Still from Tehran. -
On this day in 1179, Hildegard of Bingen died. Her exact birthday is not known, but it was also in September - 1098.
This medieval nun lived in the Rhineland. She was given to a nunnery when she was only eight and, against all odds, succeeded in medicine, music and politics. By the time she passed, she had written many books, had composed music and was in contact with many important political and intellectual leaders – a woman on top of her times.
Hildegard usually is usually labeled as a mystic. But in my opinion, she is anything but. When you read her works, you get the impression of a sharp intellect and endless curiosity. Among other things, she described two hundred kinds of fish found in the Rhine. That’s not mystic, that’s scientific! And when she writes about sexuality, she is so matter-of-fact – you wonder where she learned all that.
She composed celestial music – mostly only for women’s voices – just out-of-the-world! If you ever have a chance, listen to her! In her music, she is mystic, if you wish – but so is Schubert…
For me she is important as a healer. She used and described herbs extensively. Her crystal healing is controversial but interesting – after all, we are from the Earth, like stones. She talks about the “green force of the flesh” – meaning: We will be much healthier when our food comes mostly from the plant kingdom. This insight has lost nothing of its actuality.
Very shortly after her death, the process for her canonization by the Catholic Church had been instituted. But in nearly a thousand years, her status stayed at “beatification.” Also, the Church made sure that women would not follow Hildegard’s uppity. The misogynistic delay of sanctification has not hindered the common people to call her “Saint Hildegard” ever since.
She definitely is interesting – and I hope to write about her in my series of “Healers of the World.” I began with Sebastian Kneipp (my Kneipp novel will come out shortly); now I am writing about Li Shizhen, the sixteenth century Chinese physician and herbalist. And, hopefully, Hildegard will be the third.
One healer I will not write about is Ibn Sina, or Avicenna, the great Persian physician and scientist, who lived a century before Hildegard. Not that he was not important – our travels here in Iran remind me again how much he was. But somebody has already written a wonderful novel about him: Noah Gordon, The Physician. Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
September Blessings
September 4, 2010
All seasons are my favorites, but September sticks out for me.
In the summer, I wither in the heat – that is why Maine is my refuge during the hot days. Maine’s cold water – I can’t understand that nobody advertises it! The Bahamas never tempt me. - We returned home to Boston tonight, into a sticky hot house. On our evening walk, however, the air was crisp – just as one expects of September.
Yet the main reason why I always look forward to September is that I love being back at school, so to speak, with sharpened pencil and a rested mind. As a child, I couldn’t wait for the new school year, the new subjects, and my old friends. Later, my enthusiasm lagged at times – but the start always beguiled me.
Much more than the New Year, September is my time for new beginnings, good intentions and resolutions. My Chinese course will restart this month, our writing group will reconvene, and I will take cello lessons again.
This year, September is even more special: On September 2nd, I finished my Sebastian Kneipp novel - or I think I finished it (thought that once before…). The quiet in Maine gave me all the concentration I needed. I might restart my “Chinese” novel about Li Shizhen (1518-1593) and/or finish the nonfiction book about skiing and health. Life is good.
Life is good as long as one still finds things to learn, to discover, to tackle. – What will you tackle this September? Read More
Maine Time
August 29, 2010
For two weeks already, we are in Maine. The Internet works only sporadically, and my mind is not on blogging.
Maine, this summer, has taught me these points:
1. At least once a day, I dip into the ocean – either for a swim or after the sauna. The water down-east used to be so cold, I would freeze to the bones in minutes. But global warming is real: Now I can stay much longer.
2. The French Commissaire Maigret, Georges Simenon’s master detective, describes a morning in Paris thus: “Maigret always loved wandering the streets, while Paris made its morning ablutions.” Ablution, of course, is a fancy word for a cold water gush.
3. On my birthday, at full moon, we kayaked at night to the seals’ rock. It was something to remember – the smooth ocean, the bright moon, the sleepy calls of water birds. I saw the other boat only by the silvery run of drops from the oars.
4. If you dream of owning a boat, forget the expensive stuff – the stinkers with motor. Get a kayak, used, if possible! Put your kayak in a river, a lake, the ocean. Hear the silence of Nature speak to you when you paddle by.
5. I see herons, eagles, cormorants and terns – and the ubiquitous seagulls; I hear loons and ospreys. And, so far, I met a fox, deer, seals, feral cats and lots of chipmunks and red squirrels. The most exciting meeting was a with a hummingbird moth – because I had never before seen one. And we have real hummingbirds, too; it’s inconceivable how they can survive this far in the north. I understand they drink birch sap in the spring. In August, they suck nectar from my phlox.
6. I think I might be finished soon with my Kneipp novel. But I have thought that before … Read More