Book Description
Medieval saint, mystic, healer, and visionary--Hildegard von Bingen has made a comeback. She is now popular in natural healing circles, in medieval and women's studies, and among those interested in investing the everyday with the spiritual. Hildegard's Healing Plants is a gift version and new translation of the "Plant" section of Physica, Hildegard's classic work on health and healing. Hildegard comments on 230 plants and grains--most of which are still grown in home gardens and sold at local health food stores. In one of many entries on women's health, Hildegard writes, "Also if a pregnant woman labors much in childbirth, let someone cook pleasant herbs, such as fennel and assurum, in water with fear and great moderation, squeeze out the water, and place them while they are warm around her thighs and back, tied gently with a piece of cloth, so that her pain and her closed womb is opened more pleasantly and easily." Whether read for the sheer enjoyment of Hildegard's earthy, intelligent voice ("Let a man who has an overabundance of lust in his loins cook wild lettuce in water and pour it over himself in a sauna") or for her encyclopedic and often still relevant understanding of natural health, Hildegard's Healing Plants is a treasure for gardeners, natural healing enthusiasts, and Hildegard fans everywhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A natural healing manual by a woman
Before echinacea and homeopathy there was Hildegard and her medieval herb remedies. Hildegard's Healing Plants provides a natural healing manual by a woman who used herbs around her convent in the early 1100s. Listings from her medieval Physica book provide reviews of the various herbs and their properties.

A slice of a great woman's mind
Hildegard Von Bingen was a mystic, a musician, a moralist,as well as a poet, playright, and prophet.She added a little science in there, too, and some believe she must have been a physician.She follows the tradition of the time in that created things are composed of four elements: hot or cold, and wet or dry.She then goes on to tell the medicinal uses for over 200 plants.From aloe to oats to valerian, even an opinion on St. John's wort, it is amazing that the same plants continue to be a part of natural healing over 800 years after this book was written. That alone makes the book very interesting... ... Read more

Book Description

One of two major medical treatises by medieval healer Hildegard von Bingen, presented in its entirety for the first time in English during the 900th anniversary of her birth. 

A seminal text in the development of Western herbal medicine 

Presents nine categories of healing systems--Plants, Elements, Trees, Stones, Fish, Birds, Animals, Reptiles, and Metals--and elaborates on their medicinal use 

Closely related to Eastern medical approaches that are gaining respect today 

Saint, mystic, healer, visionary, fighter, Hildegard von Bingen stands as one of the great figures in the history of women in me. 

At a time when few women could write and most were denied a formal education, Hildegard von Bingen became a legendary healer, visionary, musician, artist, poet, and saint. Her works include twenty-seven symphonic compositions; Scivias, a compilation of her visions; and her two major medical works, Causae et Curae, a medical compendium, and Physica, published here in English in its entirety for the first time. 

Physica has a strong affinity with the Eastern medical approaches gaining great respect today. The modern reader interested in natural healing will recognize the enormous truth in the theories of this 12th-century physician, which remind us that our cures for illness depend on our natural world and our place in it. 

Customer Reviews (4)

Interesting, but challenging
I have tried to use this book once or twice. One of the things that still make me giggle is using lion's ears to combat deafness. Then I remembered all these animal body-parts that are still being harvested for their medical qualities that are bringing the animals into extinction -- like is the case with the rhinoceros and the shark. So I stop giggling and stick to the plant sections.

The recipes that Hildegard uses are sometimes hard to do because I simply have no idea what some of the plants she uses are. She also uses wine a lot, which is new to me. I come from a tea tradition, so boiling things in wine is a true novelty. Maybe this is why I have not used it much since it can be very different from what I know. On the other hand, it has provided me wonderful new experiences in the herbal work! I have not used the mineral section yet, and only stuck to the plant section.

At the very least, it is a fascinating treatise on medieval medicine. I do recommend it!

