Hildegard thus supposes that the whole universe is permeated by a
single living spirit, the figure of the vision. This spirit of the
macrocosm, the _Nous_ or ‘world spirit’ of the hermetic and Neoplatonic
literature, the impersonated _Nature_, as we may perhaps render it,
is in its turn controlled by the Godhead that pervades the form and
is represented rising from its vertex as a second human face. Nature,
the spirit of the cosmic order, controls and holds in subjection the
hideous monster, the principle of death and dissolution, the _Hyle_
or primordial matter of the Neoplatonists, whose chaotic and anarchic
force would shatter and destroy this fair world unless fettered by a
higher power.
With the details of the visionary figure we need not delay,[73] but
we pass to the description of the structure of the macrocosm itself,
to which the second vision is devoted (Plate VII). Here appears the
same figure of the macrocosmic spirit. But now the head and feet
only are visible, and the arms are outstretched to enclose the disk
of the universe which conceals the body. Although the macrocosm now
described is considerably altered from Hildegard’s original scheme
of the universe, she yet declares, ‘I saw in the bosom of the form
the appearance of a disk of like sort to that which twenty-eight
years before I had seen in the third vision, set forth in my book of
_Scivias_’.[74] The zones of this disk are then described (Plates VII,
VIII, and XI and Fig. 2). They are from without inwards:
(_a_) The _lucidus ignis_, containing the three outer planets, the
sixteen principal fixed stars, and the south wind.
(_b_) The _ignis niger_, containing the sun, the north wind, and the
materials of thunder, lightning, and hail.
(_c_) The _purus aether_, containing the west wind, the moon, the two
inner planets, and certain fixed stars.
(_d_) The _aer aquosus_, containing the east wind.
(_e_) The _fortis et albus lucidusque aer_, where certain other fixed
stars are placed.
(_f_) The _aer tenuis_, or atmosphere, in the outer part of which is
the zone of the clouds.
From all these objects, from the spheres of the elements, from the
sun, moon, and other planets, from the four winds each with their
two collaterals, from the fixed stars, and from the clouds, descend
influences, indicated by lines, towards the figure of the macrocosm.
The microcosm is then introduced.
‘And again I heard the voice from heaven saying, “God, who created
all things, wrought also man in his own image and similitude, and
in him he traced [_signavit_] all created things, and he held him
in such love that he destined him for the place from which the
fallen angel had been cast.”’[75]
The various characters of the winds are expounded in a set of curious
passages in which the doctrine of the macrocosm and microcosm is
further mystically elaborated. An endeavour is made to attribute to
the winds derived from the different quarters of heaven qualities
associated with a number of animals.[76] The conception is illustrated
and made comprehensible by the miniatures in the Lucca MS. (Plates VII
and VIII).
‘In the middle of the disk [of the universe] there appeared the
form of a man, the crown of whose head and the soles of whose feet
extended to the _fortis et albus lucidusque aer_, and his hands
were outstretched right and left to the same circle.... Towards
these parts was an appearance as of four heads; a leopard, a wolf,
a lion, and a bear. Above the head of the figure in the zone of the
_purus aether_, I saw the head of the leopard emitting a blast from
its mouth, and on the right side of the mouth the blast, curving
itself somewhat backwards, was formed into a crab’s head ... with
two chelae; while on the left side of the mouth a blast similarly
curved ended in a stag’s head. From the mouth of the crab’s head,
another blast went to the middle of the space between the leopard
and the lion; and from the stag’s head a similar blast to the
middle of the space between the leopard and the bear ... and all
the heads were breathing towards the figure of the man. Under his
feet in the _aer aquosus_ there appeared as it were the head of a
wolf, sending forth to the right a blast extending to the middle
of the half space between its head and that of the bear, where it
assumed the form of the stag’s head; and from the stag’s mouth
there came, as it were, another breath which ended in the middle
line. From the left of the wolf’s mouth arose a breath which went
to the midst of the half space between the wolf and the lion, where
was depicted another crab’s head ... from whose mouth another
breath ended in the same middle line.... And the breath of all the
heads extended sideways from one to another.... Moreover on the
right hand of the figure in the _lucidus ignis_, from the head of
the lion, issued a breath which passed laterally on the right into
a serpent’s head and on the left into a lamb’s head ... similarly
on the figure’s left in the _ignis niger_ there issued a breath
from the bear’s head ending on its right in the head of [another]
lamb, and on its left in another serpent’s head.... And above the
head of the figure the seven planets were ranged in order, three
in the _lucidus ignis_, one projecting into the _ignis niger_ and
three into the _purus aether_.... And in the circumference of the
circle of the _lucidus ignis_ there appeared the sixteen principal
stars, four in each quadrant between the heads.... Also the _purus
aether_ and _the fortis et albus lucidusque aer_ seemed to be full
of stars which sent forth their rays towards the clouds, whence ...
tongues like rivers descended to the disk and towards the figure,
which was thus surrounded and influenced by these signs.’[77]
The third vision is devoted to an account of the human body, the
microcosm (Plate VIII), with a comparison of its organs to the parts of
the macrocosmic scheme, together with a detailed account of the effects
of the heavenly bodies on the humours in man, the whole brought into a
strongly theological setting. Some of these views are set forth below
in the chapter on anatomy and physiology.
The fourth vision explains the influence of the heavenly bodies and
of the superior elements on the power of nature as exhibited on the
surface of the earth. It is illustrated by a charming miniature in the
Lucca MS. (Plate IX).
‘I saw that the upper fiery firmament was stirred, so that as it were
ashes were cast therefrom to earth, and they produced rashes and ulcers
in men and animals and fruits.’ These effects are shown in the left
upper quadrant of Plate IX, where the ashes are seen proceeding from
the _lucidus ignis_, the ‘upper fiery firmament’. Two figures are seen,
a female semi-recumbent, who lifts a fruit to her mouth, and a male
figure fully recumbent, on whose legs a rash is displayed. The trees
also in this quadrant show the effects of the ashes, two of them being
denuded of fruit and foliage.
‘Then I saw that from the _ignis niger_ certain vapours (_nebulae_)
descended, which withered the verdure and dried up the moisture of the
fields. The _purus aether_, however, resisted these ashes and vapours,
seeking to hold back these plagues.’ These vapours may be seen in
the right upper quadrant of Plate IX. They descend from the _ignis
niger_, attenuate for a space in the _purus aether_, and then descend
through the other zones on to an arid and parched land. Here are two
husbandmen; one sits forlornly clasping his axe, while the other leans
disconsolately upon his hoe. On the legs of the latter a rash may be
distinguished.
‘And looking again I saw that from the _fortis et albus lucidusque aer_
certain other clouds reached the earth and infected men and beasts with
sore pestilence, so that they were subjected to many ills even to the
death, but the _aer aquosus_ opposed that influence so that they were
not hurt beyond measure.’ This scene is portrayed in the right lower
quadrant of Plate IX. Here is a husbandman in mortal anguish. He has
gathered his basket of fruit and now lies stricken with the pestilence.
His left hand is laid on his heart, while his right hangs listless on
his thigh, pointing to tokens of plague upon his legs. Beyond lies the
dead body of a beast on which a carrion bird has settled.
‘Again I saw that the moisture in the _aer tenuis_ was as it were
boiling above the surface of the earth, awakening the force of the
earth and making fruits to grow.’[78] This happier scene is represented
in the left lower quadrant of Plate IX. Here the beneficent fertilizing
influence is falling on trees and herbs and the happy husbandmen are
reaping its results.
[Illustration: From WIESBADEN CODEX B fo. 224 r