her experiences of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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