Hildegard von Bingen

Exploring the life, herbal knowledge and spiritual world of Hildegard von Bingen — and discovering what her work might offer us today.

I have been fascinated by Hildegard von Bingen for years: her writings on plants and healing, her extraordinary music, her visions, and her understanding of the natural world as something alive with meaning. Here on Urban Herbology, I will share some of that fascination, with useful resources, reflections on her work and ideas for bringing aspects of her world into contemporary urban life.

I am also exploring the possibility of a journey to the places where Hildegard lived and worked, alongside further workshops and gatherings inspired by her life and writings. This page will grow as those plans take shape. If you would like to stay informed about these please sign up for my newsletter.

So who was Hildegard von Bingen?

Hildegard (1098–1179) was a Benedictine abbess, visionary, composer and writer who lived in the Rhineland in what is now Germany. She was a remarkable woman in a society where women’s opportunities to study, write and speak with authority were severely limited.

Her work ranged across theology, music, the natural world and medicine. In the manuscript Scivias, she recorded and interpreted her visions. Physica is the manuscript where she describes plants and other natural substances, while Causes and Cures explores the human body, health, illness and treatment.

Hildegard’s understanding of the world was intertwined with her Christian faith. She saw humanity as part of a much greater creation, where the body, soul and the natural world are intimately connected. Her writings drew on the medical knowledge of her age, alongside her own distinctive theological views and also transmitted knowledge which she is thought to have gained during visions.

One of the ideas most closely associated with Hildegard is viriditas. This is often translated as “greenness” or “greening power”. But viriditas is about far more than the colour of growing plants, it is about vitality, flourishing and the life-giving power of creation. It is an idea that continues to fascinate me, especially when considering how we live with nature in our cities.

Hildegard’s writings need to be approached in their historical context. They emerged from a medieval Christian world, were shaped by the conventions of their time, and were produced with the help of scribes. Reading them today requires both curiosity and discernment: asking what she actually wrote, how her ideas fitted into the knowledge of her age, and what meaning they could hold for us now.

What can Hildegard offer us today?

My interest is not simply about recreating medieval herbal medicine. I am interested in how we might engage with Hildegard’s work as living material: something to explore through plants, the senses, history, music and our own experience of the natural world.

Even in a city, we are surrounded by plants with amazing histories, virtues and stories to be told. A potted supermarket herb can be a starting point for exploring medieval world views, ancient medicine, plant lore, or our place in nature today.

Hildegard offers a particularly rich meeting point between practical knowledge and spiritual reflection. We can investigate her descriptions of plants, compare historical ideas with contemporary herbal knowledge, and consider what it means to experience the natural world as more than a collection of resources.

So this is an invitation to explore, rather than to accept every historical claim about Hildegard, and to investigate some traditional remedies which could be safe and appropriate today.

Embassy of the Free Mind, garden house and Alchemical garden. Photo credit: Pia Ritman

Workshops, gatherings and a Hildegard pilgrimage

My recent workshop, Hildegard von Bingen & the Alchemical Garden, at the Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam, brought together medieval plant knowledge, Hildegard’s texts, plants in the Alchemical garden, herbal infusions, music and the experience of creating a personal tea blend.

It was a lovely opportunity to explore Hildegard through the senses as well as through books and ideas. This workshop builds on an ongoing exploration of Hildegard’s work through Urban Herbology. I have also organised several workshops over the year, at Mediamatic in Amsterdam, exploring how understanding Hildegard’s herbs, and worldview, can help with our own mental, physical, and spiritual health.

Each gathering offers another opportunity to bring historical ideas into conversation with the living plants around us, and to discover what they might mean in our lives today.

I am now exploring the possibility of a Hildegard pilgrimage or study visit to the Rhineland, following in the footsteps of a woman whose life and work continue to inspire so many different people. Places associated with her include the Rupertsberg near Bingen, where she founded her first independent convent, and Eibingen, where her second convent was established.

The details are still taking shape. I will use this page to share developments, possible destinations, dates and opportunities to take part as plans become clearer. I will also announce future Hildegard-inspired talks and workshops here.

If this interests you, do bookmark this page and return for updates, and/or join my (very occasional) mailing list.

Chamomile – Hildegard’s Herbs of Joy workshop. Photo credit: Mediamatic

Explore further

A few useful starting points for discovering Hildegard and her world:

I will add further recommendations, reading notes and resources here as this page develops.

About Lynn Shore

Lynn Shore is a medical herbalist, author and educator based in Amsterdam, where she founded Urban Herbology in 2010. She is the author of The Green City Witch: Weaving a Magical Life in Urban Spaces, a trustee of The Herb Society (UK), and a speaker on herbal folklore and nature-based spirituality.

Her work brings together herbal medicine, ecology, history, folklore and sensory experience, helping people discover meaningful connections with the living landscape around them. Through Urban Herbology, she explores how practical plant knowledge and our cultural and spiritual relationships with nature can enrich everyday life, even in the heart of a city.

Hildegard’s work is one of the historical worlds Lynn returns to in exploring these connections — with curiosity, a love of plants and an interest in what the past might help us see differently in the present. Lynn offers an apprenticeship course, and the Green City Witch Course.