Customer Reviews

Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen

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This book claims to be "Text by Hildegard of Bingen with commentary by Mathew Fox." In fact, it is nearly all Fox with only occasional brief quotes from Hildegard. Confusingly, Fox uses "illuminations" to mean what Hildegard and everyone else calls "visions" rather than the pictures in manuscripts which are properly called "illuminations." This book contains, however, twenty-five reproductions of these pictures. To judge from other reproductions of the same pictures, the quality of the reproduction seems mediocre. Here you can learn only what Matherw Fox, a Domican, thinks about these visions. To find out what Hildegard said about them visions -- which is far fresher and more stunning that what Fox has to say -- one will have to look elsewhere. As an introduction to Hildegard, I would suggest "Hildegard of Bingen, A Visionary Life" and "Secrets of God: Writings of Hildegard of Bingen," both by Sabina Flanagan.

It is terrible shame that the best affordable set of reproductions of Hildegard's images is by Fox on Fox. His text is a series of misquotes which misrepresents his source throughout all his commentary, juxtaposing quotes to put words in Hildegard's mouth, often ones which would have enraged her. There is a costly but much better reproduction of the visions by A. Fuhrkotter published by Turnhout, Belgium in good library collections or for those who can afford it. I encourage anyone interested in Hildegard to go for the reputable scholars like Newman, Flanagan, Davies, and Hart just to name a few.

This book is not worth buying: what a shame they killed good trees to produce it! Matthew Fox is renowned in the world of academia and learned theology for his sheer flakiness. He is no Hildegard authority, but only a Fox authority (MUCH less interesting). Anyone wanting a sound introduction to Hildegard, provided by specialists trained in the field of medieval studies, religion and literature, would be best served consulting the works of highly trained and eminently readable authors like Barbara Newman, Peter Dronke and Sabina Flanagan.

This book provides the best source for large color reproductions of Hildegard's visionary illuminations. Matthew Fox writes from a lifelong theological experience in and out of the Church; he is reponsible for some of the most beautiful and profound insights into Hildegard's earth-based, Celtic, creation spirituality. His texts incorporate excellent biblical scholarship, a knowledge of world religions, remarkable feminism for a male writer, and a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach, combining images and quotations from Hildegard's, art, music, writing, and scientific studies. Highly recommended.

Both the quality illustrations and the text deeply affected me, introducing me to both the Cosmic Christ and to Hildegard's cosmology of the Universe.

It's a wonderful book to savor and to meditate upon.

"I am the breeze that nurtures all things green.
I encourage blossoms to flourish with ripening fruits.
I am the rain coming from the dew
that causes the grasses to laugh with the joy of life."

"All of creation is a symphony of the Holy Spirit which is joy and Jubilation. ...The prophetic spirit orders that God be praised with Cymbals of jubilation and with the rest of the musical instruments..." Hildegard of Bingen



Apocalyptic Visions:
Mythical prophecies for world-ending dreams come out of a collective anxiety about the future of our planet or frailty of the human race. These dreams may be triggered in times of global upheavals and unpredictability. A millennial click may generates such kind of dreaming for some people. Y2K was associated with expected software crashes, which could have caused banking systems chaos, or air flight accidents, which did not materialize anyway. But the damaging news about the earth droughts, water pollution, global warming, and other potential fears for flooding or cosmic collision will continue to be nightmares for others. Whenever instability or insecurity become themes of cultural awareness, apocalyptic dreams for some people become frequent. Interpreting this type of dream may be calling the dreamer to protect their domains against risks that are beyond your secured zone.
Religious or spiritual revelation that heralds the end of the world is a powerful image. Usually, the dreamer will see some significant icons of their faith initiating or withstanding the destruction. Another scenario is that adherents to the mysticism are identified in a particular way and survive the destruction because of their association. In these dreams, the world is often reordered. Many times, these dreams will accompany a time in the dreamer's life when he or she feels that the entire world is against them and only their association with something larger than themselves can provide a resolution.

Feminist 'End Time Kingdom':
With Hildegard the contribution to apocalyptic expectations ceased to be an exclusive male visionary activity on the fringe of Christian belief. Bernard McGinn summarizes her unique view of the end times as, "the picture that she has of the Antichrist, for example, as part of this play or scenario, is one of the most inventive of the entire medieval period. Well, Hildegard of course gives us several pictures of the end times. But the one that was most .. powerful, I think, is the picture in her book Scivias, the visionary book that she wrote in the 1140's. ... a series of visions, many of the connected with the heavenly world, ... the picture of the kingdoms of the end time and the birth of Antichrist from the Church. This is a powerful image of a vast female figure representing the Church, with this horrible monstrous head being born from the woman."

Holistic View of God and humanity:
"It is both fitting and just that such an impressive array of feminine medieval scholars should present this "faithful and unabridged translation" of the Scivias of Hildegard of Bingen. "Fitting," not because Hildegard was a rabid feminist in the modern sense, but because as a woman in a patriarchal age she dared to obey God 'instead of men,' preaching and writing to arouse to Christian responsibility a 'lukewarm and sluggish' clergy and an ill-informed people in what she called an 'effeminate age.' And 'just' because scholars of her own gender may best resonate with some of the struggles Hildegard faced in follower her prophetic calls, a mission that eventually won the support of her contemporary, St. Bernard, and the official endorsement of Pope Eugenius II himself. ... Granted Hildegard's fascinating personality, what is the real value of this particular book of her prophetic visions for us today? ...: "To students of spirituality, Hildegard remains of compelling interest ... as a perfect embodiment of the integrated, holistic approach to God and humanity for which our fragmented era longs" Sr. Helen Barrow, OSB