Engaging, Historical Compendium
From herbal treatments to stone power, Hildegard covers it all in this excellent translation by Priscilla Throop.Anyone interested in the holistic and deep level personhood approach of Hildegard (she was much more than her music) will count this book as essential to their collection.Hildegard as theologian, philosopher, musician, and natural healer can all be seen in Physica.Enjoy!!!

a contribution to the study of medieval medicine
Ms.Throop provides a learned introduction to Hildegard and a fluent translation of an important medical text.Scholars and interested laymen will benefit from her efforts.
Michael T.Walton,Ph.D.

Useful solely as a historical reference
From what I had read concerning this book and other works of Hildegarde's, I had assumed that it would be useful for one interested in herbal medicine. Though I fondly smiled at remedies involving unicorn horn, and at cautions about avoiding the meat of the gryphon, I was very disappointed that there were no usefulideas, for all that I respect the skill of the medieval herbalists. Entries are merely Hildegard's description of a plant or animal and its humours. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Just Wonderful!!!
Mystical, profound, Just seat , contact your inner self and hear. Contact God within you. ... Read more

Book Description
Twelfth-century Rhineland mystic Hildegard von Bingen records her exquisite encounter with divinity, producing a magnificent fusion of divine inspiration and human intellect. Hildegard von Bingens Mystical Visions is perhaps the most complete and powerful documentation of mystical consciousness in recorded history. Now after 800 years, these visions are again available for those seeking to reawaken mystical consciousness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

incomplete
I was disappointed to see that not all Hildegarde's visions have been translated and included.The editing seems primarily to eliminate those visions popularly believed to refer to the future "end times".Almost the entire section of "vision eleven", dealing with that subject, has been edited out.
The book is definitely useful as a reference for the character of St. Hildegarde, and the "language" of dreams & visions, however I was, as I said, disappointed with what seems to be a "censoring" of the material.

An Awesome, thought provoking book
I don't remember reading a book before that provoked such awe of God. Her visions are vivid and her words invoke realistic mind pictures. She interprets a lot and sometimes writes what she heard God say. Some of thethings she believes God told her, I am not sure I accept, but all in allthe work inspires me to want to make God the center of my life. It is notalways the easiest reading, but is understandable -- the translator did anadmirable Job. I will look for more of her work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Despite Some Historical Inaccuracies, this Book Shines!
Having read several of the more scholarly treatises on Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, I'm finding it a breath of fresh air to experience her as a living being.The book is beautifully written and is not afraid to present Hildegard as all too human, dealing with the concerns and fears that must have accompanied her extraordinary visionary gifts.Although Hildegard would never have called herself a "feminist", since she embraced the precepts and beliefs of Catholicism, including the superiority of an all-powerful male God, she held women in high regard and challenged many of the assumptions of that time about women the value of women in the eyes of God.It is difficult to imagine that the Catholic church never officially granted sainthood to Hildegard; however, she is considered a saint in Germany - and I agree!

Good story with historical flaws
This book really does make Hildegard come to life, by presenting her in the context of her times and her beliefs. But there are lots of weird little historical mistakes that suddenly snap the reader out of 12thcentury Germany, making it hard to stay with the story line. For example: Amonk says he thinks the nuns should just stick with their rosaries--butrosaries didn't exist then. The margravine is desribed as wearing a dresswith lace at the sleeves, but lacemaking was still several centuries in thefuture. Bernard of Clairvaux is described as having a beard, but monks wereclean-shaven--it was the friars of the next century that wore beards. Andseveral characters supposedly wear velvet, but it hadn't been invented yet.I really wish the author had taken the time to research a little better,since Hildegard was (and is) such an appealing character. Historical novelsthat aren't true to their period are as annoying to read as stories withgeographical or technological errors.Putting the archbishop in velvet islike putting Rome in France or giving President Lincoln a telephone--kindamakes it hard to believe the story after that.

Hildegard comes alive.
The life, the country, the contemporaries, and the political times of Hildegard come alive in this book. She was more than a religious woman who could write music - she had a great deal of courage and determination which even today would make her an outstanding feminist. Read it while listening to her music and find your dreams taking yyou to another world. ... Read more