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The meaning of health and illness for Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard considered human beings as being embedded in the cosmic order. Man is the most important among all creatures because he is endowed with reason and thus forms part of the godly sphere. However, he is dependent on the soil from which he was made to maintain his physical and psychological balance. Thus the powers of the earth “encourage man, for his own benefit, to keep the earth because he is dependent on the very powers of the earth in order not to fall to destruction”.⁴ Man was given the instruction to work in harmony with nature because he can neither live nor exist without nature. “Nature” refers to the entire cosmos, including all other forms of life with which man is intrinsically linked: man is God’s creation and as such is linked to God as every other creature is as well. A world in which man subjugates and exploits nature would have been unimaginable for Hildegard. However, on the basis of his reason, man has the freedom to determine his actions. If he abuses his power and loses the right measure, he causes an imbalance of external forces that will have repercussions for him too: his body and soul become ill. Because man is dependent on nature and all other creatures, their destruction will ultimately lead to his own destruction.

Hildegard’s understanding of health and illness can only be understood against the background of her holistic view of man. The inherent structures of the order of creation determine all creatures and only if man sees himself as a part of this order and acts in accordance with this order, health will be possible. Thus Hildegard’s medicinal knowledge is at the same time also knowledge of life. It affects how man deals with nature, eating and drinking, working and resting, waking and sleeping and all emotions. And man is not only responsible for his own well-being, but also for that of his fellow human beings, of the environment, of the entire universe.