Medieval Apocalyptic Pantheism?
Hildegard of Bingen is one of the focal figures in the history of apocalypticism to promote its Judeo Christian symbolic prophecies. The brilliant German abbess, obscure but very mystical, a multi-talented woman, and a devoted believer in Biblical prophecy. Her innovation to the tradition was through illumination, presenting her vision, and commentaries on the prophecies, unfolded through paintings in which she employed to capture the core of her visions. The Last Judgment after the reign of the Antichrist penetrated into European culture, in her own day and later. Like other visionaries she felt called upon to reprove rulers; her correspondents included Henry II of England, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Pope Eugenius III, and various other prelates.
In "The Illuminated Life," Nancy Mackenzie subtly echoes 'the divine essence present in all things,' as a proof of Hildegard's pantheism ('They speak of spirits in all things .. of poems all composed in the company of trees.') For Mackenzie it is 'the spirits' everywhere present. She echoes Matthew's Gospel (Matt.10:30) statement that 'even the hairs of your head have all been counted' as she takes a hair from her companion's head to fold into her 'book of life', poems written with trees and on the product of trees.

Popularization of Hildegard:
Hildegard's long life stands as testimony to what a brilliant and well-placed woman could accomplish in the medieval century that produced more outstanding women than any other. Virtually unknown for eight centuries of Western history, Hildegard was featured as one of the women in Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in the early 1980s and published for the first time in English by Bear & Company in 1982. In addition to her mystical teachings, Hildegard's music has been performed and recorded for a new and growing audience. Author Matthew Fox has stated, "If Hildegard had been a man, she would be well known as one of the greatest artists and intellectuals the world has ever seen."
"After his challenging presentation, we were walking to dinner through the wet slush of a Chicago January and I told Tom that I was working on a book on Hildegard of Bingen's paintings and illuminations. "Ah, Hildegard!" he said. "A great genius." And he was off expounding on Hildegard. He was the first person I had encountered who knew who she was. And of course his knowledge was of the deepest kind. Thomas Berry helps me to resacralize the gift of curiosity. So many people in our culture and so many clergy appear to be anything but curious. They are complacent. Intellectually complacent. But not Tom." Matthew Fox recalls

M. Fox Criticism:
It is wrong to give uninformed and Curia biased judgement on Matthew Fox theology, which is based on Eastern Churches Cosmology and Soteriology, rather than 'Illuminations book' review, a milestone in Catholic apocalyptic fascination. Fox gave a novel look at the Medieval seer, and made popular her illuminations, and consequently the Scivias. this book was a confirmation of 'Original Blessings' line of Nouvelle Theologie. His reference to Chenu, Master Eckhart, Mircea Eliade, Julian of Norwich, Carl Jung, and the like made his work inaccessible to dogma oriented hard liners.
For those pre Vatican II enthusiasts, let them be shocked out of their misinformation, when they learn that readings from the Apocalypse of John cannot be found in any Eastern Orthodox Lectionary. Visions and apocalypses are not so regarded in the Eastern Church. Even the book of Revelations of (John the Elder, a local bishop and disciple of John the beloved) was authorized by St. Athanasius in 367, to avoid alienating the Roman Church whose faithful admired it, while affirming the epistle to the Hebrews, the Alexandrine favorite, in exchange. Earlier Dionysius the Great, Papa of Alexandria(247 to 264) blamed Napos, Bishop of Arsenoi, ruling that the book of the Apocalypse was a distraction from the good News, which says that eternal life start here (John 17:3). Dionysius concluded, on his textual criticism, that the stylistic and lexical features of the book of revelation proved that the evangelist could not have written the book of apocalypse. So let alone Matthew Fox even if his editorial method is more colorful than precise.

Illuminations Reviews:
"It is evident from this (cover) picture that Hildegard [of Bingen] does not repress the shadow side of existence. For all of her celebration of divine illumination, she never forgets evil" Joanna Weston
"We find relatively few Christian guides in the past to enlighten or to inspire us to a more functional relationship between the human and the natural worlds. ... Hildegard might be considered a model with her sense of the earth as region of delight." Thomas Berry, The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth
"Unfortunately , only a partial and unreliable version exists of the third book, Hildegarde of Bingen's book of divine Works, edited by Matthew Fox." Bernard McGinn

Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West (MART: The Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching)
Hildegard of Bingen's Book of Divine Works: With Letters and Songs

What a trail-blazer! Hildegard led the way in the Middle Ages for spirituality as well as for science. She influenced so many others with her writings and illuminations - Meister Eckhart, Dante, Teresa of Avila, etc.

I have used this book to introduce mystical theology to lay people. It has a feminist hook, so is very timely. The drawings (with commentaries) are also on slides. Hildegard's own commentaries on the drawings are clear and simple, so may be repeated in a running commentary with the presenter's own elaboration. The illuminations are colorful and very engaging to the eye. Creation (a sphere in the illumination) is described by H. as an egg, with feminist commentary. Creation is pictured also as a kite (the four compass points), with a tail connecting to an individual person. Very whimsical. Really great discussion starters!

Hildegard is a hidden female gem. She ranks up there with St. Teresa of Avila and other mystic saints. Her gift is artwork which when focused upon can transcend to higher levels or spheres. And her song are magical also.

Fox's commentary paints Hildegard as a rather mushy New Age spiritualist. (Which she was NOT!) The book's only redeeming quality is it's large, full-color reproductions of her illuminated manuscripts.