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HILDEGARD AND THE FIRE OF MYSTICAL ILLUMINATION
And it came to pass . . . when I was 42 years and 7 months old, that the heavens were opened and a blinding light of exceptional brilliance flowed through my entire brain. And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame, not burning but warming. . . .
CONTEMPLATION
Hildegard of Bingen was a Benedictine nun and mystical visionary who was encouraged to write down her visions in a work entitled Scivias (referring to “one who knows the ways of the Lord”). These visions inspired her to create poems, plays, works of science and medicine, illustrations, and music.
Hildegard believed a “man in sapphire blue” resides in every human being and constitutes a divine presence. One of our shamanic possibilities is to reawaken this inner spirit. One of the ways to make our way to the blue man is through music. In Hildegard’s compositions, collectively entitled Symphony of the Harmony of Heavenly Revelations, she gives musical form to her mystical encounters with the light of Christ. She believed that when sung, this music could deliver mystical vibrations directly to the soul and help awaken our mystical sensitivities. Her sacred music aimed to transmit the vibrations of Christ’s holy light and awaken our inner blue man.
One of the most important teachings of Hildegard was her belief that the light of God shines through us in all our acts of creativity. Like other mystics and shamans, she believed humans must be awakened by divine light in order to become the vehicles through which the gods create their great works. Mystical and shamanic experiences thus help prepare us to co-create with the Great Spirit. When the holy light shines through us, it can manifest its creative transformations, modulations, and expressions in infinite possible ways.
Hildegard reminds us that creative expression is the most powerful way to practice spirituality, more powerful than giving “right answers” or mindless and irresponsible obedience to officials of social hierarchies. In her own words, “There is wisdom in all creative works.” The expression of creativity carries the heart of truth in itself and has little to do with any subsequent evaluation or interpretation.
In her own communing and co-creating with the divine, Hildegard recognized the Holy Mother as a goddess and understood the relational basis of the Religion of the Great Mother, that the core of mystical understanding and illumination concerns the interrelatedness of all things. Hildegard expressed this primary insight in the twelfth century:
Everything that is in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness. . . . God has arranged everything in the universe in consideration of everything else.
MEDITATIVE FOCUS
Imagine a blue light inside your solar plexus that only has been turned on a couple of times in your entire life. Allow this light to come on again now and imagine its energy is making your belly warm or hot. When the light feels “blue hot,” transform it into the shape of a blue man who is ancient, wise, and loving.
Picture this inner blue man slowly climbing up your spinal column and entering your heart. Inside your heart the blue man is transformed into pure white light. Allow this light to form the image of Jesus, the source of absolute divine light.
See the light of Jesus shooting out of his fingertips, then coming into and moving through each of your fingers, ears, eyes, and mouth. Stare at this image of your illumination.
See yourself, in your mind’s eye, beginning some kind of creative work—writing, sewing, painting, or whatever else you might choose. Make certain that the light is shooting out of you so that it shapes and guides the movement of your creativity. Experience how ecstatic the act of creation can be when you perform it while in a state of illumination.
LOST PARABLE: HILDEGARD AND THE VIBRATION OF THE SOUL
As a mystic familiar with shamanic experiences, Hildegard once woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a single vibrating note. She did not know the source of this vibration, but assumed it was some invisible singer. When she stopped the sleuthing activity of her rational mind and fully attended to the sound, her whole body began moving in sync with the sound’s vibrations.
As her body rocked back and forth with the movement of the sound, she began having visions of mystical illumination. An inner voice told her to close her eyes so she could see with newly washed eyes. Doing this, she found sight with her eyes closed. What she saw did not look like the typical outer world, but was every bit as real as what others see with their eyes open.
The inner world had depth and texture and color and definition. It was illuminated by an inner eye that could not only see, but could also trace the image of any inner vision. She was shown how to move her arm so that it was guided by her inner eye. In this way she learned to draw. This drawing was an inner eye tracing an inner image, causing a corresponding movement of a pencil or brush in her hand. She believed the experience to be so unusual that it would be impossible for anyone to understand what she was talking about.
For years she practiced making divine illustrations in this mystical way. Her inner world revealed many designs, images, and forms that she simply traced onto paper, guided by her inner eye.
One day there were no images. All that was presented was a sound. What was strange was that she could somehow feel the shape of the sound and produce an image of it. Over the years she was able to make many sketches of these holy sounds. After she had created an extensive collection of these inner drawings of sight and sound, she had a vision of her inner blue man turning into a blue body of water. The water began to fill her whole inner body. When she was completely filled, she felt she had become the blue man.
At that moment the inner water began to boil. She did not experience any pain, but was aware of an inner transformation. The water boiled, turned to steam, and then broke into a burning flame. The whole of her being became a flame of illumination. It cleansed every thought, feeling, perception, and experience she had ever had in her life. The fire burned her mystical insides into absolute nothingness.
When the fire stopped she looked with her inside eyes and saw the eye of God, who was the source of the flame, the light, and the great nothingness. God spoke:
You may only look once. I have cleared an unobstructed path so you may see the source of illumination. Once you see the source you will be unable to see anything else in the world except my light. You will then know that your inside has become my outside. This is the gift of illumination. Use it to light the fires of others so the world may learn to see and create once again.
Hildegard spent the rest of her life creating all she could create with the hope that others would experience her work as holding holy vibrations that would help them begin moving. She knew there was no actual knowledge to acquire. For Hildegard, learning was the gift of becoming illuminated so that the holy light could spread its rays into creative works.
During her lifetime, she helped many people to be awakened by these holy rays. When she died, the custodians of darkness did what they could to cover the light of her creative work. Many centuries later, a small four-legged creature was exploring a meadow in Germany and came across an opening in the ground. Inside this cavelike structure were the carefully preserved illustrations of the divine light drawn by Hildegard.
The creature, a fox, immediately was illuminated and anointed. The spirit of Hildegard spoke to the fox and asked if it would walk the Earth reintroducing her illuminations and vibrations to the world. She promised to turn the creature into a human being and give him the biblical name of a saint. The fox, whom Hildegard named Matthew, went forth into the world as a disguised creature of illumination and planted many seeds of light wherever he went.
ACTIVE MYSTICAL PRACTICE
Sit in a chair and light one candle, placing it in front of you. Light another candle and place it behind you. As you sit and stare at the candle flame in front of you, pretend you are looking at the one behind you. Practice this for many nights and see if you can have the experience of believing you see the candle behind you for at least two seconds. Practice this for at least one month.
When you are almost ready to give up trying, turn around and stare at the candle flame behind you. Realize your mind is more familiar with the former candle, the one that was in front of you. Pretend you are sitting facing forward, but that the candle you now behold is actually the one behind you.
After exercising your inner eye with this exercise, hold an unlit candle in each hand. Keep your eyes closed as you practice seeing them inside your imagination. When you are able to light the image of your inner candles, get rid of the outer candles and practice keeping your inner candle lit. Every evening before retiring, tell yourself that if you learn to light your inner candle, it will only be a matter of time before it sets fire to your inside and cleanses your whole being. With this simple preparation, you may become illuminated by the great divine light and be transformed into a lighthouse for others.