"Highly respected as a composer and a theologian, as well as a medicinal herbalist, [the twelfth-century abbess Saint Hildegard of Bingen] developed her own philosophy based on the connection between the human spirit and the growth force of the earth which she called viriditas. Like the source of a river, viriditas is the font of energy on which all other life forms ultimately depend. The word combines the Latin for green and truth. Viriditas is the origin of goodness and health, in contrast to ariditas, or dryness, which Hildegard regarded as its life-defying opposite.
The greening power of viriditas is both literal and symbolic. It refers to the flourishing of nature as well as the vibrancy of the human spirit. By placing 'greenness' at the heart of her thinking, Hildegard recognised that people can only thrive when the natural world thrives."
Sue Stuart-Smith, The Well Gardened Mind.
(Pictured enjoying today's rain is Thalictrum delavayi or Chinese meadow rue.)
Thank you so much for this quote Karen. We all need to remind ourselves of the truth of the last sentence. Especially today. I have long admired this creative intelligent woman and a visit to Bingen Am Rhein where we heard the nuns sing Vespers will stay with me forever.
Posted by: Paulette | 06 August 2020 at 12:06 AM
So far ahead of her time!
Posted by: callmemadam | 06 August 2020 at 08:59 AM
That must have been wonderful, Paulette.
Posted by: Cornflower | 06 August 2020 at 11:49 AM
She was!
Posted by: Cornflower | 06 August 2020 at 11:50 AM
I was delighted to find this post Karen. I listen to Dame Emma Kirkby & Gothic Voices A Feather on the Breath of God every night before sleep. Thoroughly recommend. Teresa,
Posted by: Teresa | 15 August 2020 at 02:56 PM