I’ve been learning a little about Hildegard von Bingen! Have you heard of her? What an amazing woman! She was a nun, artist, musician, herbalist, and visionary. She coined the word “Viriditas” (from the latin for green and truth). It basically means that there is presence of divine in everything green. She said that the presence of God was in the plants and that was why they healed. She also felt that we were all a part of a circle/cycle (not something looked highly upon by her church, who believe in the hierarchy of Trinity…Man…animal… earth (or something like that). She thought that the moist, juiciness of the plants showed their health and that if we are all moist and juicy, then we are filled with the presence of God. I’m not very religious, but I love the concept… whether you believe in God, Source, Spirit, whatever… we all hold the knowledge of the cycle of life and death (we just need to get back in touch with it). Cool, eh? I hear Hildegard use to sign all her correspondences with “May we all stay moist and juicy” hehe I bet that drove the church crazy!!
So, we may name our clinic “Viriditas…”
PS no eggs yet…
I am the laughter in the leaves ….
The Roman Catholic church would have definitely frowned on her perception!
So how did you happen to discover her? I really like the name for your clinic- very appropriate. You might have to teach people what the name means, but that I’m sure that will be part of the purpose of the clinic, no?
Oh, I forgot to add…given the time frame of her life span, you might enjoy reading the Brother Cadfael mystery series by Peter Ellis. Cadfael is an ex-Crusader who joins the monastery and works with herbs. Its fun fiction, and gives one a good idea of the existence of the time.
I first heard about her my first time in herb school. But I recently got a taped proceedings talk about her from an herbalists point of view and that is where I first heard the word viriditas. I think we will have a saying to go along with the clinic name. Something like “Viriditas Healing Center & Apothecary…. The presence of divine in all that is green” We’ll see….
She also wrote music. You can listen to samples of an album here:
http://www.amazon.com/Hildegard-von-Bingen-Canticles-Ecstasy/dp/B000001TYF/sr=8-1/qid=1165760093/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1687864-8876645?ie=UTF8&s=music
It’s achingly beautiful.
I’ve read somewhere that if she would have lived a bit later, she’d have been burned as a heretic or a witch. What an extraordinary figure . . . and a cool name too, I love it!
Michelle
greenfingers.blogsome.com
I first became interested in Hildegard because of her music. There are a lot of questionable legends about her so be careful what you believe. While she did have her disgreements with the Church she was generally highly regarded and most of her writings had the official approval of the authorities. There’s a pretty good biography: Hildegard of Bingen – A Visionary Life by Sabina Flanagan.