Hildegard as Shaman: Matthew Fox writes in his Daily Meditations of 4/27/2021: “A shaman lives in two worlds at once. Poet Bill Everson speaks of the link shamans have with the Animal Powers and recognizes Christ’s relationship to such animal powers in Mark’s gospel following his baptism when he went into the desert. Says Everson, “Christ related to the Animal Powers that preceded our more sophisticated religious impulses.””
As a pilgrim-filmmaker, my own work with Saint Hildegard through the making of my film, The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard, has made me also question if we could see Hildegard as Shaman through our modern-day lens. I realize that equating a Catholic Saint with shamanism is bound to rub some people the wrong way. I can thank Matthew Fox for the courage and insight to share that interesting perspective.
“Hildegard too is much in touch with the Animal Powers. Time and time again she is visited by animals in her visions and paints them, including snakes that frame several of her paintings. She includes images of bears, leopards, lions, birds, vipers, scorpions, lobsters, and fish. Many of these beasts speak to her and advise her. She devotes an entire chapter in her book Physica to a discussion of animals and their uses for healing and assistance in our work. She recognizes that
…birds symbolize the virtue a person reveals in his thinking when, by his internal premeditation, he reckons many things before they come forth in an illustrious deed.“
“Animals that run on land represent the “thoughts and meditations a person brings to completion in work,” as well as spiritual longing. Lions mirror the will of a person, while panthers show “ardent desire.” Tame animals that walk on land show “the gentleness of the human being.” In short, “animals have in them qualities similar to the nature of the human.””
“A shaman is one who has undergone deep initiation and emerges to serve and heal the community. Hildegard was such a person. Estes defines an “initiated woman” this way:
To be the keepers of the creative fire, and to have intimate knowing about the Life/Death/Life cycles of all nature—this is an initiated woman.”
“Was there anyone who was busier keeping the creative fire alive than Hildegard?”
As one who has been creatively inspired by Hildegard as a filmmaker, I would answer with a resounding “No”. While I am sure others were keeping the “creative fire alive” during those times, we luckily have Hildegard’s work still with us. I see her as the Patron Saint of Creativity. Yet to think of her as a shaman as Matthew Fox shares?
I have two ways of looking at that perspective. Having walked in Hildegardland as a pilgrim-filmmaker, I can testify the experience there resonated with me on a deeply spiritual level, similar to other places that are thinly veiled or considered as sacred landscapes. Specifically, I share a those experiences in my second film, The Unruly Mystic: John Muir.
While those experiences might be profound for me personally, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is because someone blessed once was there. How Hildegard perceived her environment during her time, both internally and externally in her work, connects the past with the present. That is clearly evidence of someone that has a deep connection to spirit and the land.
Finally, shamanism is also much like mysticism. Both are subject to cultural definitions as seen through our modern lens. I would invite us to think of the contributions and attributes that Fox has associated her with from his own unique perspective. There is much value in that observation.
This particular thread that Matthew Fox started continues on his website. You can also find out more about Hildegard through his book below.
Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.